THE HOLY TRINITY, A LOVE STORY.
June 7, 2020
The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity
A Romanian proverb says, “Goose and gander and gosling are
three sounds but one thing.” And a Russian proverb adds, “The Tsar has three
hands but only one ear.”
The Father loves the Son. The Son loves the Father. That
communion of love which unites the Father to the Son is expressed into a
person, the Holy Spirit. The Holy Trinity is a community and communion of love
between three: The Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We all are born
from that love, immersed in it, and created by it. So, our relationship with
the Holy Trinity is a love story.
As a student in first-year Theology, one of the most
challenging questions I got to answer during our exam in Dogmatic was, how to
explain the Holy Trinity in your mother tongue? Actually, the Holy Trinity is
one of the most complicated dogma to explain. And it becomes harder when we approach
it with our cartesian, algebraic, and mathematics mindset made of addition and
subtraction. In our human logic, one plus one plus one gives necessarily three.
But the Trinity we are speaking about challenges our logic. For, it is not a
logic axiom, neither a Pythagorean or Thalesian fact. It is not a matter of
addition or subtraction, but a being. The Holy Trinity is the nature of God,
not a “3 in 1”, but a “1 in 3”. One Godhead in three persons. One unique
substance, God, in three different entities, Father, Son, and Spirit. And that
indivisible union is made possible and sealed by love.
It is love, the module that sets the Father in a movement
toward the Son and the Holy Spirit and vice-versa. And who speaks of that love,
speaks of relationship. Therefore, the Holy Trinity is the relationship between
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
We hold our being from the nature of God. We are, as we said
ahead, created from the relationship between the three. So too, we live,
sustained by that relationship and saved by their unity of love. Consequently,
our whole existence should aim to respond to that love. We are trinitarian
people.
The Mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the pillar of our
faith. That is actually what the Catechism affirms when it says, “The mystery
of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of Christian faith and life. It
is the mystery of God in himself. It is, therefore, the source of all the other
mysteries of faith, the light that enlightens them. It is the most fundamental
and essential teaching in the "hierarchy of the truths of faith". The
whole history of salvation is identical with the history of the way and the
means by which the one true God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, reveals himself
to men "and reconciles and unites with himself those who turn away from
sin".” CCC. 234. So, all that we say, when we profess our Creed is what we
are celebrating in this solemnity: We believe in one God, Father almighty; We
believe in one Son our Lord Jesus-Christ; and we believe in one Holy Spirit,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son…
While we are deeply immersed in this celebration, the
readings lead us, step by step, to see how these three persons of the one
Godhead interact in our human life. In the first reading, Moses, in the Book of
Exodus shows the image of God as Father, fount of Mercy. By giving the Law to
his elected people, the Lord God reveals his name: "The LORD, the LORD, a
merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in kindness and
fidelity." From there, the beautiful affirmation of Pope Francis, “the
name of God is mercy”. For, though his people go rebel and stiff-necked, God
never gets tired showing them his love and forgiving their sins.
The Gospel could be another theophany of God’s identity. We
are set in front of another great truth: God is love. Because of that great
love, he sent his only Begotten Son into the world for the salvation of
mankind. Here, incarnation and salvation are interconnected and both are
mysteries of love. They are the expression of the overflowing love of God. For,
“God so loved the world that he gave his only Son so that everyone who believes
in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” God does not wish our
death. He has not created mankind for damnation, rather for life.
These saying about God as the font of mercy and love have
necessaries implications on each of us, beneficiaries of his mercy and love. We
are urged to become instruments of life and love for our fellows. That is what
St. Paul exhorts in the second reading. Paul tells the Christian community of
Corinth, and also to you and me that, we should, in all things mend our ways.
As Christians, disciples of the Son of God the Father and moved by the Holy
Spirit, we must “encourage one another, agree with one another, live in peace,
and the God of love and peace will be with” us.
From those words of St. Paul, we learn that it costs nothing
so special for one to be at peace with others. But in return, it procures great
blessings. It only costs an inner disposition to greet one another, to have
words of mutual encouragements, and search for concord in our relationship with
others, to be true children of the Trinity. Paul says, we should mend our ways,
that is, we should always be cautious and careful in what we do and say to
others. A genuine Christian should first be one who minds his business and
minds what could be the impacts of what he lives, does, and say on others. We
are a community, that is, in a relationship with each other. Therefore, what we
live impacts on others, just like what the Father lives and say or do impacts
on the Son and the Spirit. Communion, unity, and relationship of love should be
our values as Trinitarian people.
In the Trinitarian relationship, the Father never speaks ill
of the Son, nor of the Spirit. They don't get jealous. There is no gossips or fake
news between them. Everything is lived and written for them in letters of love.
We too should imitate this relationship between us and write our Christian life
as a love story for God and love for one's neighbor.
Comments
Post a Comment