Made for Communion: The Trinity, Artificial Intelligence, and the Meaning of Being Human

 Holy Trinity 2026

Pope Leo’s new encyclical on artificial intelligence invites us to ask what makes human beings truly human. On Trinity Sunday, we remember that we are made in the image of the Triune God, which means we are made not for isolation or mere efficiency, but for communion, love, and relationship. Technology can serve this vocation when it strengthens human connection, but it becomes dangerous when it weakens our capacity to love and be present to one another.

Listen to homily here:

Read homily here:

This past Monday, something happened in Rome that you do not see every day. There was a special press conference, and Pope Leo was there speaking. Beside him was the co-founder of Anthropic, one of the major new artificial intelligence companies. You may have seen some of the footage, because at this press conference Pope Leo presented a new encyclical, a teaching document from the pope, on artificial intelligence.

The document is called Magnifica Humanitas, on safeguarding the human person in the time of artificial intelligence. We have known for a while that this document was coming. Pope Leo chose the name Leo because he wanted to stand in continuity with Pope Leo XIII, who is often seen as one of the great founders of modern Catholic social teaching. In Catholic social teaching, the Church looks at what is happening in the world, at new events and new technologies, and asks: how are we called to respond in the light of the Gospel, in a way that promotes human dignity?

Pope Leo has thought a great deal about artificial intelligence. As he said at the press conference, he has listened to many different people: those involved in producing artificial intelligence, computer scientists, engineers, parents, government leaders, people who have lost their jobs, and people who are struggling in various ways. This new document is a response to artificial intelligence, but Pope Leo does not say that AI is simply bad or that we should avoid it altogether. It is a tool, and he sees many good and positive possibilities in it.

At the same time, Pope Leo also describes some real risks. AI can be used in warfare, including unmanned drones, expanding the scope and scale of destruction. It can replace human workers. It can increase our dependence on technology, and even contribute to addiction. It can shape the way we think, the way we relate, and the way we see ourselves.

But most importantly, Pope Leo says that artificial intelligence invites us to ask a much deeper question: what does it mean to be human?

That is really the question at the heart of the document. The very title says it all: Magnifica Humanitas, the magnificence, the greatness, the goodness of humanity. What makes humanity good? What makes us different from artificial intelligence? Pope Leo does not say that human beings are different from AI simply because we are smarter. Rather, he points us back to how we have been created.

Each and every human being, rich or poor, young or old, healthy or sick, powerful or weak, is created in the image and likeness of God. This is what we read in the Book of Genesis. This is what distinguishes us not only from artificial intelligence, but from every other part of creation. We have been created in the image and likeness of God.

But what does that mean?

Does it mean that if we are created in God’s image, we all look like those old paintings of God with a white beard? Does it mean that we somehow physically resemble God? Of course not. This Sunday gives us a beautiful opportunity to remember what it truly means to be created in the image and likeness of God, because today we celebrate the mystery of the Trinity.

If we want to understand what it means to be created in God’s image, we need to understand something about the Trinity. We need to understand who God is, and how this shapes who we are called to be.

Belief in the Trinity is a great mystery, and it took time for the Church to express this belief clearly. Even when we look at Sacred Scripture, we do not find the word “Trinity” written there. The Church came to understand this mystery gradually, through the revelation of Jesus Christ.

For the Jewish people, the most important belief was that God is one. In Deuteronomy 6, we hear the great prayer of Israel: “Hear, O Israel: the Lord is our God, the Lord alone.” There is one God. And yet Jesus presents himself as the Son of God, sharing in the very life of God. He speaks of the Father. He speaks of the Holy Spirit. And so the Church had to ponder this great mystery: how can God be one, and yet Father, Son, and Holy Spirit?

Over time, especially through the great councils of Nicaea in 325 and Constantinople in 381, the Church came to express this faith more clearly. Every Sunday, when we profess the Creed, we profess faith in one God in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Equal in dignity. Equal in divinity. One God, three persons.

