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June 17, 2014
Over the weekend, I had the joy of welcoming hundreds of our married couples celebrating their fiftieth wedding anniversaries, and the cathedral was packed for two Masses with the couples, their children, and grandkids.
After letting them know of our love, gratitude, and congratulations, I commented how appropriate it was that our archdiocesan celebration of their golden jubilee was taking place on Trinity Sunday.
I could see they were a bit bewildered at first. What in the world does the Blessed Trinity have to do with our marriage, they rightfully wondered.
Well . . . everything! I hope they now agree.
Think about it:
For one, the Most Blessed Trinity is the origin and the goal of all reality. Creation, the world, and the human person did not come from chance, from a “black hole,” or a “big bang,” No, it all began with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, one God, three persons, an infinite, eternal Trinity of love and life. As the ancient philosophers tell us, “good expands.” The infinite, life, love and goodness of the Trinity, generated creation and us, creatures. The Trinity is our start.
And, the Trinity is our destiny, as all creation and all creatures are making their way back to the Triune God.
Those married couples had their start in goodness and love – – in God – – and are on a journey, together, returning to the everlasting embrace of Father, Son, and Spirit. The faithful love, half-a-century vintage, of those anniversary couples, began in the sparkle of the Trinity’s eye, and will conclude with the God who initiated it.
Two, the life of the Blessed Trinity is not “way out there,” but deep down in here, in our heart! Yes, the good news is that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit live within us! Jesus told us so! We call this awesome gift grace. The life of the Trinity dwells in the soul of the believer, to save us, help us, lead us, inspire us.
On their wedding day, these couples received a unique grace, a “booster shot” of the indwelling of the Trinity, as God promised to support them in the ups-and-downs of marriage. These couples agree! God kept His promise! That grace, that life of the Blessed Trinity down deep in their heart, got them through!
Three, that Blessed Trinity is not some inert, dry doctrine. It is a communion of life and love, a unity of three Divine Persons. That’s what God intends for us all: not to exist as isolated, self-centered individuals, but to thrive as members of a community!
This community intended by God can be found in friendships, human solidarity, the Church, our families. It is radiantly evident in marriage, as a man and woman, two individuals, become one! The “I” becomes “we,” the “mine” becomes “ours.”
And the love of this union of a man and woman brings new life, as all the children and grandchildren of our anniversary couples can attest!
There it is: the love of a man and woman in marriage is a reflection, a metaphor, a mirror of the love found in the Most Blessed Trinity!
That’s why we believe a marriage is forever, faithful, and fruitful . . . because the love of Father, Son, and Spirit is that way!
Married couples: thank you for reminding us of The Blessed Trinity!