Over the past few weeks, we have celebrated some very important feasts: Easter, Ascension and Pentecost. In these three feasts, we have celebrated some of the wonderful mysteries of our faith: Christ’s triumph over death, his return to heaven and the sending of the Holy Spirit. In these celebrations, we are given the hope of new life with God forever in heaven and, in the meantime, God’s accompaniment with us here on earth through his Holy Spirit. All of these great mysteries of our faith, however, are built upon the foundation of today’s feast: the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church declares so clearly: “[t]he mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of Christian faith and life. It is the mystery of God in himself. It is, therefore, the source of all the other mysteries of faith, the light that enlightens them. It is the most fundamental and essential teaching in the ‘hierarchy of the truths of faith’” (§ 234). So, it is a very important aspect of our faith and today I invite you to reflect on what we celebrate with this feast not so much in terms of doctrine – that is, what we believe – but rather as an experience of God and what God has to say to us. This threeness of the one God is how we Christians have come to know and love God. It also helps us to understand who we are and why it is so important for us, as God’s faithful people, to live in community, both in our families and here, around our Lord’s Table.
As we hear in today’s Gospel, Jesus’ final command to his followers is to “make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Pay attention. What does Jesus mean when he says “In the name of”? This is a very important phrase. It makes it clear that God calls us into a relationship. Unlike the ancient Jews who would baptize themselves – that is, bathe in a sacred pool – often to be cleansed of their sinfulness, we are baptized only once and not simply to wash away our sins – although that is certainly important – but in the name of God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Although baptism does, indeed, take away original sin, it does much more than that. Through baptism, we are immersed into the very life of God and God is, above all, a relationship of love.
St. Augustine explained it so well when he wrote in one of his great treatises, De Trinitate, On the Trinity. He explained: God the Father is love, the Son is the beloved and the Holy Spirit is the love between the Father and the Son. Jesus taught that the Father sent the Son so that we might have life in its fullness. This fullness includes living in God’s love.
We hear St. Paul in today’s second reading declare that, through baptism, we have received the Spirit of adoption, and we can now call God “Abba, Father!” Unlike the ancient Jews who would not even call God by the name he had given them – Yahweh – as adopted sons and daughters, we can now call God by a most intimate name: Father. We will do so in just a few minutes as we pray the Lord’s Prayer. Made in the image and likeness of God, we have God living in us, praying in us, leading us to share the glory of the risen Christ as children of God. Our baptism is in the name of the Trinity – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – and that means that we are invited to participate in God’s very life, to enter into an intimate relationship with God, to join in the circle of love that is God.
That is how we Christians experience God: the Father who creates and sustains us because of his infinite love, the Son who saves us, who gives himself completely because he loves us, the Spirit who lives within us, animates, guides and directs us in our daily lives in love.
Jesus taught us that God – the infinite creator of the universe who is beyond our imagination – has become one with us and within us through the Son in the Spirit. And, the Sacred Scriptures tell us all we need to know about God. It is through the Bible and the Body of Christ – that is, us, the Church – that God is fleshed out for the world. In fact, God wants to be fleshed out – that is, enfleshed – in our lives.
Because we have been immersed in God the Father’s life through his Son and the Holy Spirit, God continues to reveal himself to the world through us. God’s life in us transforms us and flows out to the world through us. And, just as God the Father is the creator, he calls us to share in his creative activity by our caring for one another. That is carried out most completely in our faithful community, an earthly reflection of the heavenly communion of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And, as Jesus is our savior, he calls us to bring his forgiveness, healing and wholeness to everyone we meet in our everyday lives. Finally, as the Holy Spirit leads and guides us, we are called to lead and guide others back to the Father.
As we celebrate this important feast day, let us all reflect on this great mystery of the Trinity and, grateful for God who has revealed himself to us in the most intimate reality of his being, let us boldly share his life-giving, loving presence with everyone in our lives, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.