Readings: Exodus 34:4-6,8-9, Daniel 3:52-56, 2 Corinthians 13:11-13, John 3:16-18
“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” (2 Corinthians 13:13)
What is the most extraordinary love story ever told? It is the story of God’s love for humanity, which began at the dawn of creation. In creating us, God revealed Himself as a merciful and gracious Father, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. This is what Moses describes in today’s First Reading. If this is how God is, how come we still hear of kidnapping, war, banditry, economic hardship, bad leadership and other evils today? We, humans, have always preferred darkness to light.
Despite everything God did for us, we remained a stiff-necked people, choosing evil over good and worshipping material things instead of God. At the fullness of time, God decided to become like us. He took our human flesh to live and die for our sake. This way, God the Father revealed Himself as God the Son. Over the last couple of weeks, our liturgy has celebrated how God, in the person of Christ Jesus, was born, began his public ministry, suffered, died, and rose on the third day.
While humanity was having trouble figuring out how God is both Father and Son (which is one of the reasons the Jews killed Jesus), again, out of His love for us, He revealed Himself once more as the Holy Spirit. Today’s celebration puts everything together. The Trinity reveals God’s love for us, which moved Him to create us, take our flesh, and dwell with us. Let us now consider the lessons in today’s readings:
1. God is Trinity
How is God both Father, Son and Holy Spirit simultaneously? Because He is God. He is not like us, and we would do Him a disservice by comparing Him to anything we can comprehend. God is one. God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Although God revealed Himself to us gradually, He has always been the Trinity. God spoke in plural at creation: “Let us make man….” At the Annunciation, the Angel Gabriel assured Mary that the Holy Spirit would overshadow her, signifying an essential unity within the Trinity.
The bible is full of many examples that point to this reality. These are passages that we often find difficult to understand. For instance, in John 10:30, Jesus said, “the Father and I are one.” In John 14:9-10, Jesus said to Philip, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you do not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works.” One wonders if Philip understood this, but the fact is that he believed it. And this is what we are called to do today: to accept the truth that we serve a God who is beyond our comprehension.
2. The Trinity Reflects God’s Love for Us
If God had not come to be born among us out of love, we would not know that God is the Son, and if He had no desire to remain with us forever, we would not know that God is the Holy Spirit. Do not try to understand God; instead, ponder His Love for you. God loves you so much that He will do anything for you.
Only God can love you this way. Only God can afford to humiliate Himself to take your human nature and die such a pitiable death, offering Himself as a sacrifice for your salvation. Only God can love you so much as to be so close to you that you only need to breathe to feel His presence around you. Who else can do this for you? What love can ever be more significant than this? What stops you from returning this love?
3. Because He Loves Us, God Does Not Force Us
God has done everything necessary for our salvation. Jesus said to Nicodemus. “God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but so that the world might be saved through him” (John 3:17). In his love for us, God does not force us to love Him back. Any love where the person lacks freedom is imprisonment. If you love someone, you must give the person the freedom to either love you back or reject you. Hence, Jesus added: “He who believes in Him is not condemned; he who does not believe is condemned already.”
God does not condemn us; instead, we condemn ourselves by our choices, by our rejection. Our first reading today teaches us one important lesson: God gives us a second chance when we repent. God told Moses to cut two new stone tablets like the former ones. God’s ability to forgive us is the greatest testament to His love for us. If you cannot forgive someone you love, it is a sign that you never loved the person in the first place. Love takes no record of evil; love never ends (Cf. 1 Corinthians 13:4-9)
4. God is Love; Let us Love One Another
St. Paul, in today’s second reading, gives us an excellent theological exposition of the Trinity when he said, “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” (2nd Corinthians 13:14) This verse is more than a greeting; it is our Credo. Jesus, God the Son, is described in terms of GRACE, God the Father is described in terms of LOVE, and God the Spirit is described in terms of FELLOWSHIP.
The three persons in one God reflect perfect unity and perfect love. God the Father so loves God the Son that there is a fellowship (communion) between them. This fellowship or expression of love is the Holy Spirit. Just as there is a fellowship in the Trinity, God desires that there be a fellowship amongst us. Therefore, we who worship God ought to reflect God in our lives by loving our neighbours and being united, rather than being divided by race or ethnicity.
As we celebrate the Trinity, let us think of our oneness as humans: we all came from one God and are related to one another. If we trace our family origins, we will discover we are more united than we often assume. St. Paul says, “Mend your ways, heed my appeal, agree with one another, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you.”
We live in a troubled world, and part of this trouble is our disunity as humans. Millions are dying daily, kidnappers are holding some, our roads are unsafe, our farmers are threatened, and many do not know where their next meal will come from. We can go on and on listing our problems, yet instead of being our brother’s keepers, we turn against each other. Let the love that exists between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit inspire us today to let go of our hatred. Our time on earth is short; while we still breathe, let us do whatever we can to treat our fellow humans with the kind of love that we wish for ourselves.
Let us pray: God our Father, who by sending into the world the Word of truth and the Spirit of sanctification made known to the human race your wondrous mystery, grant us, we pray, that in professing the true faith, we may acknowledge the Trinity of eternal glory and adore your Unity, powerful in majesty. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever. Amen.
Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. May God’s abundant blessings be upon us all. (The Most Holy Trinity – Solemnity. Liturgical Colour: White. Bible Study: Exodus 34:4-6,8-9, Daniel 3:52-56, 2 Corinthians 13:11-13, John 3:16-18)
@Rev. Fr. Evaristus E. Abu