The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity celebrates the great mystery of the Trinity, that there is only One God, in Three Divine Persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This mystery has been revealed to us by Jesus Christ, Who is Himself the Son and the Second Person of the Trinity.
When speaking of the Trinity, mystery means that the Trinity is a reality which is just too deep to be fully grasped by our minds, but is one that slowly continues to unfold the more we get to know God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The Old Testament is primarily the story of God the Father preparing the Chosen People of Israel for the fulfillment of His Plan of Salvation for all people with the coming of Jesus as the Messiah. However, all three Persons of the Trinity are present throughout the Old Testament books. The Book of Genesis, the first Book of the Bible, opens with the Holy Spirit hovering over the waters, breathing life into them, and setting the stage for God the Father to begin His actual work of creation. But it is in the New Testament where Jesus reveals Himself as Son, along with His Father and the Holy Spirit. This is why St. Augustine says that the New Testament lies hidden in the Old, and the Old is unveiled in the New. As human beings, we have the capacity to know that God exists just by looking at the beauty and the order of the universe and the world we live in. But on our own, we cannot actually know God Himself. It is only through His own Divine revelation where we can actually begin to know God. Revelation tells us that God is a personal being Who is profoundly close to us in creating and sustaining us. He communicates Himself to us through His creation and reveals Himself through Jesus Christ, whom we meet in the Church, especially in the Scriptures and in the Sacraments. Above all, Jesus taught that God wants to be known and to have an intimate and loving relationship with us, as a father who loves his children. And He wants to share His own divine life with us.
God is reaching down to our level for the sole purpose of raising us up to Him, and He does this out of His great love for us. That is why love is the best explanation of the Trinity. Love cannot exist all alone. It is by its very nature directed toward another. In fact, in order for love to exist, there must be three elements: 1) the lover, the one who does the loving; 2) the beloved, the one who is loved; and 3) the love itself, which binds these two together. In the Trinity, we see all three elements perfectly: 1) God the Father is the Eternal Lover; 2) God the Son is the Beloved; and 3) the Holy Spirit is the Divine Love binding them together for all eternity. God is perfect love, and this is the great mystery of the Trinity. The more we read the Scriptures, the more we participate in the Mass and the Sacraments, the more we pray, the more we enter into this great mystery and the more we grow in our knowledge and love of the Triune God. Above all, we learn that we are the beloved sons and daughters of the Father, Who created us, sustains us, and loves us each individually. We are the brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ, Who purchased our salvation with His own blood, and Who gives Himself to us in the Eucharist and in His Sacraments, so that we can more fully share in God’s love. We are Temples of the Holy Spirit, Who is our Protector, Consoler and Advocate.
This week, take a little extra time for prayer and think about those times when we have felt God’s love as a Father, when we recognized Jesus’ presence in the Eucharist, or when we experienced the quiet and gentle power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. And then close that prayer with the Sign of the Cross, thanking God for His incomprehensible love for us in this great mystery of the Most Holy Trinity!
God Bless,
Deacon Peter Auriemma