Today is Trinity Sunday which the Church always celebrates on the Sunday after Pentecost. The doctrine of the Most Blessed Trinity is the central mystery of our faith (Catechism of the Catholic Church #234). There is one God, and in that one God, there are divine three Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This is not something invented by theologians. It comes directly from Scripture and from the mouth of Our Lord Himself.

The Bible reveals the Trinity gradually. It is hinted at in the Old Testament, and in the New Testament, Our Lord makes it explicit. From the beginning in the book of Genesis, God says, “Let us make man in our own image and likeness” (1:26). The language is in the plural. The Fathers of the Church saw in these words a glimpse of the Trinity, and St Augustine wrote that in passages like this, God was preparing us to receive the revelation of the Blessed Trinity. Then in Genesis 18:1-15, Abraham is visited by three heavenly figures, and yet Scripture speaks of them as one Lord. Strangely, the text alternates between singular and plural – three visitors, yet one Lord.

But the most explicit revelation comes in the life of Our Lord. At His Baptism in the River Jordan by John the Baptist, all three Divine Persons are present. The Son is there in the water, the Holy Spirit descends like a dove, and the voice of the Father is heard from Heaven: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). And then before ascending into Heaven, Our Lord gives the Apostles the Great Commission: “Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19). And we should note Our Lord says “name” in the singular – and not “names” in the plural. One God – three Persons.

St John in his Gospel speaks especially clearly about this mystery. In the Prologue to his Gospel, he writes, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (1:1). In other words, JESUS Christ is truly God and equal to the Father and has existed from all eternity. He is uncreated. Later on, JESUS says, “The Father and I are one” (10:30). And throughout John’s Gospel, JESUS promises to send the Holy Spirit, the Sanctifier, Who proceeds from the Father and the Son.

Of course, we can never fully understand the Trinity, but the Church doesn’t ask us to abandon reason. Rather she asks us to kneel in adoration where reason reaches its limit. The doctrine of the Trinity is not contrary to reason, but it is above it. The world today suffers from great intellectual arrogance. Modern man thinks he can understand everything, which, of course, he cannot. But as Catholics, we kneel with humility before the mystery, because God is greater than us. If God were so small that we could comprehend Him fully, He wouldn’t be God.

So on this great Feast of the Blessed Trinity, let us recover a sense of awe. Make the Sign of the Cross slowly, and pray the Gloria Patri (Glory be) reverently. And let us remember that we are destined to share forever in the life of the Most Blessed Trinity.

Fr Paul Gillham, IC