One day a Christian group came to my grandma's home and questioned her faith about the concept of Holy Trinity. She invited them to her prayer room and asked them to kneel down and pray to Jesus that you will understand the mystery of Holy Trinity. This was a teaching for her grand children and to the Christian group that everything of the faith is not understandable through head, everything of the faith cannot be proved in the lab.
Fr. John Pozhathuparambil
The mystery of the most Holy Trinity is a basic doctrine of Faith in Christianity, understandable not with our heads but with our hearts. It teaches us that there are three distinct Persons in one God, sharing the same Divine Nature. Our mind cannot grasp this doctrine which teaches that 1+1+1 = 1 and not 3. But we believe in this Mystery because Jesus who is God taught it clearly, the Evangelists recorded it, the Fathers of the Church tried to explain it and the Councils of Nicaea and Constantinople defined it as a dogma of Christian Faith.
Why Trinity is important in our Christian life? 1) All prayers in the Church begin in the Name of the Holy Trinity and end with glorifying the Trinity.
2) All Sacraments are administered (we are baptized, confirmed, anointed, our sins are forgiven and our marriage blessed and our Bishops, priests and deacons ordained) in the name of the Holy Trinity.
3) We bless ourselves, and the priest blesses us, in the name of the Holy Trinity.
What are the Biblical proofs? There are only vague and hidden references to the Trinity in the Old Testament. But the New Testament gives clear teachings on the Holy Trinity.
1) At the Annunciation, God the Father sends His angel to Mary, God the Holy Spirit overshadows her and God the Son becomes incarnate in her womb.
2) At the baptism of Jesus, when the Son receives baptism from John the Baptist, the Father’s Voice is heard and the Holy Spirit appears as a Dove.
3) At the Ascension, Jesus gives the missionary command to his disciples to baptize those who believe, in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
What are the life teachings of this feast?
1) Let us have the firm conviction that the Trinitarian God abides in us, that He is the Source of our hope, courage and strength and that He is our final destination. The awareness and conviction of the presence of God within us, gives us the strength to face the manifold problems of life with Christian courage. It was such a conviction that prompted the early Christian martyrs, when taken to their execution, to shout the heroic prayer of Faith from the Psalms: "The Lord of might is with us, our God is within us, and the God of Jacob is our helper" (Psalm 46).
2) This feast is inviting us to practice the Trinitarian relationship of love and unity in the family relationships of father, mother and children because by Baptism we become children of God and members of God’s Trinitarian family. Pope Francis says, Holy Trinity is the model of the Church “in which we are called to love one another as Jesus has loved us.” Love, Pope Francis said, is the distinctive mark of the Christian. This mystery of the Holy Trinity asks us to renew the Christian mission of living in communion with God and others.
In the letter to Corinthians chapter 13 we read about the conflict in the church of Corinth. Somebody said, I am following Peter, somebody else said I am following Paul. Finally paul said, brothers and sisters, stop fighting, this is all about Jesus. And this is then last thing paul said to the church in Corinth as the answer to bring them together, may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. He wanted the church of Corinth understand the love among the Trinity and the communion of the Trinity and be peaceful and love one another. Communion is so rich word. It means 7 things, presence, fellowship, Sharing together, intimacy, participation, communion, friendship.
We live in a world of confusion, fight, war, hatred and individualism. Therefore, celebrating this feast is very meaningful.
Let us pray to open our hearts and our minds to understand this.
We have heard the old age saying, no man is an island. But we are proud to be islands. We are proud to be individualistic and narcissistic. Pope Francis says: “We are not called to live without the other, above or against the other, but with the other, for the other and in the other”.
Any psychologist will tell you that addictions, depression, anxiety, neuroses and many other mental ailments flourish in isolation; however, by sharing honestly in groups they tend to get better. Man is not an island, he is created to live like Holy Trinity in loving relationship. And whenever he looses this relationship he looses happiness and peace.
Dear brothers and sisters, let us remember when we have a broken relationship the only help we have to seek is grace of God -God the Father, who created us, his Son who saved us, and the Holy Spirit who continues to guide us. Our lives should reflect the Trinity. This is our mission as Christian. We should be always creative like the Father, compassionate like his Son, and dispose our talents in the service of others like the Holy Spirit. Let us celebrate this feast reflecting and renewing about our relationship with God and others.
St. Francis Xavier’s favorite prayer was this: “Most Holy Trinity, Who live in me, I praise You, I worship You, I adore You and I love You.” Let us say this prayer mindfully. May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
Fr. John Pozhathuparambil
Courtesy: Catholic Bishops Confrence India
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