Solemnity of the Most Blessed Trinity
THE TRINITY IN OUR LIFE
How do we distinguish Christians from other believers among the great religions of the world? The test of the Christian content of faith is primarily in the great mystery called the Trinity. Do you believe that God is One? Do you believe that in the One God, there are Three Persons – that God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit? Then that makes your faith Christian faith.
Today we celebrate this central mystery of our lives as believers. And yet we know that every feast is a challenge to daily life. How does the Trinity challenge us to offer our lives to the full, to excel and to soar as witnesses of our faith in God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit? It is more than making the Sign of the Cross, or receiving a blessing in the name of the Three Persons or just praying to the Trinity. So many people do these things routinely and yet, we wonder if their lives are really affected by the same Three Divine Persons they invoke.
Where did we get this element of faith? We derive this article of faith in the Trinity from Jesus himself. Jesus clearly expressed the real story behind God’s identity. But not by teaching it in formal catechism. Not by writing a book or lecture on the Trinity. Not by leaving behind a detailed approach to understanding the mystery.
Rather Jesus taught the Trinity to us by his very life. In the way Jesus lived, people saw an extraordinary person who mesmerized people with both his teachings and his marvelous works. However Jesus showed he was not acting alone. He was always in contact with his Father. God, his Father, was his inspiration. People around him could not accept this because God, though good and gracious, was a mighty creator and ruler. But Jesus claimed he had a dynamic, living, personal and intimate relationship with God, his real Father.
And so, Jesus was not just a gifted healer and teacher. He was truly Son of the Father. Jesus’ greatness came as a result of the powerful link between Him and his Father. Jesus was always at the center of the Father’s heart.
The experience of Jesus did not stop there. He also lived in such a way that He showed how He was filled with the Spirit. From his conception, at his baptism, in his ministry and on the cross, the Spirit of God was working in His life like never before in any man’s life. At the Resurrection, his final gift before going back to the Father was the Spirit: “Receive the Holy Spirit.” The Trinity therefore can be traced back to Jesus, the proclaimer of this mystery.
How does this mystery, that comes to us in doctrine and in prayer – affect and challenge the way we live and share our lives? So many people do not believe in Christians, reject our teaching and mock our faith for they do not see us meaningfully practicing it. It is time to express our faith in the way Jesus did – through life and experience. Like Jesus, conform to the will of the Father. Like Jesus, accept and listen to the Spirit guiding our hearts. And like Jesus walk always as son or daughter of God. By doing this, we share our faith not through words but through the most convincing testimony – our lives. Let us pray that our lives will reveal our personal relationship with God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
