The feast of the Most Holy Trinity is said to be a nightmare for most preachers, and rightly so, for how does one communicate one of the most complex mysteries of the Catholic faith, within the space of a few minutes? One cannot, and therefore, I will not try.
What I will do, however, is to point out that at the heart of understanding the Trinity is a relationship, that of love, a love that is so strong, that each person of the Trinity is present in each other. As Saint Augustine put it: “Each are in each, and all in each, and each in all, and all are one.”
There is much that this love can teach us, who are Catholic, and in fact, this is the love that should inspire our daily living, for this is what Our Lord taught us. The first location that this love can inspire, must most surely be the nuptial love between husband and wife.
In the Gospels (Mt 19; Mk 10) responding to the question from the Pharisees on the question of divorce, Our Lord teaches:
“Have you not read that the one who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” (Mt 19: 4-6)
First, let us bear in mind that when Our Lord says “the one who made them at the beginning”, He is referring to Himself. This is the teaching also of the first reading today, from the Book of Proverbs. It is generally understood, that the reference to Wisdom in the Bible is to Christ Himself. The first reading teaches us today, that God the Son existed at the side of the Father before time, was by the side of the Father when the world was crafted, and indeed, was the craftsman of the world.
Thus, when Our Lord says “the one who made them at the beginning”, He is referring to not only to Himself but to Himself in union with the Father, and the Holy Spirit that is born from their love for each other.
And so, in this episode when the Pharisees seeks an answer on the question of divorce, the creator is telling us that he seeks to see married couples united in love just as the Holy Trinity is united in love. So united must married couples be, that despite maintaining the distinct identity, they cannot, simultaneously, be distinguished as anything but one flesh.
This imitation of Trinitarian love need not be restricted to married love alone, however. This morning, we celebrate the inauguration of the Youth Group of this parish. Youth is often marked by vigour, and this vigour is made all the more beautiful when it is directed towards the common good. Indeed, in the two weeks that I have been here, I have seen evidence of this Trinitarian love that animates the parish youth group, when they offer their personal efforts for the group, seeing in the group an extension of themselves. In doing so, they recognize the great Catholic truth; that the person finds fullest articulation and coherence of themselves, not in a selfish individualism, but in cooperation with the group. In other words, the success of the group does not imply a loss for the person, both grow; and a loss for the individual is a loss for the group.
Indeed, the very technical understanding of indwelling which marks the theological understanding of the Most Holy Trinity, can be explained through these human loves that we have. In a good marriage, the spouse see themselves fulfilled in the other. They are so invested in, to use a term popular today, or so much in love with the spouse, that they cannot see themselves alive in any other way. The good Catholic, works for the common good because she or he realise that is the only way in which they can truly achieve personal growth!
For the model of love that the Most Holy Trinity offers us, dear brothers and sisters, let us give thanks in the words of the Gospel acclamation today:
Glory to the Father, the Son, and
the Holy Spirit;
to God who is, who was, and who is to come.
(A version of this homily was first preached to the faithful at the Cathedral parish of St. Catherine of Alexandria, Old Goa on 15 June 2025.)
(Image reference: “The Most Holy Trinity,” Laurent Girardin, c.1490, The ClevelandMuseum of Art, Cleveland.)
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