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Gospel: Matthew 28: 16-20
The eleven disciples went to Galilee,
to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them.
When they all saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted.
Then Jesus approached and said to them,
“All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.
And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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Let’s go to hell.
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No, not that place of fire and brimstone you’re probably thinking of… But Dante’s hell.
Perhaps you’ve read the Inferno, the first book in his famous trilogy, The Divine Comedy.
The Divine Comedy is the story of Dante’s journey to God. He begins in hell, but eventually makes his way through purgatory into heaven.
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In hell, Dante passes through nine different circles, each representing a different sin. After descending to that final level of darkness, Dante discovers that ancient beast, Satan.
Surprisingly, Satan isn’t breathing fire as many of us might have imagined.
He’s frozen, trapped waist-deep in ice. Above his waist, Satan’s furry bat-like wings flap restlessly about as he torments himself eternally.
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It’s a scary image; but that’s where Satan chooses to be – stuck in the darkness, frozen in ice, completely separated from the outside world.
For Dante, that’s the essence of hell: being isolated.
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Alone.
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How we wish that loneliness was something only the devil felt.
But how many have felt abandoned, isolated, totally alone during this pandemic? Being cut off from the outside world can feel like hell.
Or being denied the Sacraments, cut off from the community of faith, or feeling like the Church disappeared, can feel like hell.
Or think about how hardened our heart becomes when we’re carrying anger, resentment, or a grudge. Being unwilling – or unable – to forgive severs relationships.
That’s hell, too.
Hell is feeling tiny in the face of power; it’s the fear of injustice; it’s the fear of being unwanted or being ignored.
It’s any form of isolation.
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The opposite of being alone is being loved.
That’s heaven.
As Dante writes, heaven is a place of communion. The higher he climbs, the brighter it becomes until, finally, he beholds the face of God.
Unlike Satan, God isn’t alone. He isn’t flapping furry bat-like wings in a darkened cave of ice.
God lives in harmony as Father, Son, and Spirit.
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Today we celebrate Trinity Sunday – our belief that in God there are three distinct Divine Persons.
I think of the Trinity like a family. The Father, the Son and the Spirit love one another so much they are inseparable; they are One. They form the perfect relationship.
You and I were made in this image and likeness.
If hell is the distance we feel after a family argument, then heaven is the peace we feel when living in harmony.
The same idea applies to society at large. Hell is the scourge of war; heaven is the bond of unity.
The more we co-exist in peace, the more we reflect the inner life of the God, who is three distinct Persons without division.
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As Dante writes at the end of The Divine Comedy, God is, “the love that moves the sun and the other stars.”
It’s what holds everything and everyone together.
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This is the secret to human happiness: living like our God; living in relationship; living in peace with others.
On this Trinity Sunday, perhaps we should consider: Am I living in harmony with others?
Or are there broken bonds that need to be healed?
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The closer we are to one another, the closer we answer that final prayer of Jesus while he was on this earth, “That they may be one, Father, as you and I are one.”
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Image credits: (1) The Boston Globe (2) Road to Heaven Road to Hell, Thomas Hawk (3) Dante’s Lucifer (4) Bela Čikoš Sesija, Illustration from Dante (5) Dante’s Heaven