It is no small task, which is why, for centuries countless scholars, philosophers, theologians, priests, bishops, popes, classes and books have all sought to answer this great mystery. It has been the source of heresy, it has caused schisms and disagreements, and it has been the reason for countless creeds and Councils throughout the history of the Church. In short, it is a doctrine that simultaneously, challenges, frustrates and confuses us.
St. Augustine, a great saint, theologian and Doctor of the Church, and someone from whom the Church gets a lot of its theology and philosophy, understood this well.
It is said, he was walking on the beach one day, contemplating the mystery of the Trinity, when he came across a little child who dug a hole in the beach close to the water. He watched as this little child took a spoon and went back and forth with a spoonful of the ocean and dumped it into the hole. Finally, St. Augustine went over to this child and asked him what he was doing, to which the child responded that he was trying to empty the sea into the hole. St. Augustine told him it couldn’t be done, to which the child responded that he would be more successful in doing this than St. Augustine would be in comprehending and fully understanding the Blessed Trinity.
This is why, in all honestly, anything I try to say today about the Trinity will pale in comparison to the truth of who God truly is, what He is and what He can do and has done in each and every one of our lives.
So, then the question is why even bother trying to contemplate such a great mystery as the Trinity in the first place?
It was the great Catholic author and apologist, Frank Sheed, who gives us the answer, he says: “The doctrine of the Trinity is…the innermost life of God. His profoundest secret. He did not have to reveal it to us. We could have been saved without knowing that ultimate truth. In the strictest sense it is His business, not ours.” Sheed then explains that even given this, it was revealed to us for no other reason, than out of love, for, as Sheed beautifully puts it: “It is the surest mark of love to want to be known.”
Yet, to know Him, in this case, as many saints will attest to, cannot be solved by mere logical deduction, this mystery cannot be solved by study alone, because this mystery is the very essence of God and, therefore, it is meant to lead us to the greatest heights of prayer. For, as one priest puts it: “what else can we do in the face of God but contemplate?”
God then revealed Himself as a Trinity not to cause confusion and frustration, but to help us to grow in love of Him and to come know Him better, for, truly, God wants to be known.
And, so then the next logical question is what does He want us to know?
Simply stated, He wants us to know that words like “eternity” and “infinity” are not fancy scientific terms, they are where He dwells, and that despite being outside from where we are, we are being held in existence, at this very moment, by Him, so that as remote as that may feel, He is, at the same time, closer to us than anyone could ever be.
This why when we speak about God we often don’t have the right words. In fact, this was one of the greatest struggles for the saints, which is why we have so many creeds, and why the history of the Church is full of people trying to explain who God is in simple language.
This should be evident in the Creed that we profess, properly known as the Nicaean-Constantinoplian Creed, because, as the name implies, it took two Councils to find the right words to express what we want to say. Yet, even then, it still sounds awkward, especially, when we say things like: “God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, Consubstantial with the Father,” an intentional change, during the new translation, to underscore that the Father and Jesus are both God, sharing in the same substance, the same divine nature, but still distinct persons of the Blessed Trinity.
This, too, is why we say that the Holy Spirit “proceeds” from the Father and the Son. To proceed implies a continuation, so that, in essence, the Holy Spirit is the “continuation” of the perfect love of the Father and Son, equally infinite, eternal, and living. In fact, Sheed explained the Holy Spirit as the “sigh that lovers breathe.”
Ultimately, we can never translate eternal language perfectly, because in eternity there is no past, present or future, there is only the present. This is why, elsewhere, when Moses asked God His name the only proper response was simply “I AM WHO AM,” which means He is eternal presence. This, too, is why in the Book of Revelation, He states that He is the Alpha and the Omega, in Greek the Alpha is the beginning of the alphabet and Omega is the end, because He embodies both, He shows that He has no beginning or end.
Additionally, The Trinity is three Persons, but one God, who share the same nature. The term “person,” however, identifies who we are, whereas nature defines what we are. So, when we say of Jesus that He is “consubstantial with the Father,” that is, sharing the same substance, we can also say the same of the Holy Spirit, because both share the same substance as the Father, they share the same divine nature, yet, at the same time each remain distinct Persons.
We also learn that without Jesus we would never know the Father and without Jesus’ Ascension, we would never know the Holy Spirit, and without the Trinity, we would never understand who we are, since we are made in the image and likeness of God.
And while difficult to understand, the question is then, why would God want to reveal such a deep mystery to us? Why would He want us to ponder the very essence of who He is knowing how limited our minds truly are?
Because, without it, we might have never understood the importance of prayer, because if we think about it, all prayer, no matter what it is, the Rosary, the novenas, the Scripture reading, adoration, is merely a gateway to the contemplation of God.
So that with the eyes of faith we can come to see the greatest mystery of the Holy Trinity, that the very essence, the very heart of the Trinity is love, limitless, perfect and eternal. It is a love unlike anything we can comprehend, but it is why we say the Father begets the Son, and the Son as a perfect image of the Father, pours back His life, so that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the love of the Father and Son.
Therefore, as strange as it sounds, love is, literally, the cause of creation, the reason we are here right now, and the way in which we are being sustained in existence at this very moment.
Perhaps, God could have allowed us to understand more, to be a greater part of this mystery, as it were, but maybe that is the mystery itself, or maybe it is because of this that we constantly desire Him, His love, His intimacy, and go to Him in prayer, because, if we can never fully know someone completely here on earth, how much more when it is God Himself?
The Trinity, then, is the heart, the greatest secret of God, yet, it is a secret He has chosen to reveal, if even a little bit, to us, for us, which is why it is more than something, or rather, someone to be understood, studied and written about, it is the very essence, the very heart of who God is and what He wants us to know about Him.
And this is what we celebrate today, this intimate and amazing mystery, knowing that there is always more to learn, always more to contemplate, knowing His depths are, indeed, inexhaustible.
Therefore, let us give thanks and glory this day and all days to this Most Holy Trinity, invoking Him now and always: in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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