I AM THE BEST PROOF
FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD
INTRODUCTION
The title of my homily is, “I Am The Best Proof For The
Existence of God.”
This Sunday we celebrate the feast of the Most Holy
Trinity. I assume that the preacher has
to make an attempt to explain the Trinity or say something about the
Trinity. Explaining God is tough enough.
Try explaining the Christian belief in God as a Trinity of Persons: Father, Son
and Holy Spirit.
We know from catechism classes - if we got our faith as a
kid - the old example of the triangle -
3 sides - 1 triangle. We know the about St. Patrick and the shamrock: 3 leaves
- 1 shamrock. We know the example of St.
Augustine walking the beach and seeing the little boy
with the pail and the shovel and he’s putting the water from the sea into the
pail. Augustine asks, “What are you doing?” The kid says, “Putting the ocean in
my pail.” Augustine says, “You can’t do that.” The boy says, “I can do that
sooner than you can explain the Trinity.”
And Augustine and Thomas and Bonaventure and Rahner - all tried to put God in ink onto the pages of their books….
The title of my homily is, “I Am The Best Proof For The
Existence of God.”
INTRICACY
Have you ever really looked under the hood of a car or
inside a watch or a computer or watched a documentary that showed the workings
of the inside of the human heart or brain or the universe? Very intricate. Very
interesting.
Have you ever seen those Russian dolls - Matryoshka [Ma-tra-yo-sh-ka
dolls? You begin with a Russian peasant woman. You twist the mid-section like opening
a jar of peanut butter. You separate the two halves and there is another woman
doll. Younger. You open her up and you get another woman doll and on and on. It’s usually at least 5 dolls. Sometimes the last one is a baby
which is made from a single piece of wood. Very intricate. Very interesting. There’s
a message there somewhere. Husbands elbow your wives!
Have you ever seen those ivory or marble carved elephants from
India ?
You keep on opening them up and you keep on getting smaller and smaller
elephants? Very intricate. Very
interesting. Wives elbow your husbands - especially if they are big boys!
Have you ever seen the man in the rowboat documentary? From above - the camera shows him in a rowboat on a pond. Then
it zooms out and out and out and out and out and out and out into outer space looking
back down on the man in the rowboat - whom you can no longer see. For some it
creates a mouth opening experience of awe. Then they zoom back and back and
back and back and back to the rowboat and then the camera keeps on going to the
man’s arm and in and in and in and in - into the inner, inner space - of the
man.
Have you ever gone into an art museum? It’s raining. You’re with
your family on vacation for 5 days in Boston or New York . You’re looking
for something different and you and the family go into an art museum. You’re
walking - looking at paintings - sculptures - and all of a sudden you have an
awe experience. It might be a painting of a tree or a flower or a child or a
battle scene or a mountain. You feel like you’re there for a moment - in the
picture - in the painting. Just then you see your spouse or child and you’re looking at the real thing
compared to the canvas and the paint - and you have an awe experience. This
other person is a work of art - a creation of God. Did you ever really look at or
into the human eye? Then you go outside. You see a tree. You go up to it. You
start to stare at its bark - like you stared at the skin of the canvas
paintings inside. You reach for one
of its leaves - and you look at a green
leaf up close and personal. It’s perfect. It’s free. It’s beautiful and you
have a God experience.
The title of my homily is, “I Am The Best Proof For The
Existence of God.”
TODAY’S GOSPEL
In today’s gospel there is a very interesting sentence -
Matthew 28:17. Like that leaf on the tree - I never looked at this sentence up
close before. Here’s the sentence: “When they all saw him, they worshipped, but
they doubted.”
Let me repeat that. “When they all saw him, they worshipped,
but they doubted.”
I immediately went to the Greek text of the New Testament. I
did some research. After that I went to 7 other English translations. The New American Bible, the NAB, the one we use, is the only one which says, “they worshiped,
but they doubted.” All the other English translations have the variation, “some
doubted”.
I began wondering if the translators were scared to say the
11 disciples had doubts.
If they had translated all of Matthew up to that point, they would know the 11 disciples had
doubts.
If they put down their writing instruments and went inside
themselves, they would know they too had doubts - but they still worshipped
Jesus as the Lord of their lives.
DOUBT
That word “doubt” in that sentence triggered for me a lot of stuff.
That word “doubt” in that sentence triggered for me a lot of stuff.
I preached a sermon on doubt on Doubting Thomas Sunday - the Second Sunday after Easter. I said it’s normal to doubt. I said it’s human to doubt.
I was talking to someone the other day and he said that what
makes us human - compared to animals - is our power of reflection. It’s our power to
reflect upon who and what’s around us - or what happened to us last month or
last year or the last time we were at a funeral or a wedding or an art museum
or Orioles game or what have you.
We can reflect. We can remember. Do animals think and
reflect? Probably somewhat. We know animals have memory. Pavlov told us that.
We have memories. Drive by your old high school and listen to your feelings.
But we are more than barking and running dogs - and rememberers.
