May 31, 2026; The Most Holy Trinity; Exodus 34: 4b-6, 8,9
Today’s Feast of The Most Holy Trinity asks us to consider these questions: Who is God? What is God like? Now such questions are unanswerable because God is so different from us, and so much greater than us. All we can do is catch glimpses of God’s nature from the Sacred Scriptures. Today’s first reading from the Book of Exodus offers us a glimpse that might be the most important one of all. God tells Moses that he is to be seen as a God of mercy, a God of faithful kindness. This description of God is used frequently in the Hebrew Scriptures. It insists that the primary orientation of God toward us is one of love and forgiveness—love and forgiveness in an unconditional way.
God does not love us because we are good. God loves us because God is good. God does not forgive us because we deserve it. God forgives us because God freely extends mercy to us. Now, this unconditional love and forgiveness of God is true and powerful, but if it is going to have any effect in our life, we must claim it as our own.
Earnest Hemmingway wrote a short story in which a father goes searching for his son, Paco, who ran away from home after a terrible disagreement. The father follows the boy to Madrid and searches the city for him without success. Finally he decides to place the following ad in the local newspaper: “Paco, Meet me Tuesday at noon at the newspaper office. All is forgiven, Father” The next day at noon 500 young men named Paco showed up the newspaper office. All of them were waiting to see if that message of forgiveness was meant for them.
If God’s unconditional love and forgiveness is to make a difference in our life, we must believe that God’s love and forgiveness is meant for us. It is one thing to admire God’s goodness from afar. It’s another to claim it as our own. Therefore, the challenge of today’s scripture is for us to believe that God loves and forgives us in an unconditional way. No matter how seriously we may have failed, no matter how many times we may have sinned, regardless of deeply we feel that we are unworthy, or how many faults we can point to in our own character, God still freely chooses to love us and give us mercy. On this Feast of The Most Holy Trinity our God stands before us and says, “I love you. All is forgiven” How important it is that we understand God’s message, not as an anonymous ad in a newspaper, but as a message that is meant for us.
I so appreciated hearing this on Saturday evening Mass. You have a gift of giving us something to remember and reflect on all week. Thank you!
This came at a time that I needed to hear it! Thanks so much!