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Gospel: John 16: 12-15
Jesus said to his disciples:
“I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now.
But when he comes, the Spirit of truth,
he will guide you to all truth.
He will not speak on his own,
but he will speak what he hears,
and will declare to you the things that are coming.
He will glorify me,
because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you.
Everything that the Father has is mine;
for this reason I told you that he will take from what is mine
and declare it to you.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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By a show of hands, how many of you have you either heard of or read Dante’s Inferno, the first book in his famous trilogy, The Divine Comedy?
The Divine Comedy is the story of his soul’s journey to God. Dante begins in hell, but eventually he makes his way through purgatory into heaven.
Each stage of his journey has captivated and shaped Catholic imaginations since it was written more than 700 years ago.
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In hell, Dante descends through nine different circles of sin, each representing a gradual increase in wickedness: from lust, to greed, to anger, and so on. Finally, when he reaches the very bottom, he encounters 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, his furry bat-like wings flap restlessly as he torments himself eternally.
That’s where the Evil One freely chooses to be – stuck in the darkness, frozen in ice, completely separated from the outside world.
For Dante, that’s hell – being isolated; trapped.
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Alone.
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How we wish that loneliness was something only the devil felt.
But it can creep into any human heart, especially after scrolling through social media for hours on end; after a heated family argument; a breakup; or losing a loved one.
Why is loneliness so painful?
Because it frustrates and opposes our human nature. We believe that we were made in the image and likeness of God, who is not alone, but is a community of Three Persons – Father, Son, and Spirit, each of whom is bound to the others by love.
This is what Dante discovers as he ascends from the icy darkness, through the purification of purgatory, into Paradiso, the glory of heaven.
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Heaven is a place of welcome, light, and love. The angels and Saints swirl around the throne of God in praise. The higher Dante climbs the brighter it becomes, until finally he beholds God Almighty.
Unlike Satan, God isn’t trapped in ice, flapping his furry bat-like wings.
God is living in community, surrounded by love.
Dante discovers that this is the secret to his own happiness – living in perfect harmony with others, even while here on earth.
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It’s an amazing Christian insight: The more we live in peace with our neighbors, the happier we become, because we are reflecting the inner life of God, who created us.
As Saint John writes, “God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.” For wherever there is love, God is found.
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Thus, God is found when couples exchange their vows. God is found when parents behold their newborn child, and watch as they grow.
God is found when neighbors are reconciled; when the hungry are fed; when the naked are clothed; when the weak are cared for; and when the sick are cured.
God is also found in our brokenness. His Spirit is that healing balm that slowly pieces us back together.
As Dante writes at the end of The Divine Comedy, God is, “The love that moves the sun and the other stars.”
God is everything that is holy, beautiful, and good – not only in heaven, but also in us.
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If hell resembles being alone, then heaven is being together, even while here on earth.
This is what God desires for all of humanity – to live as one, just as the Father, Son and Spirit are One.
On this Trinity Sunday, we pray that God would strengthen the bonds we hold so dear – our connections to our family, our friends, to this community, and to God himself, while also repairing those relationships in need of healing.
Doing so gives us a taste of Paradiso, even before our journey is complete.
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Image credits: (1) NPR (2) Gustav Dore, Paradiso, Dante (3) Proverbs 31 Ministries