Reflection/Homily: Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity Year B (May 27 2012)

Theme: “The Most Holy Trinity: A Paradigm of Love and Co-operation

In the fourth century AD, there was a controversy in the Church regarding the real nature of Christ. This controversy was generated by a man named Arius, what is now known as Arianism, denying the full divinity of Christ. He argued against Christ being equal with the Father (homoousios) in all respect. The Church convoked the Council of Nicea in 325 where they condemned the Arian heresy and proclaimed Christ equal with the Father by proclaiming the dogma of the Blessed Trinity. To stress the doctrine of the Trinity, the Council Fathers composed prayers and hymns that were recited on Sundays as part of the Divine Office. These prayers and hymn began to be celebrated on the Sunday after Pentecost. The Church in England at the request of St. Thomas a Becket was granted permission to celebrate it as Trinity Sunday. In 1334 AD, Pope John XXII made the solemnity of the Holy Trinity a universal celebration as we have it today.

The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity celebrates the mystery of the three persons in one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It is one of the greatest mysteries in the Church. Many philosophers and theologians like St. Augustine have made strenuous effort in an attempt to fathom this mystery but failed. That is why the Church is no more interested in proving the mystery but in explaining the relationship that exists between them. The Trinity is celebrated in all we do as Christians especially in the Church where She is Trinitarian in origin, form and destiny. That means the Church originated from the Trinity, is formed in the image of the Trinity and is destined to return to the Trinity.

The word Trinity is not found in the Bible but it is emphasised throughout the Bible. In Genesis 1:26 God said “let us create man in our image after our likeness…’ suggesting the involvement of other persons in the act of creation. God was not speaking to the angels because they are not of the same nature with God and cannot create. God was referring to other(s) who have the same essence, being and power of creation as Him, hence the Trinity.  More so, the Hebrew verb bara translated in Gen 1:1 as “created” in “In the beginning God created heaven and …” when analyzed with the system of notarikon also suggests the involvement of the Trinity in the act of creation. The system considers bara to be an acronym for the Hebrew names of the Son (Ben), Father (Av) and Spirit (Ruah) while the last (a) was added to aid pronunciation. In Genesis 3:22 we also see the plurality of the Three persons in one God in “the man has become like one of us…, in Gen 11:7 “Let us go and confuse their language” and in Isaiah 6:8 “who shall I send, who will go for us” These words suggest the involvement of more than one persons.

More still, the Old Testament talks about the relationship between the Father and the Israelites as we see in the 1^st reading (Deut 4:32-34.39-40). The Gospels talks about the relationship between the Son and the New Israel as we see in the Gospel reading (Mt. 28:16-20) and the Acts and the Pauline Corpus talks about the relationship between the Holy Spirit and the Church as we see in the 2^nd reading (Rom. 8:14-17). Today, we are all baptized in the name of the Blessed Trinity and we use the Trinitarian formula in our prayers and liturgy.

Beloved friends, today’s solemnity is not insignificant for us, we are called not just to learn the theology of the Trinity but to imitate the unity that exists among them. The Trinity is sustained by love and we must learn to sustain our relationship with the Church and State with love. Our actions should be motivated by love and not hatred or jealousy or selfishness. The Trinity though three persons, yet remains one God. Despite our individual differences and backgrounds, we should be united in all we do so as to achieve success. Unity in diversity should be our mark as Christians and we have to tolerate, accommodate and support each other. We should also play our individual roles in the society and in the Church because each person of the Trinity plays a unique role. Working in harmony makes the world a better place. As the psalmist says today, “blessed be the people the Lord has chosen to be His own”, let us go home with confidence in God the Father who created us out of nothing to enjoy His wonderful love, in the Son the Word through whom all things were created, who later became flesh and redeemed us and in the Holy Spirit the sanctifier who enables us to cry “Abba Father” with the hope that the God who created us in His image will never disappoint us. God loves you.

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