Trinity Sunday May 26, 2024
Deuteronomy 4:32-34, 39-40; Romans 8:14-17; Mark 28:16-20
Saint John Baptist de La Salle/Saint Stephen
As a people, we all have our beliefs. However, our beliefs differ; we do not all believe the same thing about anything, even God. We have not fulfilled the desire of Jesus that we may be one, just as he and the Father are one.
As an example, think about the hundreds, if not thousands, of religious organizations throughout the world who believe in God, and they all have different beliefs about God. Even those who claim not to believe in God have different beliefs. So much for being one. However, a strange thing has happened to those of us who have gathered for this Sunday celebration of the Holy Trinity. We all believe the same thing. This is what we believe: We believe in God, the Father almighty, the Creator of heaven and earth, and we believe in Jesus the Christ, God’s only Son, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, and born of the Virgin Mary.
Now there are many other things that Catholics believe that are not believed by other churches who call themselves Christian. However, there is a belief, that all who claim to be Christians must hold, and this is it: You must believe that God is a Trinity, three yet one. If, as a church, you do not hold this belief then you cannot call yourself Christian. Therefore, we are a Trinitarian Church, who believes God is three yet one. For this reason, we celebrate in all Catholic Churches throughout the world this Feast of the Holy Trinity.
At least, in my way of thinking, the Trinity should not be preached or celebrated as such. When we do this, we seem to suggest that we can comprehend the Trinity, count it as just one of the many things we think we understand. But we cannot, because the Trinity is not something we can understand. The Holy Trinity is God, in whom we live, and move, and have our being.
The Holy Spirit is our dwelling place, wherein we and everything else abide. Scripture does not talk about the Trinity as such. As a matter of fact, it does not even use the word. In the sacred liturgy, which is the best place to understand what we believe, and how we are to pray, also never addresses a Trinity. Instead, standing in the place of the Son, in the power of the Holy Spirit, we address all praise and prayers to God our Father.
Yet today the Church asks us to think about the unthinkable, and reflect on the Holy Spirit. So, how can we understand the Holy Spirit, if the Holy Spirit is not understandable? Love, of course, is the answer. The Trinity, as it is revealed to us through Jesus, tells us that love formed all that is. God the Father is love. God the Father is the Word of love that exists before existence itself. God was, and is, and always will be love, before and beyond all that is or will be.
The Father, and the Son and the Spirit are one, and yet they are love. The Son does not come into existence. Being love, the Father, Son and Spirit always love. They do not decide to love, they are love. The Holy Spirit was, is, and always will be love. Jesus reminds us of today’s Gospel that we are not left to ourselves. The Holy Trinity is with us always, until the end of the age. For we abide in Jesus in a love, that love never diminishes and never ends. It is before all else that is. When you leave here today, share this “Good News” with others.