By Leon Bent
The Trinity is the term employed to signify the central doctrine of the Christian religion – the truth that in the unity of the Godhead there are Three Persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. They are truly distinct, one from another.
The Christian doctrine of the Trinity holds that there is only one God, but three coeternal consubstantial persons or hypostases—the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ), and the Holy Spirit—as “one God in three Divine Persons”.
The Trinity is also the deepest mystery of our faith. It is practically not mentioned in the Bible, and not many saints have written about it. In fact, there is a story of how St. Augustine had a dream the night before he was supposed to speak about the Trinity. In the dream, he was walking on a beach, and saw a young boy digging a hole in the sand. The boy would grab a seashell, fill it up from the waves, and then pour it into a hole in the sand. Augustine approached the boy and asked him what he was doing. “I’m trying to empty the ocean into this hole,” the boy replied. When Augustine responded that that was impossible, the boy answered, “Not as impossible as you trying to explain the Holy Trinity.”
The Trinity is mentioned rather sparingly in Scripture. While it is never explicitly spoken about, there are some significant examples: Gen. 1:26, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness” (Matt. 3:16-17), “And Jesus, being baptized forthwith, came out of the water; and, lo, the heavens were opened to Him; and He saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and coming upon Him. And, behold, a voice from heaven, said: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Mt. 28:18), “All power is given to me in Heaven and on earth; go, therefore, teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” (Jn. 10:30), “I and the Father are one.”
The oldest doctrinal formulation of the Church’s belief in the Trinity is found in the Apostles’ Creed, which has served, both, as the basis for the instruction of catechumens, and as the Baptismal confession of Faith, since the second century. Later, the Nicene Creed, originating at the Council of Nicaea (AD 325), stated the doctrine more explicitly. This creed was introduced into our Western liturgy by the regional council of Toledo in AD 589. God has revealed to us three separate functions that are carried out by the Three Persons. He has told us that it is proper to attribute to God the Father the work of Creation, to God the Son the work of Redemption, and to God the Holy Spirit, the work of Sanctification. Our knowledge of God as Trinity is made possible by God, Who has chosen to reveal Himself as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. As Father, God has brought forth the created universe, including our own being. As Son, Jesus has made known a God, who hears our cries, who cares, who counts the hairs on our head, and who loves us so passionately that, He became one of us in order to suffer for our sins, and even to die for us. As Spirit, God remains with us and within us.
Life Messages:
1) We Need to Respect Ourselves and Respect Others. Our conviction that the Triune God is present within us always, should help us to esteem ourselves as God’s holy dwelling place, to behave well in His holy presence, and to lead purer and holier lives, practicing acts of justice and charity. This Triune Presence should also encourage us to respect and honour others as “Temples of the Holy Spirit.”
2) We Need to be Aware of God as the Source of our Strength and Courage. The awareness and conviction of the presence of God within us gives us, the strength to face the manifold problems of life with Christian courage. It was such a conviction that prompted the early Christian martyrs being taken to their execution, to shout the heroic prayer of Faith from the Psalms: “The Lord of might is with us, our God is within us, and the God of Jacob is our helper” (Psalm 46).
3) We Need to See the Trinity as the Model for our Christian Families: We are created in love to be a community of loving persons, just as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are united in Love. From the day of our Baptism, we have belonged to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. How privileged we are to grow up in such a beautiful Family! Hence, let us turn to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in prayer, every day. We belong to the Family of the Triune God. The love, unity and joy in the relationship among the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, should be the supreme model of our relationships within our Christian families. Our families become truly Christian when we live in a relationship of love with God and others.
4) We are Called to become more like the Triune God through all our Relationships. We are made in God’s image and likeness. Just as God is God only in a Trinitarian relationship, so, we can be fully human only as one member of a relationship of three partners. The self needs to be in a horizontal relationship with all other people, and in a vertical relationship with God.
In that way our life becomes Trinitarian like that of Godhead. Modern society follows the so-called “I-and-I” principle of unbridled individualism and the resulting consumerism. But, the doctrine of the Blessed Trinity challenges us to adopt an “I-and-God-and-neighbour” principle: “I am a Christian, insofar as I live in a relationship of love with God and with other people.” Like God the Father, we are called upon to be productive and creative persons, by contributing to the building up of the fabric of life, and love in our family, our Church, our community and our nation. Like God the Son, we are called upon to reconcile, to be peacemakers, to put back together that which has been broken, to restore what has been shattered. Like God the Holy Spirit, it is our task to uncover and teach truth and to dispel ignorance.
