Introduction
Our Christian life develops completely in the presence of the Trinity – the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. At the beginning of our life, we were baptized "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit," and at the end, at our bedside, our soul is commended “…in the name of God, the Almighty Father who created you, in the name of Jesus Christ who redeemed you, and in the name of the Holy Spirit who sanctifies you."
The basic expression of our Christian faith is the sign of the Cross – in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. When we pray we begin and end with the sign of the cross. At the beginning and end of the Mass we make the sign of the cross. This we do as well in every celebration of sacraments. The sign of the cross is the most obvious and frequent expression of what it is to be a Christian. Sometimes we see atlethes, performers, professionals, and other people making the sign of the before beginning their tasks. When we are thankful, excited, nervous, scared we make the sign of the cross.
Because the sign of the cross - in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit - sums up who we are and what we are as Christians. Ironically, this simple act of making the sign of the Cross is one of the most mysterious aspects of our Christian faith. Each time we make sign of the Cross we profess our belief in what we celebrate today: The Solemnity of the Holy of Trinity. The doctrine of the Trinity means there are three Persons in One God namely, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, are equal in every way, with one nature and one substance: three Divine Person, but only one God (Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church 253-255).
Basic understanding
The doctrine of the mystery of the Trinity (triune God) has always been part of the living tradition of the faith of the Church. We will not find the word "trinity" in the Bible but it is grounded upon the revelation of God in the Scriptures. In the Old Testament, God revealed himself as the Father of Israel, the Father of all the peoples and the Creator of the world. In the period of the New Testament God shows himself in the person of Jesus Christ, who became human like us except sin. Jesus, the Second Person of the Trinity is our mediator and saviour. Then the new experience of God happens at the coming of the Holy Spirit – the Third Person of the Trinity – that makes God’s presence in us and within us.
Why Trinity in One God?
Many people ask: Why do we have to believe with three Persons in God? Would it not be easier to believe in a God who is just one? What is the significance of the Trinity in our life? Many Christians, theologians and intellectual thinkers throughout the history have tried to grapple, exhaust and explain the doctrine of the Trinity.
St Marie Vianney used the image of the flame to explain Holy Trinity. Just as the flame of the burning candle has light, shape and warmth and yet only one flame there is only one God expressing Himself as the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
St Patrick, patron saint of Ireland, described the Trinity to the pagans simply by using the shamrock leaf. He says like the Trinity the shamrock leaf has three parts but they are all part of one.
Some Christian artists expressed their reflection on the Trinity through artworks such as religious icons.
Anecdote
There is a very old story about St. Augustine, a great theologian and a Father of the Church. One day he was walking by the seashore, attempting to conceive of an intelligible explanation to the mystery of the Holy Trinity. As he walked along, he saw a small boy on the beach, pouring seawater with a shell into a small hole in the sand. "What are you doing, my child?", asked, Augustine. "I am trying to empty the sea into this hole," the boy answered with an innocent smile. "But that is impossible, my dear child,” said Augustine. The boy stood up, looked straight into the eyes of Augustine and replied, “What you are trying to do - trying to comprehend the immensity of God with your small head - is even more impossible.” Then he vanished. It was an angel sent by God to teach Augustine a lesson. Later St. Augustine wrote: "You see the Trinity if you see love." This means that we can understand the mystery of the Holy Trinity more readily with the heart, i.e., by love, than with our feeble mind.
St. Augustine describes the mystery of the Holy Trinity as communion of Love. He looks on the image of the Lover, the Beloved, and the mutual Love between the two. The Father is the Lover who created the world to share his love to us. Jesus, the Beloved Son, whose out of his love to the Father and to us died on the Cross. And the Holy Spirit, as mutual Love, that Binds the Father and Son.
Scripture Readings
Today’s readings from Proverbs, Romans, and John’s gospel us to live in the awareness of the presence of the Triune God within us: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Instead of spelling out the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, today’s readings summarize the effects of the Trinity in our daily lives.
The Book of Proverbs reflects on Wisdom, a quality that identifies with God the Father. St. Paul, in his letter to the Romans, teaches us that we have peace with God the Father through Jesus Christ, and love of God has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit. And in the Gospel, Jesus mentions the role of the Holy Spirit and his close relationship with God the Father, and what the Holy Spirit is going to do for us as we go about our daily tasks.
Challenge: Call to be a communion of love
Although the Trinity is a mystery (and will always remain a mystery), God in the fullness of his being is in fact very close to us. The communion of love that exists between the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, is an invitation for us to be united with God and with one another in perfect communion of love.
This means like God the Father we are called to be productive and caring people. Like God the Son, we are called to be peacemakers, forgiving and ready to make sacrifices for others' sake. And like God the Holy Spirit, we are called to understand, nourish, inspire and teach our Christian faith.
Although we may not understand the mystery of God, we can put into actions God’s mystery in our day to day life. May the love, unity and joy in the relationship between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit be the supreme model of our relationship in our Christian families and with one another.
This icon of the Trinity was painted by Andrei Rublev for the Trinity Cathedral of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. This icon is a masterpiece of ancient Russian iconography, and the Church established it as the model for depicting the Trinity. http://www.wga.hu/html/r/rublyov/trinity.html
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