Trinity Sunday

St. Augustine describes the Holy Trinity as, “God is love, Jesus is the lover, and the Holy Spirit is the love shared between them.”  It is a nice analogy; it is one that helps us reflect on the power of love and its depths.  Yet, the Trinity is not the easiest thing to wrap your head around.  The basic teaching about that Trinity is that we believe in one God in three persons, each person is their own person and each person is God.  Each person is not simply a manifestation of God, but is God and each still remains their own person.  What we can’t wrap our head around is the fact that we are talking about distinction and unity all in the same sentence.  We understand the distinction, i.e. there are three persons, we even understand what unity means, i.e. One God, but when you put the two together difficulties arise because it goes beyond our capacity to fully understand.  Much like saying God is in control but we continue to have free will or it is God who saves us but we still participate.

The easiest way for me to understand the Trinity is to compare it to marriage or a family that is perfectly united.  Please do not misunderstand me, no analogy will ever perfectly describe or explain the Trinity nor can human relationships ever be 100% perfect, since human relationships are faulty due to our sinfulness and weakness, and yet we must try to understand it since it is the most important tenet of our faith.

Everyone who is married or wishes to marry dreams of and hopes for the perfect marriage and all marriages are perfect to some extent, all couples have shared those moments in which they were truly one, “the two shall become one flesh.”  In those moments of great intimacy, friendship, and love two people do become one in thought and spirit, they are inseparable.  Both can anticipate the other’s thoughts and movements, a bond exists that becomes unbreakable.  In these moments the person does not lose their individuality, they remain who they are but are also one in just about every respect.  Sounds like a beautiful marriage indeed, and yet I am sure and I hope you who are married have experienced this many times.  As Christians we are called to this same relationship with Christ where we become one with Him in every respect.  I mention all of this to try and get a glimpse into the Trinity.  All three are perfectly united, all three are always their own persons but at the same time they are also always one.

The theology of the Trinity is important, as faithful Christians we must not shy away from trying to understand it and trying to explain it to others, but what is more important is that we try to live our lives as a model of the Trinity, striving to be in perfect unity and community with one another.  Divisions among us can separate families, cause siblings not to speak to one another or old and good friends to part ways.  The Trinity is perfect communion of relationships between three persons, we are made in God’s image and likeness therefore we too are called to have that unity with God and each other.  Knowing the Trinity is one thing living like the Trinity is another and that living like the Trinity is based and rooted in love.  I will leave you with what St. Paul charged his followers with, I like his “THREE” theological virtues they make a lot of sense and at least in a small way remind us of the Trinity, “And if I have the gift of prophecy and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge; if I have all faith so as to move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing . . . So faith, hope, love remain, these three;  but the greatest of these is love.”