Ex. 34 : 4b – 6, 8 -9 / Dn. 3 : 52, 53 – 56 / 2Cor. 13 : 11 – 13 / Jn. 3 : 16 – 18

Today, Mother Church celebrates the occasion of the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, also known as Trinity Sunday. This marks a very important celebration for the Church as it commemorates one of the most crucial, distinctive and central tenets of our Christian faith. We believe that our One and only God exists in Three Divine Persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. That is what our belief in the Most Holy Trinity is all about, and which we focus on in this Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity.

We believe in this mystery because Jesus our Saviour who is God taught it clearly, the Gospel writers recorded it, so the early Fathers wrote about it and finally the councils of Nicaea and Constantinople defined it as a dogma of Christian faith.

The doctrine of the Most Holy Trinity teaches that in the unity of the Godhead, there are three persons – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. According to the Athanasian Creed, the Father is God, the Son is God and the Holy Spirit is God and nevertheless, there are not three Gods but one God. These three persons are united in the God but distinct from one another.

 Notably, the word Trinity is not used in the bible, but this does not undermine the fact that the Trinity exists. The word Trinity (tri-unity) was coined by Tertullian about the third century while attempting to establish the distinct persons in one God. Following the errors of Arius who was teaching that Jesus Christ was created (made) by God, the Council of Nicaea (AD 325) declared that our Lord Jesus Christ is “God from God, light from light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one substance with the Father.”

As the Old Testament Revelation is but a shadowy picture of the New Testament (Hebr. 10:1), so in the Old Testament there is no clear communication of the Mystery of the Trinity but merely indications.

For instance, in Gen. 1:26, God often speaks in the plural form of Himself, “Let us make man to our image and likeness” Gn. 3. 22.  The Fathers understood these passages in the light of the New Testament Revelation to mean that the first Person was addressing the Second Person, or the Second the Third Person. The truth here is that, God was not referring to the angels because they do not share the same image and likeness with God as they are also created. They are messengers of God. Therefore, God the Father was referring to the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Again, in Gen 18: 1-2: God appeared to Abraham at the sacred tree of Mamre. As Abraham was sitting at the entrance during the hottest part of the day, he looked up and saw three men. God came to Abraham in the Trinitarian form. So also in Deuteronomy 6:4: Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one!

Now from the New Testament narrative of the Annunciation, the Angel, according to St. Luke 1:35 says: “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee.

The Theophany after the baptism of Jesus is regarded as a Revelation of the Trinity. Mt. 3, 16 et seq.: “He saw the Spirit of God, descending as a dove and coming upon Him and behold a voice from Heaven saying: This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” The speaker is God, the Father. Jesus is the Son of God, in fact the only One and therefore the true and proper Son of God; for the words “beloved Son” … in biblical language mean usually the “only Son” (Gn. 22,

2. 12. 16; Mk. 12, 6). The Holy Ghost appears under a special symbol as an   independent personal Essence side by side with the Father and the Son.

Dear Friends, what can we learn from the Trinitarian union of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. From the Trinity we learn that there is:

Unity in diversity: They are three distinct persons yet they are one in essence. We are distinct individuals from various backgrounds, levels, ideas and dispositions. However, we are united in one Christian community. Our diversity should be at the service of a functional unity because as Paul would say in Christ our diversities give way to unity.

Community in functionality: There is no time the Father works without the Son and the Holy Spirit. That is why you will hear the Father saying twice “Let us”. Our Lord Jesus would also attest that he does whatever he sees the Father doing. We should learn to work together as members of the same community. No one is an Island. We cannot be in communion with the Trinity unless we are striving to be in communion with each other. Jesus who revealed God to us as Trinity calls us to form the kinds of communities that are, to some extent at least, a reflection of the community that is God. That is why the mission of the church in the world is to build community. The mission of each of us as members of the church is to do the same.  Therefore, we need each other for growth and development.

Equality in personality: In the Godhead there is absolute equality given the fact that they have one essence. Within our human experience we all share in one humanity but often we notice that we keep creating unjustifiable barriers of inequality between the “haves” and the “have- nots”. Often some people see others as less human than they are. From the Trinity we learn to see ourselves as equals sharing the common gift of life given to us by God.

Faith and Trust: There is absolute faith and trust among the persons of the Trinity. If we reflect on the cry of Jesus on the Cross “My Lord, my Lord, why has thou forsaken me”, we can see that there had always been that faith and trust in their function and this situation looked unusual. Yes, the Father “forsook” the Son at Golgotha so that we can be found and rescued.

Let us all do whatever we can to believe wholeheartedly in Him, and entrusting ourselves to His Providence so that we may truly live our lives worthy of God, guided by the will of the Father, led by the examples of the Son, and encouraged by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. 

 Keeping to our positions in life: Each of the persons of the Trinity has an allocated function and position which He does in union with others. There has never been a time one Person assumes the position of another or attempts to usurp another’s position. This is and should be instructive for us. Someone had defined humility as knowing one’s position and keeping it.

The Trinity speaks of the movement of God towards us in love, so that a communion of love may be created among us, a communion that is a real reflection of the love at the heart of the Trinity.

May our Lord, the Most Holy Trinity, continue to bless us and guide us throughout our lives, now and always, forever and ever.

Rosary Prayer: Glorious Mysteries

Through the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, we are praying for safe delivery for all pregnant women in this month of June.