SOLEMNITY OF THE HOLY TRINITY
(Proverbs 8:22-31; Romans 5:1-5; John 16:12-15)
We've traversed a lot of spiritual territory since March. We
passed through our sins at the beginning of Lent. We found God's mercy at the
end of the season. Then we experienced the hope of the Resurrection and the
glory of the Ascension. Last Sunday we completed the renewal of our salvation
with the coming of the Holy Spirit. Now, after more than a quarter of a year,
it behooves us to reflect on the dynamism that has driven the process forward.
That is, we want to examine: who is God?
We sometimes hear some talking about God in layman's terms,
"God is the man upstairs," people say. This cannot be correct. God is
neither a man nor above us in the sense that he lives in a place beyond the
clouds. Nor is God "daddy" like preachers used to tell us. Language
research has certified that “Abba”, the Aramaic word with which Jesus addresses
God, does not connote familial affection. It means only "Father" with
all the intimacy and respect that this word conveys.
One can truly say that God is a mystery, but what does this
term mean? Mystery, in the religious sense, is not like a detective story that
challenges us to solve. Nor is it a scientific enigma that we are likely to
understand one day. God is a mystery because we don't have the ideas, let alone
the words, to adequately describe him. It is a mystery like when they bring us our
newborn. He is all wonder and awe.
However, we don't have to be completely silent about God.
The Scriptures give us a glimpse into the mystery. We can examine the readings
we just heard to help us know something about God.
The first reading presents wisdom as the companion of God.
From the beginning God has always had wisdom as both servant and friend. Wisdom
is the personification of the ability to know the nature of things. It is very similar
in the way that the Word in the Bible is the personification of the
ability to create and name things. For this reason, wisdom is associated with
the incarnate Word, Jesus Christ. Wisdom also suggests the Holy Spirit. The
prophet Isaiah names it as a gift of the Spirit.
In the second reading Saint Paul reminds us that we were
sinners destined to perdition. Then - he says - God, in his love, sent Jesus
Christ to redeem us from sin. He adds that God has shared this love with us by
sending us the Holy Spirit.
In the gospel Jesus tells his disciples that the Holy Spirit
will come with his departure. He assures them that he will teach them
everything they cannot understand now (which is a lot because they have not yet
experienced the crucifixion and resurrection.) Even more, Jesus promises that
the Spirit will take what is his and declare it to them. With these ways communicated
to us, his disciples -- including us -- can be holy like Jesus.
Now what can we conclude about God? In the first place, we
can say that God has always existed as a trinity of persons: Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit. All three have the same divine nature and the same will. Second,
we can affirm that God redeemed human beings out of the greatest possible love.
It was like a father who put his own son
to the most challenging of tests like walking across Antarctica to the South Pole
to save his neighbors from destruction. Finally, God is still with us
enlightening the mind and strengthening the heart to imitate Jesus.
