Many years ago, I was assigned to a parish that was enmeshed in the process of defining a Parish Mission Statement.  The office staff and parish council talked endlessly about identifying a mission and publishing it so that parishioners would know unequivocally why the parish existed. 

I participated in those discussions but never understood the urgency expressed by the parish council about identifying and publishing a Mission Statement.  It wasn’t until I left that parish for another assignment that I realized what those long conversations meant. I suppose it was the objectivity provided by distance that allowed me to see the problem faced by that parish and its lay leaders. 

It ought to be obvious to anyone, I think, that the mission of every Catholic parish is to fulfill the command issued by Jesus in today’s Gospel reading.  Before returning to the Father, Jesus said to his disciples, “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” (Mt 28:19-20) 

This universal mission wasn’t obvious to that parish’s leadership, however, because Jesus’ command to make new disciples remained an abstraction to them rather than a lived experience.  It remained an abstraction because discipleship was for them an idea rather than a way of life. 

This is not the failing of a single parish; it is an all-too-common failing in the Catholic Church.  Unfortunately, the ideas we use to express our beliefs tend to remain ideas rather than leading to the personal encounter that is the foundation of those ideas.  Today’s feast, the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, is another core experience of Christianity that remains largely an abstraction. 

This feast was added to the liturgical calendar because of popular misunderstandings about the nature of the Blessed Trinity.  Throughout the history of Christianity, there have been people who have struggled to make sense of how three Divine Persons can be consubstantially One God.  The Church’s response to those misunderstandings was to state its beliefs about the Trinity and dedicate a feast to reflection on those beliefs.  Unfortunately, for those who have not experienced personal encounter with the Trinity, even the best theological formulations tend to make the Trinity seem like a concept rather than Divine Persons. 

Make no mistake, there have been some brilliant theological formulations proposed throughout the centuries of the Church’s life.  Augustine of Hippo compared the Blessed Trinity to the three human cognitive faculties of intellect, will, and memory.  Thomas Aquinas described the Trinity in terms of human reason’s capacity to perceive an intelligible object and judge that object to be good.  More recently, William Hill proposed that the Trinity is best understood from the point of view of human nature’s social attributes. 

If you are not familiar with the great Catholic theologians’ writings about the Trinity, you’re probably not missing anything.  On the other hand, if you’re not familiar with the experience of the presence of the Trinity in your life, you are missing out on everything that is important in the life of faith. 

Believing in the objective truth of a statement is often necessary, but it is no substitute for trusting in the God whom one experiences as objectively real in one’s life.  The remedy for foundering in a sea of abstractions is to pursue a personal encounter with the Trinity, and this is easier than it sounds.   

Today’s Responsorial Psalm provides guidance about how to grow into knowledge and love of God.  Psalm 33 says, “Blessed the People the Lord has chosen to be His own.” (Ps 33:12)  This is not merely a statement; it is a prayer.  In fact, it makes an effective prayer to use throughout one’s day and for the entirety of one’s life. 

In the context of Psalm 33, the word “blessed” means to be grateful to God. The Psalm, then, is a prayer that expresses gratitude to God for the gift of being included in the assembly of those redeemed by God’s Grace. 

I had the opportunity to pray this prayer recently.  Some of the alumni of the university campus ministry program I directed gathered for a reunion about a week ago.  Spending time with those former students, their spouses, and children made me very grateful for those years when I was a campus minister.  I thought of how blessed I was to have those people in my life.  On the drive home after the reunion, an erratic driver made me bless God’s goodness, but with less charity in my heart. 

Repetition of this phrase to oneself throughout the day can afford both an encounter with God and inspiration to share the experience with others.  The life that results from this encounter and witness fulfills Jesus’ command and provides one with interpersonal knowledge of the Trinity. 

The Catholic Church, and our parish, have a clear, unequivocal, and invariable mission; our mission is to “make disciples of all nations.” (Mt 28:19)  Further discernment and definition are unnecessary; the only thing necessary in order to experience oneself as blessed by the presence of God and included in God’s holy People is to do what we are commanded to do – to make disciples.