But if we leave the Trinity there, it can seem abstract, almost like a complicated theological puzzle. We might think, “That is beautiful, Father, but what does it have to do with my life?”

It has everything to do with our life.

Because the Trinity tells us that God is not isolated. God is not lonely. God is not a solitary individual cut off from others. From all eternity, God is communion. God is relationship. God is love. The Father loves the Son. The Son is beloved by the Father. The Holy Spirit is the love between them.

This is central to understanding what it means to be made in the image and likeness of God. We are made in the image of the Trinity. We are made for relationship. We are made for communion. We are made to love and to be loved.

We are not most fully human when we are independent, isolated, or self-contained. We are most fully human when we live in relationships of love, when we care for others, when we allow ourselves to be cared for, when we serve, forgive, listen, and give ourselves in love.

This is what makes humanity magnificent. This is what makes humanity great. We image the Trinity when we live in communion with others.

For this reason, we need to guard against anything that damages our capacity to live in relationship. And this is where Pope Leo’s reflections on artificial intelligence become so important.

Technology can help us live in closer relationship with others. We all know this. Think about how easy it is now to stay in touch with people around the world. Years ago, international phone calls were expensive and difficult. Now we pick up our phone, open WhatsApp, and speak face to face with someone on the other side of the world. That is a real gift. Technology can help families remain connected. It can help us communicate, learn, organize, and support one another.

But technology can also become a danger when it weakens our relationships instead of strengthening them. Pope Leo warns about dependence on technology, and we can see this clearly in our own lives. Social media promises to make us more social, but sometimes it makes us less capable of real friendship. It keeps us staring at screens instead of speaking to the person in front of us. Algorithms shape what we see, what we desire, what we fear, and what we compare ourselves to. We see carefully edited versions of other people’s lives and begin to think our own lives are not good enough.

Technology can connect us, but it can also isolate us. It can help us communicate, but it can also make us less present. It can serve communion, but it can also damage communion.

So on this great feast of the Blessed Trinity, we are invited to remember who God is and who we are. God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God is communion. God is love. And we are made in the image and likeness of this God.

This means that our choices matter. The way we use technology matters. The way we speak to one another matters. The way we spend our time matters. The way we treat our families, our friends, our parish community, and even strangers matters.

A simple question can guide us: does this choice help me love others more? Does it help me live in deeper communion? Does it make me more present, more generous, more attentive, more human?

Or does it isolate me? Does it make me more distracted, more self-centred, more anxious, more closed in on myself?

The more we live like the Trinity, the more joyful and fulfilled we become. We were not made for isolation. We were made for love. We were made for communion. We were made to image the Blessed Trinity in our lives.

Let us pray for the gift of the Holy Spirit, that we may become more and more what we were created to be: people made in the image and likeness of God, people who reveal the love of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit through lives of communion, service, and love.

Pentecost: The Birthday of the Church and the Mission of Every Catholic

 Pentecost 2026

Pentecost reminds us that the Holy Spirit gathers people of many languages, cultures, and backgrounds into one family of faith. The Spirit does not erase our diversity, but unites us in Christ and sends us to continue his mission in the world. Through baptism and confirmation, each of us receives a real role in the Church, because there are no “couch potato Catholics” in the body of Christ.

Listen to homily here:

Read homily here:

Let’s begin with a little bit of Catholic trivia.

Can anybody guess when this church building was first constructed? The answer is nineteen thirty-nine. We know that because if you enter by the hall doors, you can see that date marked in the concrete. That is when this church building was finally built.

But the parish itself is quite a bit older. Can anybody guess when St. Peter’s Parish was established? Eighteen sixty. This is actually the third church building our parish has had. The first two were down on Columbia Street, just down the hill. The second church was a wooden structure, and shortly before this building was constructed, a windstorm ripped the steeple right off. Eventually, the parish moved up here.

