Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

 

In heaven everyone will have a front seat, a place of honor, personal intimacy with the three divine Persons of the Holy Trinity. How can we express our gratitude now for such a destiny?  Long ago, a young girl from the glens of Ireland expressed her love for God by giving generously to the poor. 

The life of St. Bridget of Kildare is described in the following poem by Phyllis McGinley:¹

Saint Bridget was a problem child.  Although a lass Demure and mild.
And though she strove to please her dad, Saint Bridget drove the family mad. For here’s the fault in Bridget lay: she would give everything away.

Her father’s gold, her grandsire’s dinner, she’d hand to cold and hungry sinner;
Give wine, give meat, no matter whose; take from her feet the very shoes,
And when her shoes had gone to others, fetch forth her sister’s and her mother’s.

She could not quit. she had to share; gave bit by bit the silverware,
The barnyard geese, the parlor rug, her little niece’s Christening mug,
Even her bed to those in want, and then the mattress of her aunt.

An easy touch for poor and lowly, she gave so much
And grew so holy, that when she died of years and fame, the countryside put on her name,
And still the Isles of Erin fidget with generous girls named after Bridget                              

We have all received the upward call to be embraced by the Holy Trinity in an ecstasy of happiness, and to express our gratitude here and now by generosity, not only with our material goods like St. Bridget, but even more with our affections and kindnesses to one another.  All the mysteries of Christ’s life have this one purpose: to lift us up to the kiss of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.    

1. “The Giveaway,” The Love Letters of Phyllis McGinley, New York, Viking Press, 1957.