Referring to 2 Corinthians 13:11-13, I talked about how meditating on the beautiful complexities draws us toward God and others at the 11:30 a.m. Sunday Mass on May 31, 2026 at Catholic Institute of Technology at Castel Gandolfo outside Rome.

Text of the homily

Complexity and wonder. Formed in science, technology, engineering and math, we deal with such intricacies and complexities as molecules, circuits, structures and formulas. Are they overwhelming? Sometimes, yes, but they are an opportunity of wonder. Do we stop and marvel at them because somehow, they are beautiful, reflecting the beauty of God?

For example, consider today’s liturgy. At its start, I greeted you with this verse from the conclusion of the letter to Second Corinthians: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”

How stunning it is to join this divine, eternal liturgy with these gifts from this affectionate Trinity: grace, love and fellowship. What love this one God has for us and what generosity each person of the Trinity has for us.

At the same time, these gifts prompt us to ponder the mystery of God, who is simple in loving and complex in his inner life.     

 For example, this one God is also three, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Paragraph 253 of the Catechism teaches that these persons do not share the divine nature like apple pie divided into thirds. Rather, each has the fullness of divinity. They exist as one in a community of giving and receiving love.

This God did not need to reveal Himself, who is sufficient all to Himself. We can be like Jews and Muslims, who serve the one God and hope for a heavenly reward for this service at death. But our Christian faith teaches us that the one God revealed Himself as Trinity over the centuries. In the first reading, Moses heard the thrice “Holy,” which Hebrew uses to say “holiest,” but with our eyes of faith, we see each “Holy” referring to each person of the Trinity. This revelation reached its fullness in Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh.

Why bother revealing this complex yet fundamental truth? Because, as Pope Leo writes, “[our] deepest vocation is to enter into the Trinitarian dynamic of love received and shared.” We receive that gift in Baptism, strengthened and healed through Confirmation, Confession and Holy Communion.

After we, his adopted children, marvel at this God, we then wonder at His most perfect creation, the human being. How beautiful we move, act, think and love! Yet so complex. Fallen, yes, but also loved and redeemed by God, as today’s Gospel declares, “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.”

Seeing each other as a marvelous gift, we respond by helping each other. Thus, we rebuild a better society as Pope Leo counsels us in his encyclical. I end with Paul’s appeal: “Rejoice. Mend your ways, encourage one another, agree with one another, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you.”