By Fr. Glenn Jones:
Had a funeral yesterday—a weekly, if not even daily, occurrence in many parishes. Sometimes there are family members who do not get along for this or that reason (sadly, often due to bickering over mere things or inheritance), but it’s always nice when there seems to be an absence of that as we had yesterday, with all the family embracing and rejoicing in the love of one another. As our society changes and relatives become scattered to the various states and even countries, we love when we can rejoice in that common bond of family which unites us.
I was thinking of that as we move from the Easter season which ended last weekend with Pentecost and we Catholics come today (May 31 this year) to the observance of the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity—the common Christian belief that God is one being who exists simultaneously as three distinct Persons. To those outside the Christian faith, the doctrine can sound contradictory. If Catholics and other Christians are monotheists who believe in only one God, how can they worship a Father, a Son, and a Holy Spirit? But when one delves deeper into this great mystery, it becomes a window into how Christians view the very nature of God, love, and community.
The doctrine of the Holy Trinity states that God is one divine nature, yet three distinct logical identities, or “Persons”: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ), and God the Holy Spirit. For Catholics, “Person” in this context does not mean three separate individuals with different bodies and competing wills, but rather to three distinct ways of being and relating within the single, undivided reality of God. They are completely united in essence, power, and eternity. Where one is present, all three are present. It’s neither belief in three gods (tritheism), nor belief that God simply wears three different masks depending on the situation (modalism). Christians believe in one God who is, in His deepest mystery, a relationship.
While the specific word “Trinity” does not appear in the Bible, Christians find the foundation of the doctrine throughout those sacred texts. In the Old Testament, there are hints such as the use of plural pronouns when God speaks in the Book of Genesis (“Let us make mankind in our image” (Genesis 1:26)). The fuller revelation, however, comes in the New Testament. At the baptism of Jesus, the Gospels describe that all three Persons are present simultaneously: Jesus is standing in the Jordan River (the Son), the Holy Spirit descends on Him like a dove, and a voice echoes from heaven saying, “This is my beloved Son” (the Father) (Matthew 17). A very similar occasion is during the recounting of the Transfiguration, where we have Jesus (Son), the voice from Heaven again (Father), and the cloud descending upon Jesus and the apostles with Him (Holy Spirit) (Mark 9)—this occasion also recalling for Christians the cloud descending upon Moses at Mt. Sinai.
Post-resurrection and before His ascension into heaven, Jesus explicitly commands His followers to baptize the people of the nations “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 27:19). Jesus uses the singular word “name” – not “names” – signifying that these three share one divine identity.
The early Church had to find a way to describe this concept without abandoning their fierce commitment to monotheism. The doctrine of the Trinity was the result, taught by Church councils since the early days of the Christian faith, language formalized at Nicaea in 325 A.D and Constantinople in 381 A.D. For Catholics, these councils were guided by the Holy Spirit to preserve the truth, ensuring that the faith practiced today is that of the faith of the apostles.
The Trinity also answers a profound question: If God is love (1 John 4:16), who did God love before anything was created?
Christians believe that because God is three Persons, God is an eternal, self-sustaining relationship of love. The Father eternally pours Himself out to the Son; the Son eternally responds in love to the Father; and the love between them is so real and alive that it is a third Person, the Holy Spirit. When Christians says: “God is love”, it does not just mean God possesses the mere emotion of love; rather, it means God IS love in His very definition—an eternal dynamic community of giving and receiving.
For a practicing Catholic, the Trinity is the framework for their daily spiritual life and actions. The most common Catholic prayer action involves tracing a cross from the forehead to the chest and shoulders while saying, “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” … a constant reminder that we live within the presence of the Trinity, and dedicate our prayer, work and lives to God. Other prayers are directed to the Father, through the mediation of the Son, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Finally, because human beings are made in the image of a Trinitarian God, Catholics believe humans are designed for community, called to live in unity, charity, and mutual support with one another … like the family at that funeral yesterday manifesting the beauty of familial life.
The Trinity is a “mystery of faith”, not just a puzzle to be solved, but rather a mystery that cannot be fully comprehended by our limited human minds because it is far (indeed, infinitely) greater than our capacity. A thimble cannot hold an ocean, and the finite human mind cannot contain the fullness of the Creator. But Christians accept the Trinity because they believe God has invited humanity to share in His inner life—a life defined by an eternal, loving community. So let us go forth to foster this love, manifesting those fruits of the Holy Spirit of “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control”. (Galatians 5:22-23)
Editor’s note: Rev. Glenn Jones is the Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe and former pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church in Los Alamos.