TRINITY SUNDAY
FEAST OF OUR GOD
If there is any feast that directly teaches us about God, it is the Solemnity of the Most Blessed Trinity. As Catholics, we can easily spot other Catholics by their faith in the Trinity. The quiet gesture of someone making the Sign of the Cross reminds us that God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. How often we see people surrender to this God as they trace the cross on themselves in moments of joy, life, adventure, death, sickness and prayer.
This Sign of the Cross is the sign of our faith in the uniqueness of our God; He is one and three, the three are but one. In one God, we find a loving Father, we find our brother in the person of Jesus, and we find the perfect gift for our lives in the person of the Holy Spirit. This is neither easy to understand nor to explain. But it is easy to experience because our God is available to all.
In the Gospel today, Jesus shows us the connection between the Father and the Son; a common love for humanity binds them. The Father sends His Only Son into the world, not to condemn but to save the world. Jesus, God’s Son, lives among us and dies for us to dramatize the seriousness of the Father’s love (John 3:16).
The Father gives us the treasure of his heart, even if it is difficult to let go of his Son on the cross. But this is not the end of the story. Finally, when Jesus returns to the Father, there was yet another gift, a friend and companion, the Holy Spirit.
On the cross, God gives us his Son. On the cross, Jesus gives us his Spirit (Jn 19:30). This giving of love continues today as we receive the sacraments, as we are touched by grace, as we join in efforts to serve the needy. God’s Spirit connects us to the love of the Father and the Son.
This is the story of our God and the story of the greatest love of all – God reaching out to us in the Person of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Many people rebel against this mystery and doctrine of the Trinity, for how can you explain one is three and three are one? If we resort to mathematics, logic, mere human relations, it is not possible to fully understand this. But if we open our hearts to experience the love of God shown in the Bible and illustrated on the cross, the complex mystery becomes as simple as making the sign of the cross. In the sign of the cross, we are embraced by God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and we become stronger and more courageous.
A Lebanese young man was kidnapped by Muslim neighbors, hoping to get ransom. In captivity, he remained steadfast in his Catholic faith even if the captors asked him to convert. Offered food one day, he fervently made the Sign of the Cross, a thing that is forbidden in a Muslim home. The captors were enraged at the Sign of the Cross and killed the young man. The murderers could not understand the sign of the cross but the young Lebanese knew it was all about love and he was not afraid that day even to face death.
