Ex 34:4b-6, 8-9 | Ps (Dn 3:52, 53, 54, 55, 56) | 2 Cor 13:11-13 | Jn 3:16-18
Today, we celebrate the mystery of the Holy Trinity-three Persons, one God. The Holy Trinity is about relationship, God in three Persons living in total union and communion. They are, indeed, one, while remaining three distinct Persons. This is a great mystery—not to be solved, but to be received and put into practice.
In our first reading from the book of Exodus, Moses returns to Mount Sinai and is given new tablets to replace the ones he broke after first receiving God’s covenant, when he returned only to find the people worshiping idols and living shamelessly. As expressed in several dialogues between God and Moses, what is revealed is God’s deep desire to be in relationship with his people. The law isn’t so much given as a list of “thou shall nots,” but rather, by being faithful to the law, the Israelites will be in right relationship with their God. The Ten Commandments are a blueprint for being in right relationship. When we follow them, we are loving God and willing the good of others.
Saint Paul then encourages the young Church in Corinth to mend their ways and live in peace in order for God, who is love and peace, to dwell among them. He tells them to rejoice and strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace, and greet one another with a holy kiss. If they are faithful to God’s commands, then the God of love and peace will be with them.
Our God, the Holy Trinity, is not one of division and conflict. God will only dwell in our midst if we are willing to live in communion, in peace, and in forgiveness in imitation of the trinitarian Godhead. Our gospel reading continues to emphasize love and relationship. God has an intense desire for a relationship with His creation. He doesn’t wait for us to turn to Him or become His friends. Instead, even when we are enemies, God demonstrates God’s love for us by sending His only-begotten Son, Jesus, to suffer and die for us.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish.” The word “believes” is a present tense verb. It can also be translated as “to trust” or “to have faith.” To believe means more than to hold a specific set of theological teachings to be true. We have to go farther and begin to act on that knowledge.
God invites us to live in the reality of God’s love—to know that we are forgiven and that there is nothing we need to do in order to impress God. God invites us to live into the new relationship that we have with God because of what Christ did for us. We are able to live each day in the knowledge of God’s love, knowing that God is present in our lives and loves us without condition, which has serious implications for the manner in which we choose to conduct our lives and help inform the choices we make.
As we celebrate Trinity Sunday, we are filled with gratitude that God has touched our lives with God’s love and that we will never be the same: a great mystery—not to be solved, but to be received and put into practice. May we always be one with God in loving relationship.