O Trinity Of Love! O Fount Of Life!!

(Homily for the Holy Trinity Sunday Year C)

     After we have celebrated in Advent and Christmas the merciful love of the Father who sent his Son to, in and for the world; in lent and Easter we celebrated the infinite goodness of the Son, who gave his life for us, and also after celebrating the feast of the Pentecoste, the coming of the Holy Spirit, sent by the Father and the Son, in order to bring to fulfilment the wonderful works of our salvation, in today’s liturgy we celebrate the three divine Persons together (Father, Son, Holy Spirit). Indeed, the reality of the three divine persons is not a fairy tale, rather a certainty of what has been revealed to us. Even though it has been revealed, it still remains a mystery. The revelation of our God who in essence is one, and manifests Himself in three Persons is beyond human logic and calculations. The Holy Trinity is the mystery that distinquinshes our religion from others (the Jews adored only one God: Jahvè, the pagans adore many divinities, without unity), but in ours there is unity in distintion. The Holy Trinity is not just the perception in three aspects (Creator, Redeemer and Sanctifier) that we sometimes have of God, more than that, the Trinity does not only refer to human viewing, but to God himself, to His ways of being God. The Holy Bible actually made us to understand that the Father is God (Phil.1:2), the Son is great God (Titus 2:13) and that the Holy Spirit is God (Acts 5:3-4).

     In that bid, I would like to introduce the Holy Trinity in this reflection in two broad terms: immanent Trinity and transcendent Trinity. Immanent is how God has revealed himself to us as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And many a times when we talk about the Holy Trinity, we tend to do so, limiting ourselves to the immanent Trinity, as revealed to us. But more than that the Holy Trinity is also to be considered from the point of view of how God is in himself, God in his essence is One but manifests himself in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and that is transcendent Trinity. The doctrine of the Holy Trinity is a mystery beyond and above us (transcendent) and at the same time it is a mystery that has been revealed to us and it is our way of knowing that God is present in Human history (immanent). Be that as it may, it behooves us to underscore that this doctrine does not explain nor define God, because as St. Augustine opined "si comprehendis non est Deus". In another writing of his St. Augustine exclaimed "if you see love, you have seen the Trinity". Whether considered from the dimension of transcendency or immanency, the central word that dovetails into God’s essence and manifestation is LOVE. The Trinity is therefore a sign of a harmonious unity existent in God, which should equally be existent among God's children. The central message of today's doctrine is that of Love (Father-Lover, Son-Loved and Holy Spirit-Love).

     The word Trinity (tri-unity) was coined by Tertullian about the third century in the bid to establish the distinct Persons in one God.  The Scriptures in no small way, buttress the reality of the Trinity with some biblical quotations: In Genesis 18: 1-2: God appeared to Abraham at the sacred tree of Mamre. As Abraham was sitting at the entrance during the hottest part of the day, he looked up and saw three men. God came to Abraham in the Trinitarian form. In Isaiah 6:8: “Whom shall I send and who will go for US?” Here we can discover God the Father making a representational request on behalf of the Son and the Holy Spirit. Likewise in Matthew 28:19: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”  Jesus Christ, the Son undoubtedly is God: John 1:1: “In the beginning was the WORD, the WORD was with God and the WORD was God. The Holy Spirit is equally God: Genesis 1:2: “The Spirit of God was brought over the waters” This was before God began active creation. The Holy Spirit has been with the Godhead from eternity. Hence the Holy Spirit is God. In John 14:26: “The Counsellor whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything”.  

     Similarly, no matter how hard we try, we remain limited in the endeavor to understand this mystery in toto, what is important for us is not even to understand Him, rather to recognize how he manifests Himself, what are the signs of his presence and action, for God is experienced as going out of himself, in revelation and and redemptive actions. And it is on this, no doubt that the three readings of today try to give us some indications:

     The first reading (Pro. 8:22-31) speaks of the divine wisdom orchestrated in the self-disclosure of God. In the wisdom literature and in the Old Testament generally, Yahweh is a God who exists in himself, who also goes out of himself in his revealing and saving actions, and he as well brings men to respond in and with faith to his saving action. Here, the wisdom of God is portrayed in His going out of himself. As such, the hymn of the eighth chapter of Proverbs is fundamental in the understanding of the divine wisdom. More than in any other passage, Proverbs 8 assigns an active and subjective role to wisdom in creation. Therein, wisdom is personified for “she was present when God creates”. The liturgy of today therefore, suggests a contemplation of the Father, the fountain and origin of all, who conceived the design of spreading His love on the creatures that are capable of knowing and loving him, and he realized this, by the creation of man in his own image and likeness and the universe at the service of man. On this wisdom St. Paul later affirmed: “It is of the mysterious wisdom of God that we talk, the wisdom that was hidden, which God predestined to be for our glory before the ages began” (1Cor. 2:7). Besides, the pertinent question as far as this passage is concerned could be: where is the trinitarian import in this passage? And we find it at the begininng of the passage: “The Wisdom of God speaks: Yahweh created me, first-fruit of his fashioning…From eternity, I was firmly set” (vv.22-23). Indeed, before the beginning of the world, we see at God’s side, a mysterious reality, the Wisdom that speaks of God and with God, and assists Him (God) while He creates. St. John in his prologue identified this mystery, calling it Wisdom Word: “In the beginning was the Word: the Word was with God and the Word was God…Through him all things came into being” (Jn. 1:1.3). This opens the window to the revelation on the Trinity.

