The Holy Trinity is the most difficult subject in Catholic theology. According to an ancient story, St. Augustine, one of the greatest theologians of Church history, was one day walking along the shore of the Mediterranean Sea contemplating the question of the Holy Trinity, when he saw a child playing on the seashore. The boy had dug a hole in the sand and then was carrying buckets of water from the sea, pouring them into the hole. St. Augustine asked him what he was doing. The boy replied that he was going to put the sea into the hole. The saint replied that the boy would never be able to put the whole sea into that small hole. To which the boy replied, “Neither will you ever be able to understand the Trinity.”
Indeed, our finite minds can never fully comprehend the inscrutable mystery of the Holy Trinity, because we can never fully understand the infinite mystery of God. All we can do is formulate some thoughts that point toward the reality of who God is. But we have to bear in mind that all human thought is finite, and therefore no human words can capture the fullness of God. Anything we say about God, even if it is true, will fall short. Imagine going to a place of great natural beauty, like the Grand Canyon, Mt. Rainier, or the ocean. If you take a picture with your phone, then post it to social media, will your followers be able to experience through the picture what you are experiencing in person? No, they will only get a small inkling of the grandeur of what you are beholding. Our words about God are similar. They only give us a small inkling of the inexpressible wonder of God’s being. Let us bear that in mind as we contemplate who the Holy Trinity is.
Catholic theology starts with the premise that God is one. God has one, indivisible nature. At the same time, we also believe that God has three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, who are distinct from each other and yet share that one indivisible nature. We do not have three Gods, but only one. At the same time, the three persons of the Holy Trinity are not merely modes of expression in God, but are actual persons. So God is both indivisibly one, and yet has three distinct persons. Indeed, as stated above, the Holy Trinity is an inscrutable mystery.
As I have said in prior reflections, one way to try to conceptualize the mystery of the Holy Trinity is to start with the premise that God is infinite love. Love, by its very nature, requires a love dynamic. In God, there is the Father, who is the One Who Loves. His love is received and reciprocated by the Son, who is the Beloved. The love that exists between the Father and the Son is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Trinity is an eternal exchange of infinite love, which is not bound by time, but takes place in the eternal timeless now of God’s infinite nature.
We might wonder, though, if the doctrine of the Holy Trinity is just some beautiful theology that doesn’t have any bearing on our day-to-day lives. What difference does the concept of the Holy Trinity actually make for us? The answer is a profound difference. Jesus Christ is the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, who has taken on a human nature, becoming one of us, without losing or lessening his divinity. By doing so, Jesus establishes the closest possible union between the Creator and his creation.
What is more, as I have described in prior reflections, Jesus compares the love he has for us with the love that exists between him and the Father. Jesus loves us with the same eternal, infinite outpouring of love that exists within the Holy Trinity. When we are baptized into Christ, we enter into the closest possible union between us, created beings, and God, our Creator. Jesus then shares with us the infinite, eternal outpouring of divine love that is the Holy Trinity. We are to live and have our being in that divine love. We are to be partakers of God’s infinite, eternal love without end, without limit.
That is what Heaven is about. What is more, in Heaven, not only do we individually experience God’s love, but that eternal, infinite exchange of love will flow through us to all who are in Heaven. The exchange of love within the Holy Trinity will now be a vast web of infinite love shared eternally among all the blessed ones living forever in heavenly glory. Each time we make the sing of the cross, in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, let us remember the inexpressibly beautiful and joyful life that God is calling each of us to experience without end.
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The readings for The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, Cycle B are:
Dt 4:32-34, 39-40
Ps 33:4-5, 6, 9, 18-19, 20, 22
Rom 8:14-173
Mt 28:16-20
The full text can be found at the USCCB website.
Image: Holy Trinity Icon by Andrej Rublëv from Wikipedia Commons.