Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31
Psalm 8
Romans 5:1-5
John 16:12-15
A fundamental belief of Christianity is the Trinity, which, while we know is important to us, is not always easy to explain. The word Trinity means three are one, and comes from the Latin noun "trinitas." Essentially, the Trinity suggests that God is one Being made up of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, who have the same essence, and who share a special interrelationship.
While the word Trinity itself does not appear in the Bible, it didn't take long for the early Church leaders to develop this concept based on numerous scriptural passages and personal experience. That this spiritual tripartite exists seemed rather evident, but explaining why it exists or how it works is somewhat more difficult.
In the 12th century, Richard of Saint Victor offered a good explanation on the Trinity when he noted that, “For God to be good, God can be one. For God to be loving, God has to be two because love is always a relationship.” And then he continued with, “For God to be supreme joy and happiness, God has to be three.” It's the sharing of this love about something else that makes love complete.
Are we then worshiping three Gods or one? We humans sometimes have trouble thinking in unitive terms – we have trouble accepting things as being more than one thing at a time. We usually think in binary terms – things are either this or that, but not both.
One of my favorite analogies for the Trinity is the prism. There is a natural, whole light that is essentially invisible until it reflects from some surface into our eyes. But if this light passes through a prism (whether the prism is glass or water droplets in the sky), it separates into a broad range of rainbow colors. Three of these colors are known as the primary light colors – red, green, and blue.
So, which is it? Is this light beam a clear, single "color", or is it all these separate colors? We have to accept that it is both, depending on one's perspective. Many things in life, in fact, are like this – they can be more than one thing at a time. God is the single, clear Light. But as He passes through the Prism of Love, He can serve as the Creator, the Redeemer, and the Sustainer – each separate and distinct, and yet each having the same source, substance, and purpose.
We worship One God who can serve in (at least) three known ways. As has been pointed out by many writers, each of the three parts are not added to the other to make three Gods (1 + 1 + 1 = 3); but each part magnifies the presence of the other, thereby increasing the impact of them all, but remaining as One (1 x 1 x 1 = 1).
But the Trinity cannot stop there, or it would be self-serving. To be truly complete, it must reach out with its love and touch its creation, not just to nature in general, but to mankind specifically. "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." (John 3:16)
God indeed loves the world and especially the people of the world. There are numerous references, particularly in the Gospel of John, that demonstrate how God wants mankind to a part of this unity. For example (Jesus praying to God), "I ask ... that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me." (John 17:20-23)
The Eucharist is a joining of our souls to that of the Trinity. (John 6:56) It is a regular remembrance that we are part of God's family, very much loved by Him – a love that cannot be broken.
Reflection Questions & Activities
1. How do you think of the Trinity?
2. Look up some of the following verses from John that also support God's desire for unity with mankind:
1:4, 12-13
5:24
6:35, 40, 63
10:11, 28
14:3, 17, 20, 23, 26
15:4, 5, 9, 10, 15
17:26
3. How do you respond to this love?
4. Read through the scripture lessons for this Sunday again, and spend some time journaling your thoughts.
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