Photo by Joshua Earle on Unsplash

Most Holy Trinity

A few years ago, a little girl asked if she could sit in my chair. I took her hand and we walked up the steps. As she sat, she slowly surveyed the empty church from her perch, and very seriously made a profound observation, “So this is what God sees.”

Every weekend, I am privileged to see what God sees from this chair. It is a truly humbling experience. You are probably not impressed by what you see from where you sit. I can say I have grown accustomed to what I see as well. But more importantly, what does God see from where God sits?

Teachers, coaches, scout leaders, parents, and grandparents, when you see your students, your young people, your children, and grandchildren, are you not proud of how wonderful and awesome they are? Do you not marvel at how they take after you? Are you not grateful they are yours? (Too much? I’ll take it down a notch.) As well, when they fail to care for each other, when they are unhappy, or ungrateful, or oblivious, do you not hurt for them? Do you not ask sometimes what more could you have done?

Here at St. Therese, I love that we claim to be a community of faith united in worship, tradition, charity, and service. Together we call on God for forgiveness. Together we recall the saints, whose words and example strengthen us on our own journey. Together we profess one Christian faith. Together we offer prayers for our own and the needs of the world. Together we offer bread and wine, symbols of our very selves, to be changed by Jesus’ words and given back to us as food. We give of our resources for the ministry and our mission to care for the poor. And together we are sent into the world to be witnesses of God’s compassion, to bring hope, to be salt for the earth, and light for the world. It all sounds so sublime, so otherworldly. Yet because we hear about it often, it isn’t always so exciting. It is no surprise that mass has become for many just another chore. We welcome distractions because it is so predictable and far from entertaining. And sometimes we might entertain other priorities. But when we reflect deeply on the divine mystery we proclaim, our lack of interest and enthusiasm might shock us. Why are we not more drawn, more eager to receive this great mystery? Has God gone stale, our faith lost its flavor, our minds gone dull? A tremendous gift is within reach. The incomparable mystery, the eternal truth, the fulfillment of our every longing is at our fingertips. Why don’t we arrive early filled with eager longing, sit up front to be closer to this great mystery, savor every moment as it unfolds, then linger after in thankful praise? Instead we are not so impressed. What’s for lunch? What fun things are we doing next? When will he stop talking? (I know you think it.)

The mystery we celebrate today seems little to do with us. The Holy Trinity: One God in three Persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, each distinct and separate yet equal in dignity—Everlasting Love which is the Father, reflected in the Word become flesh, Jesus Christ the Son of God, who together radiate an equal love which is the Holy Spirit, who sustains in mercy and sanctifies all that God creates and redeems. It all sounds like blah-blah-blah. How can something we fail to grasp attract us or deepen our longing?

Other faiths tell us profound truths about God. Yet unique to our Christian faith is the truth that God is love itself and also a community bound by love. So when Jesus told his apostles to make disciples and to baptize them “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,” he means God wants to invite us into his very life. And when we build up the people of God in charity and service we more closely reflect the God we claim, God who is love itself and also a community bound by love.

Moses reminds Israel of God’s tremendous love and mercy, having gone and taken “a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by testings, by signs and wonders, by war, with strong hand and outstretched arm, and by great terrors, all of which the Lord, your God, did for you in Egypt before your very eyes.”[1] He challenged them to “keep [God’s] statutes and commandments … that you and your children after you may prosper, and that you may have long life on the land which the Lord, your God, is giving you forever.” In effect, if we are convinced of God’s love and mercy, we will want to keep his statutes and commandments. If children are convinced that their parents love them, they will do as they are asked, try not to disappoint their parents, and want to make them proud. If we are truly convinced of God’s love and mercy for us we would then embrace his statutes and commandments, with eagerness and joy.

“You did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear,”[2] St. Paul tells us. Fear is not what motivates Jesus’ disciples to act uprightly, to choose good, and to avoid evil. Rather, through Jesus “you received a spirit of adoption, through whom we cry, ‘Abba, Father!’” The Spirit of God himself bears witness to our adoption as “children of God; and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.” It is our privilege to be children of God. And grasping that privilege we express our gratitude and reverence by doing our best to not disappoint God. Instead our gratitude overflows with delight and eagerness as to make us want to share that joy. If we are truly and sincerely grateful to be Jesus’ disciples, children of the Father, led by the Holy Spirit, we would want to draw others to share our joy and blessing. We would want to grow the family of Jesus’ disciples, children of the Father, the community led by the Holy Spirit.

The mystery of the Holy Trinity is more than some truth for our minds to grasp. We might think of all that God has been and done for us, the many ways God has shown his care for us, loving us into being, sustaining us in being, reconciling us to himself and to one another, creating us anew in the image of his Son, strengthening us to proclaim Good News. So in gratitude we want to be deserving of God’s love. We want to please God. We do not want to disappoint God. Even when we cannot explain or understand our beliefs and convictions, our way of life proclaims them loud and clear. It’s much like being alive. No one asked if we wanted to be born. But when we become aware of the life we have, we can choose to embrace the gift, and celebrate it, and live joyfully, intentionally, meaningfully the life we possess. We should ask then, does our living proclaim loudly and clearly our faith in the mystery of One God in Three Persons?

As a Christian community we reflect the God we believe in. We can strive to be more like God, who is love itself and a community bound by love. We sign ourselves with the cross, calling on God in Three Persons, God who invites us into his very life. We are baptized “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” May we see God and his care in each other more, because God would very much delight to see himself reflected in us.

Rolo B Castillo © 2024

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[1] Deuteronomy 4: 34

[2] Romans 8: 15