A Few Words On "The Word"

June 11, 2006
The Most Holy Trinity

Matthew 28: 16-20

God in Your Relationships

If someone were to ask you right now, "Who are you?" what would you say? (And no, you can't say "Get away from me, you freak!") Maybe the first part of the answer is your name. Your first name describes you, but what does your last name do? It situates you as a member of a family, it describes a whole web of relationships you have. Part of who you are is someone's son or daughter, brother or sister, nephew, niece or cousin.

Let's say it's someone who used to go to your school who's asking. Instead of asking "Who are you?" he or she might ask the same question in another way, something like, "So who do you hang out with?" Part of who you who are is someone's friend, whether that's a casual acquaintance, someone to hang out with or the best of best friends.

Relationships make us who we are. Especially in our teen-age years, we know how necessary all kinds of relationships are. Could you imagine life without friends? Without somebody to chill with? Without someone to ask a question, tell a story, eat with?

Part of what the mystery of the Holy Trinity means is that God is found in relationships. We believe in one God, one God who is three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The three divine persons' relationship is so tight that they are one God, and from their relationship all things come into being.

And guess what? Talking about your last name, your family name, did you know that we all share the very name of God as our larger family's name? Look what Jesus told his first followers to do in the gospel: Go out, find us and baptize us? Baptize how? In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. All of our relationships-the strong ones and the weak ones, the loving ones and the troubled ones-all of our relationships can lead us into the heart of God.

Reflection Question

Pick one of your most important relationships and share one way in which you find God in this relationship.

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