James Taylor, the very popular musician and singer, had a song out about a decade ago entitled, "you've got a friend." That title popped into my mind during this past week as I was reflecting on the meaning of trinity Sunday, which is the feast we celebrate in the church today. In fact, that is the message that I believe the Lord has for us this morning. He wants us to know that he desires to be our friend -- our best friend -- in this life. In other words, he wants us to know that he is not an old, white-bearded dude sitting on a great big throne in some far off place in the cosmos. He wants us to know that he is near. He wants us to know that he wishes to be involved with us personally -- in all the everyday events of our lives. He wants us to know that he wishes to be our guide, our helper, our shepherd, our consoler -- someone we can always go to, and rely on. Yes, the Lord is first and foremost our redeemer and our savior, but the fact of the matter is, if he is not also our best friend, we are missing out on something very important and very special. As Jesus himself says in today's gospel, one of the reasons that he and the father have given us the holy spirit is so that the spirit will be with us individually and as a church to guide us and lead us to the truth.

All this having been said, I think it would be appropriate this morning to reflect on the status and the quality of our current friendship with the Lord. You see, our friendship with God in many respects is exactly like our friendships with other people. For example, if they are going to be all they can be and all they should be, our friendships with other people have to be developed and worked at. And that is also true of our relationship and friendship with God. If we want the Lord to be our consoler and guide and helper and shepherd we have to make the effort each and every day to grow in our relationship with him. In other words we have to work at improving our friendship. If we don't, then he will not be able to do for us what he wants to do for us.

So where do we stand?

To help us get in touch with the areas that we need to work on in our friendship with the Lord (and all of us have areas we need to work on), I have made a list of several questions? I will share them with you now. I think if all of us answer these questions honestly, in the silence of our own hearts, we will each have a much clearer picture of our own current friendship with the Lord. Question #1 ... Ask yourself, "how important is it for me to dialogue with my friend, the Lord? Is it a top priority for me each and every day? And how much time am I willing to give him? I would think close that if the Lord is really a friend we would not want to go one single day without spending some time dialoguing with him. And if he is our best friend we should want to spend as much time with him as is possible, given our day to day responsibilities. I don't think it is any secret to any one of us that people who are close friends, and especially people in love, think nothing of spending hours in conversation with one another, even if it means a big phone bill.

Where do we stand with the Lord in this regard? We cannot call him on the phone, but we can converse with him in prayer.

Next question.

"how hard do I try to please my friend, the Lord, in my daily life?"

If someone is really near and dear to us, we usually make a tremendous effort to do and say things that will make them happy. That's the way we human beings tend to operate. On that note, I read an amusing little story the other day.-, It reads as follows:

One day a saleswoman sold a brightly colored pair of trousers to a lad who seemed delighted with his purchase. The next day he was back to say he wanted to return the trousers. His reason: "my girlfriend doesn't like them." A week later he was back again, all smiles and wanting to buy the trousers. "has your girl changed her mind?" The saleswoman asked. "nope", said the young fellow, "I've changed the girl." So much for deep friendships.

But how do we stand with the Lord? Do we try to please him? Or maybe, to take it back one step, do we know what pleases him? Before you can try to please someone you have to know what makes them happy. The Lord tells us what pleases him in his word, the bible, as it is interpreted by the church. Do we know what his word teaches? From my experience there are a lot of Catholics and a lot of other Christians who don't. If we don't, are we willing to make the effort to learn? If we want the Lord to be our best friend, I think the answer should be simple and-clear.

Of course the next question which follows from all of this is: "am I willing to accept criticisms and challenges from my friend, the Lord?"

You cannot read the bible with an open mind and heart and not feel convicted and challenged to change in some way. You just cant. The Lord may convict us in his word of jealousy, selfishness bitterness, lust, unforgiveness or something else, but convict us he will. And we will be challenged to change. How do we respond to that challenge! It seems to me, that if someone is a true friend and really wants to see us become the best person possible, then we should take their criticisms to heart, and make the effort to change. Are we willing to do that for the Lord, who loves us and cares for us more then anyone else and everyone else?

And finally, the last question "how prepared and willing am I to

Talk about my friend, the Lord, and defend him?"

If someone is truly near and dear to us we normally love to talk about that person. And if we hear someone criticize them or slander them, we

Usually will come-to their defense immediately. For example, my sister is getting married this afternoon -- 3 guesses who the officiating

Priest will be. Now I know that if someone came out and openly slandered donna's fiancée frank in front of her, that person would be in big trouble. Donna would give the unfortunate individual a tongue lashing of her own -- and believe me, she's pretty good at it. But that would be perfectly understandable, given the relationship that she and frank have.

In our relationship with our friend, the Lord, are we as ready and willing and able to speak about and defend him. Think, for example, of the times that you have been visited by the dear people from the

Kingdom hall here in town. They do not believe the same things about the trinity, or the church or salvation that we do. Are we able to speak the truth to them in love? And on a less defensive note, are we willing and able to share our personal faith in Jesus with others who do not know him, and who may have no faith at all? Important questions for a friend of the Lord to consider.

Now I wish I could stand here this morning and tell you that I am a perfect friend of God, and that I excel in all of these areas I mentioned, but that would not be true. I have aspects of my friendship with the Lord that I need to work on. And that is the case for all of us. But the good news is that the Lord is a faithful and patient friend. His love is always constant, it never changes. And so as we grow in our relationship with him he remains the same, but we benefit as we come to experience more of his guidance, consolation, strength and love.

