Friar’s Corner: Our God is a Trinity of three loving persons
Deuteronomy 4:32-34, 39-40; Ps 33:4-5, 6, 9, 18-20, 22; Romans 8:14-17; Matthew 28:16-20
These few Sundays after Pentecost present for us two major teachings of our faith. Theologically we call them dogmas. Catechesis is the explanation of what these major elements mean. Especially in the Gospel of St. John we learn more about these three persons. Human language is not able to give a complete explanation of these divine realities yet we can understand some things. The rest is a faith belief in their reality. In St. John 14:16, Jesus sad: "I will ask the Father and he will give you another Paraclete to be with you always: the Spirit of Truth." Jesus said in St. John 15:26 "When the Paraclete comes, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father — and whom I myself will send from the Father – he will bear witness on my behalf." Jesus taught us to pray in Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:2-4, the Lord’s Prayer: "Our Father, who are in heaven…."
These and many other scripture passages elude to God, our Father, working to form and guide his Jewish people in the Old Testament. Because of all the sins of humanity, the Father had to send his Son into our world to speak to us as a human person. Jesus healed and taught thousands. The apostles were his disciples learning from the master and "protecting" him from the large crowds. Jesus died to forgive the sins of the human race and went back to heaven. He was only physically here on earth for 33 years. Since Pentecost, the Holy Spirit has been in charge of the church. He is the orchestra leader or choirmaster if you will. But the key is: do we know each person of the Trinity? And will we submit our will to follow God’s plan for our salvation and that of others.
A simple theological explanation of the Trinity is this. In God, the creator and sustainer of all creation and physical life, there is only one nature. Yet there are three distinct persons in that one nature: the Father, the Son, who proceeds from the Father by generation, and the Holy Spirit, who proceeds from the Father and the Son by spiration. The three Divine Persons are coequal, coeternal and consubstantial. They deserve coequal glory and adoration (worship). All life begins in the Trinity, comes from the Trinity and is destined to end in the Trinity, forever in heaven.
Every liturgical action begins "In the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" and is accompanied by one or other Trinitarian doxologies, such as "Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit…." We are baptized in that formula. With Jesus, we are a priestly people; we are priests, prophets and servant rulers. So by God’s grace we enter into the life of the three Persons.
Trinity Sunday is celebrated each year on the first Sunday after Pentecost. This solemn feast evolved from a special Office and Mass of the Holy Trinity around the 8th century. Eventually it was picked for its celebration in the 12th century with the consecration of St. Thomas Becket as the Archbishop of Canterbury. By the 14th century it was extended to the entire Church. Is that simple enough?
Great Trinitarian blessings,
+ Fr. Bob Hilz
© 2015 Fr. Bob Hilz, TOR
