![](\"https:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/__dQCWErAY9c\/TALzw7vAH4I\/AAAAAAAAATI\/pYRyQRGpyWk\/s1600\/liturgseason.jpg\")
<\/a>I\u2019ve been a Catholic my whole life, and yet I always have more to understand about our faith. Yesterday during Mass, for instance, was the first time in my 47 years I\u00a0understood why Trinity Sunday falls when it does during the Liturgical Year. I have not always been a faithful Catholic, so I have denied myself the lessons the Liturgical Year teaches. It exists to help us understand the dogmas of our faith.<\/p>\nIn my twenties, I attended Mass erratically. While it was a blessing, I kept returning to the Church, one of the many problems with irregular Mass attendance is, we don\u2019t \u201cget\u201d the whole picture. I visited a family member in South Carolina one weekend when I was 26 and\u2014lo and behold\u2014discovered it was Trinity Sunday. I remember thinking, Oh, that\u2019s interesting<\/i>. But the day felt random. I didn\u2019t understand why it fell when it did. Of course we believe, for example, in the Resurrection during the season of Lent. But the Church offers us Lent as an opportunity to meditate on the sufferings of Christ so we might better appreciate the miracle of His Resurrection. Each season of the Liturgical Year has its moods, its colors, its prayers and psalms, and its Bible passages.<\/p>\n And so it is that Trinity Sunday comes to us, not as I once thought, as a random day of the year, but rather as the climax of a series of feast days that instruct us, step by step, in the central mystery of the faith, the comforting dogma that our God is one God in three persons. This relationship is based on unconditional love and interdependence and we can attempt to model our loving relationships here on earth on the Trinity.<\/p>\n As yesterday\u2019s exquisite reading from the book of Proverbs tells us, God the Father existed before time. <\/span>and <\/span><\/i>I found delight in the human race.<\/span><\/i><\/a>\u201c<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n Thus,\u00a0the first person: God the Father.<\/b><\/p>\n Yesterday\u2019s second reading resonates with the Easter miracle.\u00a0Without Easter morning, there would be no Christianity.The second person: God the Son.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n As St. Paul told the Romans and tells us: Fifty days after Easter, we celebrate Pentecost. The third person: God the Holy Spirit.\u00a0<\/b> Within the Liturgical Year, there are many different rites or ways to observe. The Sarum Rite<\/a> was a variant of the Roman Rite and once was used throughout England. The piece we five choristers sang a cappella during the offertory yesterday came from the Sarum Rite.<\/p>\n
<\/a>
The Liturgical Year is a guide for believers. The faith is so deep and cycles of the year help poor souls like you and me understand the richness and complexity of the life of Christ. The year begins on the first Sunday of Advent and guides us through various seasons that tell the story of Christ\u2019s life \u2013 Advent, Christmas, Lent, the Triduum, Easter and Ordinary Time. Ordinary Time is so called not because it is ordinary, but because we use ordinal numbers to mark the weeks. The Liturgical Year ends with the Feast of Christ the King.<\/p>\n
\u201c<\/span><\/i><\/span><\/span>When the Lord established the heavens I was there,\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/i>when he marked out the vault over the face of the deep;<\/span><\/span><\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\u201cSince we have been justified by faith,\u00a0we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/i>through whom we have gained access by faith\u00a0to this grace in which we stand,\u00a0and we boast in hope of the glory of God.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n
St. Paul\u2019 s letter continues:\u00a0\u201c<\/span>Not only that but,\u00a0<\/span><\/i>we even boast of our afflictions,\u00a0<\/span><\/i>knowing that affliction produces endurance,\u00a0and endurance, proven character,\u00a0and proven character, hope,and hope does not disappoint,\u00a0because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts\u00a0<\/span><\/i>through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span>
<\/i><\/span><\/span>
And so, the following week we celebrate Trinity Sunday, which describes the whole picture: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n