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Dear Parishioners,
The Trinity is the central mystery of our faith because, more than anything we could discover about God by observing the world around us – that God is all powerful or all knowing, for example – the doctrine of the Trinity reveals to us God’s inner life: who he is, his “heart of hearts” or his “core,” so to speak.
That God is three persons, all truly distinct from each other yet perfectly one, is not something we could have figured out; God had to reveal it. Although he alludes to it in the Old Testament, it was not until the Father sent his Son to become man that he disclosed it explicitly. Jesus Christ praises his Father, speaks intimately with him in prayer, always does his will, and, ultimately, offers himself on the cross out of love for him. By his life, death, and resurrection, Jesus reveals this mysterious relationship between the Father and the Son, the First and Second Persons of the Holy Trinity. And, as we would say that a tree which flowers produces flowers (which are real, tangible things) so these two Persons who love to breathe forth -so to speak - Love – the third Person of the Trinity, whom we call the Holy Spirit.
The Father gives himself to the Son, and the Son gives himself to the Father in this eternal communion of love. But he does not stop there. God called all of creation – including us – into existence so that we, too, could participate in this loving communion. Goodness pours itself out. God wishes to share with us the joy he experiences in his own goodness. He wants us to know what it is to love and to be loved.
It is impossible to overestimate how groundbreaking this revelation is for humanity. God is not just “out there” controlling the forces of nature and exacting punishment on a whim. God’s love is such that it wishes to share itself. And our role as human beings is to receive that love and to respond to it.
Imagine if this perspective – God’s perspective – were the lens through which we understood ourselves. Our society insists on independence and autonomy – on the freedom to define the meaning and purpose of our own life. It does not encourage us to offer ourselves as a gift to God and to others without counting the cost; it does not encourage us to sacrifice. Although God will never restrict our freedom, he has most certainly created each of us for a definite purpose: to become holier and holier each day so that, one day, we can be drawn fully into the eternal communion of love that is the Holy Trinity.
Blessings,
Fr. Tad
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