Be Like The God You Worship: The Trinity Of Love!

(Homily for the Holy Trinity Sunday Year A)

“Just… as the three angles of a triangle do not make three triangles but one, … so too in some much more mysterious way, there are three Persons in God and yet only one God” (Fulton J. Sheen, The Divine Romance) 

     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 Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit, sent by the Father and the Son, in order to bring to fulfillment the wonderful works of our salvation, in today’s liturgy we celebrate the three divine Persons (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 distinguishes our religion from others (the Jews adored only one God: Yahweh, the pagans adore many divinities, without unity), but in ours there is unity in distinction. 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 Scriptures actually made us to understand that the Father is God (Phil. 1:2), the Son is “great God” (Titus 2:13; Jn. 1:1) and that the Holy Spirit is God (Acts 5:3-4). The God revealed by Jesus Christ is not a distant and inaccessible divinity, that has nothing to do with the contingent humanity. He does not sit impassible on His eternal throne, rather He condescends to mankind. Even though we may not understand God fully as Trinity, we do experience Him as Trinity daily (in the sign of the cross etc.). God is not only believable, He can be experienced (Taste and See). In the words of Pope St. John Paul II, “God, in his deepest mystery, is not a solitude, but a family, since he has in himself fatherhood, sonship, and the essence of the family, which is love (the Holy Spirit).”

     In that bid, I would like to introduce the Holy Trinity in this reflection in two broad terms: economic and immanent Trinity, taking inspiration from some of the modern theologians. Economic is how God has revealed himself to us as Father, Son and Holy Spirit (through His actions in the world). And many a times when we talk about the Holy Trinity, we tend to do so, limiting ourselves to the economic 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 immanent Trinity. The doctrine of the Holy Trinity is a mystery beyond and above us, for it has to do with the ontological aspects of the Trinity (Immanent) 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 (Economic). However, we cannot understand and explain fully how God is in himself, 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". “God is love” (1Jn. 4:16) as revealed in the New Testament, and love cannot remain closed up in itself, and the God revealed by Jesus Christ is Trinity because is love. Jesus said to Philip, “I and the Father are one” (Jn.10:30) and no doubt the Holy Spirit is part of this oneness. Whether considered from the dimension of economy or immanency, the central word that dovetails into God’s essence and manifestation is LOVE. 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”. The Greek word perichoresis (derived from the Greek traditional wedding dance) will help us to have a clue of how God is Trinity. It is the reciprocal com-penetration of being among the three divine Persons, it is like the bond that unites the three Persons in a mutual indwelling. For instance, in Jesus’ priestly prayer: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.” (Jn. 17:1); and again Jesus says referring to the Holy Spirit, “he will glorify me” (Jn.16:14). Thus, the Holy Spirit glorifies the Son, the Son glorifies the Father and the Father glorifies the Son.

     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 actions? God is experienced as going out of himself in revelation and redemption. And it is against this backdrop, that the three readings of today proffer us some indications: The first reading from the book of Exodus reveals the name of God (Yahweh) and the compassionate heart of God, full of love and faithfulness. In the request of Moses: “My Lord, come with us”, here one can preempt the first step towards the Incarnation and the Revelation of the Son, “Enmanu-EI”- God with us. This mystery of Incarnation was revealed solemnly in the Gospel of John: “God so love the world, that he gave his only Begotten Son”. In the second reading St. Paul rediscovered a trinitarian formulae of the old Christian liturgy, culminating in grace, love and communion.

