The Most Holy Trinity is Three Persons, One God. The most perfect unity, the most perfect communion, the most perfect love. No analogy will ever come close to capturing the reality of the oneness and the distinction of the Trinity. We are all called to imitate the unity and communion of the Trinity. We will never fully understand the perfect unity, communion, and love of the Trinity, but we should never let that discourage us from growing as His disciples. So, knowing this call to grow in communion and unity, what does this mean for us in the Winton Wyoming Pastoral Region? I ask this while knowing that June will bring several changes: the return of the Sunday Mass obligation on June 5/6 and the implementation of a new daily Mass schedule for the WWPR. The latter is a reminder that the Beacons of Light pastoral planning process is on the horizon. With communion comes the reminder of the need for sacrifice together. We are all invited to sacrifice in communion with each other—and, especially, with our Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross. God knows suffering. God knows pain. God knows sacrifice. And better yet, He has redeemed it! Because of this, we don’t need to pretend like sacrifices and change won’t be painful or sting. They will. It is better to mourn together, to suffer together, and heal together. To do all united in communion in imitation of the Blessed Trinity. While I cannot predict the future, I do know that we all have a lot of sacrifices to make in the future. Some may be very challenging, at which point we have to remind ourselves that our ultimate goal is always holiness, the salvation of souls. Unity and communion for the salvation of souls.
It is easy to become self-absorbed and break this communion. To hold onto our wants over the desire for salvation of souls. I am often guilty of this myself—especially as I continue to struggle to accept life with a sleep disorder. Woe is me. I’d rather do it this way. I am used to doing it my way. This is how we have always done it. As the future sacrifices approach, whatever the Lord may have in store for us, it is good to reflect on what is at the core of our words, deeds, and motivations. Is it our insecurities, our own desires, and our customs? Or is it our desire for communion, unity, and the salvation of souls? Especially because we have a pastoral region of three parishes, there are often more sacrifices. Which makes it more critical for us to examine our words, deeds, and motivations—priests included! When we are not focused on imitating the unity and communion of the Holy Trinity, we often slow down the momentum for the salvation of souls. Even if our wants and customs are truly good things, if they are done out of self interest and not communion, then they hold us back from doing the work that our Lord desires for us. A lot of times this happens unintentionally and innocently, but nonetheless, it still creates significant distractions. Sometimes we have to sacrifice our good desires so as to make sure we are not distracted from the greatest good—the salvation of souls. This is not an easy task. It is not easy or pleasant to make sacrifices. But it is better to make sacrifices together, to share the burden. So, let us promise each other that if we ever lose sight and distract from the salvation of souls, then we will ask for forgiveness. Then, promise to work to restore the unity and communion that we are called to as the Body of Christ. Let us examine our souls, our words, our deeds, and our motives to see if we are truly focused on union, communion, and the salvation of souls. Then, let us mourn together, suffer together, and heal together. To do all united in communion in imitation of the Blessed Trinity. Fr. Jeff