Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

Reflections of the Mystery

Exodus 34:4b-6, 8-9; 2 Corinthians 13:11-13; John 3:16-18 

Have you ever been at a loss for words? Has an experience ever left you speechless? Or has an emotion run so deep that words cannot express its meaning? As much as words communicate, so much more is left within the heart. As we go through life we all at some time come to the realization of just how limiting words can be. There are just some realities, some experiences, some emotions that words cannot do justice to. The words are too limiting, too confining to adequately express what we want to convey. This is one of the key mysteries of life. To this mystery, add the revelation of God.

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Trinity. The Catechism of the Catholic Church calls the mystery of the Holy Trinity the central mystery of Christian faith and life. It is the mystery of God in Himself. It is the truth into which we were all baptized, the belief we affirm every time we make the sign of the cross at the beginning of prayer, and the doctrine of faith that we will declare once again in a few minutes when we proclaim our creed. Theologian Hans Kung relates the story of a Bavarian priest who announced to his congregation on the Feast of the Holy Trinity that this was so great a mystery, of which he understood nothing, that therefore there would be no sermon that Sunday. Well my friends, you’re not going to get off that easy with me this morning! As another priest once told his congregation, “The problem with the Trinity is that if you don’t believe it, you risk losing your soul. But if you try to explain it, you risk losing your mind!” Well, according to Fr. Marc, I lost my mind years ago! So then I guess it’s fairly safe for me to proceed.

I suppose there is no truth of the faith more aptly described as mystery, than is that on which the liturgy asks us to reflect this morning. Three Persons in One God, One Divine Nature . . . Father, Son and Holy Spirit. St. Patrick used the shamrock to explain the Trinity. St. Ignatius Loyola used the example of a musical chord, three notes played simultaneously to produce one sound. But no matter what image we use, it will always be lacking and ultimately will leave us unsatisfied because God cannot be pinned down, investigated, dissected, or analyzed. We shall never be able to capture God; to put God in a neat package of our own making. We believe in a God who is beyond naming or defining, a God who shall always remain more than our words and doctrines. He will always be “more” and “other” than our images of him. There is a mystery about God which is so tremendous, awesome and overwhelming, we are unable to grasp it.

But a mystery is not something that cannot be known. Rather it is something that cannot be known just by the mind, just by reason. It requires a willingness to listen, a willingness to trust what is heard, and a readiness to use what is heard as a motive for acting. Bind all these together with perseverance, and that reality is what we call faith. We can understand only some fragments, some grains of truth. But faith collects in itself all of the fragments of the mystery which surpass our understanding, and thus, it is this very same faith which allows us to catch a glimpse of the truth which surpasses us.

And it is through our faith that we have come to know a Trinity of three persons, each of whom is a partial reflection of the “Fullness of God.” And so, Father is the Creative Reflection of God. In the Father, God perfectly manifests the qualities of power, of life-giving creativity, of majesty and transcendence.

And in the Son, we see the Redemptive Reflection of God, who wrapped himself in flesh and blood to become one of us and walk where we walk, and live as we live. And in the person of Jesus, we see reflected the One who is perfect and sinless, who not only took on human flesh, but also clothed himself in our sin and died so to redeem us.

And the Holy Spirit is the Sustaining Reflection of God. The Spirit sustains and strengthens us in difficult times and reminds us of our calling. It reminds us of who we are and Whose we are. The presence of God’s Holy Spirit is simply God with us every day, in every way.

Having explained that, we could all utter a loud collective, “So what?” What difference does all this theologizing make. Well it should and does and must make a difference. Why? Because, just like the Trinity, WE ARE CALLED to be reflections of God.

I’m sure that many of you have seen the movie “The Lion King.” It is the story of a young lion who ran away from home, permanently, after he had been tricked into believing that he had killed his father, who was the king of the jungle. The one who tricked him was his evil, conniving uncle, who seized the throne for himself. The movie deals with this young lion’s struggle to remember his heritage as the king of the jungle and then enter into a struggle with his evil uncle to claim that heritage as the rightful king.

The most poignant scene of the movie occurred when the young lion, now grown to adulthood, was bidden to look at his reflection in a pool of water. He had been longing for his father’s wisdom and wished to have a bit of that wisdom as he struggled with the decision to return home and seize the throne. He looked into the pool and saw the face of his father. To his astonishment, he had grown into the very image of his father. Not only did he have his father’s physical features, but he discovered that he carried his father’s wisdom and regal bearing within himself. He would go and seize the throne because he was his father’s son and he chose to be the king he was destined to be.

In the Creation Account in the Book of Genesis, we are told that we have been created in the image and likeness of God. And so, my friends, we are called to be daily reflections of the One who created us, redeemed us and sustains us. We are like mirrors designed to reflect the very face and heart of God in our daily lives. The Christian life is about making and remaking ourselves until we are perfect reflections of our God.

And how do we reflect God?

First, we are reflections of God when we honor creation. God created everything and called it good. We too must respect what God has created. In the Garden of Eden, God made us not only masters over what he had created, but caretakers of it as well. In our respect for our environment and all living things, we reflect the pride that the Creator himself shows in his handiwork.

Second, we must recognize and utilize our intelligence and the many gifts and talents that God has bestowed upon us. Through the development and positive use of our creativity, the work of our intellect and of our hands reflects the Creator of all that is good.

Third, we reflect the Trinity when we live life as Jesus himself lived it. We must be faithful, unhesitatingly forgiving . . . we too must persevere as servants of one another, without exception or compromise, because that is the example that God the Redeemer gave us. We must strive to ground and polish the imperfections from ourselves and overcome our tendency toward sin and evil. And when we do, we reflect our perfect and sinless Redeemer.

And finally, we reflect God when we are people of love. Because God is Love. And when we abide in the spirit of His love and reflect his care for all people, we are never more like God Himself.

The mystery of the Blessed Trinity . . . the central mystery of the Christian faith. A God that is One, yet a God that is Three. A God that is here, yet a God that is everywhere. A God who is mighty, yet a God that is tender. A God who is just, yet a God who shows mercy. A God who is Spirit, yet a God that takes on flesh. A God who is in Christ, and yet a Christ who is in us. A God who is Spirit and blows where it wills; yet a Spirit who abides in our hearts. But along with this great mystery of faith stands perhaps a greater mystery. And that mystery is how we could ever turn away from such a God as our God by choosing sin over Him, how we could possibly reject his love and how we could possibly turn down the invitation to be a reflection of this great and awesome Trinity!