Solemnity of the Holy Trinity
Cycle B
May 27, 2018 11:00am
Saint Mary Parish Pylesville 4:00pm
Saint Matthew Parish, Baltimore 8:45 and 11:15am
Trinity and Diversity
Today I want to share one idea about the Trinity.
Many, many things have been written about this central mystery of our faith – one God, three persons. We keep trying to understand more fully the mystery of God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Today, I want to share one insight that is proposed by Father Richard Rohr. Father Rohr is a Franciscan priest, a theologian, and a leader of spirituality.
He writes this: “The mystery that we’re talking about here is clearly diversity on display! The Three [Father, Son, and Holy Spirit] are diverse, different, and distinct – and yet they are one.”
In other words, the Father is not the Son, the Son is not the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is not the Father. As Father Rohr says,“The Three are diverse, different, and distinct – and yet they are one.”
Creation and Diversity
Richard Rohr draws an important conclusion from this.
He says that this insight means that there is diversity at the very core of reality. God is being itself – the origin of life and of all that is.
So, if there is diversity in God, there must also be diversity in creation. And that means that there must be diversity in humanity since we especially are made in the image and likeness of God.
Richard Rohr also states it this way. He says that God is goodness, goodness itself.
Since there is diversity in God, this means that goodness is not sameness or uniformity. God did not make us to be uniform – everyone and everything the same or alike.
Instead, God made us diverse, different, and distinct. As the Book of Genesis says, God looked upon all that he had made and saw that it was good.
And so, the more we welcome and embrace this diversity, the more we are in the flow of the divine life. And the more we welcome and embrace this diversity, the more we are participating in the divine goodness.
We and Diversity
A few weeks ago, I noticed a small poster hanging on the wall in the sacristy.
It has the word diversityspelled out – but with the letters lined up one on top of the other, vertically. Next to each letter is a word or two that helps to explain what diversity means.
So, just follow along with me:
D – Different.
I – Individuals.
V – Valuing.
E – Each Other
R – Regardless of
S – Skin
I – Intelligence
T – Talents and
Y – Years.
I really like that. The letters in the word diversity help us to understand what the word means.
Different – Individuals – Valuing – Each other – Regardless of – Skin – Intelligence – Talents – and Years.
We could, of course, include other differences like language, nationality, religion, culture and on it goes. Diversity includes all the rich differences within the human family.
Respect Diversity
So, maybe ten minutes ago it would have sounded strange, but the calling of Trinity Sunday is to embrace diversity.
This tells me that I have to get hold of my human tendency for uniformity. I have to resist the temptation to make others like myself and to think that they have to be that way to be good.
This also tells me that I have to get in touch with any prejudice or stereotypes I have. I need to take persons as they are.
And this also tells me that I have to keep in check my fear of those who are different from me. I need to see diversity for what it is – as a richness, as opening me up more fully to the richness of humanity, and as leading me closer to God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
So, there it is. This may be challenging, but who ever said that the mystery of the Trinity is not challenging?
