Most Holy Trinity – how do we respond?

Sunday, June 12, 2022 | By Rev. Michael P. Hanifin

This weekend we celebrate the feast of the Most Holy Trinity. What we are commemorating is a central reality of our Christian faith, that God is Trinitarian in nature — three distinct persons in one God.

The Church calls this truth a mystery, as indeed it is. Some have said that “mystery” in this context is “not a wall to run up against but an ocean in which to swim.” Contemplating the “ocean depths” of this mystery can make us humans feel so small, and almighty God so far from us. Yet nothing could be further from the truth as today’s readings demonstrate.

In the second reading at Mass, Saint Paul reminds us that God is intimately connected to us. “The love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” God wants to live in the very depths of our being and in all the intimate details of our lives if only we will allow Him.

And in the Gospel from Saint John, we learn that God holds back nothing of Himself from us. Jesus tells His disciples (including us!) that the Holy Spirit “will take from what is mine and declare it to you. Everything the Father has is mine” (John 16:15). Thus, we find ourselves drawn right into the midst of this Trinitarian love. In fact, if the mystery of Holy Trinity is an ocean which to swim, the “water” that makes up that ocean is love. 

What then should be the Catholic Christian response to this sublime mystery? All we can do is worship. And offer our lives back to God in total gratitude for calling us to live in the richness of such unfathomable love.