The Most Holy Trinity: Who God is in what he does

John 3: 16 - 18

"God so loved the world"

The Word:http://usccb.org/bible/readings/060720.cfm

“In the name of the Father + and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.” How often have we proclaimed our faith in the Trinity by the sign of the cross we make to begin and close a prayer but given little thought to its implication? Things of faith become routine, like living in a fog.

If you’ve ever had the experience of driving in dense fog you know how stressful that can be. To do so at night would be particularly a time to be on edge.  It may have been fog not especially thick but still giving little visibility ahead of you.  Or, if it is especially that type of “pea soup” as it is called you may find yourself nearly disoriented  moving very slowly and especially attentive to indicators near your car or truck such as the line along the edges of the road or certainly any indicator of vehicles ahead of you or coming towards you. 

I clearly remember such an experience, very fortunately during the day time, in which I found myself carefully inching along the right side line and paying special attention to the rear truck lights ahead of me.  This was pea soup fog going down the interstate on a mountain road in traffic that was not moving very quickly.  Well, gratefully, we made it safely after about 30 minutes having no idea where we were or how near the lower more level stretch of the road that I was somewhat familiar with.  Once we traveled down the mountain, although not completely, the fog lifted enough to feel far safer and we could move on our way with a big sigh of relief after a time of intense prayer! 

While we know that fog is basically a cloud much lower than it should be on this Feast of the Most Holy Trinity we do hear again of a cloud but not one that causes great anxiety but rather one that produces great hope and promise.

Our first reading from Exodus finds Moses up Mt. Sinai to commune with God who comes down to Moses in “a cloud.” In Scripture a cloud, as we hear the Father speak to Jesus at his baptism and surround the astounded disciples on Mt. Tabor, is a way in which God, though hidden like a thick fog, makes himself present.  Hidden from our eyes and understanding yet very present and engaged at the same time.

From this mysterious divine presence, we hear God proclaim his name “Lord” as he reveals his nature: “merciful and gracious . . . slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity.” Here Moses pleads with God on behalf of a people who had quickly forgotten the Commandments given on Mt. Sinai, that he would give his people a second chance.  God relents and assures Moses he is Lord who reaches out and desires a renewed covenant with his people for he is: merciful, gracious, kind and faithful. And so we see God revealed through what he says but more especially proven true by what he does.

This weekend on the Feast of the Holy Trinity, always falling on the Sunday after Pentecost, we mark that great uncovering on the nature of the divine.  Like dense fog that suddenly lifts we have a way of seeing that would not have lifted by any other way other than for this truth to be revealed through the Scriptures, the teaching of Jesus, and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Belief in the Holy Trinity is uniquely Christian for no other world religion defines God in this way; as a community of persons, yet remains one.

We have a helpful image not of just one part but of the whole of God. Although limited in our full understanding, we believe God is three yet one; three divine persons yet one in their unity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit - One eternal God. Our Jewish brethren, while joining with us in belief that there is only One true God, see him as totally other and single in nature. 

True, this is heady stuff to be sure. It is the language of later theological development in the Church and by the 4th century, the Council of Nicea in the year 325 A.D. the Church, in direct defense against false understanding about the nature of the Son, Jesus, formally defined the Trinity in what we proclaim as the Nicene Creed we recite each Sunday at Mass.  It should be very familiar to us: “I believe in one God the Father Almighty . . .I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God . . . I believe in the Holy Spirit . . . who proceeds from the Father and the Son.” It is the core truth of the Christian faith on the nature of God and what we profess to believe as Catholic Christians. Believe, yes but importantly, also by what we live. 

All the prayers of the Mass, the calling down of the Holy Spirit upon the gifts of bread and wine, our personal prayer, our sacraments such as when we are baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the prayer of absolution as our sin is forgiven in penance, and each time we make the sign of the cross we proclaim this core belief of the Christian faith as we do in the profession of the Creed at Mass.

Our Gospel reading from John offers more than theology but an invitation: John writes a very familiar phrase: “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.”  (Jn 3:16). John tells us: God “loved” and God “sent.”  Those two words to love and to send imply an active God.  A God who reaches out, who extends himself not out of vengeance or punishment but out of love and mercy towards those he reaches to. He communicates with us as a living being. His Son is his Word.  

Like a hand stretched out to rescue a drowning man God has extended himself out to us in love to rescue us from our own sin. We see what God does as he reveals himself through his own Son in Jesus Christ: merciful, gracious, kind, forgiving and filled with eternal love. Human history reveals God’s eternal faithfulness through the ages and especially in our own lives if we take the time to examine them.

This reach out in love for humanity tells us that our faith is not one of just laws, rules and regulations.  We are invited to a personal relationship with this living God who invites us through his Son to come to know him on a personal level. He desires a covenant, a promise with us that is eternal and binding.  God is a God of promise, of love and communicates himself to us.

Therefore we might say that God in his unity creates a community of persons whose very nature is to love us into life.  This unity in community is the great understanding for how we are to live and in eternity where God desires we dwell in him.  If we as Christians live as God desires then our own lives will promote unity and not division; faithfulness and not selfishness; love and not violence; inclusiveness and not prejudice; forgiveness and not judgment.  The potential for human society is unlimited if we were to follow the way Christ has shown us.

A unity in community is a model for marriage and family life, for the diverse collection of parishioners in any parish, in our own personal prayer to desire a deeper knowledge of God as we experience his presence in our life.

How blessed are we in our Catholic life which promotes community of persons united by one faith around a common word and his altar.  May that unity in community reflect the true nature of this God who loves and reaches out to us continually.   In the Holy Eucharist we see God revealed to us as he gathers us as one around his altar to feed and unite us in his mercy, kindness, graciousness and forgiveness.

O God, we praise you:

Father all-powerful, Christ Lord and Savior, Spirit of love.

You reveal yourself ifn the depths of our being,

drawing us to share in your life and your love.

One God, three Persons,

be near to the people formed in your image,

close to the world your love bring to life.

We ask you this, Father, Son and Holy Spirit

one God, true and living, for ever and ever. 

(Collect of Mass)