So the building dates to nineteen thirty-nine. The parish dates to eighteen sixty. But how old is the Church itself?

Today, on Pentecost Sunday, we often speak of the birthday of the Church. On this great feast, we have an opportunity not only to think about the gift of the Holy Spirit, but also to consider what the Holy Spirit does for us. The Holy Spirit gathers us together as a community, as the family of God.

This comes across beautifully in the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles. Acts tells the story of how, through the gift of the Spirit, the early Church is born and becomes a united family made up of many different people.

We are used to speaking about Pentecost as a Christian feast. But Pentecost was already a Jewish feast. That is why there were so many Jews from different parts of the world gathered in Jerusalem. In the Jewish tradition, Pentecost, or Shavuot, was associated with the giving of the Law to Israel through Moses on Mount Sinai. That giving of the Law, and Israel’s entrance into covenant with God, was seen as a foundational moment in the life of God’s people.

In that sense, it is fitting that, after the resurrection of Jesus, the Church is born on Pentecost. Just as Israel was gathered into covenant, so now the Church is gathered by the Holy Spirit into a new covenant community.

We see this in the detail from Acts that people from many different nations hear Peter preaching, and each one hears him in his own language. Luke is showing us a kind of reversal, or undoing, of the Tower of Babel.

In Genesis, the story of Babel describes how human pride and sin lead to division. The people are scattered. Their language is confused. They become divided from one another. We can read that story as a piece of ancient folklore that communicates a deep theological truth: sin divides human beings. Sin damages relationships. Sin turns difference into separation, tension, and conflict.

Pentecost is the undoing of Babel. The people do not all suddenly become the same. They do not all speak one identical language. Rather, in their diversity, they are able to understand the one message of the Gospel. The Holy Spirit does not erase their differences. The Holy Spirit unites them.

That is what the Church is meant to be. We are a united family, brought together through baptism and the gift of the Holy Spirit. We are united in our diversity.

We experience that here at St. Peter’s. Our parish community is made up of people from many countries, cultures, languages, and backgrounds. Some of us grew up speaking English. Many of us did not. Some of us were born here. Many of us came from somewhere else. Yet we are not strangers to one another. We are brothers and sisters in Christ. We are one family of God.

Pentecost, then, is the story of how the Holy Spirit creates the Church as a family. The Spirit gathers us together and unites us, not because we are all the same, but because we all belong to Christ.

But the Holy Spirit does more than gather us. The Holy Spirit also sends us.

The Church is not only a family. The Church is a family on mission.

This is clear throughout the Acts of the Apostles. Acts is really part two of Luke’s Gospel. In the Gospel, Luke tells us what Jesus did: he proclaimed the kingdom of God, forgave sins, healed the sick, welcomed sinners, and reached out to those on the margins. In Acts, after the gift of the Holy Spirit, the early Church continues the mission of Jesus. Luke wants to show that the life and work of Jesus continue in the life and work of the Church.

We see the same thing in the Gospel for Pentecost. Jesus comes to the disciples in the upper room. He offers them his peace. He breathes on them and gives them the Holy Spirit. Then he sends them out.

This is important for us to remember, especially when we think about confirmation. At baptism, we become members of the Church. In confirmation, the gift of the Holy Spirit is strengthened in us so that we can more fully take up the mission of Jesus.

Some of you may remember your own confirmation. I will not ask how long ago it was. But you may remember the bishop or priest anointing your forehead with chrism and saying, “Be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Then he says, “Peace be with you.”

Some may even remember that, in the past, after confirmation, the bishop or priest gave the person being confirmed a light slap on the cheek. When I was confirmed, it was just a very light tap. But the gesture had a meaning. It was connected to the old image of knighthood. A knight was given a mission and was struck lightly as a sign to wake up, stand ready, and take up that mission.

That is a helpful image. In confirmation, we receive the Holy Spirit and are sent on mission. It is as if the Church says to us: Wake up. You have received the Spirit. Now go and live the mission of Jesus.

