- “You were made for greatness, so don’t be afraid to dream with God His wonderful dream for your life” – Bishop Fintan Gavin
Homily for Dare to Trinity Hope, Young Adult Faith Gathering in Knock
If you were to think of the happiest moments in your life, chances are they involved other people. A birthday, a holiday, a special meal, or night out – what made it memorable?
It’s likely, it was the people you shared it with, some element of communion, some experience of relationship. Even in our age of great individualism, we know instinctively that no person is an island.
This is true in faith life too. Think of our Baptism, First Eucharist, Confirmation, Marriage, or Final Profession or Ordination. These are sacred milestones, and they are never experienced alone. They are moments we share with those who love us – family, friends, community. People who know us and care for us and want to share in our joy.
Today’s feast of the Trinity reminds us that what is true of ourselves is even truer of God. At the very heart of God’s own life is a communion of persons who relate in perfect harmony. Today, we celebrate something extraordinary: the very nature of God is relationship. God is not solitary. God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – a perfect communion of love. And here’s the best part: this divine relationship isn’t closed in on itself. It’s wide open. Through the Holy Spirit, we are drawn into the very life of God.
Today we celebrate not some abstract fact but the incredible truth that lies at the heart of our Christian faith; God has opened his heart to us and invited us to share in his life.
In this evening’s Gospel, Jesus says: “Everything the Father has is mine. All the Spirit tells you will be taken from what is mine.”
And Saint Paul in the second reading reminds us: “The love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit.”
Through our Baptism and Confirmation each of us enters into a new relationship with God. We participate in this life of the Trinity. We become the body of Christ. We don’t just believe in God – we live in God.
The best way to understand this profound truth is to look at the person of Jesus Christ. He reveals the Trinity’s life, love, and unity in his own life, actions, and teachings.
Jesus constantly points his disciples to the Father, the source of his life and power. He teaches us to pray to the Father, to trust in his loving care, and to see the Father’s presence in creation and in our lives.
Jesus, himself – the Word made flesh, embodies God’s love, compassion, and grace. He is the visible expression of the invisible God, a bridge between heaven and earth, and the ultimate revelation of the Trinity’s love.
The Spirit empowers Jesus to preach, heal, and perform miracles, filling Him with the power of God’s love. The Spirit continues to guide and empower the Church, inspiring us to love, serve, and grow in faith, just as Jesus did.
It’s our participation in that life of the Trinity that sustains and empowers us.
So, what does this mean for our lives?
It means our life isn’t meant to be turned in on itself. Like the Trinity, we are made for relationship. We are made to give ourselves away.
Jesus says, “Whoever wants to save their life will lose it. But whoever loses their life for me will find it.”
That’s the paradox at the heart of Christian life. The secret to happiness isn’t self-promotion. It’s self-gift.
If we accept the baptismal invitation to follow Christ, to live in and for Him through the Holy Spirit and base our lives on love as He did, then we will be able to experience genuine joy, and our lives will be fruitful and full of hope.
Being a person of faith in Ireland today means having the courage to stand out from the crowd and go against the dominant secular culture. As we do this, Jesus is promising to be with us and is offering us the gift of a life of purpose and meaning.
The invitation of today’s gathering is to ‘Dare to Hope’.
I believe our world has never been more in need of Christ and His hope-filled message as transmitted by His Church. The Jubilee of Hope reminds us of the importance of looking to the future with a hope that does not disappoint, because it is rooted in the love of God (cf. Rom 5:5), the life of the Trinity. It’s in these times that Jesus is calling us to make disciples and to build His Kingdom.
Having spent the day with you and seen you participate in various talks, workshops, moments of prayer, adoration and other activities, gathering with you now to celebrate with you our greatest gift – the Eucharist, I am struck by the energy, the enthusiasm that I experienced and the hope that your presence and witness brings.
Pope Leo recently talking about young people described them as ‘a volcano of energy’. You are and you should be a volcano of energy. The Church in Ireland today needs your voice, your witness, your energy and your hope.
On my own behalf and on behalf of the Irish Bishops, on behalf of the Irish Church I want to offer you whatever support you need to sustain and encourage you to follow Christ with all your heart despite the challenges which are real.
Despite the fact that we gather in large numbers, no two people here this evening are the same; each one of you is unique. Each one of you have an irreplaceable role to play in our world and in our Church. While that role is unique to you, it’s not lived in isolation but in communion with others, in unity, just as the life of God in the Trinity is lived.
So, I encourage each of you to spend time listening to Jesus; He believes in you. Even when you might doubt yourself, trust Him. Ask Jesus to reveal to you where He is calling you, with your unique personality, gifts and talents. What is your vocation, as a married person, as a single person, a priest or a religious? Step outside your comfort zone. Risk all as Christ did. You were made for greatness, so don’t be afraid to dream with God His wonderful dream for your life. With God we will find real happiness – and true fulfilment.
We are not alive right now by chance. God willed for each of us to live in this time and place with all its challenges and blessings.
You were made for greatness. You were born for this moment.
And as Catherine of Siena said: “Be who God meant you to be, and you will set the world on fire.”
ENDS
- Bishop Fintan Gavin, is Bishop of Cork and Ross and chair of the Bishops’ Council for Pastoral Renewal and Adult Faith Development. This homily was delivered today, 14 June, during Mass in the Knock Basilica, during the ‘Dare to Hope’ young adult faith gathering.