Introduction
This weekend we celebrate Trinity Sunday. “Christians are baptized ‘in the name of the
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.’ Before receiving the sacrament [of
Baptism], they respond to a three-part question when asked to confess the Father, the Son
and the Spirit: ‘I do.’ The faith of all Christians rests on the Trinity (Catechism of the
Catholic Church, [CCC] 232).” The celebration of the Trinity is the celebration of life in
the Trinity. How are we part of the eternal life of the Trinity? How do we put things in
order for the Trinity? How do we protect the interventions of the Trinity so that nothing
perishes?
Theme
“God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes
in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” (John 3:16)
Have eternal life in the Trinity
For what do we live? For what do we select our fight? The celebration of the Trinity
requires intentional effort of all believers to protect the source of eternal life. The Trinity
is a companion for eternal life:
“St. Gregory of Nazianzus, also called ‘the Theologian’, entrusts this summary of
Trinitarian faith to the catechumens of Constantinople: Above all guard for me this great
deposit of faith for which I live and fight, which I want to take with me as a companion,
and which makes me bear all evils and despise all pleasures: I mean the profession of
faith in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. I entrust it to you today. By it I am
soon going to plunge you into water and raise you up from it. I give it to you as the
companion and patron of your whole life. I give you but one divinity and power, existing
one in three, and containing the three in a distinct way. Divinity without disparity of
substance or nature, without superior degree that raises up or inferior degree that casts
down…the infinite co-naturality of three infinites. Each person considered in himself is
entirely God. . . the three considered together…I have not even begun to think of unity
when the Trinity bathes me in its splendour. I have not even begun to think of the Trinity
when unity grasps me…” (CCC 256, see St. Gregory of Nazianzus, Oratio 40, 41: PG
36,417).
The Trinity is also the source of inspiration for the profession of faith in our everyday
life:
“The first ‘profession of faith’ is made during Baptism. The symbol of faith is first and
foremost the baptismal creed. Since Baptism is given ‘in the name of the Father and of
the Son and of the Holy Spirit’, the truths of faith professed during Baptism are
articulated in terms of their reference to the three persons of the Holy Trinity” (CCC
189).
The Trinity is important in our everyday life. Moses showed that God is the one to help
him in his everyday life so he looks for God early in the morning:
“Moses rose early in the morning and went up on Mount Sinai,
as the Lord had commanded him,
and took in his hand the two tablets of stone.
The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there,
and proclaimed the name, “The Lord.”
The Lord passed before Moses, and proclaimed,
“The Lord, the Lord,
a God merciful and gracious,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.” (Exodus 34:4-6)
How alive is our faith? How do we keep our faith alive? To ensure that our faith is not
diminished or eventually dead, we need the Trinity to be the root of the preaching,
catechesis and prayer we are part of. But how many times have we intentionally included
the Trinity in what we say (preach), inspire (catechesis) and ask for (pray for) in our
everyday life? The Celebration of Trinity is the chance to allow the Trinity to be the root
of our everyday life:
“From the beginning, the revealed truth of the Holy Trinity has been at the very root of
the Church's living faith, principally by means of Baptism. It finds its expression in the
rule of baptismal faith, formulated in the preaching, catechesis and prayer of the Church.
Such formulations are already found in the apostolic writings, such as this salutation
taken up in the Eucharistic liturgy: ‘The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of
God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all’ (CCC249).
The celebration of the Trinity is an opportunity to enhance our life in that of the Trinity
through Jesus Christ:
“At the heart of catechesis we find, in essence, a Person, the Person of Jesus of Nazareth,
the only Son from the Father…who suffered and died for us and who now, after rising, is
living with us forever. To catechize is ‘to reveal in the Person of Christ the whole of
God's eternal design reaching fulfilment in that Person. It is to seek to understand the
meaning of Christ's actions and words and of the signs worked by him.’ Catechesis aims
at putting "people . . . in communion…with Jesus Christ: only he can lead us to the love
of the Father in the Spirit and make us share in the life of the Holy Trinity” (CCC 426).
In the Old Testament, Moses included God in what he said, inspired and requested:
“The Lord passed before Moses, and proclaimed,
“The Lord, the Lord,
a God merciful and gracious,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.”
And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped.
He said, “If now I have found favour in your sight, O Lord,
I pray, let the Lord go with us.
