The Most Holy Trinity / Msgr. Owen F. Campion
The Sunday Readings
The Church celebrates Trinity Sunday this weekend, and it uses the celebration to teach us about the Holy Trinity, the mystery of three persons in one God.
For its first reading, the Church offers us a passage from the Book of Proverbs. Proverbs is one of a series of books in the Old Testament called the wisdom literature. The purpose behind the writing of all these books was to reassure pious Jews that their belief in the one God of Israel, a divinity of mercy and eternal faithfulness, was not in the least contrary to sound human reasoning.
This reading reveals the essential link between God and the quality of wisdom. Wisdom is of God. “The Lord begot me,” Wisdom declares in the reading. “From of old,” it continues to say, “I was formed forth … at the first, before the Earth” (Prv 8:22-23).
God gives us wisdom, another gift of divine mercy and love. Without this wisdom, we cannot fully understand reality.
St. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans furnishes the second reading. As so often appears in the writings of the Apostle Paul, the realities of Jesus and of life in Jesus are majestically presented. Through the Lord Jesus and through the sacrifice accomplished by Jesus in the incarnation and in the redemption, humans are at peace with God.
God’s love comes to us through the Holy Spirit. This statement affirms the Spirit’s divine identity. Love is dynamic. It is not a commodity. Love is something essential to the lover. It is not incidental.
St. John’s Gospel provides the last reading. As is typical of all the parts of the fourth Gospel, the reading literally gleams with eloquence and grace.
This passage is a direct quotation from Jesus. In it, the Lord powerfully reassures the Apostles that the Holy Spirit will come to strengthen and empower them. “He will guide you to all truth,” the Lord tells the Twelve (Jn 16:13).
The reading establishes the place of the Apostles in the unfolding of salvation. It testifies to the esteem in which the Church holds the Apostles and their successors today.
Also, the reading reveals the Trinity, albeit obliquely. The Holy Spirit will convey to the Apostles God’s truth. As with love, truth is not a commodity. It is an awareness of what actually is. Only the supremely wise, namely God, possesses this unobstructed view of what actually is.
Finally, the reading reveals the place of the Lord Jesus. The Holy Spirit of God will give glory to God in the bestowal of divine wisdom upon the Apostles. Jesus foretold the coming of the Spirit. God sends the Spirit. Guided and strengthened by the Spirit, the Apostles continue Christ’s works of salvation.
The Father sent Jesus. Jesus and the Father send the Spirit. The Father, Son and Spirit are one.
Reflection
The Church teaches that the Holy Trinity is the greatest revelation of God. As such, the Church presents this reality in its teaching, its prayer and on this great feast. The Church will never compromise the teaching. It is at the root of Catholic belief.
From the moment that Catholic parents teach toddlers the sign of the cross, through extensive studies at the highest levels of institutional education, Catholics hear of the Trinity, and they know that it is basic to the Catholic tradition.
Even so, even for those who believe, it can be quite dry, an academic statement of a reality that has little relevance.
To the contrary, it is relevant to all that we are and to everything that we do. It explains creation. It explains salvation. It explains God. It explains who and what we are, and what is our purpose in life.
God is love. God is all-wise. God is with us. We belong to God. †