Category Archives: Trinity

Belief in the Trinity is the foundation of our Christian faith. This means that if a particular so-called Christian group claims to be Christian but rejects the Trinity, then that group is not Christian after all. But explaining the Trinity is certainly not easy. How can we explain that one is three and three is one? Seems impossible, especially from a mathematical or logical point of view. However, we can still gain some understanding of the Trinity and even experience the Trinity in terms of relationships.

To understand and even experience the Trinity, we can look at different images of God which helps us understand how God relates to us as a Trinity. Firstly, we see the image of God the Father creating the world, and He created all things good. To believe in God the Father is to believe that everything happens for a reason, and that God wishes only good things for us. Secondly, we see the image of Jesus, God the Son. Jesus revealed to us the three persons of the Trinity: God the Father, God the Holy Spirit and himself, God the Son. Through Jesus, we come to know God as a personal God who loves us so much that he became a human person, one of us in all things except sin, to sacrifice his own life and save us from our sins. Finally, we see the image of the Holy Spirit, who comes to live within us, to be our guide and help, and to lead us to the complete truth. At our baptism, we received the gift of the Holy Spirit and this gift is strengthened in us at Confirmation.

So what does this mean to us? It means that we experience and understand the Holy Trinity not as some theological mystery, but how God relates with us as individuals and as a community. God is the Holy Trinity because God is love; God is relationship; and God is community. Likewise, we too are called to follow God’s example, and love others, not merely as individuals, but especially as a community. May we grow together as one family of God, embraced with the love of the Holy Trinity.

The mystery of the Trinity: God is Father; God is Son; God is Holy Spirit. How do we understand this? Humanly speaking, we cannot fully explain the Trinity, since the Trinity is a mystery as the Catechism of the Catholic Church puts it: “The mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of Christian faith and life. It is the mystery of God in himself. It is therefore the source of all the other mysteries of faith, the light that enlightens them. It is the most fundamental and essential teaching in the “hierarchy of the truths of faith”. The whole history of salvation is identical with the history of the way and the means by which the one true God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, reveals himself to men “and reconciles and unites with himself those who turn away from sin”. (CCC 234)” Moreover, “The Trinity is a mystery of faith in the strict sense, one of the “mysteries that are hidden in God, which can never be known unless they are revealed by God”. To be sure, God has left traces of his Trinitarian being in his work of creation and in his Revelation throughout the Old Testament. But his inmost Being as Holy Trinity is a mystery that is inaccessible to reason alone or even to Israel’s faith before the Incarnation of God’s Son and the sending of the Holy Spirit. (CCC237)”

Many of us often think of God as a distant and unapproachable God and not a person we can relate with. But the mystery of the Trinity gives us an opportunity to relate with God in three ways, because there are three persons united in one God. We are children of God the Father, as St. Paul in the second reading tells us: “The Spirit himself and our spirit bear united witness that we are children of God. And if we are children we are heirs as well: heirs of God and coheirs with Christ, sharing his sufferings so as to share his glory.” We have Jesus, the Son of God, as our brother, and as our Saviour. Jesus is both God and man, and He gave up his own life on the cross to save us. Before Jesus left this world, He promised His disciples that He would send the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit that dwells within us at our baptism and makes present the life of the Trinity in each person. God resides in each of us through the Holy Spirit.

And so we have the Trinity which is a very important mystery for us. Even though we may not fully understand this mystery, that is ok, since mysteries are not always easy to comprehend. It takes much time, faith and prayer to understand the mysteries of God, since our minds are limited. The Trinity is an example of perfect communion which we should learn to follow. By loving in a community, we would then be witnesses to others, that God is with us as a Trinity.

How do we explain something which is not so easily explainable? Can we ever satisfactorily describe or define God? Today’s readings give us some important points.

Firstly, the doctrine of the Trinity reminds us that God is a mystery. A mystery is something which we can never fully understand or fathom. We do not have all the answers and we should be humble enough to let God guide us and take charge.

Secondly, the doctrine of the Trinity tells us that God is into relationships. God chooses to come close to us by sending His Son to save us. This helps us realise that God is not distant from us, He is with us and wants us to be with Him.

Finally, God is love. This love is not just in the Trinity, it is also shared with us. God loves us so much that Jesus came to help us and save us.

When we look at the Trinity, we are reminded to be humble and happy in letting God take control. Sometimes there are things which we cannot fully explain and cannot fully understand. But if we trust and believe, God can help us. Are we still insisting in finding the answers, or are we letting God be God?