June
11, 2017
Trinity
Sunday
Exodus
34:4b–6, 8–9; 2 Corinthians 13:11–13; John 3:16–18
You probably
heard of this joke about a woman whom a priest found bringing a bunch of novena
booklets to church. He asked, “Who is your favorite saint?” “Of course, I like
the Blessed Virgin Mary best! But I also like her sister!” “Sister?” the
startled priest asked. “Who is she?” Her reply: “Santa Trinidad!” “Santa
Trinidad” is no sister of Mother Mary. “Santa Trinidad” refers to the Holy
Trinity in local parlance. Today is the Solemnity of the Holy Trinity. We remember
today the mystery of God who revealed Himself as One, yet Three: Father, Son
and Holy Spirit. Saint Augustine once wrote, “Si
comprehendus, non est Deus”. It means, “If you understand, it is not God.”
No person can fully understand the mystery of the Holy Trinity. But why do we
believe in the mystery of the Trinity? What are its implications in our life as
Catholics? Let us reflect on these in three points.
OUR
TRINITRIAN GOD IS A GOD OF RELATIONSHIP. The church teaching
on the Trinity tells us that we have ONE GOD IN THREE DIVINE PERSONS: Father,
Son and Holy Spirit. They are not impersonal entities. We call them “persons” because
they live in a loving relationship with one another. God the Father loves His
Son very much. God the Son, who is Jesus, also loves the Father and he showed
this by being obedient to the will of the Father. What is the will of the Father?
Our gospel today says: “God so love the world that he sent his only Son not to
condemn the world but to save it.” The bond of love that unites the Father and
the Son is the Holy Spirit. Our God is a God of relationship. Perhaps one reason
why some find it difficult to have this personal relationship with God is that
they don’t look at God as a person. They look at God merely as an idea, an imagination
or a creation of the mind. But on the contrary, the mystery of the Holy Trinity
tells us that God is a community of persons. We are capable of entering into a
relationship with our Trinitarian God because our God is a God of relationship.
But how can we describe the relationship between the three divine persons?
IT
IS A RELATIONSHIP OF LOVE. Human relationships oftentimes fail because of selfishness.
If we look at the Trinity, one secret that keeps strong their relationship is
the absence of selfishness. They do not compete with each other as to who is
the best among them. That is why we don’t end up having three gods but only one
God in three divine persons. There is a total giving of one self. Everything is
given and shared to the other. There is no trace of selfishness or pride. Are
we capable of imitating this kind of love? If we look at our relationship with
our family, spouse, friends, do you think we can imitate this kind of
relationship?
YES,
WE ARE. BECAUSE WE ARE MADE IN THE IMAGE AND LIKENESS OF OUR GOD. Since
we were created in the image and likeness of our
Trinitarian God, then it means that we have the capacity to imitate
the same love that binds together the Trinity: a love that is not selfish, a
love that does not compete for greatness but a love that totally gives and
shares oneself to the other.
On this feast of
the Holy Trinity, let us remember that our Trinitarian God is a God of relationship. The love they have for each other binds them as one God. Let us
turn to our Trinitarian God to give us the grace of strong and loving relationship
in our families and communities. Amen.
