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Independence Day has come again. For some, it is a day marked by joyous celebrations and expressions of gratitude for the freedoms we enjoy. For others, it is marked by rowdy gatherings of drunkenness, seemingly absent of any real patriotism. In any case, it surely ought to be marked by reflection. Reflection on just what it was that compelled the signers of the Declaration of Independence to put their very lives at stake by acting in grave defiance of the British Crown.

One of the most unforgettable encounters the disciples had with Jesus was when He came to them in the midst of the storm. The waves buffeted their little boat, and they were fearing for their lives when Jesus appeared walking on the water. He called out to Peter to come to Him. Peter climbed out of the boat but then started sinking.

The Feast of Corpus Christi is about sacraments. It encourages us to reflect on the ways God uses the simplest human realities to bring us to the holy, how Grace and Divine Love are given to us through the physical elements of our human lives: water, bread and wine, the company of one another, and the real physical presence of Jesus the Christ. I Googled the old catechism question, “What is a ‘sacrament,” and found the exact words, quoted from Question 136 of the Baltimore Catechism: “A sacrament is an outward sign instituted by Christ to give grace.” 

There is no end to the topics and things that we can now ‘Google’ on the internet. However, the Trinity is not one of them! No matter how hard we try, we will never fully understand this deep mystery. And although we can’t even begin to get hold of or grasp the fullness of the Trinity, our faith helps us in some small way to experience its power and presence in our lives. The Trinity is part of our Christian faith and tradition. It cannot be understood with the head, but it is a reality that we are called to experience and believe in through our prayer and our heart.

The Apostles spent a lot of their time after Christ’s Ascension trembling in rooms. None of them knew what to do after Christ had returned to the Father, especially after leaving them without a lot to go on. How could they speak this truth to the world around them and not feel vulnerable? Nobody would believe that their master had returned from the dead, walked the earth for a time, and returned to the one true God amidst a culture where the Roman emperor was thought to be the only Son of God, and where those who tried to deviate from this truth were persecuted or killed...