04 June 2023 – The Most Holy Trinity (Year A)

by Fr Joachim Robert

So dear friends, we have just concluded our celebration of Pentecost last Sunday. And you know that in the preparation of that Pentecost Celebration, we entered through that journey of preparation in the Upper Room. And after the accounts of the Resurrection, after Easter, the stories of the Gospel continues to invite us and to re-enkindle stories of the Resurrection so that we are able to acknowledge God’s presence in our lives. And after being in that Upper Room, and of the coming of the Holy Spirit, the Lord sent forth the Holy Spirit so that we are able to be empowered with that gift and to acknowledge His presence among us.

As I mentioned just now, pay attention to the number of times we invoke the Holy Trinity in every Eucharist. Because each time we invoke the Father, Son and Spirit, we are indeed making ourselves be aware of God’s presence in our lives.

And today as we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Trinity, dear friends, a feast which reflects intimately the heart of God. It reflects intimately who God is in His person. And He wants you and I to enter into that divine presence of God so that we are able to live in this life of communion together with Him. And ultimately, to remember or to acknowledge that God is love.

And today’s Gospel invites us to take a relook into what God has done for us. And Jesus says to the redeemers: God loved the world so much that He gave His only Son so that everyone who believes in Him may not be lost but may have eternal life.

You and I are called to enter into that divine life that God wants to give us. But we know many of us grapple with this doctrine of the Trinity. And I am sure I too struggle to find logical explanation to see how we can express God in the Trinity. And today I would like to make two attempts. Two attempts perhaps to try to explain from this little mind of mine to see how I can get through you. I hope I can do that.

The first thing is, dear friends, one of the image that comes to mind is the image of a teacher. A teacher who perhaps has so much of knowledge, is able to understand so many abstract things, and he needs to reach out to a child who perhaps do not have that maturity of faith, do not have that knowledge but that teacher (perhaps you may be the teacher and I may be the student), so when the teacher comes, brings down himself towards the knowledge of the child, in gradually making him understand the mysteries and understanding concepts, perhaps things that are a bit abstract, then the teacher needs to come down so that he is able to communicate towards the child, so that he is able to bring that child to a greater realisation of the knowledge that he wants to convey. And doing so, that image of the teacher and the student is also a reflection of God as well, where we not only look at the knowledge of God but also the experience of God.

I would like to give you an example. Since many of you have done mathematics in your life. I would like to give you an equation: 5Q + 5Q = ?

Again, 5Q + 5Q = 10 Q (Thank you). You see the difference?

So when you approach the equation with the logical mind, when you approach that with a mathematical mind, the equation sums to ‘Thank You‘. And that is how sometimes you approach life, dear friends. But we need to be reminded that the knowledge of God, the mysteries of God, is not only in the head but also the knowledge in the heart. And that is how God wants to express Himself in sharing his deep identity with you and I.

So the first disposition that we need to have in approaching the mysteries of God is an attitude of thanksgiving, a disposition of gratitude. But as we look at that first analogy, it is deficient though but it gives you a glimpse of the mysteries of God.

The second thing, perhaps, I would like to ask you or the analogy I would like to give you is an image of a fan. We look at the little fans that you have around. How many blades do you have? All of you live in aircond so no fans. So usually we will have three blades. Three blades. And when it turns what you see is only one fan. Three blades, perhaps Father, Son and Spirit, but when it turns together you see only one fan.

And when God breathes Himself, dear friends, breathe Himself to us, allowing us to experience the comfort of His love, allowing to experience the warmth of His grace, we come to experience the mercy and the love of God in our lives. And doing so we must take that moment to reflect and acknowledge that encounters with God with a heart of gratitude.

So again as I mentioned, analogies are only trying to explain the mysteries of God. And every analogy that we use to explain the mind of God is deficient. But it gives you a certain glimpse to move from the head to the heart. And as we look at the Holy Trinity, dear friends, I would like to ask you: Each time you make the sign of the cross, as we enter into that divine life of God, we must remember that our life together as a Christian disciple is a life of a community, entering into that communion of faith that God wants of us.

And the first thing that we need to remember is that Father, Son and Spirit are distinct and we need to learn from them. And as we look at our own giftedness, at our own charisms, at our own uniqueness, we must remember that God has made us special, God has made us unique, God has indeed made us into being so that we are able to glorify God. And the first thing that we must do is to embrace our identity in God, the uniqueness we have, the charisms that we have, the giftedness that we have, all used for the greater glory of God. The first thing we remember is the uniqueness.

And the second thing that we need to remember, dear friends, is that when we live in community, when the Father, Son and Spirit work together as one communion, they bring about the divine life to you and I. And they want you and I to be included into that mystery of God. So you and I come into that presence of God, that communion of God, that we are able to participate and allow people to be included, to experience the mysteries of God as well. In matters of the heart, we need to come together.

And that is where communion comes into play. Embracing the different charisms, the giftedness of one another, we as a community grow in the awareness of God’s love. And when we enter into that mystery of the Trinity again, my dear friends, God brings about that love, that mercy, the joy that He wants to give you and I. Because your giftedness blesses the community, your giftedness blesses each and every one around you.

And the third thing we need to remember is that aspect of mission. If we understand the uniqueness of ourselves and we embrace the giftedness of one another, then we can move forward in this faith that God has blessed us so that we can build this community together.

And as I see these three uniqueness, first of all as St Augustine says: In all essential things we must remain united. We must have that unity of mind and faith. In all things essential, we must have unity. In all things that is non-essentials, and when we build a community, we will have differences with one another. We will have opinions of one another and in doing so, we must also respect one another because God has placed the wisdom in each another so that we are able to acknowledge who God is, the way that God sees them, the way God sees us, and when we come together as one community of faith. And in doing so, we must respect one another. And after that, dear friends, we come together as a community to share the mission that God has entrusted to the church.

And as I see this whole preparation of this whole Parish as we began our upper journey of our movement to Pentecost, and as we see the young people coming together, embracing the giftedness that they have, this camp of Persons Are Gifts, and also coming together of the various parents. Yesterday they had the Talent Night, to embrace their giftedness and to embrace who their children is, and the community coming together to prepare meals, in so many different areas, all these are reflection of God’s mercy in our community, dear friends, and we must be able to acknowledge and to be sensitive to that promptings.

And let us pray that in this mystery of the Trinity, where God reveals His heart to us, that we too may be reflections of that heart of God towards one another. Because in all essential things, we remain united. In all essential things, we need unity. In all non-essential things, we need diversity and respect. And in all things that we do, dear friends, we must have charity. And let us pray that this whole path of Synodality that we take as church, of journeying together, we may embrace a sense of participation of one another, a sense of communion of one another, the aspect of mission where the Lord invites us to.

So once again, as we approach this Feast of the Holy Trinity, let us remember the disposition that we need to have which is 5Q + 5Q = Thank You.

With a heart of gratitude, let us approach this celebration of the Holy Trinity so that we can be reflections of God’s love and mercy towards one another.

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