God as Trinity Broadcasts God’s Abundant Love

One day Genny an energetic ten-year-old, told her Dad, “It’s not hard to believe that God can be three persons.” She continued, “Look at you Daddy.  You are a husband to mom, a daddy to me, and a son to pop-pop.” Smiling, she said, “So God can easily be Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and still be one God.” Feeling good about what she said, she added, “I think I get it now!” Well, Genny solved that long-standing mystery quickly.  However, for many Christians, the concept of Trinity continues to remain mystifying.

Although the Trinity is baffling, we Catholics have enjoyed a familiarity with it, by making the Trinity a major part of our daily prayer life.  For example, when we enter a Catholic church anywhere in the world we automatically reach for the holy water and bless ourselves saying, “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”  We do it effortlessly and spontaneously.

Then, when we kneel in our pew to pray, we again begin by making the sign of the cross.  There is no hesitation or fear in naming all three persons, bowing before them, and adoring them before praying.  Catholics easily speak to the mysterious Trinity, as the triune God, with these gestures and actions.  Adoring and bowing before the Lord God, we are doing on earth what the angels do every day  in heaven. 

Why are we so comfortable with the Trinity?  It’s because it begins with God.  God chose the Israelites to be his people. The Israelites did not choose God.  God  decided to show them his affection because he wanted to draw them closer to himself.  God thought that once they delighted in his affections they would willingly gather other nations to worship him.

Then, God sent someone to be God’s perfect reflection, someone to speak his truths.  This is Jesus, the son of God made flesh, whose mission of preaching salvation and act of dying and rising regain creation’s freedom drawing everyone to the Father.

At our baptism, Jesus shares his glory with us and asks his adopted children by the Holy Spirit, to “go and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

The feast of the Holy Trinity for ten-year-old Genny  and for all Jesus’ followers, shows every believer that the spirit bears witness that we are children of God and if children, then heirs.  As heirs, the obligation from the Triune God is to gather and draw all people to his son, Jesus.

The Trinity does not want to be feared; but rather loved, and therefore included in our lives.  Love binds the three persons as one.  God’s love brought about the mission of Christ, and this love is the source of every spiritual gift including the gift of the Spirit, whose flames of love unite the entire believing community.

 The perfect prayer to the Triune God  is:

God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit:  Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!

God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit: Help Me! Help Me! Help Me!

And with this prayer  you’ve said it all!