MOST Reverend Patricio A. Buzon, Bishop of Bacolod, officiated a mass at the San Sebastian Cathedral in Bacolod City on June 7 in the presence of a limited number of Catholics attending due to the social distancing protocol.
The bishop, in his homily, dwelt on the value of relationships saying, "When I was actively involved in the Worldwide Marriage Encounter Movement, I had the privilege of listening to a sharing by a wife and mother who was terminally ill. She started by saying, 'As I come to the end of my days, I realize there is only one thing important in life – our relationships.' Indeed, everything dies with us except our relationships. Long after we’re gone, we continue to live in the hearts of those we loved. This same sentiment is echoed by Morrie (Tuesdays with Morrie) in his parting words; Death ends a life, not a relationship.”
Buzon said, "Our human relationships are the closest experience we can get to God. Isn’t God, after all, a pure and perfect relationship? He who abides in love abides in God."
"This is what the feast of the Most Holy Trinity is telling us. The Trinity is the most profound and central mystery of our faith. We will never understand how God can be one in three persons. It is a mystery precisely because it is beyond our understanding. But we know what makes the three persons one God – their relationship. Theirs’ is a relationship of love so perfect that they become one. St. John defines God as love. We know the mystery of the Trinity because God has revealed himself to us. Dei Verbum is the foundational document of Vatican II on Divine Revelation," he said.
It speaks not only of a revealing God who communicates the truth about himself, but also of a relational God who shares our human nature and invites us to share his divine life.
“Through revelation, the invisible God out of the abundance of his love speaks to men as friends and lives among them, so that He may invite and take them into fellowship with Himself. Jesus distinctly expresses this invitation in his prayer at the last supper, 'May they be one, just as, Father, you are in me and I am in you, so that they may also be in us," he said.
An interesting TED talk by an American psychiatrist, Robert Waldinger spoke of a Harvard study on Adult Development, which began in 1939 and continues until today. The research started with 724 men coming from different backgrounds, and today about 60 of them are still alive. The study centers on what makes a happy life. The voluminous pages gathered from the research reveal a clear and consistent message. What makes a happy life is not wealth, fame, status or power, but good relationships. The speaker then commented that we knew this all along. Our grandmother, our pastor and our teachers have told us so. But why don’t we get it? His answer was because we always want quick fixes. But in relationships there are no short-cuts. Relationships grow and develop throughout life.
"Life is about relationships. A wise old missionary once told me that the art of living is just the art of living with others. Let us cherish our relationships. As we are grateful for the gift of life, let us be grateful for the gift of relationships; they are what make our life. Let us value family and friendship and nourish our bonds by acts of kindness and service. Let us reach out and relate to those who have less and be bearers of God’s love. In today’s throwaway culture, we easily succumb to hurts and are tempted to get rid of difficult relationships. Let us learn to forgive and save our relationships for every relationship has its foundation in God, who is love.
Let me end where I began. The woman I mentioned earlier was right in saying that the one important thing in life is our relationships. They are all that matter. When Jesus was asked what is the greatest of the commandments, his answer was love of God and love of neighbor. These two loves are inseparable because they are the same. That is why St. John tells us that whoever says he loves God and hates his brother is a liar. St. Paul went farther by saying that the whole law is summed up in love of neighbor.
When we love, we enter into God’s own life. We are caught up in the divine loop and become participants in the circle of Trinitarian life. When we love, we truly become the image of God.
St Augustine wrote that if you see charity, you see the Trinity. And elaborating further, he added, wherever there is love, there is Trinity: a lover, a beloved and a fountain of love,” the Bishop shared.