We Can All Be Like Christ in a Moment of Time

It is exciting, humbling and even a little intimidating to preach the good news FOR THE FIRST TIME! Just a few hours ago I was ordained deacon RIGHT THERE!

We joined this parish in 2010. Who would have thought that TWELVE YEARS LATER I would be a deacon preaching the Good News! 

This is what this parish can do. MIRACLES !

I have so many people to thank. First, I want to thank God for sending me here. He knew I would need more than a great pastor and bishop. So he sent me to the care of THREE BISHOPS ! Bishop Taylor, Bishop Malone and Bishop elect Pohlmeier and his fantastic formation team and spiritual directors who have taken care of me for 6 and half years, together with the associate pastors. You all had a huge part in my formation.

My second thank-you is for my wife. She supported me, prayed for me, sustained me, discerned my call to be a deacon with me and folded all the laundry I couldn’t fold for six years!  

And I couldn’t ask for better support from my kids Elisabeth, Matteo, and Victoria for their prayers, enthusiasm and support. And a big thank you to my parents who initiated me to the faith, Lorel’s family, and to extended family and friends. 

You all supported me, inspired me, and prayed for me, from this world and from heaven. 

My third thank you goes to ALL OF YOU. Your witness of God in your life is what helped me discover my call to the diaconate. Whether it was your silent presence at mass, working together in a ministry, or a deeper conversation we had privately. 

Your witness of the reality of God made a difference in me.

ME

Today we celebrate Trinity Sunday. The Trinity, believing that God is one and at the same time three persons - God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit is the LEAST UNDERSTOOD and 

MOST COMPLICATED belief in Christianity. 

I AM GUESSING this is why they leave this task to NEWLY ORDAINED DEACONS ! 

While we will never understand the mystery of the Trinity in its fullness, it is still important for us to try to unpack it as much as we can. The reason we have an understanding of God as Trinity comes from how God was experienced by the early church. 

You know that our faith is an EXPERIENTIAL FAITH. We come to believe because we experience a supernatural grace in our bodies and souls. This experience gives birth to theology, which is nothing more than trying to explain in words the experience of God and his grace in our life. 

So, rather than talking about the Theology of the Trinity I will share an example of how I HAVE EXPERIENCED God as Trinity and hopefully it will shine a light on some aspect of it.

A few months ago I met with my spiritual director. Typically you talk to a spiritual director about peaks experienced in our heart both high and low. 

I told the spiritual director how I experienced a very deep sorrow at hearing about a great misfortune that a friend of mine caused himself and his family. I also told my spiritual director that right after this deep sorrow the second movement of my heart was a profound sense of hope that this misfortune would bring him redemption, a new life. 

While I was waiting for his reaction to my surprise he asked me, “How do you think that Jesus reacted when he got to know about your friend?”

I scrambled to find an answer and I finally told him that Jesus must have had tremendous sorrow and also a hope that this tragic suffering would lead my friend to redemption. 

At this point the spiritual director told me, “Your heart responded in the  same way of Jesus.” He continued, “Can you claim it? 

CAN YOU CLAIM THAT YOU HAVE BEEN CONFORMED TO CHRIST?

My first answer was no -  but I COUDNT’T NEGATE THE TRUTH - my reaction of deep sorrow followed by a profound hope of redemption - was the same reaction as Jesus’s. So in this limited slice of time, I reacted like Christ. 

This was a revelation for me!  I didn’t think this was possible! I didn’t think I HAD THIS CAPACITY. 

But this is what I learned: 

WE CAN ALL BE LIKE CHRIST IN A MOMENT OF TIME.

YOU

Have you ever thought that you could be like Christ ? Not just get closer to Him, be transformed by Him. Actually be like Him, even for just a moment of time?

GOD

The nature of God is to be in relationship with others. God’s nature is understood in the type of relationships He has with the Son and the Spirit. Today’s Gospel shows this very clearly when Jesus teaches that the Spirit, the Father and the Son are in total union with each other. Jesus said to the disciples, “The Spirit will take from what is mine and declare it to you,” and then, “Everything that the Father has is mine.” Jesus has the totality of the Father and the Spirit has the totality of Jesus. There is a total self-giving from the Father to the Son and from the Son to the Spirit. 

This is how we know that God is Love - because God doesn’t exist except in a community with relationships, and this community is a community of three, the Trinity - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God is love because God is a community where they love each other unconditionally . 

Jesus prepares the disciples by telling them that when He leaves the Spirit will bring the fullness of Truth to them. See, we still live in the time of the Spirit, the time between the Resurrection and the Second Coming of Jesus at the end of time. It is the Spirit that animates this Church community. 

After the second coming the Church will not be needed, we will not need the sacraments, we will be in perfect union with God. 

BUT FOR NOW, you and I need the Church, with this community, animated by the Holy Spirit, Alive in Christ with the sacraments to bring us the fullness of God’s nature - UNCONDITIONAL LOVE IN RELATIONSHIPS.

We are attracted by this particular selfless love because we are made in the image and likeness of God. We are baptized in this love, in the self-giving, unconditional love and we are called to imitate it in our lives.

It is this Spirit of total giving, of relationships without hidden agendas, that allows us to experience the LOVE INSIDE THE TRINITY - UNCONDITIONAL LOVE.

Once we experience this in our body and souls we come closer to understanding that we are made in God’s Trinitarian image. These experiences are always positive, giving us freedom, joy, forgiveness, hope, and clarity even in the midst of suffering. This is how we know that God is Love.

YOU

For me and my family, being embedded in the fabric of this church and participating in various ministries has been the key to discovering God’s unconditional Love.

I know that a fundamental component of my call to the diaconate has come from meeting people who were ready to be open and vulnerable. I consider this courageous act of openness and vulnerability an act of unconditional love.

To be conformed to Christ, we need other people around us. It is the act of becoming open and vulnerable to others that transforms us to be more like Christ. As we become more conformed to Christ those moments of time that we are like Christ will become more frequent.

In a few minutes we will receive the Eucharist. As you line up to receive communion, take a moment to ask the Lord to reveal to you how you can be more like Christ. Because IT IS possible!

WE

Imagine what your life would be if all of us could live in a community where we experienced more of this selfless love in relationships with others. Because IT IS  possible.