Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit

06-04-2023Weekly ReflectionFr. Manasseh Iorchir, VC

The celebration of Pentecost, the birthday of the Church fifty days after Easter, is immediately followed by the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. Thus, this weekend we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, the liturgical feast that celebrates the central mystery of the Christian faith. This is the most singularly distinctive belief that separates Christianity from all other religions. For instance, Islam and Judaism hold firmly onto mono personal monotheism that does not admit the multiplicity of persons in the one true God. As a consequence, for strict adherents of Judaism, the doctrine of the Trinity is both erroneous and heretical, the same doctrine is judged extremely offensive to strict muslims.

The Doctrine of the Most Holy Trinity holds that in the Triune God exists three persons: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit; perfectly united in nature, equal in substance, and yet distinct from each other. God the Father is the origin and creator of the world, it was He who sent His Son to redeem us, and together with the Son, He sent the Holy Spirit to sanctify the world. God the Son is the Word of God, begotten not made, who was with the Father at creation (Genesis 1:26) and was sent to redeem and reconcile creation to God when we fell. He reestablished a new and universal covenant between God and humanity and activated the reign of God on earth. God the Holy Spirit proceeds from the love of the Father and the Son to sanctify, inspire, animate and empower the world and all those chosen by the Father for special purposes.

One of the most explicit scriptural evidence of the distinctiveness of the three persons of the Triune God, as well as the collaborative nature of their unity, is in Matthew 3:16-17 where, after the baptism of Jesus as he stepped out of the water, the Heavens opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in the form of a dove while the voice of the Father was heard saying, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” We learn from here that though each person in the Triune God is distinct, each collaborates with the rest to achieve perfect unity of purpose. As believers in the Trinity, we ought to be united, not only in what we believe but also in how we witness; this is essential to our faith.

Love is the essence of the Trinity. The Trinity is the perfect exemplification of love. The Father loves the Son and so sends the Holy Spirit to anyone who loves the Son and keeps His commandments. The Father loved the world and so sent His only begotten Son to redeem it and to teach us to love sacrificially, selflessly and truly. To give is the noblest expression of love and the one who gives selflessly and sacrificially exhibits the highest form of love (John 15:13). Since our very existence is the product of the love in and of the Trinity, each of us is invited to enter more practically into, and imitate more resolutely, the Trinitarian circle of love.

May we be aided by Grace to respond positively to this invitation.

Please be kind and may God bless you.

Fr. Manasseh