The Most Holy Trinity
Allow me to start with a prayer: (you can pray this with me) Glory be to the Father, Who by His almighty power and love created me, making me in the image and likeness of God. Glory be to the Son, Who by His Precious Blood delivered me from hell, and opened for me the gates of heaven. Glory be to the Holy Spirit, Who has sanctified me in the sacrament of Baptism, and continues to sanctify me by the graces I receive daily from His bounty. Glory be to the Three adorable Persons of the Holy Trinity, now and forever. Amen.
This prayer helps us to appreciate the significance of the great feast we celebrate today: the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. How are we to approach this feast? A theologian who said, “Trinity is a mystery, not a puzzle. You try to solve the puzzle, you stand in awe before a mystery.”
The Trinity is a mystery of love. As St. Augustine puts it: “If you see Charity, you see the Trinity.” Indeed, the Trinity is a Community of Love: the Father, forever loving the Son through the Spirit, and the Son, forever loving the Father through the Spirit. This is what we celebrate today.
The best knowledge we have of the Holy Trinity is not academic – something that our mind can grasp – but practical knowledge – something that influences our way of living. (Bishop Bacani) We know the Trinity when we practice charity or love. We are able to know the Triune God and we are able to let the Triune God be known to others by our love – our love that is expressed in our words, shown in our deeds, concretized in our actions… our love made manifest in our goodness and kindness, in our patience and understanding, in our generosity and magnanimity, in our mercy and compassion… our love demonstrated in our faithfulness in prayer, in our being channels of God’s blessings, in our humble service, in our commitment to ministry. When we love we come to know God who is love – one God in three Persons united by infinite love.
Hence, the Love of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is not just something we are to admire; it is not just a phrase we are to recite piously. Rather, the Trinity is a reality we are to imitate. It is a pattern of life we are to vigorously pursue.
Our beliefs about God can and should shape our character and actions. What we believe about the Trinitarian God affects what we believe about ourselves and influences the way we live our lives. Let me put this in more practical terms…
We believe in God the Father and Creator. God sustains the universe by his power as he sustains us every single day. And this Creator God is close to all of us. The whole of creation is the grand expression of God’s love and fidelity. This should shape our character and actions by living our lives with deep realization and firm conviction of God’s faithful love – glorifying God in everything we say and do.
We believe in God the Son and Redeemer. Out of love for us, the Son of God became like us in everything but sin, and he gave his life for us. Jesus Christ died to lift the penalty for our sins. He died and rose not for himself but for us. This should shape our character and actions by remembering Christ’ self-giving and by imitating his selfless love. We are to love as Jesus loves.
We believe in God the Holy Spirit and Sanctifier. The Holy Spirit is God’s power poured into our lives to make us holy – or to enable us to live holy life. The Holy Spirit is God’s love poured into our hearts to enable and empower us to love God in turn and to love others and ourselves. This should shape our character and actions by allowing the Holy Spirit to give us moral direction and actual grace, in order that we may share in the very life of God.
We must stand in awe before this great mystery of the Trinity. And, again, our beliefs in the Triune God can and should affect the way we live our lives. They should guide our thoughts, influence our words, shape our actions. Let us live in charity and glorify the Trinity.
Parokya ni Osong 