This Is the Holy Trinity

Today we celebrate the Holy Trinity, one of the most confounding mysteries of our faith. Through this mystery we experience our relationship to God: Creator, Savior, and Holy Spirit. This relationship is not easy to understand or to describe. It does not become clearer through analysis. Its complexity mirrors the complexity of all our relationships. We understand our relationships with our spouses, our children, our parents, and our friends only through daily give-and-take, annual rituals, and the life-changing moments we share. We understand our relationships only as we live them. The relationships we have with those we love, and who love us, sustain us through an uncertain and difficult life. This is the Holy Trinity.

What is striking about today’s readings is that each is incomplete. What they do offer is a description of a moment in our relationship, a memory of a time and an event when our relationship made sense even though that sense may be beyond our ability to describe fully. Often that is all that our faith offers, that is, a memory of what is possible, what is promised, what has been given. A memory of eternity, of love beyond understanding is to be cherished and nurtured even if not fully understood. This is the Holy Trinity.