Holy Trinity Sunday. Today’s readings: Exodus 34,4b-6.8-9; 2 Corinthians 13,11-13; John 3,16-18
Reflecting on the Holy Trinity, the focus of this Sunday’s celebration, brings one to dizzy heights, unfathomable realities and unspeakable truths. Our minds could rev up to their fullest potential, but they would still fall short miserably of grasping the mystery of the Trinity.
The Origins of Biblical Monotheism, by Mark S. SmithIn his book The Origins of Biblical Monotheism, Mark S. Smith explains how Israel came to believe in one God despite a predominant polytheistic worldview. Jesus brought about a revelation of the three divine Persons of the Godhead without compromising the oneness of God which Jews profess daily in their recitation of a biblical text that claims: Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai Ehad (the Lord our God, the Lord is One).
That unity and that oneness are the result of kinds of relationships between the three Persons of the Trinity that are of another kind to the ones we know. The dynamic of the relationships between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit involve a compenetration of their beings, a mutual interfusion that does not diminish the perfect identity of each of these Persons.
Part of a liturgical prayer used today states: “Father of majesty unbounded, your true and only Son, worthy of all worship, and the Holy Spirit, advocate and guide. Three Persons we adore, one in being and equal in majesty.”
In the early Christian writings, the Greek term perichoresis was used to describe the way the three Persons of the Trinity relate to each other. It derives from peri (around) and choreo (to go, or to come). Although this last word may technically not be connected to the concept of dancing (choreography), it helps our reflection on the Trinity to imagine the three divine Persons as flowing into and around each other in an eternal dance, particularly since perichoresis is used to describe a kind of interaction that reflects that kind of mutual engagement.
What is more, the Trinity invites us into its eternal dance. British pastor Mike Pilevachi recounts a story of how a friend of his who was present at a Greek wedding stood amazed as a group of men formed a circle and, interlocked at the hands, kept swirling and swirling. Before he knew it, one of them grabbed him by the arm and pulled him into the circle to join in the exuberant joy they were all experiencing. Pilevachi said that, in like manner, the Trinity seeks to draw us into a communion of love that knows no end.
Little does it matter that what we know about God (his immanence) is far less than what we do not know about him (his transcendence). God has not revealed to us everything about himself, but he has shown us enough for our salvation. That revelation reached its climax in the incarnation of the Son: “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him” (John 3,17).
Carriers of the Glory: Becoming a Friend of the Holy Spirit, by David Diga HernandezIndeed, the very first time God revealed his identity and nature in the Bible, he described himself firstly as “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness…” (Exod 34,6). We worship a God who, though awesome in power and glory, is so touchingly approachable.
In his book Carriers of the Glory: Becoming a Friend of the Holy Spirit, David Diga Hernandez avers that, because the Holy Spirit dwells within us, we carry the atmosphere of heaven wherever we go. God has come that close to us.
Holy Trinity Sunday is an invitation to become increasingly aware not only of the divine glory that is beheld in heaven, but of that which we as Christians carry within us because we have been baptised, that is, immersed in the very life of the triune God.