Although this is a stiff-necked people,
pardon our iniquity and our sin,
and take us for your inheritance.” (Exodus 34:6-9)
The Trinity as the root and core of our daily prayer is expressed in the prayer of many
Holy men and women. For example, Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity prayed with these
words:
“O my God, Trinity whom I adore, help me forget myself entirely so to establish myself
in you, unmovable and peaceful as if my soul were already in eternity. May nothing be
able to trouble my peace or make me leave you, O my unchanging God, but may each
minute bring me more deeply into your mystery! Grant my soul peace. Make it your
heaven, your beloved dwelling and the place of your rest. May I never abandon you there,
but may I be there, whole and entire, completely vigilant in my faith, entirely adoring,
and wholly given over to your creative action.”(CCC 260, see Prayer of Blessed
Elizabeth of the Trinity.)
In a similar vein, a psalmist prays:
“Blessed are you, O Lord, God of our ancestors
and blessed is your glorious and holy name.
Blessed are you in the temple of your holy glory,
and to be extolled and highly glorified forever.
Blessed are you on the throne of your kingdom,
and to be extolled and highly exalted forever.
Blessed are you who look into the depths
from your throne on the cherubim.
Blessed are you in the firmament of heaven,
to be sung and glorified forever.” (Daniel 3.52, 53, 54, 55, 56)
What are our examples or instances of concrete presence of the Trinity in our lives? As
we celebrate the Trinity this year, let us be inspired by the examples of Moses, the
psalmist and Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity in order to be part of the eternal life of the
Trinity.
Put things in order
The celebration of the Trinity is the opportunity to adjust our life in that of the Trinity. It
is an opportunity to put things in order in our lives:
“Brothers and sisters,
put things in order, listen to my appeal,
agree with one another,
live in peace;
and the God of love and peace will be with you.
Greet one another with a holy kiss.
All the saints greet you.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the love of God,
and the communion of the Holy Spirit
be with all of you.” (2 Corinthians 13.11-13)
How can we put things in order if we do not allow the Trinity to work and operate in our
lives? Each person of the Trinity is there to strengthen our life:
“The whole divine economy is the common work of the three divine persons. For as the
Trinity has only one and the same natures so too does it have only one and the same
operation: ‘The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are not three principles of creation but
one principle.’ However, each divine person performs the common work according to his
unique personal property. Thus the Church confesses, following the New Testament, ‘one
God and Father from whom all things are, and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom all
things are, and one Holy Spirit in whom all things are.’” (258).
To put things in order in this life, we need the help of the Trinity:
“By the grace of Baptism "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit", we are called to share in the life of the Blessed Trinity, here on earth in the
obscurity of faith, and after death in eternal light” (CCC 265, see Paul VI, CPG # 9).
God sent the Son into the world that the world might be saved through him
The celebration of the Trinity is the occasion to allow the Trinity to intervene ever more
in our daily lives:
“Christ’s Resurrection is an object of faith in that it is a transcendent intervention of God
himself in creation and history. In it the three divine persons act together as one, and
manifest their own proper characteristics. The Father’s power raised up Christ his Son
and by doing so perfectly introduced his Son’s humanity, including his body, into the
Trinity. Jesus is conclusively revealed as ‘Son of God in power according to the Spirit of
holiness by his Resurrection from the dead’. St. Paul insists on the manifestation of God’s
power through the working of the Spirit who gave life to Jesus’ dead humanity and called
it to the glorious state of Lordship” (CCC 648).
We need God’s renewed intervention in our daily life because without his intervention
human life will perish:
“Jesus said to Nicodemus:
“God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him may not perish
but may have eternal life.
“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world,
but in order that the world might be saved through him.
Those who believe in him are not condemned;
but those who do not believe are condemned already,
because they have not believed
in the name of the only Son of God.” (John 3.16-18)
Is there any aspect of our faith, world, and life perishing or collapsing? We need the
Trinity to revive us and to keep us in the eternal life of God.
Conclusion
We are encouraged to include the Trinity in our daily prayer (wishes), catechesis
(conversations), advice (preaching) and help (interventions). The Trinity is not only the
source of the profession of faith but also the core inspiration to accompany how we guard
and shield the eternal life God offers each person. As St. Gregory of Nazianzus entrusted
the Trinitarian faith to the catechumens of Constantinople, today his words are still
relevant. He will say: “I entrust it to you today. By it I am soon going to plunge you into
water and raise you up from it. I give it to you as the companion and patron of your
whole life. I give you but one divinity and power, existing one in three, and containing
the three in a distinct way. Divinity without disparity of substance or nature, without
superior degree that raises up or inferior degree that casts down…the infinite co-
naturality of three infinites. Each person considered in himself is entirely God. . . the
three considered together…I have not even begun to think of unity when the Trinity
bathes me in its splendour. I have not even begun to think of the Trinity when unity
grasps me….”