Trinitarian Love

06-15-2025Weekly ReflectionFr. Bing Colasito

Christians are baptized using the formula: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. And before receiving the sacrament, they respond to a three-part question when asked to confess the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit with the firm: I do. The faith of all Christians rests on the Trinity (CCC. 232). Today, we celebrate the most central mystery of our faith: God’s mystery, the Holy Trinity.

Pope Benedict XVI, in his Apostolic Letter Porta Fedei (Door of Faith), invites us into a deeper relationship with God, telling us that faith opens to us “a journey of a lifetime.” To profess in the Trinity – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – is to believe in one God who is love: the Father, who in the fullness of time sends His Son for our salvation; Jesus Christ, who in the mystery of His death and Resurrection redeemed the world; the Holy Spirit, who leads the Church across the centuries as we await the Lord’s glorious return. (Porta Fedei, 1)

In the Homily of St. Patrick, in illustrating simply to his parishioners the mystery of the Blessed Trinity, he took a three-leaved clover in his hand and pointed out how the clover is one yet in three equal leaves. All three leaves are distinct yet form one cloverleaf. This example by no means demonstrates but merely illustrates the mystery of the One God in Three Divine Persons.

In Abraham’s time, God revealed Himself as the one true God, creator of heaven and earth. The concept of the Trinity and the existence of the three divine persons came much later in the history of salvation with the coming of the Son, Jesus Christ. But even before the coming of the Son, the Word made flesh - the Wisdom of God spoke of being begotten by God from before the beginning, in creation. And in the fullness of time, God revealed Himself to us as One God in Three Divine Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – an infinite mystery revealed to us whose understanding is limited.

Jesus wants us to know Him better by knowing what Divine Love is. In the Gospel today, He says: I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. But when He comes, the Spirit of Truth, He will guide you to all truth. (Jn. 16:12-13) While the people of the Old Covenant believed that if they saw God, they would die. (Gen. 16:13) Meantime, Jesus says in the Gospel of John that the coming of the Holy Spirit will give his disciples and us now the truth about God. Because of this, the Solemnity of the Holy Trinity comes after Pentecost. It is only by the coming of the Holy Spirit that a believer would understand the mystery of the Trinity. How? Through the Spirit in us, the love of God pours out into our hearts.

Three persons in one God, with perfect understanding, love, and unity! They teach us to be united with them, and to be like them in thought, word, and deed. They are greater than us in KNOWLEDGE and LOVE. In truth, we have much to learn in LOVE. We have much to learn about living meaningful lives.

What is true love? Trinitarian loving involves respect, equality, sacrifice, constant reaching out, and endless giving. Trinitarian love gives us patience, courage, assurance, and hope.

Somebody said: Someday, everything that is happening in our lives will make perfect sense. For now, laugh at the confusion, smile through the tears, and keep reminding ourselves that everything happens for a reason.