The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity (2015)

One day, not all that long after Pentecost Sunday when the apostles received the Holy Spirit, Peter and John were walking through the area of the Temple in Jerusalem. They had been preaching about Jesus, His message of hope, His gospel of love. They came to a gate in the Temple which was called the Beautiful Gate. The Temple in Jerusalem was one of the wonders of the ancient world.  Not just the Jews, but people from throughout the world would journey to Jerusalem to see it. We can only imagine what that Beautiful Gate looked like.  It must have been inlaid with precious stones, or perhaps it contained reliefs of the great moments of Jewish history, the deliverance from the Egyptians, the victories of Samson, Gideon and the others of the Book of Judges, the conquests of David, the wisdom of Solomon. And then there was the Beautiful Gate. Now, every day a man who was born crippled was carried to the Beautiful Gate by some of his friends.  He was brought there to beg.  It was a good place for seeking alms. A lot of well off people would be there. Then Peter and John came by. The man asked them for money, begged for a few coins. He got more than he could have ever hoped. Peter said to him, Look at us! I don't have silver or gold, but I give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.  He leapt! And then he followed the apostles, through the Beautiful Gate and into the Temple, praising God. 

Through the power of this Name, a small group of Jewish commoners, fishermen mostly, brought hope to a world living in despair. When evil attempted to stop them with torture and even death, the power of the Name strenghtened the presence of Christ's followers until the entire Roman Empire embraced Christianity.  Throughout history, the truly great women and men, have allowed the power of the Name to lift others off their lame feet and lead them into God's Presence leaping for joy.

The power of the name of God can transform us all into doing greater actions then we can ever imagine.

My brothers and sisters, we sell ourselves short. Or, perhaps, better said, we sell the power of God working through us short.  We think that we are not good enough to be wholesome Christians in the middle of an immoral society.  Or we think that we are too weak to be good parents, a determined Catholic. We might feel the call within us to become a person whose career is to reach out to others, a nurse, a doctor, a teacher, a social worker, a psychologist, a lawyer, a priest, a sister, or what have you, but we refuse to listen to it.  We think that we don't have it within us to go where God is leading us. We are wrong! We are selling ourselves short. When we are attacked by those negative thoughts, we cannot forget that we were baptized in the Name of God, Father, Son and Spirit.  We possess the power of the Name. We are good enough. He makes us good enough.  He gives us all we need to make His Presence real in the world.  He has given us the power of the Name.

This Sunday, Trinity Sunday, is not just about the dogma and the doctrine of whom God is. Trinity Sunday is about whom we are, for on Trinity Sunday we are reminded that we have been baptized in the Name of God. And that Name has Power ■