Trinity Sunday, Year A
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“Yes, God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that
whoever believes in him may not die but may have eternal life.”
In this Sunday’s gospel, the gospel for Trinity Sunday, Year A, we read
a passage that tells about Jesus - teaching one of the Pharisees, whose
name was Nicodemus, about the love of the Father for mankind. If we
read the beginning of chapter 3 from which this passage was taken, we
will find that Nicodemus went to Jesus by night (which bible scholars
interpret as a discrete move by Nicodemus so that he would not be seen
in a bad light by his fellow Pharisees) to learn more of Jesus and
His teaching. And one of the teachings that Jesus emphasized to this
searching Pharisee is how God wanted the world to be saved through His
Son. Whoever believes in the Son will be saved and merit eternal life,
while those who do not believe in the Son will be condemned by their
lack of belief.
From this passage in the gospel of John, we see the relationship between
the Father and Jesus - Jesus as the Son who was sent by His Father to
save the world from sin. Last Sunday, Pentecost Sunday, we read about
the resurrection appearance of Jesus to His apostles and wherein He
“breathed on them and said: Receive the Holy Spirit”. We can thus learn
from these passages how God redeems us through His Fatherhood, His
Sonship, and His Most Holy Spirit. Just as the apostles received the
Holy Spirit, we who are members of the Church Jesus founded, receive the
same Spirit through them. And when we are called to reflect who God is
for us, one of our responses is: “God is Father, Son and Spirit”. Thru
this triune relationship, we are saved from our sins and will be rewarded
with eternal life, if we continue to believe in God-in-Jesus, who sends
His Spirit among us, so that we can also participate and continue the
mission of redemption which Christ commissions us to do through our
baptismal consecration.
We believe in one God in three persons whenever we make the sign of the
cross on our forehead, shoulders, and chest. We also profess this faith
whenever we recite the Apostles Creed in the Sunday Eucharist. God in
three persons is a mystery that we are called to believe and live out
in our daily lives. It is a relationship of love and community that
seeks to dwell in our heart and soul so that we too may share this spirit
with others. We are lucky to profess this faith simply in our Christian
lives whereas in the early centuries, many saints have struggled so that
this truth of one God in three persons and three persons in one God may
be proclaimed in our Catholic Church. As we now celebrate the mystery
of the Trinity this Sunday, let us pray to recognize the triune mystery
that pervades through the whole Eucharistic liturgy beginning with the
sign of the Cross at the start of the Mass and ending also with the sign
of the Cross when the priest dismisses the congregation for a mission of
peace.
