The Most Holy Trinity.

TRINITY SUNDAY:

Deut 4: 32-24, 39-40; Romans 8: 14-17 ;Gospel: Mathew 28: 16-20

The bishop was questioning the children in preparation for Confirmation. He asked one lad what the Holy Trinity means. The boy answered in such a soft tone of voice that the bishop could not hear what he said."
"Son," said His Excellency, "I can't understand what you are saying."
The boy spoke up: "Well, bishop, the Trinity is a mystery. Nobody understands it."

"Who can understand the Trinity?" wrote St Augustine in the 5th century.  "Rare are the persons who, when they speak of it, also know what they speak of…."  Then with all due qualifications and apologies, he suggests a way that might throw a little light on it.  Look at yourself, he says; you see that you exist and that you have a heart and you love.  These are three dimensions of your reality, and yet you are one. You are not your heart, your heart is not you, your love is not you, but all these three make the total you.  You are a kind of trinity: three in one and one in three.  It is just an image. The doctrine of the inner relationship of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in such a way that each of them is fully and equally God, yet there are not three Gods but one, cannot be fully comprehended by the human mind. It is a mystery.

A kindergarten teacher was observing her classroom of children while they drew. She would occasionally walk around to see each child's artwork.
As she got to one little girl who was working diligently, she asked what the drawing was. The girl replied, "I'm drawing God." 
The teacher paused and said, "but no one knows what God looks like." 

Without looking up from her drawing the girl replied, "They will, in a minute."

The doctrine of three persons in one God, equal in divinity yet distinct in personality, is not explicitly spelt out in the Bible. In fact the very word “Trinity” is not found in the Bible. Early Christians arrived at the doctrine when they applied their God-given reason to the revelation which they had received in faith. Jesus spoke about the Father who sent him (the Son) and about the Holy Spirit whom he was going to send. He said that the Father had given the Son all that he has and that the Son in turn has given to the Holy Spirit all that the Son has received from the Father. In this we see the unity of purpose among the three persons of the Trinity.

In the story of salvation we usually attribute creation to the Father, redemption to the Son and sanctification to the Holy Spirit. Nevertheless, though they are distinct as persons, neither the Father nor the Son nor the Holy Spirit ever exists or acts in isolation from the other two persons of the Godhead.

The importance of this doctrine lies in this:  we are made in the image of God, therefore, the more we understand God, the more we can understand ourselves.  St. Paul tells us that through sufferings, endurance, the forming of character and hope, God's love is poured into our hearts through the indwelling Holy Spirit. Therefore the celebration of the mystery of Holy Trinity reminds us that we have to grow in unity like the perfect Unity that exists in Trinity.

Jesus knew very well that the disciples and his listeners were not able to understand the meaning of his message. Jesus expressed it in today's Gospel. "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now." Jesus revealed himself to the people gradually and as understandable to them. First He taught them to recognize in Himself the Eternal Son of God. When His ministry was drawing to a close, He promised that the Father would send another Divine Person, the Holy Spirit, in His place. Finally after His resurrection, He revealed the doctrine in explicit terms, bidding them "go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost" (Matthew 28:18).

Jesus, the Son of God, has revealed to us the Blessed Trinity. As we allow ourselves to be drawn into the life, the love, of the Triune God we discover the mystery that is ourselves, and, indeed, the mystery of one another! It is the sweet mystery of life and of love. We have found this, or better, it is God’s supreme gift to us.

Note that the love of God is poured into our heart through the Holy Spirit. Christian life is, therefore, not possible without a relationship with God the Father, His Son Jesus Christ, and his Holy Spirit. This is one big difference between the Christian religion and other religions. Whereas other religions present salvation and godliness solely as a matter between the individual believer and God, the Christian religion agrees that it is indeed a matter between the individual and God and adds that we have two heavenly advocates on our side. First we have our Lord Jesus Christ who redeems us and reconciles us to the Father. And then we also have “another advocate” who carries on the work of our sanctification.

The business is not over, the moment we believe in Christ and are justified before God. In fact the business of being a Christian has only begun. From then on, the rest of our lives should be devoted to the business of sanctification, the process of being holy as God is holy. This is where the Holy Spirit, the outpouring of whom we celebrated last Sunday, becomes the guiding principle of our lives. Through the Spirit God’s love is poured into our hearts, through the Spirit we learn to love God and our neighbour as Jesus teaches us.

Like Augustine we may not be able to understand the how of the Trinity but I think it is very important to understand the why. Why did God reveal to us this mystery regarding the very nature of the Supreme Being? The importance of this doctrine lies in this: we are made in the image of God, therefore, the more we understand God the more we understand ourselves. Experts in religion tell us that people always try to be like the god they worship. People who worship a warrior god tend to be warmongering, people who worship a god of pleasure tend to be pleasure-seeking, people who worship a god of wrath tend to be vengeful, and people who worship a god of love tend to be loving. Like a god, so the worshippers. Therefore, the more important question for us to ask today is: What does the doctrine of the Blessed Trinity tell us about the kind of God we worship and what does this say about the kind of people we should be?

It is surprising, absolutely extraordinary, that God who does not need our company actually wants us to enjoy his company…here and now, in our present earthly existence; for Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Remain in me, as I in you,’(Jn.15.17).

God does not exist in solitary individualism but in a community of love and sharing. God is not a loner. This means that a Christian in search of Godliness (Matthew 5:48) must shun every tendency to isolationism.

True love requires three partners. Taking an example from the human condition we see that when a man A is in love with a woman B they seal the loving by producing a baby C. Father, mother and child -- love when it perfected becomes a trinity.

We are made in God’s image and likeness. Just as God is God only in a Trinitarian relationship, so we can be fully human only in a relationship of three partners. The self needs to be in a horizontal relationship with others and a vertical relationship with God. In that way our life becomes Trinitarian like that of God. I am a Christian insofar as I live in a relationship of love with God and other people. May the grace of the Holy Trinity help us to banish all traces of self-centeredness in our lives and to live in love of God and of neighbour.

As we celebrate the greatest mystery of our faith let’s be reminded that we have the Spirit of adoption that leads us to lovingly cry out "Abba, Father!" (Rm 8:15; Gal 4:6). Today we realize all over again that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are with us always (Mt 28:20).

When we go through struggles let us know that we are not alone in the struggle. God the Father is on our side, Jesus Christ the Son of God is on our side, the Holy Spirit the Power of God Most High is on our side. Now this is hope, this is hope that never disappoints. So let us give ourselves completely to the triune God.