Father Peter’s Homilies

  

June 1, 2026 The Most Holy Trinity

The Feast of the Holy Trinity reminds of this classic cute story to share with you. Jesus, Moses, & an old man were teeing off on the sixteenth hole on heaven’s golf course. The sixteenth hole is a par three over a lake.

            Moses, the first to tee off, steps up & swings, and the ball dives right for the water. He instantly spreads his arms, the water parts, and the ball rolls across the bottom of the lake & up on to the green. The others compliment him on his shot, & then Jesus steps up for his turn.

            Like Moses, Jesus’ ball heads straight for the water, but when it gets there, it just rolls across the surface of the lake, continuing until it gets across & rolls up onto the green. After showering him with compliments, the old man steps up to take his shot.

            His ball also dives for the lake, but bounces off the back of a turtle & onto the far shore. There, a squirrel picks up the ball & heads for the woods. As the others begin to laugh, a hawk swoops down & picks up the squirrel. As the hawk flies over the green, it squeezes the squirrel. The ball falls out of the squirrel mouth, bounces once on the green, & then rolls into the cup.

            Jesus turns to the old man & says, “Nice shot, Dad!”

            Anyway, this Sunday the Church invites us to reflect on the mystery of the Holy Trinity & celebrate its wonderful blessings for our world. Some people do not believe in God. However, throughout human history, people have always had some belief in gods & hope to get some kind of divine assistance for their challenging lives. They have come up with all kinds of gods such as the god of water, the god of fire, the god of wind & storm, the god of earthquake, & so on. Most ancient religion worshipped multiple gods; & hence they were often referred to as polytheistic religions. It was not until Judaism came along that the world has begun to switch to a monotheistic religion which worships only one god. That is why we have heard how a single god created our beautiful Universe in the Book of Genesis in the Old Testament. That is the same foundation that Christianity has built its religious beliefs.

            Christianity believes in one god like Judaism. However, its founder Jesus introduced the three new concepts of Father, Son, & the Holy Spirit. How could Christianity include its three concepts of Father, Son, & the Holy Spirit in its monotheistic belief? It has taken Christianity for years to come up with a sensible explanation of one god in the mystery of the Holy Trinity. Theologians like St. Patrick have used the images like the clover to explain the concept of the Holy Trinity & help the world understand how one god could exist in three persons – Father, Son, & the Holy Spirit – with the same substance & equal power. We Christians still believe in one god that is now present in three persons & shares the same substance & power. Each person of the Holy Trinity has one’s own mission at certain time throughout human history. For example, God took on the mission of creating our beautiful universe at the beginning of time as we have heard about it in the Book of Genesis in the Old Testament. After human beings have sinned & acted against God’s will, God the Son was sent to offer Himself on the Cross to atone for their sins & reconcile them with God the Father. Then, God the Holy Spirit came to continue the saving work of God the Son & guide the people of God to Heaven until the return of God the Son. That is what we Christians believe about the Holy Trinity & proclaim it at the Sunday Mass in the Nicene Creed.

            Why does this Feast of the Holy Trinity matter to us Christians? What spiritual lesson could the three persons of the Holy Trinity teach us? First, the Holy Trinity has shown us how much it loves each other & the people of God. That is why St. John defined God to be Love. Wherever we find love, God is definitely there. It was out of love for us that God created us & then saved us. If our world is filled with God’s love, everyone would act & treat one another like the three persons of the Holy Trinity. That leads us to another important spiritual lesson, which is about Relationship. The three persons of the Holy Trinity always shows respect & support for one another. Each person of the Holy Trinity never puts one’s own benefits & ambition over the common good. Rather, the three persons of the Holy Trinity always have in mind the welfare of others. That is why there is no civil war within the Holy Trinity. On the contrary, we have seen fights & backstabbing in our world & wherever there is presence of the Prince of Darkness.

            Lastly, the three persons of the Holy Trinity have always worked hard for everything despite being god & have taken pride in their work. They never relied on someone else such as the Prince of Darkness to get things done for them. God the Father worked hard for six days to create our Universe & rested on the seventh day. God the Son also did His work of salvation all by Himself & relied on no one else to die on the Cross for Him. God the Holy Spirit acted the same way & never counted on other spirits to do its works such as healing, driving out evil spirits, or performing miracles.

            Unfortunately, our world does not take pride in its own works & often relies on someone else to do the work for it. It often enjoys cutting corner & taking credits for everything. Moreover, all it cares about is making profits at all costs. That is why I am not surprised to see the development of AI (Artificial Intelligence) & how our world has embraced it with wide-open arms. Our world has not thought twice about the consequences of AI usage now & in the future. That is why our Holy Father Pope Leo XIV has come out with the recent Encyclical “Magnifica Humanitas” to warn the world about AI & safeguard the human person. When the Industrial Revolution took place, factories relied on the assembly system to crank out more products & make more profits at the cost of huge job loss. The Church has warned the world about its consequences as human workers were slowly turned into robots & losing their human values & dignity. Likewise, the Church now wants us to begin asking lots of questions about AI & resist making it another idol in our lives. We cannot become slaves to AI & let it run our world unchecked. For any company that makes AI its central focus only cares about its profits without worrying about its human workers & their dignity. That is why AI is completely contrary to the Holy Trinity & poses an intrinsic threat/harm to the human family.             My dear brothers & sisters, the Holy Trinity shows us the importance of love, relationship, & hard work. All three persons have made those & other virtues the foundation of their existence. Their way of life has brought all sorts of blessings not only to themselves but also toe the whole Creation. We should imitate them & make love, relationship, & hard work the core values of our lives to bring about all the blessings to us & our world.