Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, Year A
Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity or Trinity Sunday. We all know that it is a futile effort to try to explain the mystery of the Holy Trinity, because it is incomprehensible to the human mind. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 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". The mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of the Christian faith and of Christian life. God alone can make it known to us by revealing himself as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. By the grace of Baptism "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit", we are called to share in the life of the Blessed Trinity, here on earth in the obscurity of faith, and after death in eternal light. “Now this is the Catholic faith: We worship one God in the Trinity and the Trinity in unity, without either confusing the persons or dividing the substance; for the person of the Father is one, the Son's is another, the Holy Spirit's another; but the Godhead of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is one, their glory equal, their majesty coeternal." Inseparable in what they are, the divine persons are also inseparable in what they do. But within the single divine operation, each shows forth what is proper to him in the Trinity, especially in the divine missions of the Son's Incarnation and the gift of the Holy Spirit. Hence, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit reveal the fullness of the unity of God’s love. With all these explanations, one thing is certain for sure about today’s Solemnity, and that is what it teaches us. Today’s Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity teaches us three things: Firstly, that the Holy Trinity is real as we heard in today’s second reading from the Second Letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians, chapter 13, verse 11 to 13, where Saint Paul blesses the Corinthians with a Trinitarian formula saying, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you. Also we can verify the existence of the Holy Trinity from the Baptism of our Lord, as shown us in the gospel of Saint Matthew, chapter 3, verse 13 to 17, which states, “As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” As well as in Jesus’s command to His apostles before His Ascension into heaven in Matthew chapter 28, Verses 19 to 20 when He said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.” Secondly, today’s Solemnity teaches us that in the Most Holy Trinity, there are three persons, different and distinct, but they share unity in substance, and equality in majesty. Thirdly, that the Most Holy Trinity is of one substance, and intimate in unity, through love and peace. To this Saint Athanasius states, “We worship one God in the Trinity and the Trinity in unity, without either confusing the persons or dividing the substance; for the person of the Father is one, the Son's is another, the Holy Spirit's another; but the Godhead of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is one, their glory equal, their majesty coeternal.” Hence, the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity calls our attention to the love, unity and intimacy that should exist in our relationship with people. Intimacy here is centered on love, peace and sacrifice, this is why Saint Paul encourages the divided church in Corinth in today’s second reading, to “Be united; live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you.” So my dear brothers and sisters, today’s Solemnity calls us to be one in God, in the Holy Trinity, to stay away from greed, jealousy and envy, rather focus on proclaiming God and living out His love in our thoughts, words and actions, so as to bring unity and peace into our lives and into our world.
