• When there is stillness in the motion of our days, life mysteries are revealed.
  

     While I was on Sabbatical "down under" , I had moments, no hours, no days of loneliness!  A few years ago I probably would've boarded a plane and returned home.  This time I realized I had to sit with the loneliness and make it my friend.  Even though I enjoyed living with the  De La Salle Christian Brothers, something was missing.  I missed this parish of St. John the Baptist, especially coming together with you on Sundays to celebrate the Eucharist, I went to Mass on weekends in Australia and New Zealand, and daily Mass with the Brothers, but something was missing. 
     In your lonely moments, have you ever thought to yourself:  Why do I feel this loneliness so strongly?  Do others feel loneliness as deeply as I do?  All of us have times of loneliness, it's the way we are created.  Our American culture   doesn't respect the loneliness in people's lives.  We are made to believe that there is something wrong with us if we are lonely.  Just look at the two Variety (not one, but two) sections of the Star Tribune every Friday.  There is something to do all weekend long so you don't have to sit with loneliness.  There might be many reasons for feeling lonely, but if we go deep within ourselves, we just might discover God-- that loneliness is not just an emotion, but part of our spiritual being.
     Every human person needs to be connected to others.  All of us need meaningful relationships with others.  That's the way we are made.  We are made in the image and likeness of  God, and God is not a solitary God, but God is actually a community of Persons.  Today, while society is celebrating the long Memorial Day weekend, and we should celebrate, the Church also celebrates the Feast of the Trinity--the God who is One is at the same time a community of loving Persons.
     I suppose the word "Trinity"  doesn't do too much for kids, teenagers or even older adults.  Trinity--three persons in one God.  It doesn't seem to be very warm, does it?  But the Trinity is all about the flowing love that takes place within God--ah, a great mystery.  And, the Trinity is all about the yearnings of our hearts.  God is not an idea, but God is  the very foundation of our daily living,  breathing and loving.  It's important to go beyond a definition of the Trinity as three Persons in one God and discover what trinity means for each one of us.
     When we recite the Creed (the truths we believe) do we reflect on them?  Bishop Kenneth  Uneter of Saginaw, Michigan, put it this way:  "I don't think we sit back often enough and take in with wonder and awe, and enjoyment, the truths that God has revealed to us.  You see, if we understand these great truths, it changes everything.  That's what makes us act differently.  That's what causes us to want to follow the Way of the Lord.  It's because of the way we see things." 
     I believe that our loneliness is God's call to love, to love God and others.  Just as God is a community of  Three, so we need to be in community with one another.  God pours out love freely-- and--it is usually discovered when we are in our weakest moments.
     No wonder we love mysteries!