     In the first reading (Exodus 34: 4-6. 8-9) God revealed himself to Moses as “Merciful God and gracious,  slow to anger abounding in love and faithfulness.” This is our One and Triune God. And before his majesty we have to recognize our nothingness and so bow before Him. Moses recognized his nothingness and bowed on the ground. In this passage Moses shows us what should be the human attitude before this great and admirable mystery, it should be that of adoration and worship and an invocation of the Triune God to come and be in our midst. Let us appropriate the words of Moses, “If indeed I do enjoy your favour, please, my Lord, come with us” (v.9). The passage can be divided into two parts: the first part is a theophany, Yahweh revealed his name. And the second part is the response of Moses to this divine manifestation. In this passage, God we could say goes out of his own transcendent being in self-communication and he expects the human response. As such, in this encounter between God and Moses on Mount Sinai we see a threefold pattern: ●God in himself as the transcendent Being, ●God goes out of himself in self-communication, ●and He creates within the human heart (Moses) the response to his self-communication. Drawing the issue further, the passage talks about the “Name of God”, and for us it is the threefold name of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. As a matter of fact, Daniel in the responsorial psalm picked up this theme once again: “Blessed be your glorious and holy name” (Dan. 3:52b).

     In Gospel (John 3: 16-18) Jesus reveals the face of God, not just for what He is in himself, but for what he has done in favor of man. That God loved us so much, that he became one of us and one with us. Jesus came to save the world and not to condemn it. In this passage of the Gospel we see one of the most important verses (v.16) in the whole Gospel of St. John: “For this is how God loved the world: he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” This is the most glaring and precise affirmation of God’s love, as the true and ultimate cause of His Son’s presence in the world. But at first sight one might rightly question the choice of this passage that apparently talks about only the Father and the Son, without any mention of the Spirit, on this day. On the other hand, after a thoughtful reflection, we discover that it is as a matter of fact impossible to dissociate the gift of eternal life, from the Spirit who is the Giver of life. The first reading talks about God’s compassion, while the Gospel reveals his infinite love for man, little wonder St. Paul says “what proves that God loves us is that Christ died for us while we were still sinners” (Rm. 5:8). God sent his Son to the world in order to save the world (v. 17). Indeed, this mystery reveals to us our nothingness, and as such calls our attention to bow down in adoration to God.

     The second reading (2Cor 13: 11-13) begins with the admonition of St. Paul thus: “brethren, rejoice. Mend your ways, heed my appeal, agree with one another, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you” (v. 11). In a nutshell, is like St. Paul is telling us that a transformed way of living, living harmony and love with each other are the criteria for enjoying the presence of the Trinitarian God, the Trinity of love and peace. Secondly, he offers us an explicit affirmation of the existence of the Holy Trinity, but also the fact that the Holy Trinity is present in us and at work in us, if we do not destroy our relationship with Him through sin. For St. Paul the presence of the Trinity becomes a wish for the Christians of Corinth and for us today: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all”. St. Paul employs three important words (Grace, Love and Communion). He speaks of the grace of Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. Thus, bringing to light the experience of grace, love and koinonia. The ordering of Son, Father and Spirit is quite fascinating, for it is in the Person of the Son through his gracious life and death that we encounter the love of God, and this encounter enables us to be incorporated as members of the redeemed community, where we are made sharers in the common life of the Spirit.

     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. 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). It is thus an invitation to us to cultivate the spirituality of inclusion. ●We can as well reconsider the Holy Trinity in three dimensions: the Trinity of faith (of the past, when He 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 mystery of the Holy Trinity 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 sent the Son, and the Son revealed the Father 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 redemptive death and 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 constantly 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 position 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.

     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. 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? Drawing the issue further, we call the attention of our leaders and all, enough of all this religious, ethnic and political divides that create tension, hatred, violence and the massacre of human beings, especially in our country today. We condemn in all its forms and manifestations the barbarous warfare, persecution, endless massacre, kidnapping and plunder going on today in this nation. We need an urgent rediscovery of the sense of the sacredness and respect of the human life, created in the image and the imprint of the Trinitarian God. Let us pattern our lives in imitation of the God we worship and teach others to do same. 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. Oh our Trinitarian God, help us to love You and to love one another! Enable us to recognize you in each other and in our world, so that we may be capable of living the Trinitarian existence of communion, love and a harmonious unity. Amen!

 (Fr. Vitus M.C. Unegbu, SC)