Holy Spirit Catholic Church
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Trinity Sunday
June 3, 2007
Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, commonly called Trinity Sunday. If we want to learn about God, we must turn to the Bible. And what the Bible tells us about God is something that no human mind could have ever imagined. The Bible tells us that God is a mystery of unity and trinity.
Put simply, the mystery of God is this: God is a single being, composed of a trinity of persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. When it comes to the idea of three persons in one God, the human mind falters. The mind comes face to face with a mystery.
To give us some faint inkling of the mystery, which we will never be able to grasp in this life, St. Ignatius of Loyola used the example of three musical notes played simultaneously. There are three notes, but the notes form only one sound. A modern theologian used the example of water. Water can exist in three different forms: as gas, that is, steam; as solid, that is, ice; and as liquid. Yet, chemically, all three are identical.
Traditionally, we have summed up our relationship to the Holy Trinity in terms of the three greatest acts of love that God has bestowed on us. The first of these three acts of love is creation. Traditionally, we attribute the work of creation to the Father. It was the Father who called us into being and put each of us on earth for a purpose. The second of these acts of love is salvation. Traditionally, we attribute the work of salvation to the Son. Jesus took flesh and dwelt among us as one of us. It was Jesus who saved us from sin and called us to complete the work He began on earth. The third act of love is sanctification. Traditionally, we attribute the work of sanctification to the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit who graces and helps us carry out the work for which we were created and called.
And so today's feast celebrates our relationship to the Holy Trinity in terms of the three great acts of love that God has bestowed on us. That brings us to the all-important question: How might we deepen our relationship with the Holy Trinity in appreciation for what the Holy Trinity has done for us? We might take our cue from members of religious orders, such as our own Sr. Rosina and Sr. Ellen Marie over at St. Peter Claver School, who take vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience.
Consider the vow of poverty. Religious see it as an invitation to put into practice these words of Jesus: "Do not worry about the food you need…or about the clothes you need…Your Father knows that you need these things. Instead, be concerned with His Kingdom, and He will provide you with these things." (Luke 12:22,30-31)
That brings us to the vow of chastity. Religious see it as an opportunity to free themselves for greater availability in working for the spread of God's Kingdom.
Finally, there is the vow of obedience. Religious see it as a way to enter into a more personal relationship with the Holy Spirit. By taking a vow of obedience, they see it as a way to listen more closely to the voice of the Holy Spirit in their lives.
That brings us to a suggestion for making the Holy Trinity come more alive in our own personal lives. Even though we, as lay people, do not take vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, we can live according to their spirit in our lives.
Take poverty and Jesus' words about not worrying about material necessities. He said, "Your Father knows that you need these things." In our world of financial insecurity, we can put full trust in Jesus' words that the Father knows our needs and will respond to them. The same holds true if we are elderly, in poor health, or single parents. We can place our trust in Jesus’ promise that the Father will provide for us, no matter what happens.
Next, take the vow of chastity. In a world of self-indulgence of every kind, we can imitate Jesus and deny ourselves to better work for the spread of God's Kingdom.
Finally, in a world filled with confusing voices and mixed signals, there are times when we honestly do not know what we ought to do in some difficult situation at work, school, or home. It is at times like these that we need to pause in prayer and listen intently to the guiding voice of the Holy Spirit.
We can put our trust in the Father, who knows our needs. We can imitate Jesus more fully by reaching out to the lost, the least, and the lonely in their hour of need. We can pause in prayer to listen for the voice of the Holy Spirit in confusing times and difficult situations.
And so Trinity Sunday is an opportunity to inventory our lives to see how we can deepen our relationship with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. All of us can do this. TRUST THE FATHER! IMITATE THE SON! LISTEN TO THE SPIRIT!
Today we celebrate the great mystery of the Trinity. It is the great mystery of the love of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit for us…a love that we profess as Catholics each time we pray the Creed at Mass, as we will do in just a minute. It is the great mystery of God’s love that we recall each time we sign ourselves with the cross, as we do now…In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.