THE TRINITY AS THE CHRISTIAN ANSWER TO THE MYSTERY OF LIFE

20160522 THE TRINITY AS THE CHRISTIAN ANSWER TO THE MYSTERY OF LIFE

Readings at Mass

Liturgical Colour: White.

First reading

Proverbs 8:22-31 ©

The Wisdom of God cries aloud:

The Lord created me when his purpose first unfolded,

  before the oldest of his works.

From everlasting I was firmly set,

  from the beginning, before earth came into being.

The deep was not, when I was born,

  there were no springs to gush with water.

Before the mountains were settled,

  before the hills, I came to birth;

before he made the earth, the countryside,

  or the first grains of the world’s dust.

When he fixed the heavens firm, I was there,

  when he drew a ring on the surface of the deep,

when he thickened the clouds above,

  when he fixed fast the springs of the deep,

when he assigned the sea its boundaries

 – and the waters will not invade the shore –

  when he laid down the foundations of the earth,

I was by his side, a master craftsman,

  delighting him day after day,

  ever at play in his presence,

at play everywhere in his world,

  delighting to be with the sons of men.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 8:4-9 ©

How great is your name, O Lord our God, through all the earth!

When I see the heavens, the work of your hands,

  the moon and the stars which you arranged,

what is man that you should keep him in mind,

  mortal man that you care for him?

How great is your name, O Lord our God, through all the earth!

Yet you have made him little less than a god;

  with glory and honour you crowned him,

gave him power over the works of your hand,

  put all things under his feet.

How great is your name, O Lord our God, through all the earth!

All of them, sheep and cattle,

  yes, even the savage beasts,

birds of the air, and fish

  that make their way through the waters.

How great is your name, O Lord our God, through all the earth!

Second reading

Romans 5:1-5 ©

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, by faith we are judged righteous and at peace with God, since it is by faith and through Jesus that we have entered this state of grace in which we can boast about looking forward to God’s glory. But that is not all we can boast about; we can boast about our sufferings. These sufferings bring patience, as we know, and patience brings perseverance, and perseverance brings hope, and this hope is not deceptive, because the love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit which has been given us.

Gospel Acclamation

cf.Rv1:8

Alleluia, alleluia!

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;

the God who is, who was, and who is to come.

Alleluia!

Gospel

John 16:12-15 ©

Jesus said:

‘I still have many things to say to you

but they would be too much for you now.

But when the Spirit of truth comes

he will lead you to the complete truth,

since he will not be speaking as from himself

but will say only what he has learnt;

and he will tell you of the things to come.

He will glorify me,

since all he tells you

will be taken from what is mine.

Everything the Father has is mine;

that is why I said:

All he tells you

will be taken from what is mine.’

THE TRINITY AS THE CHRISTIAN ANSWER TO THE MYSTERY OF LIFE

SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ Prov 8:22-31; Ps 8:4-9; Rom 5:1-5; John 16:12-15    ]

Life is a mystery!  Indeed, all of us at some point in time cannot but ask the most fundamental questions of life.  Indeed, this is expressed aptly in Gaudium et spes when it says, “Nevertheless, in the face of the modern development of the world, the number constantly swells of the people who raise the most basic questions or recognize them with a new sharpness: what is man? What is this sense of sorrow, of evil, of death, which continues to exist despite so much progress? What purpose have these victories purchased at so high a cost? What can man offer to society, what can he expect from it? What follows this earthly life?” (GS 10)

Where is the answer to be found?  The Christian answer to these questions is the doctrine of the Holy Trinity. It is for this reason that the most important mystery and central doctrine of our faith is that of the Holy Trinity.  This feast is celebrated as a climax to the season of Easter, ending with Pentecost last Sunday.  With God revealed as the Father who sent His Son to redeem the world in the power of the Holy Spirit, the Church with great joy celebrates the summary of our salvation and the gist of our faith as contained in the doctrine of the Holy Trinity.   This explains why the Creed is formulated according to the doctrine of the Holy Trinity.  The Creed, which sums up our faith, is but an elaboration of the Holy Trinity, who is Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. How does the Holy Trinity respond to all these questions of life, death, suffering and meaning?

In response to the question of existence and creation we say that God is our creator.  This is also the first article of the Creed.  “I believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and of earth.”   Indeed, right from the outset, the Church makes it clear that the Christian experience of creation is that God is our creator.  He is the maker of all things, visible and invisible.  This is affirmed in the Old Testament in the book of Wisdom when the author wrote, “When he fixed the heavens firm, I was there, when he drew a ring on the surface of the deep, when he thickened the clouds above, when he fixed fast the springs of the deep, when he assigned the sea its boundaries – and the waters will not invade the shore – when he laid down the foundations of the earth, I was by his side.”

Among all His works, of course, is the creation of man.  The bible tells us that man is the summit of creation because it happened on the last day.   Indeed how great is our God who creates us all.

