After celebrating the Lord’s Resurrection, His Ascension to the right hand of the Father, and the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Church, we celebrate the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity, “so that, in the confessing of the true and eternal Godhead, [these three divine Persons] might be adored in what is proper to each person, their unity in substance, and their equality in majesty.”
Today’s feast reminds us that, though we can identify what is proper to each person, and celebrate it in the mysteries of redemption (Christ’s Resurrection, the Holy Spirit’s descent), they are not three separate gods.
We also see today the necessity of belief in the One and Triune God: “Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”
In a short passage from Second Corinthians, we see the Persons of the Trinity being mentioned by St. Paul: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.” St. Paul shows us, though, that the same God who exists in a communion of Persons wants to be with us: “agree with one another, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you.” We recognize that God exists in a Trinity of Persons also to remind ourselves that we should live in imitation of the communion enjoyed by those three blessed Persons. In fact, if we do not, if we do not “Mend [our] ways, encourage one another, agree with one another, live in peace,” the God of love and peace will not be with us, or at least His presence will not bring us the peace and love we desire.
It is fitting that this week we are kicking off the novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus this Wednesday, June 3rd, leading up to the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart on June 12. On the 250th anniversary of the founding of our country, we want to dedicate our beloved nation to the One and Triune God we celebrate today by dedication that nation to our Lord’s Sacred Heart.
We do this, because our country needs God. We could make our own the words of Moses today: “If I find favor with you, O Lord, do come along in our company. This is indeed a stiff-necked people; yet pardon our wickedness and sins, and receive us as your own.” We are also a stiff-necked people when we ignore God’s law revealed to us in the natural law, when we continue prioritizing economic success over authentic human flourishing, when we recognize the dangers present in new technologies, but use them and give them to our children regardless.
Why, though, would we consecrate our country to the Sacred Heart, and not just “to God”? Consecrating the United States to the Sacred Heart of Jesus acknowledges that we need this God, the one true God, who exists in a Trinty of Unity. We do not just need things that are spiritual or generally religious. We do not need the false comforts of thinking that all religions are basically the same. We need the one true God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and it is the love of the heart of Christ that reveals the Triune God to us. Christ is the revelation of the Father’s love for us, and the Holy Spirit is that Love that exists between the Father and the Son that is poured out upon us. The Sacred Heart of our Lord, which we touch through His pierced side, is our gateway to the Father.
In the prayer we will pray together here each day of the Novena, we will pray: “Your heart burns with a love for all people to return to a right relationship with you.” This right relationship to Him includes our belief in God as He truly is – the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – because acknowledging God as the Trinity forms who we are as Christians. “You know the longings of our hearts,” we will pray, “and you desire that we enjoy friendship with you.” Against the idea that all religions are basically the same, Christianity is the only religion that recognizes friendship with God. That friendship is only possible because of God existing as a communion of Persons in the Trinity, and the Heart of Jesus opening to us a participation in that communion, that friendship. What other god recorded in the annals of human civilization ever told his supplicants, “I have called you friends”?
In our novena, we will thank God for His blessings upon our country: “We celebrate the abundant gifts you have given this nation, founded on the self-evident truths that our Creator has endowed all people with the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” But we also recognize the ways that we have been a stiff-necked people like the Israelites: “We make reparation for the offenses against you and against human dignity that have taken place in this nation.”
In this novena, we also recognize a unique place for the Catholic Church in her future: “May your holy Catholic Church serve as a sign, pointing all people to your infinite love.” If our country needs God, and needs the one, triune God, and if we need the Heart of Jesus as our opening to participate in the life of God, then our country needs the Catholic Church, who has preserved the purity of the faith handed on by the Apostles, who for centuries has safeguarded the doctrines entrusted to Her, and who serves as a witness to the truths of the Gospel.
This is not just a prayer for bishops, priests, parish employees, or those running Catholic non-profits, because the Church is not just another 501c3. The Church is a communion of persons in imitation of the communion of persons that is the Triune God whom we worship. It is for all of us to serve as a sign of the love of the heart of Christ, to point all people to His infinite love. “Mend your ways, encourage one another, agree with one another, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you.”
As we begin this novena this week to consecrate our country to the Lord’s Sacred Heart, we strive to be people of love and peace, who point our country back to the love of His Heart.
The Rev. Royce V. Gregerson
Parish Church of Our Lady of Good Hope, Fort Wayne
Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, A.D. MMXXVI
Father Gregerson 