The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity Homily 2025: Fr. Vigoa — Transcript

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1. 0:04Back in the early 2000s, NASA sent out a
2. 0:07space probe known as Voyager 1,
3. 0:12and it was to go beyond the edge of our
4. 0:14solar system. On it, they included this
5. 0:18golden record,
6. 0:20a kind of time capsule meant to uh be
7. 0:24for any intelligent life that they may
8. 0:26encounter it and go through it. The
9. 0:30record held some of the sounds from
10. 0:33Earth, greetings in 55 different
11. 0:36languages. It had classical music, whale
12. 0:40songs, even the sound of a mother
13. 0:43kissing her child.
14. 0:46It was our way of saying this is who we
15. 0:48are. Do you read us?
16. 0:52What's fascinating about this? After all
17. 0:55of our scientific advancements, our most
18. 0:58profound speexression
19. 1:01to the cosmos wasn't an equation of a
20. 1:05theory, but a story. A story of a kiss,
21. 1:09a symphony,
22. 1:12something deeply relational.
23. 1:15We reached outward not merely with
24. 1:18knowledge, but with the knowledge of
25. 1:20love.
26. 1:23That longing to be known, to be loved,
27. 1:26to be in communion is not an
28. 1:28evolutionary
29. 1:30accident.
30. 1:31It comes from somewhere.
31. 1:34And that somewhere is rather someone.
32. 1:40Today on this somnity of the most holy
33. 1:42trinity, the church dares to speak not
34. 1:44just about God, about about who God is,
35. 1:50not what God has done or what God
36. 1:52expects, but who God is himself.
37. 1:56And the answer is breathtaking.
38. 1:59God is not a solitary monolith, detached
39. 2:02and immovable.
40. 2:03God is communion.
41. 2:06God is relation. God is love.
42. 2:11Father, son, spirit. Three persons, one
43. 2:14God.
44. 2:16Not a puzzle to be solved, but a mystery
45. 2:18to be entered into.
46. 2:22St. Augustine said, "If you understand
47. 2:24it, then it's not God."
48. 2:27And yet, we're not left in the dark. In
49. 2:31Jesus Christ, God has revealed himself.
50. 2:34We know God because of Jesus.
51. 2:38Not as an abstract force or in an
52. 2:40impersonal architect, but as the father
53. 2:44who gives,
54. 2:45the son who receives and returns that
55. 2:49love, and the spirit who is the very
56. 2:52love shared between the three of them.
57. 2:56This isn't this isn't theological
58. 2:59gymnastics.
59. 3:01It's the foundation of a reality.
60. 3:06We're made from love, for love, to live
61. 3:09in love.
62. 3:12So the church invites us to read the
63. 3:14ultimate message of communion, the
64. 3:16trinity, but to read it not as an
65. 3:19abstract doctrine, but God himself,
66. 3:23father, son, holy spirit dancing
67. 3:26eternally in love through paracesis,
68. 3:30what the theologians would say. But as
69. 3:32Pope Leo I 14 beautifully described it
70. 3:35this morning in St. Peter's Basilica, he
71. 3:38reminded us that the Trinity isn't
72. 3:40static, but it's dynamic.
73. 3:43Its life as a divine motion, constantly
74. 3:48giving as gift.
75. 3:52This Sunday marks the Jubilee of sports
76. 3:55in Rome. Something that's beautiful
77. 3:57being in Rome is during the jubilee year
78. 4:00there's all types of different jubilees
79. 4:04and this week is the jubilee of sports.
80. 4:07So people enthusiasts of sports are all
81. 4:10gathered in Rome
82. 4:13and it's a celebration
83. 4:16during this jubilee. The church form
84. 4:18formally recognizes every authentic
85. 4:21human activity even including sports.
86. 4:25Pope Leo the 14th calls this divine
87. 4:28playfulness
88. 4:30the dance of love,
89. 4:33the eternal movement of love within the
90. 4:36Trinity. And he invites us to think of
91. 4:38our lives, even our human endeavors,
92. 4:40yes, even sports as echoes of that
93. 4:44divine diamondism.
94. 4:46Think about it. Real sports
95. 4:49like real love requires the movement of
96. 4:52the self towards another
97. 4:55demands sacrifice. It demands
98. 4:57discipline, conditioning, humility and
99. 5:00joy. It celebrates community not
100. 5:03individualism.
101. 5:05It teaches us not just how to win but
102. 5:07how to lose with grace.
103. 5:10Makes us confront our limits so that we
104. 5:13might grow beyond them.
105. 5:16Real sports like real love requires the
106. 5:19movement of the self towards the other.
107. 5:22Demands sacrifice.
108. 5:25We saw this on full display during the
109. 5:282008 Olympics in Beijing. You may
110. 5:30remember this came one of the most
111. 5:33unforgettable relays in Olympic history.
112. 5:36The men's 4x 100 meter freestyle final.
113. 5:41The US team wasn't expected to win. The
114. 5:44French team led by world champion Alan
115. 5:47Bernard had already boasted that they
116. 5:50would smash the Americans.
