Feast of the Holy Trinity
Baptism Class - What does “True and Living Faith” mean?
When I teach baptism classes I always begin with a question from the instruction for the rite of Baptism. “What does it mean to have a true and living faith?” This is a challenging question for the parents and god-parents to be. They often respond with “Be kind” or “Believe in God etc. I ask this question because when parents bring their children to the Church for the sacrament of Baptism, they are asking that the Church baptize their children based on their relationship with God. If we don’t have a clear understanding of who God is and our relationship to Him, then passing on our faith to our children is a huge challenge. It is a wake up call.
How do I know my faith is True? Living?
I think it is a great question for all of us - what does it mean to have a True and Living Faith? How do I know that I have faith that is true? How do I know that I have faith that is living?
True Faith / Living Faith
To have a true faith means that what I believe is consistent with what the Church teaches about God. To have a living faith means that I actually put my beliefs into actions - that my beliefs shape who I am and how I live. I have an active relationship with God.
St. Paul teaches True and Living Faith
The readings today for the Feast of the Holy Trinity teach us how to have a true and living faith. It starts with the nature of God as 3 persons. St. Paul says this the best at the end of the 2nd reading today when he says - “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.”
A True and Living Faith is a Relational Faith
Put this in our own words - The Welcome of Christ, the Love of God and the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you. Each of these words are relational. Do they reflect our relationship with God? If we treat God as an idea and not a person then these words make no sense - however, if we are in relationship with the fullness of God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit then we desire the welcome of Christ, we treasure the love of the Father and we live in dialog with the Holy Spirit as we go about our lives. This is the goal of a True and Living Faith.
God is not an abstract idea to understand but a relationship to enter. To have faith in God is not mere belief, but a dynamic and living relationship that demands a response out of us. Every time we pray the Sign of the Cross, we are stepping into the living relationship of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Rejoice
I love the order of things from St. Paul’s letter that is our second reading - he says “Brothers and sisters, rejoice. Mend your ways, encourage one another, agree with one another, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you.”
If we want to have a true and living faith then we need to begin from a place of joy - “Rejoice!” We rejoice in the realization that the Father loved us first - and out of His love for us we are created. This is the central point of today’s Gospel - John 3:16 which we see at the Football games - “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son”. Is the foundation of our relationship with God one of Joy or Fear or Duty or some other motivation? St. Paul's guides us to begin in Joy - which is the response to Love.
Sign of the Cross begins with Joy
When we pray the sign of the Cross we ought to begin with joy [PLACE HAND ON FOREHEAD] at the realization that God loves me deeply, fully, completely - [MOVE HAND TO THE HEART] - so much so that He sent His Son out of love to save us, redeem us, welcome us. His son gives us the Holy Spirit [COMPLETE THE SIGN OF THE CROSS] who lives and binds the Church together today.
“Mend your Ways”
To have a true and living faith that is rooted in the joy of the Love of All of God, we start with an examination of the ways that our hearts are distorted by sin and selfishness, and in-spite of that we are called to begin with joy.
In his encounter with God, Moses learns of God’s nature: “the LORD, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and rich (full) in kindness (love) and fidelity." Moses at once bowed down to the ground in worship. Then he said, "If I find favor with you, O Lord, do come along in our company. This is indeed a stiff-necked people; yet pardon our wickedness and sins, and receive us as your own." God does not impose Himself on Moses but waits for Moses to invite Him into relationship. As Moses encounters God he realizes that He and the Israelites (and you and I) are a stiff-necked people - and so we ought to “Mend our ways”
In case you are thinking [PUT HAND ON NECK AND ROLL HEAD] - Thank God I am not a stiff-necked person today then think - stubborn, or obstinate or willful…
God has given us the trait of stubbornness - not to be used to remain enslaved by sin, but rather that we are stubborn in avoiding sin. In addition to being a trinitarian prayer [MAKE THE SIGN OF THE CROSS] the sign of the cross is a reminder to us of God’s love for us - in that the Father sent his only Son to die on the cross and to heal our stiff-necked nature.
Practical ways to live your Trinitarian Faith
“Encourage one another, agree with one another, live in peace”
The fruit of the Holy Spirit - that is the Spirit of Christ is that once we have mended our ways we start to live our lives so as to reflect the witness of Christ. This is the Living part of faith - we allow the love of Christ to govern our relationships.
“Encourage one another”
Encourage one another - when we are tempted this week, take a moment and ask the Holy Spirit for words of encouragement rather than criticism. Each day this next week as you go about your day think of one person to encourage - it could be your spouse, your kids or parents or siblings or a co-worker.
“Agree with one another”
Think about what you believe - is it in accord with the Church or is it different? Where are the places in our lives that we are taking exceptions to our Catholic Faith? These are areas for conversion. For example, What are the areas of strife in my life? What is behind those? Is it that I am a “Stiff Necked Person”? Is it something that I can find a way forward with? This is especially true with spouses, and children. The value of living in accord with one another and with the Church is that we invite God into our relationships rather than reject Him or close Him out.
“Live in Peace”
During the Last Supper Christ says to his Apostles “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid”. When we live a Trinitarian life, our hearts are anchored in the the love of God and that allows us to look at all of the trials and tribulations of life as an opportunity to grow closer to Christ - even in the challenging things like a life-altering illness Christ invites us to abide in him, to not be anxious and to let his peace reign in us. As we go to prayer this week - what anxiety or struggle do we need to surrender to Christ?
An Invitation to Immersion
The Gospel ends with a challenging Admonition: “Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”
Self Belief = isolation / death, Entrust Christ = Life
The word for belief in the Greek for this passage is πιστεύω (pisteúo) which means to entrust ones existence to God. Jesus warns us that when we trust in ourselves, or in things, we will not have life. Conversely when we entrust our lives completely to Him then we have eternal life. When we immerse ourselves into this relationship with God, who is the source of life, our life is filled with his presence, his grace. Christ invites us to entrust ourselves fully to the Trinity. This is what it means to have a True and Living Faith; that I immerse myself [MAKE THE SIGN OF THE CROSS] in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen
