May 31, 2026 Homily: Fr. Vigoa — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:02When General Kevin Chilton flew into
2. 0:05space,
3. 0:08he was already a remarkable man.
4. 0:11A four-star Air Force General,
5. 0:14a test pilot, a NASA astronaut who would
6. 0:18fly three missions,
7. 0:20a pilot, he would pilot the Space
8. 0:23Shuttle Endeavour and command the Space
9. 0:26Shuttle Atlantis.
10. 0:28He had flown some of the most advanced
11. 0:30machines human beings have ever built.
12. 0:34And every single time he left this
13. 0:36planet, he carried something with him
14. 0:39that was small enough to fit into the
15. 0:41palm of his hand.
16. 0:44NASA made him document it
17. 0:47and approve it like every other piece of
18. 0:50cargo that he was taking on board.
19. 0:54It was a little golden container called
20. 0:57a pyx.
21. 0:59And inside was the most holy Eucharist,
22. 1:03the body and blood of Jesus Christ.
23. 1:06Think about that.
24. 1:09This man would travel further than any
25. 1:11that from from other human beings than
26. 1:14almost anyone in history.
27. 1:17He would look down at the whole Earth
28. 1:18from orbit more than 200 mi up.
29. 1:23And he made sure one thing before he
30. 1:25ever left the ground.
31. 1:28He would not go out there alone.
32. 1:30He would carry our Lord with him.
33. 1:34General Chilton said that when he was up
34. 1:37there and he would look down into the
35. 1:40deep blue oceans of the Earth,
36. 1:43the words that came to him were
37. 1:46the blue of the Virgin's veil.
38. 1:50Surrounded by the silence of the
39. 1:52universe, nothing about his faith was
40. 1:54shaken.
41. 1:56Everything about it was confirmed.
42. 2:00He had chosen to bring the Eucharist
43. 2:02precisely because he could bring it
44. 2:05so little and he wanted to bring the
45. 2:07Lord everywhere he went.
46. 2:11And on one of his flights, on a quiet
47. 2:14Sunday in orbit, he gathered his fellow
48. 2:17Catholic crewmates.
49. 2:20And there, floating above the Earth,
50. 2:21they received Holy Communion as one.
51. 2:27Now, why am I telling you this on
52. 2:29Trinity Sunday? Maybe I should have
53. 2:31saved this story for next weekend for
54. 2:33Corpus Christi Sunday.
55. 2:37Well, I tell you this story because that
56. 2:39astronaut understood something this
57. 2:41feast is trying to teach all of us.
58. 2:46He understood that the worst thing in
59. 2:47the universe is not the cold, is not
60. 2:50danger or distance.
61. 2:52The worst thing is to be alone.
62. 2:57And he had found that the one thing in
63. 2:59all the world that means you are never
64. 3:01ever alone.
65. 3:04Today, the church does something bold.
66. 3:07We don't just talk about what God does
67. 3:10for us. We try to say who God is from
68. 3:13the inside.
69. 3:15And the answer is the most hopeful truth
70. 3:17ever spoken.
71. 3:19God is not alone.
72. 3:22God has never been alone.
73. 3:25Not for 1 second.
74. 3:28We say God is three persons in one.
75. 3:31God fathers,
76. 3:34Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
77. 3:37People hear that and immediately reach
78. 3:38for a calculator. How can three be one?
79. 3:43But the Trinity was never a math problem
80. 3:46to solve.
81. 3:48It is a love story.
82. 3:50Saint John tells us, "God is love."
83. 3:55But you see, love can't happen alone.
84. 4:00Love needs someone to love.
85. 4:05So, if God is love and God has always
86. 4:08existed,
87. 4:09then before there were any stars, before
88. 4:12there was anything at all to love,
89. 4:15God was already loving.
90. 4:19He was the Father loving the Son, the
91. 4:21Son loving back the Father,
92. 4:23and the love between them so alive, so
93. 4:26real, that it is itself a person, the
94. 4:29Holy Spirit.
95. 4:31God is a communion of love.
96. 4:34God is a family.
97. 4:38You heard that word today and you may
98. 4:40not have caught it.
99. 4:42At the very beginning of Mass, I prayed
100. 4:44the word St. Paul uses in the second
101. 4:47reading today.
102. 4:49The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and
103. 4:51the love of God and the communion of the
104. 4:53Holy Spirit be with all of you.
105. 4:57Communion.
106. 4:59That's not just a church word.
107. 5:02That is the inner life of God.
108. 5:05Grace, love, communion, Son, Father,
109. 5:09Spirit.
110. 5:13If we go to the first reading when Moses
111. 5:15climbs the mountain and begs to see God,
112. 5:17God does not lead with his power. He
113. 5:19does not say, "I am mighty, worship me.
114. 5:22I am strong."
115. 5:26No, he says, "I am merciful.
116. 5:29I am gracious.
117. 5:31I am slow to anger. I am full of
118. 5:33kindness."
