Trinity Sunday, June 3, 2012

What does Trinity mean?  It means One God in Three Divine Persons as when we make the sign of the Cross: In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  But how is this possible?  We do not know.

            We do know some things though regarding the Trinity.  The Old Testament stresses the Oneness, the Unity of the Lord, in contradiction of the widespread polytheism of the pagans.  There were gods for everything: the sun, the moon, the stars, the mountain and the rivers.  The Lord reveals to man that there is only One God and it is Him, Yahweh, He is who is – the most perfect Being, the source and summit and the final destination of all creatures.  The New Testament affirms and confirms the doctrine of the Unity of God but also reveals to us the Trinity in Unity.  Jesus makes known to us the Father and the Holy Spirit, how they are distinct from Him but One with Him.  He and the Father are one.  He sends the Spirit after He ascends into Heaven but He is with us till the end of time.

            The Church since the Apostles till today has tried her best to explain this doctrine to us.  We somehow approximate the mystery with images: a white bond paper divided and cut into three, the shell, egg white and egg yolk of the egg, and other images.  The Doctors of the Church have tried to explain it to us using Philosophy.  The Trinity they say may be likened to our knowledge process or to our love process.  When we come to know of a thing, we have ourselves, the thing itself and the knowledge we have of it: I, the thing and knowledge.  When we love a person, we have ourselves, the person loved and the love itself: I, the beloved and love.  Somehow these explanations help but we will have to go back to our initial answer regarding the how of the Trinity: we do not know.

            With humble hearts and minds we try to understand what we can and accept what we cannot.  We believe the Trinity because Jesus taught it to us and the Church which He founded and has the guidance of the Holy Spirit teaches it to us.  We may not understand it but we know that it is not against Logic and is therefore not irrational.

            What is this doctrine to us, here and now?  The Trinity holds for us two very important messages – precisely that of unity and love.  The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are one.  We are called to be one in ourselves, in our families, in our communities and with God.  In the present age of dismemberment the Lord prays that “all may be one” – one in mind and spirit, one in heart and soul.  When we are separated from others something is wrong and we have to do something about it.  We are called to love.  The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are united in one love.  When Jesus, God the Son, became Man, we, men, have become divine in Him.  We do not become gods, but divine, because we are being invited to participate, to partake in the community of the Trinity.  What beautiful destiny!  We enter and participate in the Mystery of the Unity and Love of the Trinity.

            Today Sunday Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, we pray to Our Lord that we become one with Him.  We pray to Him with Mary and all the saints that we too share with Him this One Love.

Holy Trinity Sunday, June 3, 2012 Saints Peter and Paul Parish, Diocese of Sorsogon