We can think and figure and abstract and invent stints for
the heart and come up with eye glasses for when our eyes go bad.
So we doubt - we worship - we think - we go figure - we
invent.
I often think about Descartes famous thought: “Cogito. Ergo
sum.”
“I think. Therefore I am.”
I like to add, “I pray, therefore I am.”
I get jokes, therefore I am.
I doubt, therefore I am.
NOW WHAT DOES THIS
HAVE TO DO WITH THE TRINITY?
Now I have two things to do. Connect this to the Trinity and
end this sermon.
By now I’m hoping you’re thinking, “Okay, a bit of this
makes sense. I get some of the images,
but I have doubts about what you’re talking about. It’s too intricate.
You’re making this too complicated.”
I gave the first version of this homily yesterday afternoon
at the 4:30 at St. John Neumann and a guy after Mass on the way out said,
“You’re right. Nobody can explain the Trinity.”*
I said, “You’re right, I’ll mention that tomorrow morning
after I’ve tried to figure out this homily myself.”
RELATIONSHIPS:
INTIMACY AND INTRICACY
When talking about God - when talking about the Trinity - we can begin with the simple, move to the
intricate, and then move to conversation - communication - communion - intimacy
- with God as Person.
It’s just like that man who came over to me last night. We
had a slight conversation. That moved me and him to become a two - and his wife
was sort of next to him - that makes three. Hint. Hint. Moving towards a
trinity…. Were the two of them talking
about that comment that he made before he made his two second comment to me?
Maybe it was her comment to him in the first place and he stole her great
one-liner.
There is a difference in going to an art museum or gallery
and seeing paintings - and going to an art gallery or museum and knowing one of
the artists whose work is being exhibited.
She or he could be a friend or a family member or a next door neighbor. If
that’s the story, we’ll see the paintings different. Conversations we’ve had with
them - experiences we’ve had with them will be triggered and remembered as
we’re experiencing their work of art. “Wow that’s my back fence.”
It gets even more interesting if we talk to that person
about one of their paintings and what it triggered in us - and then they tell
us what they were seeing.
We’ve had this experience. We’ve read a novel or a story by
someone we know - and we’re wondering as we’re reading it, “Is she talking
about me right here on page 96?”
That interaction can lead to a conversation with the author
or artist.
When it comes to God - I find it very helpful to see God as
a maker, a creator, an artist, an author, a story teller - and I like to like
to see God as one who wants to engage us - wants us to walk and be talked to
and questioned - etc.
Start talking to God about all God’s creations. Wow! Where
did you come up with the idea of hippos, mosquitoes and bees and honey?
Read the scriptures and start talking with God. Is this me
on page 2?
The scriptures begin with God.
God creates the whole universe - as well as the garden with all its animals - birds and bees and honey - and then God creates the first one of us. Then God realizes there has to be two: male and female God made them. It’s not good to be alone.
The scriptures begin beautifully saying everything is good -
that we are different from the animals - and then we have the great text, “We
are made in the image and likeness of God.”
Keeping all this in mind - we’re able to think - that’s what
makes us human.
But that’s not enough. If I’m just me, myself, and I - and if I’m made in the image and likeness of God, maybe
it takes two to discover God and maybe God is two.
Alone I am a monologue.
With another I can dialogue.
With God we can Trialogue.
It’s called prayer. It’s called worship.
If I go through life all alone - being self centered - and
I’m just me, myself and I, I have to do some thinking about that.
And if we think, we better talk to someone, and if we talk to someone, we
might start to become a we, a community, a family and if we do that enough, we
can experience bliss, awe, and experience God.
See the ending of the movie My Cousin Vinny. I can’t use in church the language Marisa Tomei as
Mona Lisa Vito uses. They have just won the big trial - with a little help from
a friend. She and Vinny are driving into
the future down the highway in the big convertible - but she says something
like this, “Oh my God. You are going to have to go through the rest of your
life and you’re going to need others. O my God. You’re going to have to ask for
help and then to say, Thank you. O my God.”
There is an image of God. There is an image of the Trinity.
There is an image we all have to experience. And if we get it, get that, then
we can be the best proof for the existence of God - starting with ourselves.
Self - Others - God.
We need all three. It’s in the great commandment to love the
Lord our God with our whole heart, mind, soul and strength, and to love our neighbor
as ourselves. Trinity.
Self is not enough.
Another is not enough. Marriage is good. Family is better.
Know this and you know God - first hand - and if you know
this first hand - you can share this with another and others - and become
trinities - communities - becoming more and more aware we are made in the image
and likeness of God - getting glimpses of the Trinity.
In other words, the title of my homily is, “I Am The Best
Proof For The Existence of God.”
* After Mass this morning a guy came to me and said, "I don't even try to figure out my wife, so I'm not going to try to figure out the Trinity." I spotted his wife down the corridor and before I had a chance to mention his comment, she says, "He told me! Cute! Isn't he?"
Painting on top by Masaccio. The video is self explanatory.
Painting on top by Masaccio. The video is self explanatory.
