Homilies

TRINITY SUNDAY: A MYSTERY OF COMMUNION AND LOVE

ONCE A BORN-AGAIN pastor accosted three Catholic ladies and asked what was their religion. The three ladies replied in chorus, “Catholic!” The pastor asked another question, “Ladies, how many Gods are there in the Catholic religion?” The ladies seemed to be confused and so they were whispering to each other. The first lady asked the second lady, “Is it one God?” Then, the second lady said, “No, I think it’s three!” But the third lady protested: “No! It’s five!” Now the pastor smiled and asked the third lady how come the Catholics believe in five Gods. She was indeed convinced, and she confidently told the pastor, “Let me count them!” Using her fingers, she counted: “Father, Son, Holy, Spirit, Amen.” Thus, there are five Gods.

Today, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Holy Trinity. The mystery of the one and triune God is central to our faith. In our Christian practice, the sign of the cross directly links to the Trinitarian mystery. If we put this celebration in the context of the two preceding feasts (Ascension of Christ, Descent of the Holy Spirit), we would say this is the synthesis of the personal revelations of the three persons in God. Again, there are three persons in one God, not five!

Some homilists try to explain the mystery by using analogies, but they hardly offer some clarity. I remember a bishop-theologian who said: “Get rid of using water, electric fan, 3-in-1 coffee, etc. to explain the Trinity. These give further confusions and do not help in understanding better the Trinity.” The Trinity as mystery can be known, but not perfectly. There remain questions unanswered and perhaps we can only get sufficient answers until we see the triune God “face-to-face.”

The sacred Scripture gives us some points to ponder about the Trinity.

Firstly, the relationship between the three Persons is a perfect communion. It has been called “perichoresis” in Greek. This term implies the interpenetration of the divine persons. In the Bible, we hear Jesus saying, “The Father and I are one,” “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.” These explain the perichoresis. One divine person dwells in and is found in the other.

This trinitarian relationship can be a model for every relationship, and a source of hope for families, as well as for communities. In marriage, for instance, a husband and a wife are called to live as one. God commanded, “They are no longer two but one.” This is not easy to do and fulfill. But the key to fulfilling this is the life and relationship of the Trinity. Like in the relationship between the Father and Jesus, a husband should dwell in the wife and the wife dwells in the husband. There is no room for individualism. If a husband and a wife live in true communion, they can also say the words of Jesus, “My husband and I are one” or “My wife and I are one”.

Secondly, in the gospel, we are told about the mystery of God who is love. The mystery of God is also a mystery of love. Jesus said to Nicodemus, “God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that those who believe in him may not perish but have everlasting life.” The three persons of the Trinity were revealed because God wants to share his divine life with us. God wants us to be saved. Love is the driving force which led God to reveal himself and his plan to save us. Divine love is giving of oneself to others; humility; concern for others; saving others; and giving life to others. These are aspects of God’s love which is mystery. Divine love is a mystery.

But how about human love? Is it also mysterious? Some people find human love as too ordinary and boring. But for those people who truly love, they experience the mystery in that love. For example, for married couples who really love each other, they can experience their love as something mysterious. It cannot be ordinary and boring. I remember some years ago that a former US president and his wife were interviewed when they celebrated their 40^th wedding anniversary. Both were asked what was their secret to an enduring relationship. But they could not give one. Finally, the wife said that the moment she accepted her husband as such, she promised to only love him without expecting any return. She described her love to her husband as full of sacrifice and pain. And that is the mystery of her love or their love for one another. It is a giving of oneself to the other, so that the other too may live. That is now a divine love translated into a human love.

Thus, the mystery of the Trinity is not something “out of this world”. It has something to do with our life and with every human relationship. It offers hope to struggling family and community. It invites us to enter into the mystery of divine communion and love. If we respond to this invitation, the Trinitarian life and love would become meaningful to us. AMEN.

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