This weekend we have Trinity Sunday which to us mortals is about something we cannot understand. Father, Son and Holy Spirit are three distinct persons all in one God. We call this the Holy Trinity. We know that 1+1+1=3 but in this instance 1+1+1 =1. Why do we believe it? Well – Jesus clearly taught it and it was recorded by the Evangelists. Many have tried to explain it over the years but it has been defined by the Church as something that everyone must believe – it is a part of our Christian Faith.
We start to pray with “In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit” and end with “Glory be to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit”. All the sacraments are administered in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We bless ourselves, and the priest blesses us, in the Name of the Holy Trinity.
This means that in real life, our lives, we must respect ourselves and others because everyone is the temple of the Holy Spirit where all Three Persons of the Holy Trinity live. He is the source of our hope, courage and strength, and that He is our final destination. Families should all live in love and unity because by Baptism we become children of God and members of God’s Trinitarian family.
St. Patrick, the missionary patron saint of Ireland, used the shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity. One day his friends asked Patrick to explain the Mystery of the Trinity. He looked at the ground and saw shamrocks growing in the grass at his feet. He picked one up one of its leaves and asked if it were one leaf or three. Patrick’s friends couldn’t answer – the shamrock leaf looked like one but it clearly had three parts. Patrick explained to them: “The mystery of the Holy Trinity – one God in Three Persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit – is like this, but more complex and unintelligible.”
Augustine wrote: “You see the Trinity, if you see love.” According to him, the Father is the lover, the Son is the loved one and the Holy Spirit is the personification of the very act of loving.
There is this story which is really about family life. One day, while he was walking with God in the Garden of Eden Adam said, “Excuse me God, can I ask you a few questions?” God replied, “Go on Adam, but be quick. I have a world to create.” So, Adam says, “When you created Eve, why did you make her body so curved and tender unlike mine?” “I did that, Adam, so that you could love her.” “Oh, well then, why did you give her long, shiny, beautiful hair?” “I did that Adam so that you could love her.” “Oh, well then, why did you make her so stupid? Is that too because I should love her?” “Well, Adam, no. I did that so that she could love you.”