The Trinitarian Life
(Ex.34:4-6, 8-9; 2Cor.13:11-13; Jn.3:16-18)
We often bless ourselves with the Sign of the Cross, saying, ‘In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.’
This small Trinitarian ritual is something we learnt early in life, and hopefully it will be the last gesture made over us at the end of our days. It reaffirms our creation in God’s image and likeness (Gen.1:27), and it reminds us that God is not a distant and solitary figure, but a communion of love that touches every human life (1Jn.4:16).
The Holy Trinity is quite a mystery. Sr Lucia, who met Our Lady at Fatima, said that we will only really understand it when we get to heaven. However, there are some things we can learn from the Trinity if we want to live better lives today.
Firstly, have you noticed how the Trinity is a model for family life? Just as the Holy Spirit is the fruit of the mutual love between Father and Son, so children are the fruit of the mutual love between husband and wife. And just as the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are constantly united in love, so we are all meant to come together in love, in our families and communities.
We see this in the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. Jesus spent 90% of his life living quietly with his family. Similarly, when Mary visited her cousin Elizabeth, they stayed together for months, talking, laughing and supporting each other. And when the disciples started following Jesus, they sacrificed everything else to live in close communion.
We, too, have been created for relationship, not isolation, and we need to build good, healthy connections with others, and most especially with our families.
Secondly, the Father, Son, and Spirit are distinct persons with different roles, and yet they are perfectly united. In the same way, each member of our families and communities has a role to play and unique talents to share as we all come together in holy relationship.
St Vincent de Paul understood this. He gathered an eclectic mix of volunteers, wealthy patrons, priests, and religious women with a wide range of skills in fundraising, administration, nursing and pastoral care, and got them working together to serve the poor rather than competing against each other.
So, our next challenge is to value and harness our diverse gifts for the benefit of everyone.
Thirdly, notice that in the Holy Trinity, all three persons are equal. Their love is built on mutual respect, with no-one being junior to another.
Just before his arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prays ‘that they may all be one. Just as you, Father, are in me, and I am in you, so they may also be one in us…’ (Jn.17.21–23). He’s praying not only for shared purpose among his followers, but also for a unity that mirrors the close bond between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Again, we see this reflected in St Vincent de Paul. In 1633, with St Louise de Marillac, he founded the Daughters of Charity to serve the poor and the sick in Paris. They shared the leadership, with no-one dominating the other. It was a partnership of equals.
We, too, must strive for such equal partnership in our families and communities.
And finally, notice how the members of the Trinity speak of each other. At his baptism, Jesus hears, ‘This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased’ (Mt.3:17). On Mount Tabor, the disciples hear, ‘This is my beloved son. Listen to him.’ In his Farewell Discourse, Jesus praises the Holy Spirit, calling him ‘The Spirit of Truth’ (John 17), and he’s always respectful to his Father.
This is how the Holy Trinity works: each person speaks lovingly of the other. Their unity is complete.
And so it must be with us. When you always praise the good you see in others, just watch how your relationships grow.
In today’s Gospel, John says that God loved the world so much that he gave us his only Son. What he’s saying is that the love between Father, Son and Holy Spirit is so complete that it’s constantly overflowing into us.
Our first task is to humbly accept this love.
And then, every time we make the Sign of the Cross, to remember that we’ve all been made in the shape of the Cross.
This tells us that we’re all called to live the same Trinitarian life.
How? By building healthy relationships with others, by valuing their individual gifts and talents, by always treating them as equals, and by always speaking well of them.
There’s a word for all this. It’s ‘love’.
Divine love.