Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, Year C
Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of the Christian faith and of Christian life. From the beginning, the revealed truth of the Holy Trinity has been at the very root of the Church's living faith, principally by means of Baptism. God alone can make it known to us by revealing himself as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Incarnation of God's Son reveals that God is the eternal Father and that the Son is consubstantial with the Father, which means that, in the Father and with the Father the Son is one and the same God. The mission of the Holy Spirit, sent by the Father in the name of the Son (Jn14:26) and by the Son "from the Father" (Jn15:26), reveals that, with them, the Spirit is one and the same God. The Catholic Church uses the terms Substance, Person and Relation in explaining the Most Holy Trinity. Why? Because the term "substance" (rendered also as "essence" or "nature") is used to designate the divine being in its unity, the term "person" or "hypostasis" is used to designate the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in the real distinction among them, and the term "relation" is used to designate the fact that their distinction lies in the relationship of each to the others. But all these are to teach us that the Most Holy Trinity is One, that the divine persons are really distinct from one another in their relations of origin because it is the Father who generates, the Son who is begotten, and the Holy Spirit who proceeds. And that the divine persons are relative to one another and inseparable in what they are and what they do. Saint Paul in his letter to the Romans, today’s second reading, reminds us of the importance of the Most Trinity in faith of the infant Church in Rome. So what is the significance of today’s solemnity in our lives as Catholic Christians?
Today’s solemnity teaches us that the Most Holy Trinity is a unity of three divine persons in one God and that this unity of the Triune God is centered on love and collaboration or cooperation. So do we love one another as we are loved by God? Do we exemplify the unity in the Trinity by being collaborative and cooperative in our various ministries for God and His Church? Today’s solemnity teaches us that the Trinity is evident in the life of the Church and world in Creation, Redemption and Sanctification. Since we are made in God’s image and likeness, do we share His goodness in our everyday lives as Christians? How appreciative are we in our love for God in our redemption and salvation from sin? How have we used the gifts of the Holy Spirit we have received in sanctifying ourselves and the world today? Also today’s solemnity teaches us the characteristics of the Most Holy Trinity by emphasizing how God the Father NURTURES us by caring for us, guiding us and protecting us, How God the Son MODELS Himself for us to live the good and holy life we are called to live here on earth and reminds us to IMITATE Christ. Then lastly, today’s solemnity teaches us how the Holy Spirit INSPIRES us to go out and be true disciples of Christ with His gifts to us.
So my dear brothers and sisters, as we celebrate the solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity today, let us strive to become better Catholic Christians by loving God the Father who loves, nurtures and cares for us, by imitating God the Son who modeled His life for us to follow and by being inspired by God the Holy Spirit to use His gifts to us in sanctifying and evangelizing the world we live in. Amen!