   In the second reading (Rm. 5:1-5), St. Paul talks about the triadic structure as revealed in the experience of God. For God is the origin of our redemption in Jesus Christ, and through the Holy Spirit who pours the love of God into our hearts we come to expereince the redemptive action. However, St. Paul takes it to a different dimension, for he departs from the consideration of man, created in the image of God, but who has lost his friendship with God because of sin, and he was destined to perdition, but God did not abbandon him to the powers of darkness and death; instead God comes with a project of redemption, and as such, the Incarnation, Passion, Death and Resurrection of Christ are geared towards the realization of this redemptive project that reveals fully the Son of God to man. The Only Son of God, hidden from all eternity in the bossom of the Father and who was with Him when He was creating the heavens, has manifested himself therefore, as a Person in Jesus Christ. 

     In today’s gospel (Jn. 16:12-15) Jesus through his words manifested the relationship existent amongst the three Persons of the Holy Trinity, “He (The Holy Spirit) will glorify me, since all he reveals to you will be taken from what is mine. Everything the Father has is mine; that is why I said: all he reveals to you will be taken from what is mine” (Jn. 16:14-15). Without the Father and the Holy Spirit, it is impossible to believe in Christ, because He speaks of them (the Father and the Holy Spirit) and they speak to us about Him (Christ). A Jesus without his profound and uninterupted dialogue with the Father, without his Abba!, is no longer Jesus; a Jesus without the Spirit that illumines Him is not the risen Jesus who saves and sanctifies humanity. There is a network of connection and rapport that exists between the Father and the Son, and between the Holy Spirit and the Father and the Son. The revelation that Jesus brings is from the Father and it is the Holy Spirit, who teaches and continues the propagation of this revelation from generation to generation. However, the Spirit does not communicate or convey a new or an independent revelation, instead he purifies and updates our understanding of the revelation of God manifest in the event of Christ. This passage opens for us glimmer on the last phase of the history of salvation, the time of the Church, where the presence of the Holy Spirit is revealed. He will come to the Church and lead her to the truth, the continuator of the work of Christ and sanctifier of the Church and every single christian.

     Be that as it may, we have a number of virtues to learn from the mystery and divine manifestation we celebrate today: ●Unity in diversity, a call, therefore, to recognize all as brothers, despite our differences, and to live in love and communion as children of the same Father.  The revelation of God as Trinity is a revelation of love. ●We can as well reconsider the Holy Trinity in three dimensinos: the Trinity of faith (of the past, that revealed himself), the Trinity of Love (of the present, that lives and works in us), there is also the Trinity of Hope (of the future, we are on our journey towards the return to the Father). It is of a Hope that is certain (cf. Rm 5:5). The Trinity is ocean of Peace and communion; the Father always works with the Son and the Holy Spirit “let us” (cf Gen 1 & 2).

     The mystery of the Holy Trnity is a reality hidden in the heart of God. The mystery of the Holy Trinity is neither the work or the fruit of theological thoughts nor of mysticism. The Trinity is not a fruit of human invention, is not an idea, rather it is a reality, the most sublime reality, not a static reality but a process-reality; that the Father revealed through the Son and the Holy Spirit. The mystery of the Trinity was immensely revealed to us through the action and manifestations of God in human history. God revealed himself as Father by sending the Son. And Jesus Christ revealed himself to us in his perfect obedience to the Father, through his death and redentive resurrection. And the Holy Spirit revealed himself to us as the “cement” of the love of the Father and the Son, as a gift of communion to man, so that they will live in the trinitarian image.

     What should be the attitude of man before this mystery? ►First, there is need for the attitude of adoration and submission to the Father that so much loves us, to our Brother Jesus who gave his life for us, and to the Holy Spirit who accompanies and sustains us in the course of our earthly existence. More important to reflecting, thinking and pondering on the mystery is to worship and render all adoration to the Triune God. ►Second, is the attitude of thanksgiving, thanking God for the fact that He is a mystery and continues to be a mystery even after the revelation. But not a mysterious and complicated mystery, for we are constatntly involved in the life of the Blessed Trinity. Being a mystery, as such it cannot be manipulated or instrumentalized by man. ►Third, is the attitude of humble acceptance of the mystery, avoiding a rationalistic postion and an irrationalistic position, that seeks to exclude it (because it does not comprehend it) or that seeks to succumb to its weight (because it is perceived to be cumbersome) respectively.

     In the mystery of the Holy Trinity, there is love amongst the three Divine Persons (ad intra), but in the same vein the trinitarian love is manifested externally (ad extra), love towards humanity, towards us. This trinitarian love extended to us should be a prerogative for the extension of that same love to our fellow human beings. The Trinity is therefore a sign of a harmonious unity existent in God, which should equally be existent among God's children. The central message of today's doctrine is that of Love. The Holy Trinity is a mystery of interpersonal communion of love. It is a sign of communion and of love. As those called to live a trinitarian life, is our life a sign of communion and of love, a reflex of the trinitarian life? Above all else, however, drawing the issue further, we see that the Holy Trinity is a mystery of Mission: the Father sends the Son, and both send the Holy Spirit, and in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, the Church is sent by Christ to “go and make disciples of all nations”. You too, you are sent to be heralds of love, unity and communion. May Jesus in whom “in bodily form dwells all the fullness of divinity” (Col. 2:9), continue to reveal to us the God who is communion. 

 (Fr. Vitus M.C. Unegbu, SC)