Today we celebrate the central mystery of our faith.  The mystery of the Trinity.

A mystery revealed by God, over thousands of years, but finally made completely known in Jesus.

[Note the trefoil Star of David on the columns throughout the church, lead into...]  The Star of David representing the thousands of years of divine revelation to the people of Israel.  As God gently and slowly revealed himself to them, and formed covenants with them, and prepared them for the coming of the Messiah.

In the heart of the star is a Trefoil.  A symbol composed of three leaves, or of three partial circles connected.  Each representing a person of the Trinity.

Although there are hundreds of different metaphors and symbols that help us try to get our minds around the Trinity—one God and three Persons—they are all inadequate, of course.  God is not two men and a bird sitting on a cloud any more than he is a huge clover leaf in the sky.

I think the best way to understand the Trinity is to simply state the mystery and then look at its implications.  Like tracing an object by looking at its shadow.

The first thing we can see about the Trinity, is that it is manifested in our salvation.

The Son is Eternally begotten of the Father, outside of time the Son is continually begotten, and then is begotten in time for our salvation…of the virgin Mary.

The Holy Spirit is Eternally proceeding from the Father and the Son, Continually flowing from them, and then is sent in time by the Father and Son.  Jesus is sending him in today’s gospel.

The way that our salvation happened in time reflects the eternal nature of God, God’s inner life.  Which makes sense, since our salvation means nothing less than our being drawn into the inner life of God.

Is it all clear now?         

This brings us to the most interesting aspect of the Trinity.  The Trinity is manifested in creation.  Especially in Jesus--divine and created.

Through Jesus, God reveals his inner life.  What he is like at the deepest level.  The Trinity is something that we could have never deduced on our own.  It is something that we never could have come up with.  But that was revealed through the incarnation of the eternally begotten one, and the coming of the eternally proceeding one.

And what is revealed in this is that God is a community of Persons.

God is, in himself, relational.  God is love.  Not just because he loves us, but because it is what he is.  His inner life.

And the inner life of God is reflected and captured by what we experience as love.

Think for a moment about the power of love.  The power that exists between a man and wife.  The power that binds mother to son.  The unbreakable bond between best friends.  Call to mind someone you love, maybe the first time you fell in love.  I remember the first time I was deeply in love, just saying her name in my head would give me joy and peace.  Just glimpsing her profile would elicit a smile and warmth.  Think about an experience like that. Think about that power—and then multiply it infinitely and that is the inner life of God. 

The love between the Father and the Son is so strong…that it actually becomes a third Person…it spills over into a full person.  But the love is still too powerful to be contained, so it spills over again into creation—the universe is a result of the overflow of God’s love—especially us.  God’s love is so powerful that he creates us so that he can love us too.

Do you want to know how God thinks of you?  [pause and look around]

·        Do you worry that he is upset with you because of your sins or because of your imperfections? [pause]

·        Do you think he is willing to forgive your sins because you are trying your best? 

·        Do you think he is proud of you and your fighting to have faith and live correctly even though it’s difficult at times? 

·        Do you imagine that he is saying to you “well done my good and faithful servant?”

I’ll tell you what he thinks of you.  He has been telling us for thousands of years, so there is no reason to wonder...

Just thinking your name gives him joy and peace. 

Just glimpsing your profile elicits happiness and warmth.

Salvation means opening our soul to receive this fact, to believing this fact, and then being transformed by it, and into it.

God manifests his inner life in creation itself.  We image it every time the love between a husband and wife is strong enough to become a child.  We image it every time we allow the power of love to overcome differences and distances.

On this past Friday at Mass, the readings were about friendship, and I gave the congregation some homework—I asked them to contact their best friend and tell them that you love and appreciate them.  That was the easy assignment.

Today, is the difficult assignment.  I encourage everyone here, to use this Mass to find in your heart someone who needs to see some love from you.

Maybe an estranged family member.   Maybe a broken friendship.  Maybe a difficult co-worker.  Maybe a person you often run into on the street.  Someone you need to forgive....or not, just pick someone specific.

And drawing from the power of the Holy Trinity—make a discreet act of love for them.  Don’t pass this up.  Make up your mind who it will be during Mass, and have the courage to do it.

I don’t promise that it will “work” that you will get the result you want—but I do promise that you will be participating in the inner life of our Triune God, and God’s presence will increase your soul.