119. 5:36Every one of those words is about love,
120. 5:39about how we turn that love towards
121. 5:42somebody else.
122. 5:45The The first time God tells us who he
123. 5:47is, he describes a God who loves.
124. 5:52Here's why this matters for us.
125. 5:56The Bible says you were made in the
126. 5:57image of God.
127. 6:00So if God is communion,
128. 6:03Father, Son, Holy Spirit,
129. 6:06if God is a family of love,
130. 6:10then you were made for communion, too.
131. 6:14You were never meant to be alone.
132. 6:17That is why loneliness cuts so deep.
133. 6:21That is why a person can have all the
134. 6:23money, all the success, all the things
135. 6:25that they want, and still lie awake at
136. 6:28night and feel empty.
137. 6:31You were made by God, who is love poured
138. 6:34out,
139. 6:35and you will only ever be at peace.
140. 6:38You will only ever find meaning when
141. 6:40you're doing what he does,
142. 6:43giving yourself away in love.
143. 6:47That is the very heart of today's
144. 6:48gospel.
145. 6:51In the gospel, we have probably the most
146. 6:53famous line of all of the Bible.
147. 6:56God so loved the world that he gave his
148. 6:59only son.
149. 7:01Gave.
150. 7:03God gives.
151. 7:05That is who he is.
152. 7:08And he did not stop giving on the cross.
153. 7:12He gives himself to you still at this
154. 7:15altar at the Eucharist.
155. 7:18So hear this.
156. 7:20The same Lord that General Tilton
157. 7:22carried into space in that small golden
158. 7:26pyx
159. 7:27is the same Lord waiting for you here in
160. 7:30a few moments.
161. 7:32He traveled hundreds of miles and risked
162. 7:34his life to be to be able to take Jesus
163. 7:37with him, to be close to Jesus.
164. 7:41You only have to walk up an aisle.
165. 7:45Remember what this astronaut did with
166. 7:47the gift.
167. 7:49When he could, he did not keep it for
168. 7:51himself.
169. 7:53He shared it with others.
170. 7:55Because communion with God always pulls
171. 7:57us into communion with the other.
172. 8:01Faith was never meant to be a solo act.
173. 8:04Faith is not a Jesus and me
174. 8:06relationship.
175. 8:08The Trinity is not a loner and neither
176. 8:10are you.
177. 8:12On the day you were baptized, you were
178. 8:14not just signed up for a religion. You
179. 8:16were adopted into a family, the family,
180. 8:19the church.
181. 8:21So here's what I want you to take home
182. 8:23with you today.
183. 8:25You do not need a rocket.
184. 8:28You do not need to figure out the math.
185. 8:31The Trinity is not a puzzle to solve. It
186. 8:33is a relationship to live.
187. 8:37Saint Augustine, our patron,
188. 8:40said a famous quote. You've heard it
189. 8:42many times. I'll say it again. Saint
190. 8:44Augustine says,
191. 8:46"You made us for yourself, oh Lord,
192. 8:49and our hearts are restless until they
193. 8:51rest in you."
194. 8:53That's it.
195. 8:55That restlessness that you may feel,
196. 8:58that ache,
197. 9:01that ache is to be loved and to be
198. 9:03known, to belong.
199. 9:06It is a homing signal. It is the pull
200. 9:09from God, I desire you.
201. 9:14It is a pull of God who made you for
202. 9:16himself and will not stop calling you,
203. 9:19searching you.
204. 9:22So whatever you carried in here today,
205. 9:24whether it's loneliness, whether it's
206. 9:26distance, whether it is indifference and
207. 9:29anxiety, whatever has crept in between
208. 9:32you and God, hear this and believe it.
209. 9:38You are not alone.
210. 9:40You've never been alone.
211. 9:42The Father made you.
212. 9:44The Son gave himself for you.
213. 9:46The Spirit lives inside of you right
214. 9:48now.
215. 9:50And in just a moment, that same God, the
216. 9:52one an astronaut and an astronaut would
217. 9:55not leave the planet without, is going
218. 9:58to be placed on your tongue or on your
219. 9:59hand
220. 10:01through him and with him and in him.
221. 10:06Because you see, the mass does not just
222. 10:07draw us in.
223. 10:10The mass draws us up.
224. 10:13Up into the life of God, who has never
225. 10:15been alone,
226. 10:17who has decided from all eternity that
227. 10:20he does not want you to be alone,
228. 10:22either.
229. 10:25And so, my brothers and sisters, on this
230. 10:27Trinity Sunday,
231. 10:29come to this table.
232. 10:31Receive the one who is in communion.
233. 10:35And then, go home and live like someone
234. 10:37who will never be alone again.
235. 10:40Understanding that God desires
236. 10:42companionship,
237. 10:44communion.
238. 10:46And then, you will feel and know the
239. 10:49meaning that God has for you.
240. 10:52You will have determination
241. 10:55to know him, to love him, and to go out
242. 10:57and serve him.
243. 10:59In the name of the Father, and of the
244. 11:00Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.