As a mom, do you ever feel like life is just so busy? As in there’s never enough time in a day to conquer the “to do” list? There is always cooking, cleaning, laundry, organizing, shopping, driving, and attending to your children’s various needs. I sometimes dream of being able to wake up slowly, savor a long quiet time in prayer, and gently ease into the day. But that’s not what usually happens (at least in this season of motherhood with lots of littles). From the moment I hear the first cry, I feel like I’m in “go” mode, until a couple of hours go by when I can finally catch my breath.

Today on the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, the Gospel begins with our Lord Jesus finding himself with still so much to say and do as his time on earth is running out. He says to his disciples, “I still have many things to say to you”(Jn 16:12). Jesus had only a few years from the beginning of his public ministry until his ascension to complete his mission. Perhaps, like mothers, Jesus also felt that combined feeling of both exhaustion and urgency, because “the days are long, but the years are short.”

Even though the Son of God had so much to accomplish in such a short time, Jesus always took time away from his public ministry to commune in prayer with the Father. For example, we read in the Gospel that he “went out and departed to a solitary place, and there he prayed” (Mk 1:35). Finding time to be alone with the Father was the secret to the fruitfulness of his mission, and this communion with the Holy Trinity is God’s own gift to us.

It is what we celebrate today. In today’s Gospel, Jesus says, “All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you” (Jn 16:15). All that is mine is now yours, the whole of my intimacy with the Father is the gift I give to you. At the very heart of God is a communion of love—Love eternally giving, Love eternally receiving, Love eternally fruitful. His gift to us is to commune with Communion himself!

How can a mother, who must frequently be on the go, experience this divine indwelling of the Most Holy Trinity? St. Catherine of Siena said it best: “Build yourself a spiritual cell which you can always take with you.” Depending on which season of motherhood you’re in, you may not have the ability to carve out a distinct space and time for your prayer without interruptions, but take heart, neither did Jesus. He was constantly on the move! A mother can always build a cell within her heart for God, and she can take that sacred place with her wherever she goes: in a car line, waiting for a child’s swim lesson, or as she’s nursing a baby to sleep. She can always commune with the Holy Spirit, who is not confined to any specific space or time. That is Christ’s promise to us today: “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will lead you” (Jn 16:13).