The Trinity. It is a mystery that people, especially theologians, always want to solve, but in so doing, always fail. Quite simply our finite minds just can’t wrap themselves around infinity. The Holy Trinity is far too vast a mystery for our feeble minds to handle. Hence, we have Jesus, the Incarnation of God in human form. Jesus is the human translation of who God truly is. In the person of Jesus, our minds are able to glimpse and grasp the mystery of the God who created us. Sadly, we often fail, as Christians, to listen and to follow what he taught us and modeled for us.
I think the only thing we need to grasp about the Holy Trinity is the word, relationship. The Jewish theologian and rabbi, Hans Buber’s first sentence in his magnificent book, I and Thou, is, “In the beginning was relation.” The Holy Trinity is God in relation to God’s self. As Human Beings, made in the image and likeness of God, we carry within ourselves this Divine relationship. It is a natural part of who we are. Just as we don’t have to mentally think to breathe in and breathe out, this Divine relationship is a natural part of our lives without us noticing it or acknowledging it.
We hear this expressed in our prayer. In most Catholic prayer, all prayer is directed to the “Father”, through “Jesus” the Son, in the “Holy Spirit” (For Catholics, note that with the exception of two prayers, namely, the Penitential Rite, e.g. “Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy”, and the Fraction Rite, e.g. “Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us,” all prayer at Mass is directed to the Father.). Notice the end of most prayers at Mass. “We pray this to you (the Father), through Jesus Christ your Son, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever. Amen.”
This Divine Relationship is operative in our lives all the time. When we hear the birds sing in the morning, bask in the sunlight on a warm Summer day, when we breathe in fresh air on a Spring day, we, unknowingly are giving thanks to God, through Jesus, in the Holy Spirit. When we hold our significant loved ones in a warm embrace, calm a crying child, or cradle a baby in our arms, we, unknowingly, give thanks to God, through Jesus, in the Holy Spirit. When we savor the flavor of food or a good drink, listen to music that inspires, enthralls us, or warms our spirits, we, unknowingly, are giving thanks to God, through Jesus, in the Holy Spirit. When we encounter physical, emotional, or spiritual pain in our lives and cry to God for succor, healing, and peace, our cries for help are directed to God, through Jesus, in the Holy Spirit.
Just as we don’t have to understand the mechanics of breathing in order to breathe, so we do not have to understand the Holy Trinity in order to have the Holy Trinity work within our lives. The Holy Trinity is always moving within us, largely unnoticed by us. On this Feast of the Holy Trinity, let us give thanks for this wondrous Mystery which moves just as mysteriously in our lives, and with whom we are so intimately connected.