Trinitarian Spirituality:
“The doctrine of the Trinity affirms that it belongs to God’s very Nature to be committed to humanity and its history that, God’s Covenant with us is irrevocable, that God’s Face is immutably turned toward us in love, that God’s Presence to us is utterly reliable and constant…. Trinitarian spirituality is one of solidarity between and among persons. It is a way of living the Gospel attentive to the requirements of justice, understood as rightly ordered relationships between and among persons” (Dictionary of Spirituality).
The great 20th-century Catholic Theologian Father Karl Rahner, SJ, was supposedly asked once by a priest friend, how he should explain the Holy Trinity, when preaching. Father Rahner’s reply was simple: “Don’t!” The mystery we celebrate defies not only explanation, but also comprehension (OSV). A teacher’s simple explanation: “Our God is far beyond the grasp of our intellect. All we can say is: God, the Father, our Father, is Omnipresent, and so I live in Him because the universe exists in Him. The Son, Jesus is Emmanuel – God with us – and so He is always with me; I live with Him. The Holy Spirit is the One who inspires us all, from within us, and so, The Holy Spirit lives in my heart. There is only one God. We live in Him; He lives with us and He lives in us.
St. John Paul II elaborated: “God in His deepest mystery is not in solitude, not a loner; He is a family, because He has in Himself Fatherhood, Sonship, and the essence of familial love, which is the Holy Spirit.”
In conclusion, there are several important things to remember when it comes to understanding the Trinity, and how it relates to us. Pray to God to know Him better, because once we know Him, we can love Him even more perfectly. Reflect not so much on what God has done, but more on why He has done those things. This will also help us to love Him more perfectly. Finally, understand the sanctity of the family and of human sexuality. Sex is literally the most God-like thing humans can partake in. Therefore, describing it as “great” or “amazing” trivializes it, for sex is truly holy, blessed, and sacred, within marriage. Without the Trinity, Catholicism as we know it would not exist. For without the Trinity, how could we pray? Without the Trinity, how could we be baptized, or participate in any of the sacraments? Without the Trinity’s perfect example of family and love, how could we love? What would we have to hope for without the hope of adoption into God’s perfect family, the Trinity? Therefore, to understand and appreciate the Trinity is not only what it is to be Catholic, but what it is to be human. The Trinity is the deepest, most obscure mystery of our Faith. It is also the most important part of our entire lives, whether we realize it or not. Let’s not ignore it.
The Last Word! Pope Francis urged the faithful to celebrate the Feast of Most Holy Trinity which invites leads us to contemplate the mystery of a God who ceaselessly creates, redeems and sanctifies, always with love and out of love. “From the beginning He has chosen to walk together with humanity and form a people that are a blessing for all nations and for all people, no one excluded,” he said, urging all believers to go forth with the saving message of God’s love that, relieves sins, heals the wounds of the soul and gives salvation.
Now, this gold nugget! Father, all-powerful and ever-living God, we do well always and everywhere to give you thanks. We joyfully proclaim our faith in the mystery of Your Godhead. You have revealed Your Glory as the Glory also of Your Son and of the Holy Spirit: three Persons equal in Majesty, undivided in Splendour, yet one Lord, one God, ever to be adored in Your everlasting Glory. And so, with all the choirs of angels in heaven we proclaim Your Glory and join in their unending hymn of praise (Preface for Masses of the Holy Trinity, Roman Missal).
And, this final flourish! The mystery of the Holy Trinity reminds Christians that, “we are called to live not without each other, over or against the other, but with one another, and in one another.” These were the words of Pope Francis during his Angelus address in St. Peter’s Square.
The punch line! St. Francis Xavier’s favourite prayer was: “Most Holy Trinity, who live in me, I praise You, I worship You, I adore you and I love you. Let the Son lead us to the Father through the Spirit, to live with the Triune God forever and ever. Amen.”
The last word! The Gospel of St. Matthew recalls Jesus sending the apostles to “make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” (Mt.28:19-20).
Leon Bent is an ex-Seminarian and studied the Liberal Arts and Humanities, and Philosophy, from St. Pius X College, Mumbai. He holds Masters Degree in English Literature and Aesthetics. He has published three Books and have 20 on the anvil. He has two extensively “Researched” Volumes to his name: Hail Full of Grace and Matrimony: The Thousand Faces of Love. He won The Examiner, Silver Pen Award, 2000 for writing on Social Issues, the clincher being a Researched Article on Gypsies in India, published in an issue of the (worldwide circulation) Vidyajyoti Journal of Theological Reflection, New Delhi. On April, 28, 2018, Leon received the Cardinal Ivan Dias Award for a research paper in Mariology.
Leon Bent regularly writes for 9 Catholic Magazines, Journals and Web Portals, worldwide – occasionally, the reach is over 5 million readers.