The Grace in Which We Stand

Dear Friend,

In this Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus Christ, as portrayed by John the Evangelist, is one whose identity is thoroughly rooted in relationship. The one Jesus calls “his Father” has given him everything, and the one he calls “the Spirit of Truth” will declare and unfold what he has said and move it forward into “the things that are coming”.  

Trinity Sunday tells us that the heart of Jesus was always connected, never isolated. Born of a woman “full of grace” Jesus is, as Paul writes, the invitation into the “grace in which we stand.” And with that I must stop and ask myself: how often am I standing in that grace without knowing it? How often do I try to convince myself that my feelings of being “trapped” somehow reflect reality? They do not.

Through prayer and attentiveness, Trinity Sunday can put me in touch with a sense of assurance that I am where I am meant to be - with myself as a work-in-progress and with others, without whom my life would be a very dull work. In fact, it would not be a work-in-progress, but a work-in-regress. It is through others that I receive the invitation to the grace in which I stand. Others give me the wake-up call. 

In a world today where we all find it extraordinarily difficult to live in the peace Saint Paul talks about, Jesus shows us who we can be at our best and what we can offer, as Catholics, as Trinitarians. Which is to say, our own lives set free from old patterns of fear by patience and humility. Let’s be assured that, like Jesus, we are embraced by one who loves us and will always teach us ever so gently the necessary and new, the next right step in the dance.

Gratefully,

Father Dan ofm