20170611
THE TRINITY AS THE ANSWER TO GLOBALIZATION AND
INDIVIDUALISM
Readings
at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: White.
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First reading
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Exodus 34:4-6,8-9 ©
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With the two tablets of stone in his hands, Moses went up the
mountain of Sinai in the early morning as the Lord had commanded him. And the
Lord descended in the form of a cloud, and Moses stood with him there.
He called on
the name of the Lord. The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, ‘The Lord, a
God of tenderness and compassion, slow to anger rich in kindness and
faithfulness.’ And Moses bowed down to the ground at once and worshipped. ‘If I
have indeed won your favour, Lord,’ he said ‘let my Lord come with us, I beg.
True, they are a headstrong people, but forgive us our faults and our sins, and
adopt us as your heritage.’
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Responsorial Psalm
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Daniel 3:52-55 ©
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You are blest, Lord God of our fathers.
To you glory and praise for evermore.
Blest your glorious holy name.
To you glory and praise for evermore.
You are blest in the temple of your glory.
To you glory and praise for evermore.
You are blest on the throne of your kingdom.
To you glory and praise for evermore.
You are blest who gaze into the depths.
To you glory and praise for evermore.
You are blest in the firmament of heaven.
To you glory and praise for evermore.
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Second reading
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2 Corinthians 13:11-13 ©
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Brothers, we wish you happiness; try to grow perfect; help one
another. Be united; live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with
you.
Greet one
another with the holy kiss. All the saints send you greetings.
The grace of
the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be
with you all.
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Gospel Acclamation
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cf.Rv1:8
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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!
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Gospel
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John 3:16-18 ©
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Jesus said to Nicodemus:
‘God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him may not be lost
but may have eternal life.
For God sent his Son into the world
not to condemn the world,
but so that through him the world might be saved.
No one who believes in him will be condemned;
but whoever refuses to believe is condemned already,
because he has refused to believe in the name of God’s only Son.’
THE TRINITY AS THE ANSWER TO GLOBALIZATION AND INDIVIDUALISM
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ EX 34:4-6, 8-9;
2 COR 13:11-13; JOHN 3:16-18 ]
We live in a
very divided society. Mass communication and social media are supposed to help
human beings to communicate better. The irony of it all is that it is one
of the causes of breakdown in relationships. Instead of communicating with each
other more personally, we have become impersonal with emails. Instead of
spending time with our loved ones at home or at meals, we are busy with our
mobile phones. Instead of using social media to transmit positive
information, we use it to destroy people’s lives, shame those who make mistakes
and worst of all, transmit fake news and distort information.
Indeed,
society has become more individualistic and self-centered. It is about the
happiness of the individual over the rest of the community. It is about
me and my freedom to do what I like at the expense of the greater good of
others. In the name of freedom and human rights, the freedom and rights
of the greater community is compromised. When an individual claims
complete autonomy from others, he becomes inward-looking. He is selfish,
arrogant and cares only for himself. He puts himself before others. He
cares for others only to the extent that they are of use to him in his
promotion at work, business or personal needs. People are used, not
loved. Relationship is for fundamentally utilitarian purposes, not about mutual
love.
What is the
cause? A godless society! Whether we admit it or not, we model ourselves
according to our values and conception of life. A society without good
role models to imitate but ourselves would be an impoverished community.
Conversely, if we believe in God, we will imitate whom we believe. Our
concept of God determines how we live our lives. The religion or faith we
subscribe to will impact the way we relate to each other, especially in married
and family life. Our values originate from our faith. How
we perceive God is how we will relate to each other. There cannot be
another dichotomy between faith and life. So those without God will
operate from what they think life should be lived, since they have no models to
live by except what they see in the lives of others, depending who they are
attracted or inspired by. If we choose the wrong models of success
and happiness in life, we might end up destroying ourselves. We can
either imitate St Teresa of Calcutta or Hitler. The implications
are colossal.
So what is
our concept of God? In the first reading, we read about the attributes of
God. He
revealed Himself to Moses as “a God of tenderness and compassion, slow to
anger, rich in kindness and faithfulness.” This concept of God is quite
similar to that of Islam and Judaism. Not surprisingly, we share the same
Old Testament roots. In Islam, God is known as the Compassionate
One. Interestingly, although Buddhism does not speak about God, yet the
distinguishing mark of Buddha is that of an Enlightened One and of
compassion. This explains why Jews, Muslims and Buddhists emphasize the
need for compassion for our fellowmen. Charity and almsgiving are important
practical expressions of our faith. So followers of such religions at
least tend to emphasize much on compassion, fraternal love for their brothers
and sisters, forgiveness and helping each other. Thus, our beliefs in God
determine very much how we relate to our fellowmen. If God is merciful to
us and forgiving, then necessarily, we who receive His mercy and forgiveness
would extend the same blessings to others as well.
