Reflections for the Solemnity of the Holy Trinity on May 25
This Sunday, May 25, is the Solemnity of the Holy Trinity, so what better way to reflect on this important feast than by saying the Glory Be together?
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end! Amen!
Alleluia! I picture all the angels and saints standing with arms outstretched, joining us with great gusto and joy whenever we pray this prayer, for they see the Trinity and know the Truth of those words!
But let’s be honest: Just trying to comprehend God as Trinity or even one aspect of this reality (how there are three Persons in one God) is nearly impossible. Our God is all spirit and pure goodness, while we are spirit, material and fallen—how could we fully comprehend or put into words something so far beyond us? Well, we can’t, not fully. But God has revealed much to us and, through the Holy Spirit, aided theologians and philosophers in providing explanations so we can know what we need to know.
So, why is understanding anything about the Trinity important?
Growing up, I thought of God as our Father, Jesus as my friend and Savior, and the Holy Spirit as the one busy around the world—and that I had all I needed to know. But the reality is so much more—God as Trinity is the central teaching of our faith that gives perspective on all the rest.
The Eucharist is the source and summit of our faith, but that’s only understood correctly when we realize who Jesus, the Eucharist, is in relation to the Father and Holy Spirit.
Developing a Deeper Understanding of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit
We’ve been taught that God is Three Divine Persons: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. What hasn’t always been expressed is that love is inseparable from their being.
God is love. This is not just a trite statement for a child’s banner but a deep reality I missed for most of my life. Its fullness comes from understanding the relationship between the Trinity’s Divine Persons as expressed by theologians—that I greatly simplify here for our purpose:
God the Father is love so full that God the Son reciprocates this pure love such that God the Holy Spirit emanates from that exchange of love.
Theologians speak of the Trinity as “God is relationship,” and that relationship’s nature is love such that all that occurs happens through love among the Persons of the Trinity. While our personal perspectives and emotions complicate our perceptions and our unity, the Divine Persons are united in “will”—there has not been, is not, and never will be dissension among them, “only” ove making loving choices.
If we hope to enter Heaven, we need to be ready to live out such love ourselves. Love for our fellow man is not just an ideal for the “saintly,” but a requirement to be counted among the saints. I thank God for sharing His grace to help me get there—and providing Purgatory for those of us who fall short before death but are trying.
Made in God’s image and likeness, we fulfill our image and likeness of God by “being” love to one another as each Divine Person loves each other Divine Person and all Creation. God calls us to emulate Jesus’ message of love that springs from that infinitely perfect, true, good and beautiful unity of the Divine Persons.
How to live out the lessons of the Holy Trinity
We don’t follow one who kept a stiff upper lip amid suffering, but the One who in every second of earthly life lived and breathed only for the good of humanity, for both His mother and those persecutors who walked the road to Calvary beside Him. In Jesus’ mother, the daughter of the Father and spouse of the Holy Spirit, Jesus experienced an exchange of love.
With his persecutors, He persevered in seeking the same, regardless of their actions. Even His anger with the Pharisees sprang from love for them that sought both those stiff-necked sons’ return and protection for His other sheep.
The self-giving love of the Trinity is what we as Christians must model, and this is so important that God founded society on a relationship that mirrors the Trinity, allowing us to share in His creation of life: when a man and woman in marriage express their pure love, their love is naturally generated in another person, their child.
This ideal has every family member placing the other’s good before their own. Being only human, our marital relationships are a partial reflection of the Trinity’s exchange, and our Fall distorted our ability to choose and properly live this out. But the call to share on earth this special aspect of the Trinitarian exchange of love is there for all couples to embrace, supported by grace God will bestow.
Moving forward in our faith, we need to keep this in mind!
Love with Utter Joy
Periodically, I ponder how new understandings have changed my natural thoughts and feelings, as well as my actions. As Trinity Sunday approaches, there’s an added excitement this year since this reality has settled in “my being” more than in past years.
Although I celebrate Him every Sunday, this feast is like a birthday for someone I live with. I’m excited to share this extra special day that sings His glory and praise; but I’m also in awe knowing that we’re really celebrating His Love for us, from which flows all His thoughts and actions for us. May we every day live (and live up to!) His image and likeness that He “made us in,” so that we might love as He loves, in utter joy.
“Mend your ways, encourage one another, agree with one another, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you.”—2 Corinthians 13:11