117. 5:53Three American swimmers did their part,
118. 5:55but it came down to Jason Leac on the
119. 5:58final leg racing against Bernard who had
120. 6:02halfbody length lead on him. And Lazak
121. 6:07wasn't the fastest swimmer on paper. He
122. 6:09wasn't supposed to catch Bernard, but
123. 6:12something greater was at play.
124. 6:14And Lesak later would say that he didn't
125. 6:17swim for himself. He swam for his team,
126. 6:20for his country, for something bigger
127. 6:22than just individual glory.
128. 6:25With a thunderous last 50 meters, he
129. 6:28closed the impossible gap and touched
130. 6:30the wall, winning US gold.
131. 6:34You could rewatch it on YouTube. It's
132. 6:36pretty powerful.
133. 6:38But this only happened because one man
134. 6:40chose to give everything he had for the
135. 6:42team. He didn't swim for his own name.
136. 6:45He swam for the collective.
137. 6:48That's the trinity. The paracinesis in
138. 6:51motion. Each person not acting for
139. 6:53itself but for the other. Real love,
140. 6:57real sports doesn't allow room for the
141. 6:59ego.
142. 7:01They demand surrender to something
143. 7:03bigger. That's why the church celebrates
144. 7:06not just winners, but those who give
145. 7:08themselves away, whether in the pews,
146. 7:11whether in the pool, or in quiet daily
147. 7:14acts of love.
148. 7:16And that, Pope Leo reminded us, is where
149. 7:19true hope begins.
150. 7:21In a world obsessed with performance and
151. 7:24productivity, the Trinity reminds us
152. 7:26that relationship is greater than
153. 7:28result.
154. 7:30that being that being is greater than
155. 7:32doing
156. 7:34that love is not just something God
157. 7:36gives but something that God is.
158. 7:39So what does this mean for us on this
159. 7:41Trinity Sunday?
160. 7:43It means that faith is not a solo act.
161. 7:46I've reminded you this many times.
162. 7:49Christianity is not a self-help plan.
163. 7:53To be a Christian is to live from within
164. 7:55in a relationship to the Father who
165. 7:58created you, to the Son who redeems you,
166. 8:01and to the Spirit who sanctifies and
167. 8:03sustains you.
168. 8:05You're never meant to walk alone.
169. 8:08It means that community isn't optional.
170. 8:12That's the church. Messy and and flawed
171. 8:15as she may be, it's not just an
172. 8:18institution, but the family into which
173. 8:20you have been adopted by grace.
174. 8:23and your presence, your voice, your
175. 8:26witness matters.
176. 8:28Now that I'm back for good from Rome
177. 8:31with two intense, gracefilled years of
178. 8:34study behind me, I feel this truth more
179. 8:37deeply than ever. Community building is
180. 8:40now my central focus. This parish must
181. 8:43become a living force of the gospel in
182. 8:45action. Not just a place we attend once
183. 8:48a week where we put gas in the tank. We
184. 8:52need each other. We need to grow walking
185. 8:55together, holding one another
186. 8:58accountable, challenging one another,
187. 9:00and lifting each other up. This fall,
188. 9:03I'm ready to launch new in initiatives
189. 9:05to help us live this out. So, buckle
190. 9:09your seat belts.
191. 9:11But I don't just want your attendance.
192. 9:14I want your participation. I want
193. 9:17everyone to participate. I want to see
194. 9:19your joy. I want to I want to see your
195. 9:21gifts, your prayer
196. 9:24or being called to grow into a strong,
197. 9:26faithful, courageous parish community.
198. 9:29One that's rooted in disciplehip. One
199. 9:31that will witness to others and other
200. 9:34communities. One that is alive in the
201. 9:36spirit and marked by love. True love.
202. 9:40So all of this to say love is not safe.
203. 9:44Love is risky. It is costly.
204. 9:48But it is the only thing worth building
205. 9:50a life upon.
206. 9:53And when we love in truth and when we
207. 9:55sacrifice and when we're faithful, we
208. 9:58reflect God more than any theological
209. 10:01movement or any theological doctrine.
210. 10:05So, if you feel like you're in exile in
211. 10:07your own surroundings, like you don't
212. 10:09belong, you're confused by what is
213. 10:11truth,
214. 10:13or if you've been hurt by love that
215. 10:16wasn't real, I say to you, come back.
216. 10:20Come back to the beginning. Come back to
217. 10:23the source. The Trinity is not an
218. 10:26abstract dogma. It is the central answer
219. 10:29to the deepest cry of every human art.
220. 10:32to be known, to be seen, and to be
221. 10:35loved, and to belong.
222. 10:38So my brothers and sisters, this is your
223. 10:40invitation, not just to believe in God,
224. 10:44but to live in him, not to understand a
225. 10:48doctrine, but to enter into a
226. 10:50relationship.
227. 10:52The Trinity is not meant to be solved,
228. 10:54it's meant to be lived, and we will do
229. 10:57that here. Amen.