The readings for the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity may be found at:
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/053126.cfm
This week,
on the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity,
the Church invites us
to reflect on the deepest mystery of our faith.
One God.
Three Divine Persons.
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
For many of us,
the Trinity can seem abstract.
Something scholars discuss in really thick books.
But at its heart, the Trinity is not a math problem,
of how three can be one or one can be three.
The Trinity is the revelation that God is love.
Today, the evangelist St. John writes:
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”
Everything begins there.
In just one verse,
Jesus reveals all three Persons of the Trinity,
the Father who sends,
the Son who is given,
and the Holy Spirit
who brings that saving love into our hearts.
The Father loves the world so completely
that He gives His only Son.
The Son
who gives His life on the Cross for our salvation.
And the Holy Spirit
is poured into our hearts
so that we can share in the very life of God.
That is the Trinity.
The Father loving,
the Son revealing that love, and
the Holy Spirit drawing us into that love.
And we learn about the Trinity best
not from a book, but through Jesus.
Because Jesus does more than teach us about God.
Jesus reveals God.
He says:
“Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.”
If we want to know what God is like, we look at Jesus.
We look at His compassion.
His mercy.
His forgiveness.
His humility.
His Cross.
Because ultimately,
God is self-giving love.
And that matters -
because many of us sometimes wonder
where God is in the world today.
Did He leave us?
Is He angry with us?
But Jesus reveals the Father,
as the One who comes toward us,
not to condemn, but to save.
As we hear clearly in today's Gospel:
“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”
Now the Holy Spirit.
can often seem like the Person of the Trinity
we know the least about.
Yet the Holy Spirit
is God dwelling within us.
The Spirit is the reason
faith comes alive in our hearts.
Through every prayer,
every conversion,
every desire for holiness,
the Holy Spirit is quietly at work.
Teaching,
strengthening,
guiding,
and slowly transforming us
into the likeness of Christ.
So through this Solemnity,
this week,
the Church is inviting us through the Trinity
to become a little more aware
of God's presence in our daily lives.
When we make the Sign of the Cross,
which we often do so quickly and automatically,
maybe we can slow down this week
and really focus on what we are saying -
In the name of the Father,
and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit.
Taking a moment
to place our entire day into the life of the Trinity.
Remembering the Father's love,
trusting in the grace of Jesus, and
opening our hearts to the communion of the Holy Spirit.
Maybe then
we can thank the Father
for His love
and speak honestly to Jesus
about our struggles.
Perhaps before an important conversation,
a difficult decision,
or a moment of frustration,
we can simply pray:
“Come, Holy Spirit.”
Because the Trinity,
is not merely a mystery,
but a relationship to be lived.
Every time we make the Sign of the Cross,
we are not simply beginning a prayer.
We are placing ourselves
into the very life of God.
Into the love of the Father,
the grace of Jesus.
and the communion of the Holy Spirit.
For the God
who so loved the world
continues to draw us into His love today.
May the Most Holy Trinity
help us live in that love this week,
reflect that love to everyone we meet,
and help others discover the God
who first loved us.
In the name of the Father,
and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