Yet in spite of this great confession of faith, this answer is not yet satisfying to those who reduce God to a creator who made the earth and then left it to run according to natural laws which He set in place.  When we have such a God, He becomes distant to us and irrelevant in our lives.  It would tantamount to parents who give birth to their children and then abandon them almost immediately.  Indeed, many experience God as creator as such.  This only breeds resentment and anger.

But it is precisely in Jesus that we come to know God as more than just a creator.  Jesus reveals Him as almighty Father.  But our God is not only almighty and powerful. He is our Father who takes good care of us and whom we can relate with like our earthly father.  This is the Father that Jesus could even address in an intimate way as “Abba Father”.   God is our heavenly Father.  This is the preferred way in addressing God.

This is possible only because of Jesus’ revelation to us of the identity and nature of His Father.  In His teachings, miracles and deeds, He demonstrated to us that His Father is a loving, caring, compassionate and forgiving Father.    And we can be certain that this is true because Jesus is the Son of the Father.  This is what He told us in the gospel. “Everything the Father has is mine.”   This truth that Jesus is the Son of God is affirmed when we celebrate His passion, death and resurrection at Easter.  In the resurrection, the Father by raising Jesus from the dead endorsed and vindicated all that Jesus did, taught and claimed to be.

Consequently, because He is the Mediator of creation and the Son of the Heavenly Father, Jesus who is the image of the unseen God, the first born of all creation, He as our Lord and Master, the Way, the Truth and the Life is “the key, the focal point and the goal of man, as well as of all human history.” (GS 10)  Indeed, “The truth is that only in the mystery of the incarnate Word does the mystery of man take on light.” (GS 22)

Through Jesus, we find meaning and purpose in life.  Through Him, we learn to embrace sufferings for the love of God and for the good of humanity.  Through Him, we learn how to forgive our enemies and pray for them for forgiveness and healing.  Through Him, we learn how to reach out to the poor, the suffering and the marginalized.  Through Him, we know that God forgives us.  Indeed, as St Paul says, “Through our Lord Jesus Christ, by faith we are judged righteous and at peace with God, since it is by faith and through Jesus that we have entered this state of grace in which we can boast about looking forward to God’s glory.” So Christ is the One who gives us Hope and courage in life.  With Him we can persevere to the end in facing the trials of life.  This is what St Paul affirms when he wrote, “But that is not all we can boast about; we can boast about our sufferings. These sufferings bring patience, as we know, and patience brings perseverance, and perseverance brings hope.”

Most of all, in Jesus we have a foretaste of the love and mercy of God.  St Paul said, “This hope is not deceptive, because the love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit which has been given us.”  Indeed, through Christ who gives us the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, we receive the love of God Himself, the same love that He received from His Father.  It is also the Holy Spirit that bestows all the gifts that we need to live a meaningful life in service of Him and our fellowmen.  The Holy Spirit is the love of God in person.

Accordingly, there is no way to be in touch with Jesus today because He is risen, unless we come to Him through the Holy Spirit.  Jesus said, “I still have many things to say to you but they would be too much for you now. But when the Spirit of truth comes he will lead you to the complete truth, since he will not be speaking as from himself but will say only what he has learnt.”  The Holy Spirit is the One who leads us to Jesus and continues to deepen our understanding of all that He has revealed to us in the Word of God.   Only by entering into a personal relationship with the Lord, can we come to know the Face of the Father, since to see Him is to see the Father.  (cf Jn 14:9-10)

In conclusion, we must maintain without dilution that the fundamental Christian experience of God is Trinitarian.  Consequently, since God has revealed Himself as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, our relationship with God is Trinitarian as well.  The dogma of the Trinity is not an empty concept or doctrine but truly an existential experience of God who has revealed Himself through Christ in the Holy Spirit.  If we do not relate with God in a Trinitarian manner, we can hardly be said to be real Christians because a Christian is one who knows that God is His Father, Jesus is His brother and the Holy Spirit is the love of God poured into his heart.   Therefore in prayer and worship, the liturgy clearly praises God as the Father through Christ His Son in the Holy Spirit.  We too must do likewise.  When we forget this central doctrine and Christian experience, then we fall into pure monotheism which worships and prays to God as a monad, simply a God without distinction.  But the divine revelation tells us that God, although is One in Himself, is also distinct in His inner life as three persons, namely, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  We do not therefore pray to some empty space, some force, breath or word, but we pray and relate with God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Christian God is not an impersonal force but One with intellect and will and can relate to us in a personal way.

Not only in prayer are we Trinitarian in relationship, but also in inter-personal relationship with our brothers and sisters.  We are all different but called to be united in love with each other.  We can be distinct because we are individuals and blessed with different gifts of the Spirit.  But together, we are one body in Christ, one People of God.  We must therefore, like the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, live in mutual love for each other, from each other, by each other and with each other.   In this way we can truly say that the doctrine of the Holy Trinity is the central dogma of our faith because it is both the prefix and the appendix of our faith, its introduction and conclusion and summary of what we believe and how we live our lives.

Written by The Most Rev William Goh Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved