Trinity – That’s Easy

As I begin this reflection on the Trinity, I know I cannot explain the mystery. So many have tried throughout the centuries and used diagrams, images, and analogies. They were more or less successful. And way over my head.

As early as Tertullian, born in the 2nd century, between 150 and 160 AD, tried to help people understand  God in three persons. Saint Augustin, Saint Thomas Aquinas, Catherine LaCugna, and Saint Patrick attempted to help people understand the Trinity. In the twentieth-century Process Theologians tried words like primordial, imminent, and evolving. 

I certainly do not stand in the wisdom of these great saints and theologians. And to be perfectly honest, the meaning of the Trinity has never really mattered to me. In what might be considered my unsophisticated mind on this issue, I have readily accepted the Trinity as God just being God. It is God loving in all the ways God can love. His boundless love cannot be contained or explained within the limits of our human understanding. God is God. That is enough for me. Knowing God loves me in all the ways I need to be loved is enough for me. It always has been.

But, believing that wisdom sometimes comes from unexpected places, I called my nephew, Aaron, to ask him what he thought. My nephew is not a theologian, a seminarian, or a priest. He is a 28-year-old autistic man with all the limitations and gifts that autism brings. Aaron was educated in Catholic schools and is a faithful Catholic. Just for clarity’s sake, I am Aaron’s favorite and he is mine.

The conversation went something like this. 

Aaron, how are you?

I’m great, Aunt Gwen. How are you? 

Well, to be honest, I am a little puzzled, and I hope you can help me understand something.

Sure, Aunt Gwen. What’s cooking? (cooking is his way of saying what are you thinking.)

Aaron, I am writing an article about God for my parish. I want to explain the Trinity. You know God, three persons, one God, and I am having trouble.

Why is that hard? Aunt Gwen, I think that is easy.

Ok, so tell me how you understand the Trinity.

There was a significant pause, and then he said. You are my Aunt Gwen, and you are always my Aunt Gwen. Even when you are in Florida and I am in New York, you are my Aunt Gwen. Not sure where he was going with this, I waited.

Aunt Gwen, you are also Mom’s sister. That isn’t the same as being my Aunt. And you are always my Mom’s sister. You aren’t her Aunt like mine, but that doesn’t mean you aren’t her sister.

And, you are also a person on TV. (He watches our online mass.) The people who see you on TV see you all over the world. They only know you as a lady on TV. They don’t know you are my Aunt or my Mom’s sister, but you are all 3. You are all three, and you are only one person.

Aunt Gwen, It’s easy.

While there are some pretty big holes in Aaron’s “theology”, I guess it is no different from Saint Patrick using a clover.

Whatever we say and however we explain it, our words are inadequate. They are human words trying to understand an eternal mystery from a limited perspective.  

For me, though, I think I will stick with Aaron. It is easy. God is God. . God is Father, Son, and God is Spirit. God is One.

God is One, and God loves us in every way possible. That is all that matters to me. I will let philosophers, Saints, and Theologians sort out the intricacies. In the meantime, I will just bask in His love.

In God’s Unending Love,

Gwen