Trinity

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit – Amen.

• Most commonly recognized sign of our faith.
• Batter steps into the batter’s box – but before he takes his stance - +
• Basketball player steps up to the free throw line, but before the ref passes him the ball - +
• It is the first thing we teach our children – we take little hand and teach them to touch their forehead, and their heart and make a cross going from one shoulder to the other.
• When we baptize, it is in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit….

Our belief in the Trinity dates way back to the early church.  It is clear that the belief in the Father, Son and Spirit was held by the Christians of Paul’s time as it is how he ends the second letter to the Corinthians – our second reading today, which becomes the beautiful greeting that begins our Mass.

“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.”

Grace of Jesus Christ – Jesus reaching out to us, calling us, inviting us to be children of God.

Love of God – Our God is love. He created us for love. He loves and cherishes each one of us – and everything that he created.

Fellowship of the Spirit – being with God – I will not leave your orphaned – I will be with you until the end of time.

Trinity is a mystery – but not a puzzle to be solved – a reality to be experienced and loved.

In a sense, like a song that is made up of notes, rhythm and lyrics – yet we experience it as a whole.

Trinity is a mystery.  We cannot truly wrap our heads around it – but that does not mean that it is not real.

There is a story told about St. Augustine – “One day while walking along the seashore, pondering the Trinity, Augustine encountered a boy pouring ocean water into a hole in the sand.  The boy exclaimed, ‘I am going to put the entire ocean into this hole.’  Augustine told him that it was impossible.  The hole in the sand was too small to contain all of the vast ocean.  Surprisingly, the boy replied, ‘And neither can you fit the Trinity into your little brain.’  When the boy vanished, St. Augustine realized he had been talking to an angel.”

Modern western culture has a tough time with things we cannot understand or explain fully.  We are of an empirical, scientific mindset.  We are tempted to say, “…if I can’t measure it, touch it, experience it with my senses, then maybe it is not real.”  Such a bias exists strongly in higher education.  There is a sense that if one is person of faith, one is not truly open to learning.  Yet in our lives, we know that there are other ways of knowing that are not scientific or empirical.

I cannot measure or quantify love – yet I know that it exists and is a powerful force in my life.

God is one, yet is three divine persons, Father, Son and Spirit.  Each of the persons is distinct – yet each is fully God.  People have tried for years to come up with images of the Trinity to help explain it.  Every image of the Trinity that has some piece of truth sheds some light on the mystery- but the Trinity remains a mystery, one that we will only understand when we are on the other side of this life. 

• Legend has it that St. Patrick used the three leaf clover to teach that God is one – yet three. But this image falls short because Father, Son and Spirit are not three parts of God – but three distict beings in one God.
• In one church I saw the image of a boat propeller with three blades and I asked about it. I was told that it was a symbol of the Trinity.  When those blades spin, they appear to be one.  But this image, while dynamic, is really no more helpful than the clover. 
• The image of a man being, at the same time, Father, husband and son, or a woman is Mother, wife and daughter they are still only one person, with three different relationships or roles.
• Fire being light, heat, and sound is three characteristics or qualities
• Neither is water being ice, liquid, and water vapor. Father, Son and Spirit are not three “states” of God.

This week – see if you can notice or come up with some other triads that might be images of the Trinity.  It’s a great challenge for the children among us for your children or grandchildren.  If you want to drop me a line or an e-mail or post them on my wall on Facebook – or have your children or grand children do it!

While we cannot understand the Trinity completely, we do understand something:

God the Father – the creator, made the universe from nothing.

On a cloudless night, go away from the lights, lay on the ground and look up at the stars – and get a sense of the power and glory of our God.

And – he created us – and gave us free will so that he could love.

But he does not force that love.  We are free to believe in him or not.  We are free to love him or not.

But regardless of whether or not we love him, he loves us. 

In fact he loves us so much that he sent his only Son so that we might have eternal life. 

John 3:16 - God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.

Jesus did not come to condemn us, but to save us.

We can choose life – eternal life – eternal happiness with God and with all those who have gone before us in faith.

Yeah – grandma, she’ll be there and my dad and mom, my son, my wife’s parents.

…and all those people of faith who have gone before us – on whose shoulders we stand.

  Yeah, it will be pretty special.  I’m looking forward to that!

The love of the Father and the Son for each other is so strong, that it is given expression in the person of the Holy Spirit.

The Spirit is who Jesus sent to be with us – to accompany us on the way back to the Father.  

He is the sanctifier – the one who helps us to experience the divine life of God through scripture and prayer and the Sacraments and today in the Sacrament of the Eucharist. 

Sometimes it helps to visualize the Trinity as a triangle – Father – Son – Spirit.

Father loving the Son, Son loving Father, and Father and Son loving the Spirit.

A perfect community of love. 

Our God is love.

Our God is all about relationship.

And the Trinity is the model of all of our relationships and communities.

Man + Woman + God = Marriage

Parents + children + God = Family – the Domestic Church

You and you and you … + me + God = Parish

Mission Trip, a pilgrimage, neighborhood, soccer team, drama troop, choir, you name it – any community if you bring God into it, can be transformed into the image of Trinity – our God. 

A community of love, centered on God is what St. Paul describes in our second reading:

Encourage one another.

Agree with one another.

Live in peace.

Greet one another.

…and the God of peace will be with you.

Trinity!  We may not be able to understand it.

We may not be able to fit it all into our brains, because they are just too small.

But we can experience it – experience the divine love of God.

That is the grace that God longs to have us receive from him.

We can experience that love and let it transform us.

Trinity! Let us take it home with us today.

Let us carry it into our families and our workplaces, and our neighborhoods.

Let us grow it here at Stella Maris so much that these walls cannot hold all the love that we have for each other and for this community.

Trinity! Let us pray the prayer of praise that we learned as children or are learning as children…

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.

As is was is the beginning, is now and ever shall be,

World without end…Amen.