1+1+1=LOVE
There are many mysteries of our faith. The Eucharist is the actual body and blood of Jesus Christ. Mary is the mother of God and our mother as well. A priest acting in persona Christi (the presence of Christ) can absolve us of our sins. The Most Holy Trinity! A mystery of our faith is something God has revealed to us but can never be truly grasped or understood by man. That being said, a shamrock or the three forms of water (solid, liquid, gas) are unique and creative glimpses into the mystery of the trinity, but very unsatisfying and actually teeter on heresy if we are not careful.
The Catechism (232) states that “the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery (of our faith). It is the mystery of God in himself…the source of all the other mysteries of faith, the light that enlightens them.” A few weeks back we heard Saint John sum up what we need to know about God and, in the end, about the Trinity that “God is Love” (1 John 4:8). God the Father pours out His love upon the Son who receives and sacrificially returns love to the Father and this love is so intense and real that it is named the Holy Spirit. God is God, Jesus is God, and the Holy Spirit is God…God is love, a relationship. The Trinity is then the perfect relationship of love which consists of a lover, the beloved, and the bond of love between them.
In Genesis we are told a truth that should be pondered anew on this Trinity Sunday. “Let US make man in our image, after OUR likeness” (Genesis 1:26). We are made in the image and likeness of God, but not in the physical sense. We tend to think of God the Father as an old man with a beard, God the Son as a younger man with a beard and the Holy Spirit as a bird. These are not the images we are created in. It is love. “The Lord is ONE; and you shall love the Lord your God, with all your mind, and with all your strength…and you shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:29-30).
So how do we understand the central mystery of our faith, the Trinity? We cannot. Ever. It is too big for us to comprehend. But by participating in the love of the trinity we can experience the mystery. When I absolutely love my neighbor (who was created also in the image and likeness of God) and I do this because of my love for God, then I am experiencing the trinity. “God himself is an eternal exchange of love…and he has destined us to share in that exchange (CCC 221). So, when the Mass is ended today and we hear our priest encourage us to go forth and glorify God in our lives by living out the mystery which is above all mysteries, he is speaking of the eternal exchange of love in the Most Holy Trinity.