The Mystery of the Trinity

As I begin this reflection, l admit that it intimidates me. Scholars and Saints throughout the history of the Church have tried to explain the Trinity. Many people much smarter and wiser than I am have been attempting to make the Trinity understandable for “normal” people like you and me. Jesus tried to help his disciples understand, and still, we say, “It’s a mystery.” I am not sure what more I have to add to the conversation.

So, I will simply take you on a journey that helps me to embrace the Trinity. 

Our language is so inadequate when we try to express the depth and breadth of God. When we think of God as Father, we generally think of God as the creator. Perhaps, like me, you get the childhood vision of the old man with arms outstretched creating the universe. This makes God seem so far away and long ago. 

But when we look at creation and the beauty that surrounds us, we know the Artist in God’s tenderness. Artistry is an intimate and personal thing. Art in nature or creation is love expressed. When I think of God as Father, my image is an individual, all-encompassing, and all-embracing energy of creative passion. Ours is a creator that did not create once and then step back, but one who continues to create in every moment. One who invites us to create with Him.

When I think of Jesus, I think of the Father. Jesus is one within the Father, reflecting God’s own image. God in Jesus reveals the best of us as well. God comes through Jesus to show us how life is done. Jesus, one with the Father, came to be for us the mirror image of God the Father. God came through Jesus to show us what he intended for creation. Jesus is God showing us how life and love are made. Jesus is God becoming one with us, so we know how to become one with God.

The Spirit is somehow the easiest and the hardest for me. God’s love overflows and rains down on us. But it is a most strange rain. Only those with open hearts can see it and feel its overwhelming power. We choose to see the Spirit, to find direction in her wisdom and counsel in her gifts. The Spirit is God saying, “I am with you always, even to the end of time.” But we have to have ears open to hear those words of love and promise. We have to have hearts open to being changed by them.

God is One: Creating, Redeeming, and Empowering. 

God is one. An Artist inspired by love. A Brush in His hand, and all of His creation a kaleidoscope of astounding and ever-changing beauty. 

God is one. He is the Lover and the Beloved overflowing creation with love.

Now, does that make any more sense than Saint Patrick’s clover? Probably not. God is bigger than all our words, and more loving than our imagination can conceive.

Perhaps there is no way to talk about Trinity with human words and ideas. It is so much bigger and all-encompassing than our human language and minds can fathom. 

I think I will just believe God created this beautiful world we live in, redeemed it with love beyond measure, and guides me with wisdom on my way home. Home, when I, too, will become a part of the Trinity.

In God’s Unending Love,

Gwen, Pastoral Associate