Matthew 28:16-20

The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them. When they saw him, they worshipped, but they doubted. Then Jesus approached and said to them, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”

Today, May 26, 2024, is the Solemnity of the Holy Trinity.

The Holy Trinity is a mystery so profound, it almost seems useless to try to explain it. Too many have given up trying. There is the story of St. Augustine of Hippo, that I’m sure I’ve recounted here before, of his walking the beach next to the Mediterranean Sea contemplating the mystery of the Holy Trinity, when he came upon a small boy going back and forth to the Sea, each time with a bucket full of water, and pouring that water into a hole he had dug in the sand. St. Augustine inquired of the boy, “What are you doing?” The boy replied, “I am going to put all of the water of the Sea into my hole.” Augustine chuckled and told the boy, “That’s impossible! The Sea is too large, and your hole is too small.” The boy looked the great theologian in the eyes and told him, “I will sooner complete my mission than you will understand the Trinity.”

St. John tells us that God is love (1 Jn 4:8). Love requires at least two persons, a lover and a beloved. In the mystery of the Trinity, the Father is the lover, and the Son is the beloved. The love they share is eternal, and so real that we give it a name: the Holy Spirit.

This is why marriage is a symbol or a reflection of the Holy Trinity. There is a lover, the husband, and a beloved, the wife. And sometimes the love between them is so real, we give it a name: Robert, Margaret, Kathleen, Ruth, George, Joseph, Edward.

The mystery of three Persons in one divine Being, I think, is more easily comprehended if we consider that God is love. They are each Persons in their own right. The Father is not the Son. The Son is not the Spirit. The Spirit is not the Father. Yet, the love they share is so eternal, so dynamic, so all-encompassing that God would not exist except for the love that is shared between the Persons of the Holy Trinity. How can love exist if there is only one? Yet, how can love be real if those who love are not made one in the love they share?

It’s inadequate, I know. What can I say? We desire to understand, while knowing full well that we will never understand, at least in this temporal order. St. Paul tells us that there is faith, hope, and love. But only love will survive death. Faith will be supplanted by knowledge. Hope will be supplanted by experience. Love will still be there, however, for nothing can supplant it. There is only more love. That is why we will finally understand the deep mysteries about God that confound us so in this earthly realm. We will not only love, but we will share in the divine nature (2 Pt 1:4), which is love – so we will be love, just as God is love. We will be caught up in the eternal dance of divine love that is the Holy Trinity. We will not be watching from the sidelines. No. We, too, will be dancing. It is a mystery too profound to fully comprehend, but it is a joy for which we hope. Celebrating the Holy Trinity reminds us of that hope. It is enough to comprehend that.

Be Christ for all. Bring Christ to all. See Christ in all.