However,
Christian Faith goes beyond proclaiming that God is compassion. The gospel reading
speaks of the being of God as love. “God loved the world so much.”
When we speak of God as love, then we are claiming that God is
relationship. If the being of God is love, He could not possibly love
Himself, as this would be narcissism. And how could He be love from all
eternity when the world, the universe and human beings were still not around
for Him to love? So He would be loving Himself! Flowing from this truth
that God is love, we must posit that although the substance of God is One,
since God must be a unity, yet within God there must be relations.
Consequently, Christian doctrine defines God as One in being but three in
persons.
God is
subsistent relations. This is to say that the three persons in the Trinity do not
have relations like you and I. We have relations outside of us. We are
related to our parents, our spouse, our children, but we are not constituted of
these relations because we are also unique individuals. We can stand
alone but we are also social beings. In God, however, He is pure
relations; that is, the Father cannot exist without the Son and the Son without
the Father and both without the Holy Spirit. This explains why the
doctrine of the Holy Trinity is an advancement of monotheism.
Christianity, although monotheistic, does not conceive of God as a monad, as in
Judaism and Islam. In the One God, the three persons share in the same
divine substance. This is what unites the three persons. But within
the one divine substance, there are three persons in relations.
This doctrine
of the One God in three persons is not a philosophical deduction but is rooted
in the experience of God in the life of a Christian. Clearly, in the gospel, we
read that God is not merely love but He is also a Father, that is, the origin
of life and love. Jesus revealed to Nicodemus that “God loved the world
so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not
be lost but may have eternal life.” God is more than love. He is
our Father. Christ is the only begotten Son of the Father, the expression
of the Father on earth. He is the incarnation of God, the Word made
flesh. Together, the Father and the Son saved the world by bestowing
their mutual love and mercy on the world. This is summed up by St Paul
when he described the love of God. “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”
In this Trinitarian greeting, we have the summary of the Christian experience
of God’s love and mercy through our Lord Jesus Christ made present in the Holy
Spirit, especially in the fellowship of the Christian community.
What is the
implication of this doctrine of the Holy Trinity for us all? It means
that our happiness and joy in life depends on the depth of our relationship
with each other. Just as the happiness and fulfilment of God is found within the
mutual relationship of the Father and the Son sharing in the same Spirit of
love, our completion and fulfilment must come in our relationships with our
fellowmen. Although we are individuals, yet we are called to be one with
others. We are unique so that we can complement each other in love, in
resources and blessings. No man is an island. He needs to relate
with others to find himself. Man is therefore an individual and social
being. He needs to be himself but never without the others. To love
himself is to love his neighbours.
The three
persons of the Holy Trinity live from each other, by each other, from each
other and in each other. The unity of the three persons is complete and yet they are
distinct from one another. We too are called to love in such a
manner. We are called to be united in our diversity. We need each
other and we are called to live for each other, with each other and from each
other as well. In all that we do and act, we do it out of love. It
is love that unites us in our distinctions as individuals. When we define
God and human beings as love, it means that we need each other. God
must be a Trinity of persons. We are social beings.
This is also
our answer to a world that wavers between globalization and individualism. The recent political
developments in the world exemplify this tension. Some countries are going back
to protectionism in the face of globalization. They view others as a threat to
their economy and their homogenous society. So instead of reaching out,
they are excluding others by promoting themselves at the expense of other
countries. At the other end of the spectrum are those who promote
globalization, free trade and welcoming migrants. They believe in free competition
and mutual promotion of each other’s interests. The first is a win-lose
approach. The latter is a win-win approach. What we need to promote
today is the uniqueness of the individual which cannot be denied. But we
must also underscore that no individual and no country can exist for herself
but also for and with others. This is the kind of communion that the
doctrine of the Holy Trinity is offering to the world. Instead of
alienating others, we are called to build bridges of love. In this way,
through mutual love, we can truly transform this humanity into the family of
God united as one in love.
Now we can
appreciate why the Lord tells us that the greatest commandments are these “The first is, ‘Hear, O
Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your
God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and
with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor
as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mk 12:29-31)
The concept of God as Trinity therefore reveals to us the key to true
happiness, which is the love of God manifested in our love for others, a love
that is in imitation of the Blessed Trinity, a love that is mutually giving,
caring, and empowering.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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