Posted by The WORD in other words (2013) by Fr Antonio Pernia SVD – SVD Generalate, Rome
Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity – C
“Today is Trinity Sunday, therefore there will be no homily today” — words of one parish priest many years ago who wanted to express his feeling that it was not really possible to preach about a mystery such as that of the Trinity. He was thinking, of course, of the doctrine of the Trinity, i.e. that God is one and triune at the same time or that in God there are three persons but only one nature.
But the Trinity is not a doctrine in the first place, but an experience of a God who is infinite and unconditional love. That God is infinite and unconditional love is because God is the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God’s infinite love consists in his willingness to lose “the only thing” he has — his Son — in exchange for us. God empties himself completely so that he could be filled with us and our world. And this “emptiness” is God’s Spirit.
If God were not Father, there would be no Son. And if there were no Son, God would be unable to empty himself of “the only thing” he has. And if God were unable to empty himself, there would be no “emptiness” which the Spirit of God, and God would be unable to fill himself with us and our world. Thus, if God were not a Triune God, there would be no God who is infinite love. In a certain sense, then, it can be said that God is a Triune God or there would be no God at all.
The Trinity is, therefore, another expression of the Johannine statement, “God is Love”. The mystery of the Trinity is nothing else but the mystery of God’s infinite love. Is it not a beautiful thought that God as Father is willing to exchange his Son for us? Does this not tell us about how much God loves us? Is it not wonderful to think that, in the Spirit, we are now in the heart of God as “sons in the Son”?
And so, the mystery of the Trinity is not just about God, but also about us. The Trinity is, indeed, about the mystery of our unmerited adoption as children of God. And the Trinity is a “mystery” not so much because it is difficult to understand that God is one and triune at the same time, or that in God there are three persons but only one nature, but God would exchange his Son for us, and that God would adopt us as his children without any merit on our part. But that is precisely what love is. Love is always gratuitous love.
We are now taken into this circle of gratuitous love of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This is the mystery that we celebrate this Sunday. But “gratuitous love” is also our calling. For, as children of God, we are called to live our live in gratuitous love of God and neighbor. We are called to imitate God the Father and be ready to empty ourselves so that we may be filled with God and our neighbor. When we do that, then our “emptiness” will be Spirit-filled.
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