Sunday reflections

In today’s gospel, the people ask Jesus three questions and each time his response suggests, think again.

We’ve seen them on car bumper-bars, keychains, lapel pins, and pendants. Users of online discussion boards and chat rooms find innovative ways to employ them in posts. They are the so-called “Jesus Fish”, a symbol comprising two intersecting arcs; or, in the case of online chat rooms, formed by the astute use of the “greater than” and “less than” symbols (<><).

I was having dinner with my sister’s family recently and the conversation turned to the latest developments regarding COVID-19. At that point my five-year-old niece threw her arms in the air and lamented, “COVID seems to have gone on forever.”

Most of us can only admire those who reach the top of their profession. We realise what commitment is required to be an Olympic athlete, or to be a virtuoso musician: the hours of practice and training which culminate in winning trophies or playing in the great concert halls of the world.

If we hear something interesting about someone, we might be inclined to search for more information about that person. But Mark in today’s gospel tells us about a contrasting attitude displayed by the people of Nazareth, Jesus’ own kinfolk.

Is suffering part of human life? Does evil exist? Do we die? Of course, we are realists. We know all that is true in relation to ourselves and the millions of people who are refugees, victims of war and terrorism, the homeless and the lonely.

The Shetland Islands are north of Scotland and just below the Arctic Circle. They are a group of one hundred islands with only sixteen inhabited. There is a daily ferry for travellers, but also private boats for hire.

A conversation overheard on a busy city tram went like this: “Excuse me, stranger. But do you have the time?”

In the fifth century, St Augustine taught people that if they truly loved the Eucharist they would become what they eat.

Today we celebrate that God comes to us, communicates with us, and relates to us in three distinct ways as three distinct persons. It is no accident that we celebrate Trinity Sunday at this particular point in the liturgical year — after Easter, Ascension and Pentecost — because it was through those events that the disciples realised that God is a Trinity of three divine persons, and yet only one God.