Most Holy Trinity 2011 A
This weekend we celebrate the most Holy Trinity. We recall how God is one in every way and yet God is three persons. The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God and God is one. Math and logic fail and cannot explain this great mystery.
St. Thomas explains the Trinity in this way:
There is one God.
There are two processions: The generation of the Son and the breathing of the Spirit.
There are three persons: Father, Son and Spirit.
There are four relations: The Father has Paternity, the Son has filiation, the Father and the Son actively breathe the Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is passively breathed.
There are five notions: the Father has no origins, is generative and breathes, the Son generates and breathes, and the Spirit is breathed.
Aquinas says, “So there are five notions, four relations, three persons, two processions, one nature, and no proof.”
The Trinity cannot be approached through speculation or thought; the Trinity is approached only through a bond of love. Just as the persons of the Trinity are completely united in love with one another, so too are we supposed to make their love a reality in our own relationships. Rather than knowledge, St. Paul continually reminds his readers that the effects of the Trinity are knowable despite the Trinity being unknowable. This is what allows St. Paul to write, “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you.” This relational God is radically open to all creation.
The Trinity is the pattern of our families, our workplaces, and our community. We gather at this Eucharist to praise all three persons. We pray to the Father, through the Son, in the Holy Spirit. We ask to be joined to them while on earth, and pray to be joined with them with the saints in heaven.
This weekend we celebrate the most Holy Trinity. We recall how God is one in every way and yet God is three persons. The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God and God is one. Math and logic fail and cannot explain this great mystery.
St. Thomas explains the Trinity in this way:
There is one God.
There are two processions: The generation of the Son and the breathing of the Spirit.
There are three persons: Father, Son and Spirit.
There are four relations: The Father has Paternity, the Son has filiation, the Father and the Son actively breathe the Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is passively breathed.
There are five notions: the Father has no origins, is generative and breathes, the Son generates and breathes, and the Spirit is breathed.
Aquinas says, “So there are five notions, four relations, three persons, two processions, one nature, and no proof.”
The Trinity cannot be approached through speculation or thought; the Trinity is approached only through a bond of love. Just as the persons of the Trinity are completely united in love with one another, so too are we supposed to make their love a reality in our own relationships. Rather than knowledge, St. Paul continually reminds his readers that the effects of the Trinity are knowable despite the Trinity being unknowable. This is what allows St. Paul to write, “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you.” This relational God is radically open to all creation.
The Trinity is the pattern of our families, our workplaces, and our community. We gather at this Eucharist to praise all three persons. We pray to the Father, through the Son, in the Holy Spirit. We ask to be joined to them while on earth, and pray to be joined with them with the saints in heaven.