Trinity Sunday Homily Year B

Trinity Sunday Homily-Year B

Readings:

Deut 4:32-34, 39-40;

Rom 8:14-17

Mt 28:16-20

Homily

Heirs of a Family-God,

“We are children of God and fellow heirs with Christ” (Rom)

During catechism class, a priest asked 6-year old Sheila: “Can you say something about the Trinity?” Sheila mumbled something swiftly and softly. “Sheila, I don’t understand what you’re saying!” complained the priest. “You shouldn’t,” replied Sheila, “Teacher said that tile Trinity is a mystery!” ‘

Not only kids, but also pastors and theologians have difficulty in explaining the Trinity. Theologian Karl Rahner laments that most Catholics are “mere monotheists,” and, after their P 989 deliberations on Trinity, the British Council of Churches entitled their document “The Forgotten Trinity.” Thus, Trinity Sunday bids us remember the Trinity not merely as ‘mystery’ but as precious part of our everyday life.

Let’s get one {act clear – what Sheila said about the Trinity is true; and; Rahner himself wisely writes in his book ‘Encounters with Silence’: “if you were not incomprehensible, my God, You would be inferior to me, for my mind could grasp and assimilate you. You would belong to me, instead of l to you. And that would truly be hell!”

The mystery dimension of Trinity has led thinkers to propose analogies to explain the Trinity. Thus, Augustine of Hippo explains Trinity as Lover (Father), Beloved (Son) and the Love (Spirit) binding them; Ignatius of Loyola sees the three divine persons as three notes of a musical chord and Patrick of Ireland likens Trinity to a 3-leafed shamrock rising from one stem. While analogies from Nature help us understand Trinity. They are also inadequate, since they do not convey the idea of ‘person’ and ‘relationship’.

The first reading from Deuteronomy gives us a clue about the personal dimension of God – revealed as Creator since “God created human beings upon the earth” and Redeemer who creates a people for God self “by signs, by wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm.” This passage calls for a faith-response since people experience God’s creation and redemption. In the Old Testament, this faith is shown by adherence to Law, but, in the New Testament, Spirit fulfills Law. This reading helps us to develop person-images of Trinity like Creator (Father), Redeemer (Son), and Sanctifier (Spirit).

Many thinkers today see “Trinity as ‘Divine Persons-in-Community’, Further more we could conceive of Trinity as Family: Family-God. Since the foundational Biblical revelation is that we’re created in “the image and likeness” of God (Gen 1:26-27), we become more and more human – and divine as well – to the extent that we flourish as sisters/brothers in one family modeled upon the First Family: God. This fact is stressed in today’s second reading wherein Paul reminds us that we’re gifted with the Holy Spirit who makes us cry out with intimacy “Abba! Father!” All families are mirror-images of the Family-God, and Elder Brother, Jesus, adopts us into the Trinity as ‘heirs’ through his incarnation, life, death and resurrection.

‘Living and loving as ‘heirs of Family-God’ entails being co-creators (with Abba), co-redeemers (with Jesus) and co-redeemers (with the Spirit) of a new world. First, this has its bearing on our sacramental life. Today’s gospel indicates that we are baptized into the Trinity with the triadic formula. Second, by virtue of our baptism, we must “go out” of our familiar familial frontiers on a mission empowered by the Trinity that embraces all peoples who are God’s children. This involves restoring to those deprived of being ‘heirs-through sin, self-centeredness and dehumanization – the freedoms and blessings of Family-God through our human efforts. Finally, it means worshipping the Trinity through our prayers, hymns, invocations. And, the witness of our life!

Trinity Sunday reminds us that there is no ‘self-made man’; or, ‘self-saved woman,’ for that matter! It is the Family-God who creates us, saves us, and sanctifies us. May Trinity Sunday see parents and pastors reminding their children and congregations of the urgent need to re-member the Forgotten Trinity, that down-to-earth Family-God who abides in, and animates, our daily, family life? And may all families continue worshipping and working with our Family-God!