SOLEMNITY OF THE HOLY TRINITY

SOLEMNITY OF THE HOLY TRINITY

“… your face, LORD, do I seek! Do not hide your face from me; …” (Ps 27, 8-9) This phrase contained in Psalm 27 expresses the human desire to be able to know God and achieve the contemplation of his presence. The desire for that encounter with its Creator is placed in the human heart; or as Saint Augustine puts it well: “You made us Lord for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.”

Today we celebrate the mystery of the Holy Trinity: one God and Three Divine Persons. And we celebrate it precisely on this Sunday after having celebrated Pentecost last Sunday. It is as if in a pedagogical way we have been taught and introduced little by little into the knowledge and mystery of God. Finally, God has revealed to us everything about Himself. Jesus himself expresses it so clearly when he sends the apostles throughout the world to preach the gospel and offer baptism in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit (Mt 28:9).

This image of the Trinity is already present in theOld Testament when God, through the Word and his Spirit, gives way to creation (Gen 1, 1-5). Or, we could also remember that day of the Transfiguration of Jesus, where the Trinity is present (Mt 17, 5) and to which some of the apostles were witnesses. Also Jesus’ baptism with both the Holy Spirit and God present (Mt 3: 13-17). It is true that this mystery of the Holy Trinity has been treated many times by great thinkers and saints, but explaining it in very simple words is even more difficult. However, we must highlight our patron saint, Saint Patrick, who, using a very common element in his environment, manages to give a beautiful catechesis on the mystery of the Trinity. Saint Patrick displaying a three-leaf clover shows the unity and diversity of the Divine Persons. One God and Three distinct and deeply united Persons, so united that where one of them acts, the other two are acting.

As Christians, may we contemplate today the mystery of the Holy Trinity, also try to live in profound unity with God and with our neighbor, just as Jesus asks the Father: “so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, …” (Jn 17, 21).

Fr. Carlos Flores, OSA