The Holy Spirit gives us the mission to become holy. The Spirit slowly transforms us so that we can become more like Christ. The Spirit teaches us to love like Christ, to forgive like Christ, and to build up right relationships with God and neighbour.

But the Spirit also sends us outward. We are called to continue building up the kingdom of God. We are called to carry on the mission of Jesus in our own time and in our own place.

And in this family on mission, each of us matters. Each of us has a role to play.

Paul communicates this beautifully in the second reading. One of his favourite images for the Church is the body of Christ. This is such a rich image. It means that we are not simply a collection of individuals. We belong to one another. We are connected in a living way. When one part of the body suffers, all suffer. When one part is honoured, all rejoice.

It also means that every part of the body matters. Each part has a role. Each part contributes something necessary. In the same way, each of us has a role to play in the Church.

Pope Francis, our late Pope Francis, had a gift for memorable phrases. Early in his pontificate, he preached about how each of us must get involved in the Church, especially because of the gift of the Holy Spirit received in confirmation. He said that there are no “couch potato Catholics.”

That image has always stayed with me. Sometimes we can become passive in the Church. We can feel as though we simply show up and sit there. Of course, people go through different seasons in life. Sometimes we are tired. Sometimes we are struggling. Sometimes the most we can do is pray.

But even prayer is part of the mission. Even quiet faithfulness matters. Each of us has received gifts. Each of us is a unique part of the body of Christ. Each of us is called to participate in the mission of Jesus in our own particular way.

So today, on Pentecost Sunday, we celebrate the birthday of the Church. We celebrate the Holy Spirit who gathers us into one family. We celebrate the Spirit who unites us in our diversity. And we celebrate the Spirit who sends us on mission.

Pentecost also invites us to remember our own baptism and confirmation. Confirmation is, in a sense, our own anniversary of becoming active members of the Church, members who take ownership of the mission of Jesus and seek to participate in it.

As we celebrate Pentecost, let us pray that the gift of the Holy Spirit will be stirred up in our lives. May the Spirit make us more like Christ. May the Spirit unite us more deeply as a community. And may the Spirit help each and every one of us continue the mission of Jesus in the world. 

Why Jesus Had to Leave: The Ascension, Pentecost, and Becoming the Body of Christ

 Ascension 2026

The Ascension can seem strange at first because we are celebrating Jesus leaving his disciples behind. Yet Jesus leaves not to abandon us, but so that we can grow into his mission and become his presence in the world. As we prepare for Pentecost, we ask for hearts open to the Holy Spirit, who makes us the Body of Christ and empowers us to continue Jesus’ work.

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A few days ago, I was at a meeting with a group of priests. During a coffee break, we began talking about how challenging it can be to preach during the time after Easter and before Pentecost, especially at weekday Masses.

Of course, this is a time of celebration. We celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. But during this season, we also hear many readings from Jesus’ farewell discourse in the Gospel of John. This discourse takes place at the Last Supper, and the Gospel, for many days, often sounds something like this: Jesus says to his followers, “I am about to go back to the Father. You will see me no longer.” Then he speaks about what he will do for them. He will send the Spirit. He will not leave them alone.

So one day you preach about how Jesus is about to go to the Father and send the Spirit. Then the next day comes along, and once again the Gospel says that Jesus is about to go to the Father and send the Spirit. And this continues, sometimes for what feels like week after week.

An older priest from Newfoundland was there, and he has an incredible sense of humour. He said, “At a certain point, you just want to say, ‘Jesus, would you just leave already?’”

It is funny, but it also points to something important. When we celebrate the Ascension, we are celebrating Jesus leaving. Just think about that for a moment. The Ascension is the celebration of Jesus leaving his disciples behind.

How is that something to celebrate?

When we think about the Ascension, we might ask ourselves: Would it not be better if Jesus had stayed? Would it not be better if Jesus were still here with us in the same way he was with his first disciples?

