SUNDAY, SOLEMNITY OF THE MOST HOLY TRINITY
Dt 4:32-34,39-40; Ps 33: 4-6,9,18-20,22; Rom 8:14-17; Mt 28:16-20
UNITY IN TRINITY
Christ before leaving this world commanded his apostles to baptize all those who believe in the name of the Holy Trinity. The one, true God, who we celebrate today as a Trinity of love, invites us into a relationship with Him. The doctrine of the Trinity teaches us that God is a relationship of perfect love between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Trinity welcomes us as sons and daughters into this family communion of love.
Today’s gospel reading recounts the Ascension of Jesus as recorded by Matthew. We just celebrated the Ascension of the Lord a couple of weeks ago while still in the Easter season. Why, then, does this reading occur today? It is because of the explicit reference to the Trinity made by Jesus in some of His last words before ascending. Jesus instructed the Apostles to baptize in “the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” This directive is why baptisms still today are done with this exact Trinitarian formula being used. These words may seem familiar and straightforward enough but they are packed with meaning and mystery. They profess our fundamental belief that there is one God who exists in three distinct persons.
The Trinity can be a confusing doctrine of our faith. It is what we call a mystery (i.e. something we cannot fully understand). This is because God is infinite and, therefore, beyond our finite comprehension. If we could fully understand God, then that would make us equal to or greater than God. Still, that does not mean we are totally in the dark. God has revealed Himself to us and the Church has preserved and sought to understand that revelation as best as possible. So, what can we know?
First, there is only one God. We profess this every time we begin the creed: “I believe in one God…” We do not worship three different Gods. Second, this one God is not solitary but is, in His essence, a communion of persons. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are all fully God. Third, these three persons are distinct from one another. The Father is not the same as the Son and the Son is not the same as the Holy Spirit, etc. Fourth, these three divine persons are one in substance. As we say in the creed, the Son is “consubstantial” (i.e. one in being) with the Father. Remember that the Trinity is a mystery. We’re not supposed to fully grasp this truth, but we are called to have a relationship with the Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Trinity is a relationship of love, and they invites us to be a part of that divine communion. Will you respond with a ‘yes’ to this divine invitation?
We believe that we are the temple of the Holy Spirit, but do we examine ourselves whether we are in communion with the Holy Spirit? When we are one with the spirit, we cannot be away from the Father and the Son. What makes them united to each other is Love, in the form of Obedience.
Jesus Christ, son of the Father, willingly revealed His Heavenly Father to the nations and introduced the Holy Spirit to the human race, as the advocate and the strength. When we want the Trinity to remain in our lives, what are the preparations that we need to have? Will of God. Jesus always remained faithful to His Father who is in Heaven and acted according to His will. Being the Christian that I am, what is the weight of accepting the will of God and living my life? To what do I, as an individual pay more attention, my will or God’s will?
Let us reflect on the prayer of St Elizabeth of the Holy Trinity to the Trinity, she wrote: “O my beloved Christ, crucified by love, I feel my weakness and ask You to clothe me with Yourself; to identify my soul with all the movements of Your soul, to overwhelm me, to possess me, to substitute Yourself for me that my life may be but a radiance of Your life.”
Response: Blessed the people the Lord has chosen as his heritage.
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