Feast of the Holy Trinity Year A

Exodus 34:4-6,8-9
2 Corinthians 13:11-13
John 3:16-18

How does the Holy Trinity build and grow our faith?

This week we celebrate Trinity Sunday. The doctrine of the Holy Trinity teaches us that there is One God who manifest Himself as Three Persons – God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Why do we call this a mystery? It is because we can never fully understand how One God can exist as Three Persons. Rather than trying to understand it, the more pertinent question is: How does is the Holy Trinity relevant to my faith life? How can the Holy Trinity help me grow in faith?

Firstly, we need to learn to appreciate the notion of communion. A communion is a deep intimacy and a sharing of being. The Holy Trinity is a communion of Three Persons. Communion is the way God models Himself. It is how we should model our life – our life with God and with each other. Indeed, this is the secret to a life of fulfilment. In our vertical relationship with God, being in communion means our will is aligned with God. We live a higher purpose of existence than ourselves. It means that we do not just live just for ourselves, but we live the way He lives, love the way He loves, serve the way He serves and forgive the way He forgives. But communion also applies to our lateral relationships with each other. Think of our families, friends, colleagues and even strangers. As sons and daughters of God, we are called to be in communion with each other. So we ask: Do we love and serve each other in a way that befits a communion? But this is easier said than done. Maintaining communion with our friends and loved ones is challenging at the best of times. Even more challenging is our relationships with strangers. For example, when a stranger is inflicted with an illness or misfortunate, do I feel the pain and extend my compassion? How do I feel when I see a sick person in a hospital? How do I feel when I see a homeless person? Indeed, communion is a high call to us – to not just exist but live a full life.

But the truth is, most of us find it difficult to stay in communion with God and with each other. But we must not be discouraged. For what God teaches us on communion and shows us through the Holy Trinity is an ideal model. So, even though we may fail from time to time to live up to the ideal, we must keep trying and keep striving.

Why do we fail to live up to the ideal? It is on account of our sins, which leads us to the second significance of the Holy Trinity in our faith life. We ask: In a sinful world and with our sinful tendency, how can the Persons of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit each helps us to grow and walk in faith? In the First Reading this week, recognising the weakness of the people in clinging to their sinful ways, Moses remarked, “Although this is a stiff-necked people, pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.” (verse 9) Thankfully, God the Father came to us as the epitome of love. From this love flows the forgiveness of God, and His desire to redeem us from our erroneous ways. In the First Reading, God the Father proclaimed Himself to be “a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness”. (verse 6) That our God wishes to redeem us from our sins is the undeserved grace that God extends to us.

While we may understand the grace of God at an intellectual level, this grace often remained elusive from our hearts. To move from the head to the heart, we need to invoke the Person of the Son. In the Gospel this week, Jesus the Son uttered these famous words which perfectly summarise the central message of the Bible and His mission: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. ‘Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.'” (verse 16-17) Jesus is the grace of God in a Person. God loves us so much that in order to lead us back from our erroneous ways, rather than have us suffered from our sins, He allows Himself to be inflicted with sufferings. Jesus suffered so that, having witness the extent of His love expressed through the cross, we the “stiff-necked people” may soften our hearts and come back to Him.

Last week, we celebrated the coming of the Person of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost Day. We reflect how the seven-fold gifts of the Holy Spirit are the keys to the breaking down of barriers between people, so that we can be in communion with each other again. We reflected on how the barriers to communion are not just that we speak different languages (Acts 2:4), but also barriers such as culture, life circumstances, education level, etc. And it is through the Holy Spirit’s gifts of understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord that we may overcome these barriers. Who is the Holy Spirit? In Christian theology, the Spirit is the unconditional and self-giving love between the Father and the Son. It is the “glue” that the Father and the Son, with the Holy Spirit, form a communion of Three Person in One God. In the same way, just as the Holy Spirit binds the Holy Trinity, He binds us to God and us to each other. He is the glue to our communion with God and with each other.

So, to realise the efficacious effects of the Holy Trinity in our faith life, let us reflect: Am I touched by the love and grace that God the Father is extending to me? Have I encountered this love and grace intimately? If not, let us look to Jesus on the cross, and reflect especially at these words of His: “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” (Lk 23:34) And once we experience God’s love and grace intimately, we must then invoke the gifts of the Holy Spirit. To conclude, let us take to heart the Trinitarian blessing that St Paul bestowed upon the people in the Second Reading: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.” (verse 13) Amen.