Imagine that Jesus had not ascended. Where would he live? Maybe he would live at St. Peter’s in Rome. Maybe he would live in Jerusalem. Maybe he would live in Hawaii. I am not sure. But it might seem more convenient if Jesus were still physically present somewhere in the world.

Then we would never have to struggle with doubts about the resurrection. We could see Jesus on television. Maybe he would give public audiences. We could actually see the man who had risen from the dead.

And when we had problems, struggles, or difficulties, when we did not know what to do as a Church, we could simply pick up the phone and call Jesus. He could give us instructions. There would be no need to think things through, to discern, to debate, or to take responsibility.

At first, it seems like it would have been better if Jesus had stayed.

But the Ascension is good news. It is good for us that Jesus leaves in this way because his departure allows us to develop, to grow, and to become more like him.

A few days ago, I was with another group, this time with teachers, and we were talking about the Ascension in relation to the first day of school. The first day of school is always exciting, especially for children beginning kindergarten. Parents bring their children to school, and it is often an emotional moment. The children cling to their parents, and the parents cling to their children.

Eventually, though, the teacher has to say, “Okay, parents, that is it. It is time to get back into your cars and drive away.”

The parents know this too. They cannot stay beside their children forever. If they did, their children would not grow. They would not develop. They would not gain independence. They would not mature.

Something similar is true for us with Jesus.

If Jesus remained with us in the same visible, physical way, we might remain spiritually stunted. We might never grow into the mission he has given us. Jesus goes to the Father so that we can grow. He leaves so that we can become more like him.

Jesus gives us his mission. He sends us to make disciples of all nations. He calls us to teach others to follow his way of life. He sends us to build up the kingdom of God, to work for a world that is more just, more peaceful, more loving, and more faithful to God.

If Christ had not left us in this way, we would not have the same opportunity to grow into that mission. We would not be called in the same way to become his presence in the world.

There is a beautiful prayer often associated with St. Teresa of Ávila that expresses this well:

Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are his body.
Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
compassion on this world.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.

This is why the Ascension is for our good. Jesus leaves so that his mission can continue through us. He goes to the Father so that we can receive the Spirit. He departs in one way so that he can be present to us in a new and powerful way.

And this is important: Jesus has not abandoned us.

When we say that Jesus ascended into heaven, we might wonder, “Where did he go?” I remember once speaking with my niece when she was younger, and she asked me that same question: “Where is Jesus now? Where is heaven?”

It is a difficult question to answer. Is Jesus somewhere at the edge of the Milky Way? Is he on some distant planet, sitting beside God the Father? That is not quite what we believe.

We believe that Jesus is risen from the dead. We believe that Jesus has a real, glorified body. But his risen body is unlike the bodies we know now. Jesus has not gone away from earth as though he had climbed into a spaceship and disappeared. His presence among us has changed.

In the Ascension, Jesus becomes present to us in new ways. He is with the Father, but he is also still with us.

We encounter Christ in the sacraments, especially in the Eucharist. We encounter Christ in his Word. We encounter Christ in the community gathered in his name. Jesus tells us, “Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.”

Christ is still present in his Church. Christ is still present in his people. Christ is still present in the world, not less powerfully, but in a new way.

So today we celebrate the Ascension. We celebrate Jesus leaving his disciples behind, but not abandoning them. We celebrate Jesus going to the Father so that he can send the Spirit. We celebrate Jesus entrusting his mission to us so that we can grow, mature, and become his body in the world.

And as we prepare for Pentecost next Sunday, we are invited to open our hearts once again to the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus leaves, and he sends the Spirit. The Spirit lives in us. The Spirit binds us together as the Body of Christ. The Spirit gives us the strength to continue Jesus’ mission.

Let us pray in a special way today that we will be ready to receive that gift again, and that through the Spirit, we may become more fully the presence of Christ in the world.