Today we celebrate the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity, a principal dogma of the Christian faith. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us that the Doctrine of the Trinity is “the central mystery of Christian faith and life” (CCC 234). When we speak about a mystery of faith, we are not referring to something with clues like a mystery novel by Agatha Christie or a television series like Murder She Wrote. The word mystery comes from the Greek mystērion and means an occurrence of divine revelation. A mystery is an encounter with something sacred. In today’s Feast of The Most Holy Trinity, the mystery we contemplate is how this God in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit has loved us since the beginning of time.
We will never understand God. He tells us through the Prophet Isaiah, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD. As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are my ways above your ways and my thoughts above your thoughts” (Isaiah 55: 8 – 9). What we can understand and what we do know is that God loves us. He reminds us, “With age-old love I have loved you; so, I have kept my mercy toward you” (Jeremiah 31:3).
God loves us so much He sent his only Son, Jesus Christ, into the world to save us. And Jesus loves us. St. John tells us that, “He loved his own in the world and he loved [us] to the end” (John 13: 1). Because of his overwhelming love, Jesus asked His Father to send us the Holy Spirit, our Advocate, to be with us always (John 14: 16). It is through the power of the Holy Spirit that we have the capacity to love God and each other. In 1 Corinthians 2: 12, St. Paul says, “We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit that is from God, so that we may understand the things freely given us by God.” Love is a gift from God. It is through our love of God and love of each other that we can enter into the mystery of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
God, source of all life and love,
We sing out to you today
The joy of our faith and our love.
You have loved us first
Before we could even know you.
Father, with a love as tender as that of a mother,
Our hearts recognize your greatness and your mercy.
You let Jesus become your face,
Our brother, near and approachable,
Saving us by his death and resurrection.
Your Spirit animates us with your love and strength.
Keep alive in us that love and that joy,
Let our gratitude resound all over the earth!
All blessing and praise be to you
Through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
