How many times have we felt awkward, embarrassed or ignorant just because we have not understood what someone has said to us?  It may be that they have used a “big” word which we are not familiar with. Or  that they have asked a question that we really didn’t understand. Or that it didn’t actually make sense.

At work if I didn’t understand I would sometimes  say “I havn’t come across that question or situation.  Leave it with me. I will double check the law and come back to you”.  That was far more professional than just making a guess.

Although we are celebrating the Holy Trinity  today, it is also “Music” Sunday.  So much of our understanding of God is expressed in the familiar hymns we sing.

One of my great loves is not only playing but listening to the pipe organ.  On my last Sunday at school, I well remember the thrill of rattling  off the famous Toccata by Charles-Marie Widor.  But it was J S Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in  E-flat major  - “the St Anne”  - being in a  key with three flats -  which  I chose to be played here last October before the service began for my priesting. The three-part Prelude follows the triple symbolism of the Holy Trinity, with the Father as a dotted rhythm; the Son as a lighter, simpler idea and the Holy Spirit as the all-encompassing sixteen note melody. As the prelude unfolds, the themes overlap suggesting a cosmic sense of unity. The triple fugue which then follows is a symbol of the Trinity too.  One of the reasons I chose it was because it is one of Bach’s greatest compositions. The other is that it reflects in music something of the mystery and majesty of God – which cannot be put into words -  but which nevertheless touches our hearts and to which we can respond.

In today’s readings we are reminded of the importance of seeking wisdom and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Asking that God may help us in our understanding of the Holy Trinity. There may be deep questions to which there are no immediate or obvious answers. We are encouraged to reflect upon what our faith means and to pursue ways of deepening it.  We are reminded that endurance produces character and character produces hope and  hope does not disappoint because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

Jean Vanier, the founder of the L’Arche Community, comments  that “the message of Jesus in today’s gospel is certainly beyond us, more than we can imagine. Jesus is challenging us to be faithful; to trust even when we do not fully understand.  He comes through something tiny, a little piece of bread, consecrated by the priest, which becomes his Body. He will leave us physically but through the bread he will be really present with us.  The sacrament will become a real presence for each of us; it is not just a moment of grace but a sign of a covenant of love, a friendship offered to us. He is truly present to us and in us”.

As we celebrate not only the Holy Trinity but  Music Sunday too,  may our minds be  opened to understand something more of the mystery of God and for us to sing:-

Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty,

Early in the morning our song shall rise to thee.

Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty,

God in three Persons, blessed Trinity.