The Trinity! It has described as the preacher’s nightmare, the ultimate Rubik’s cube of theology. A great theologian of the last century wondered whether, if we no longer mentioned the Trinity, would most Christians even notice. After all, it is about Jesus, we are “Christians”. Yet, the Trinity is something we, often unthinkingly, celebrate when we make the Sign of the Cross… “in the name of the Father. The Son, and Holy Spirit!
As I reflected on Trinity Sunday this year, I realized I have been on quite a journey. I invite you to join me on this Vincentian Mindwalk. Some of you may relate to different phases of the journey.
What I grew up thinking
I grew up with two thoughts. It was a mystery that no one could explain except maybe by using the image of a three-leaf clover. I realize now that the focus was on a kind of theological math. How could there be three persons in one nature? I never thought about the “why” and “what” I could learn about myself from this mystery.
Oh, and the Father, despite being described as loving, was a ruler who needed to be placated… Jesus came to tell us that he stood in for us..The Spirit was talked about mainly on Pentecost or when we received the sacrament of Confirmation. Over simplifications, yes! Yet, for all too many, looking back I wonder how much.
Highlights of my journey
It came as a surprise to me to realize how much of a journey I have been on with regard to the Trinity..
- It has been a journey from Trinity as a puzzle to Trinity as a model for our lives.
- It has been a journey from an intellectual understanding to a mystery to be lived.
- It has been a journey from an emphasis on three distinct persons to an insight into ourselves as a community made in the image and likeness of the ultimate community we name as God.
- It has been a journey of slowly recognizing that the Good News is that we are made in the image and likeness of a community of persons. That is why it is not good for us to be alone but live in community as the one Body we are. That is why we too are many persons united as one body.
- It has been a journey from trying to live in imitation of Christ to the imitation of God and realizing that Jesus was all about teaching us to live the mystery of community.
- It has been a journey from imagining God as a noun to realizing God is a verb. “Be like the God in whose image and likeness we are made. Be perfect as you’re heavenly Father is perfect. (The underlying verb means “to grow to maturity!”)
My maturing image of the church
All this has a profound impact on my understanding of the mission of the church as fhe People of God.
I now look at the church as fulfilling its mission when others can say with wonderment “See how these Christians love one another” and find unity in their distinctness.
I now look at the eucharist, not as something focused on what the priest does but as the reminder that our God is a servant God. A God who came not to be served but to teach us how to serve even the least of us, even to the last drop of our blood.
We should not just attend eucharist but live lives that imitate Christ who pointedly asked at the Last Supper. Do you understand what I, your lord and master, have done? Do this in memory of me, wash one another’s feet.
Then we will understand the last judgement…whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers and sisters you do to me.
Then we will live out of the realization that we are made in the image and likeness of the divine community of the Trinity!
A Trinitarian examination of conscience…
- How conscious am I of being made in the image and likeness of a community we call God?
- How did saints like Vincent and Louise translate this in their lives?
- What is my greatest challenge in living out of that awareness?
John, This was really stimulating, especially as you traced the growth of your thinking over the years. I certainly can identify… Thanks
This mirrors much of my experience of the Trinity. From a thing to be understood to a relationship to be lived. And God — from noun to verb. Yes!
Thanks for leading us down this path.
For me up to now, it has largely been a journey of thinking I know when, in fact, I don’t. A journey of not going forward and, therefore, of falling back (SV.EN II:146 https://via.library.depaul.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1027&context=vincentian_ebooks), of being stuck in a rut or stagnating in familiar teachings and routine reflections and meditations.
I have, of course, known all along since catechism days that God is ultimately incomprehensible. But now, it is not so much a matter of theory but of experience, as I struggle to express what I have in my head and in my heart, and find out how little my knowledge is and how poor my language to grasp and express the reality that is so much richer than I think. It is a journey of the mystery deepening and the plot thickening, as it becomes obvious that God is so much more beyond my understanding, description and expectation. Of being surprised when the thing I’ve written seemed to suck but only to make connections with other, and when what seemed to be good turned out not to be so welcomed by others.
So, it is a journey too of having to learn and re-learn, from, among others, you, John, and Tom, as my citing you both often shows. Also, a journey in knowing that there are more important things than thinking and writing about God, like attending to a crying infant I’m babysitting or a grandson having tantrum or a granddaughter who wants me to go outside with her to play.
I don’t know how the journey will end. I hope like that of those, who were told, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father,” and somewhat like Thomas Aquinas’—though I do not have even the slightest claim to any fame whatsoever—who supposedly just became speechless, refused to write anymore, and considered all his works to be mere straw (https://international.la-croix.com/news/st-thomas-aquinas-official-patron-saint-of-burnout/6581#).
From “Community Living and Community Plan”: ‘Though St. Vincent often reflected on community’s roots in God, even more often he wrote and spoke about the human means for building and nourishing it. The Rules he gave to his own communities, the letters he wrote, and the conferences he gave, got down to very concrete norms for living together…”
To me, St Vincent’s understanding of the Trinity in real life is : WE NEED EACH OTHER IN LOVE!
Thank you for your reflection!
I often had hard times grasping the true sense of the truine God. It seems very speculative, abstract and burdened by centuries of dogmatic quarrels. As mentioned from you, the question remains: How does the trinity apply for my life today, especially in these times of trouble?
Perhaps the most important thing to consider is: the one God is not a rigid monolithic block, but a living relationship itself. The Father begets the Son, the Son receives the Father, the Spirit proceeds from both and is the unifying bond.
The triune God also becomes the image of a successful human relationship. We humans are not the same in the sense of identity: a man is different from a woman, spouses are different from each other, and my best friend is different from me. Sometimes we are afraid of difference, because it is also the reason for many conflicts. But relationship is possible only in diversity.
We remain fundamentally different – and yet have the same dignity, just as the three persons in God are fundamentally different and yet equally divine and one. We human beings are created in the image and likeness of the triune God and in view of this God we may discover possibilities of our own humanity.
Father John, thank you.
I have to confess that the mystery of the Trinity had not been a defining element in my life or a pressing concern, especially after I got married and had children. Getting from A to E without injuring or killing B, C and D along the way became my regular modus operandi.
After I reached senior status, the mystery part of the Trinity has not been grabbing me, but your insight about relationships is. So often, the obstacles in my life can be traced to a person or two who “didn’t play well with others.” I too was one of those who thought I had found the best solution to each problem, even though those “best” solutions were so often flawed and inconsiderate of others.
I now find myself in a relationship I didn’t ask for but is mine all the same. I have prayed that garden prayer, “Father, if this cup can …” but I know what the answer is just as Jesus did. The best depiction of the crucifixion I have seen was one of the Father on the cross holding the arms of Jesus, with the Spirit close at hand offering comfort. That image of relationship has carried me through this past Lent and Easter Seasons. I pray for the strength and energy to bear what lies ahead, with the aid and comfort of those who love me best.