I mentioned James Taylor's song, "you've got a friend" at the beginning of my homily. I will leave you today with some of the words of that song. I think they are the Lord's words to all of us on this trinity Sunday, and they tell us what we can expect from him as our friendship with him grows from day to day:

The Lord says;

(Trinity Sunday 1999 (A): This homily was given on May 30, 1999 at Medium Security Compound, ACI, Cranston, R.I. Edited for prison use by Francis Valliere, written by Fr. Raymond Suriani. . [Read Exodus34:4b-6, 8-9;2 Cor 13:11-13; John 3:16-18])

All this having been said, it would be appropriate this afternoon to reflect on the status and the quality of our current friendship with the Lord. You see, our friendship with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in many respects is exactly like our friendships with other people. For example, if our friendships are going to be all that they can be and all that they should be, our friendships with other people have to be developed and worked at through patient love. And that is also true of our relationship and friendship with God. If we want the Lord to be our Consoler and Guide and Helper and Shepherd we have to make the effort each and every day to grow in our relationship with Him. In other words we have to work at improving our friendship. If we don't, then He will not be able to do for us what he wants to do for us.

So where do we stand?

To help us understand those aspects of our friendship with the Lord that need improvement (and all of us have areas we need to work on), we need to ask ourselves several questions? In answering these questions honestly, in the silence of our own hearts, we will each have a much clearer picture of our own current friendship with the Lord and this should guide us in improving that friendship.

Question #1 ... Ask yourself, "How important is it for me to dialogue with my friend, the Lord?

Is it a top priority for me each and every day? And how much time am I willing to give him? I would think that if the Lord is really a friend we would not want to go one single day without spending some time dialoguing with Him. And if He is our best friend we should want to spend as much time with Him as is possible, given our day to day responsibilities. I don't think it is any secret to any one of us that people who are close friends, and especially people in love, think nothing of spending hours in conversation with one another, even if it means a big phone bill. Where do we really stand with the Lord in this regard? We may not be able to call him on the phone, but we certainly can converse with him in prayer. The nice thing is, He is there to hear us anytime and anyplace.

Next question…"How hard do I try to please my friend, the Lord, in my daily life?"

If someone is really near and dear to us, we usually make a tremendous effort to do and say things that will make them happy, that will please them. That's the way we human beings tend to operate. On that note, I'd like to read you an amusing little story; It reads as follows:

One day a saleswoman sold a brightly colored pair of trousers to a lad who seemed delighted with his purchase. The next day he was back to say he wanted to return the trousers. His reason: "my girlfriend doesn't like them." A week later he was back again, all smiles and wanting to repurchase the trousers. "Has your girlfriend changed her mind?", the saleswoman asked. "Nope", said the young fellow, "I've changed the girl."

So much for deep friendships.

But how do we stand with the Lord? Do we try to please Him? Or maybe, to take it back one step, do we know what pleases Him? Before you can try to please someone you have to know what makes them happy. The Lord tells us what pleases Him in his word, the Bible, as it is interpreted by the Church. Do we know what his word teaches? From my experience there are a lot of Catholics and a lot of other Christians who don't. If we don't, are we willing to make the effort to learn? If we want the Lord to be our best friend, I think the answer should be simple and clear.

Of course the next question which follows from all of this is: "Am I willing to accept criticisms and challenges from my friend, the Lord?"

You cannot read the bible with an open mind and heart and not feel convicted and challenged to change in some way. You just can't. The Lord, through His word, may convict us of jealousy, selfishness, bitterness, lust, unforgiveness or something else, but convict us He will. And we will be challenged to change. How do we respond to that challenge!? It seems to me, that if someone is a true friend and really wants to see us become the best person possible, then we should take their criticisms to heart, and make the effort to change. Are we willing to do that for the Lord; the Lord who loves us and cares for us more then anyone else and everyone else?

And finally, the last question "How prepared and willing am I to talk about my friend, the Lord, and defend Him?"

If someone is truly near and dear to us we normally love to talk about that person. And if we hear someone criticize them or slander them, we usually will come to their defense immediately. In our relationship with our friend, the Lord, are we as ready and willing and able to speak about and defend Him. Think, for example, of the times that you have been visited by the dear people from Kingdom Hall, the Jehovah's Witnesses. They do not believe the same things about the Trinity, or the church or salvation that we do. Are we able to speak the truth to them and defend the faith in love? And on a less defensive note, are we willing and able to share our personal faith in Jesus with others who do not know Him or maybe not even care to know Him, or who may have no faith at all or maybe very anti-Catholic? Important questions for a friend of the Lord to consider.

Now I wish I could stand here this morning and tell you that I am a perfect friend of God, and that I excel in all of these areas I mentioned, but that would not be true. There are aspects of my friendship with the Lord that I need to work on. And that, my dear brothers, is the case for all of us. But the good news is that the Lord is a faithful and patient friend. The Father's love is always constant, it never changes. And so as we grow in our relationship with Christ He remains the same, but we benefit as we come to experience more of the Holy Spirit's guidance, consolation, strength and love.

I briefly mentioned James Taylor's song, "You've Got A Friend" at the beginning of the homily. I'll leave you today with some of the words from that song. I think they are the Lord's words to all of us on this Trinity Sunday; and they tell us what we can expect from Him as our friendship with him grows from day to day:

The Lord says;

When you're down, and troubled, and you need a helping hand
and nothing, nothing is going right.
Close your eyes and think of me. And soon I will be there
to brighten up even your darkest night.
You just call out my name,
and you know wherever I am,
I'll come running, running to see you again.
Winter, Spring, Summer or Fall,
all you've got to do is call,
and I'll be there, yes I will,
you've got a friend, Oh yes, you've got a friend.