The Solemnity of the Blessed Trinity

[Scripture Readings: 1 Prov 8:22-31; Rom 5:1-5; Jn 16:12-15]

It began in a garden, what we know as the Garden of Eden. The one true God made his presence felt and walked with Adam and Eve. But the plan was disrupted by disobedience to a command and the result was very serious. Adam and his companion had to leave and to live under different circumstances.

Afterward the one true God made his presence felt by the chosen people, the Jewish race. As salvation history continued, another garden came on the scene. The Garden of Gethsemane loomed as a struggle between the forces of good and the forces of evil. The one true God would still be worshipped now under a new aspect. Jesus claims that God is his Father, and that the Paraclete would come to guide and strengthen the church he founded. The one true God would be acknowledged as three divine Persons in one divine nature. We are told to believe it, not to try to figure it out.

It cannot be denied that the doctrine of the Trinity which describes God as three divine Persons in one divine nature is puzzling to the ordinary Christian and even the average theologian. We find nothing about the idea of three Persons in God in the Old Testament. The fact that there are three Persons in one God has been clearly revealed by Christ himself. He spoke of being equal to the Father, yet as a distinct Person from the Father. He spoke of sending the Paraclete who would guide the Church and its followers after he ascended to heaven. We accept the mystery not because we understand it, but because we have it from Christ who is truth himself.

The Feast of the Blessed Trinity involves more than a theoretical acceptance of an ancient dogma, a truth to be believed. It invites us to rejoice in our privileged position as children of God the Father, and it challenges us to live in a manner worthy of our calling. It calls us to respond to the love of God which is poured into our hearts by Christ and by the Holy Spirit. It invites us to look forward with joy to the day when we shall share the glory of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.