God’s Perfect Unity & Trinity

Trinity Sunday
Today’s Readings: [Click here]

When I was a young boy, one of my most vivid memories was standing in the synagogue joining in singing the Shema, Judaism’s most famous prayer:

ה אלהינו יהוה אחד׃שׁמע ישראל יה
Shema yisrael, Adonai eloheynu, Adonai echad.
Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one.

We know this was a prayer that Jesus sang. Clearly, it tells us that there is only one God. Judaism, and Christianity as well, are monotheistic religions.

What we just heard is the Hebrew doxology. I’m sure most of you know the Christian doxology. This is probably the most famous version:

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow /
Praise him, all creatures here below /
Praise him above, ye heavenly host /
Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

This prayer gives honor to three Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit (or Holy Ghost). Yet, strangely, it says “Praise him”—not praise them.

So: what are we to make of all this? How do we get from one to three? Just how many gods do we believe in?

In Old Testament days, the time before Christ, you might consider that the human race was in its infancy and childhood. After Christ, our race was growing up in terms of our relationship with God. Just the way human parents don’t always explain the reasons for their rules or decisions to children too young to understand, but simply expect to be trusted and obeyed, so it was with God. God simply did not reveal much of his inner life in those days. Only when Jesus came did we start to get more of an insider’s view of God. It’s really not all that different from how we learn a lot about our parents and what shaped their experiences as we get older ourselves and have more living under our belts.

To be sure, the idea that God is both Unity and Trinity at the same time is a vast, supernatural mystery. That means we can never completely understand it with our limited human abilities. But as a famous dictum tells us: For those who believe, no explanation is necessary; for those who do not believe, no explanation is possible.

Yet during the early centuries of the Church, Christian people tried mightily to figure it all out. The Church fathers and popes wrote at length on this… as did Augustine in the 4th and 5th centuries, and Thomas Aquinas in the 13th, and many others in-between. Pardon my sarcasm, but in the compassion and love of Jesus Christ and his church, much human blood was spilled and heretics condemned and tortured in the attempt to penetrate the mystery of the Blessed Trinity.

St. Patrick is famous for his sweet analogy using a shamrock—one small clover, but three leaves that make it up—all sharing the same nature.

But what about us, living here and now? What are we to make of the Trinity?

The main thing we should bear in mind is that the Trinity is about relationships. We can have a Son only because there is a Father—and vice-versa. Let me explain. I am just one person, yet I am a son to my parents, a brother to my siblings, an uncle to my nieces and nephews. All of me is a single nature—“Jeffness,” perhaps we can say—but I’m three in a relational sense: son, brother, uncle.

With God, the divine nature is fully present in each Person. That means each of his three Persons fully has all his perfections, such as being all-good, all-powerful, all-present, all-just, all-merciful, all-loving, and so many others.

So, even though the three Persons of the Trinity are truly distinct, they are also identical—because if each is absolutely perfect in every way, how could they possibly be different? Perfection demands unity. If two things are equal but different, by definition they can’t be perfect. Perfection requires one paragon, one model of supreme excellence.

Imagine this little example. You look into a full-length mirror and see your reflection. It’s a beautiful reflection. Everything you do, the reflection does. If you raise your hand, the reflection raises its hand. If you make a funny face, so does the reflection.

But actually, the reflection is not quite perfect. It is tied to you. But pretend that the reflection could have a mind of its own and the ability to act on its own. It’s possible then that if you raise your hand, the reflection might choose not to—or it might decide to raise its leg instead. Remember, it’s independent.

With God, because of his perfection, the reflection is also going to be perfect. So if God raises his hand, it’s got to be because it’s the perfect thing to do—so the reflection can’t help but choose to do the same perfect thing. Why? Because it’s perfect.

Now put some names to all this. Looking into the mirror is God the Father, the First Person of the Trinity. His reflection in the mirror is God the Son, the Second Person of the Trinity, who is such a perfect reflection, that he actually took on personhood and life of his own. While the reflection may look like a normal mirror copy, in truth, he is completely independent.

When these two Persons—Father and Son—look upon each other and see each other in their consummate beauty and flawless brilliance, they are filled with love and peace and joy and confidence and every other wonderful mental, emotional and spiritual attribute that you can imagine. You’ve probably experienced a bit of that when you’ve been passionately in love and looked at your beloved. Now imagine that this fiery love between them is also so strong and so perfect in every way that it, too, takes on its own personhood. Enter God the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Trinity. You can certainly see how if you get zapped a bit by this Spirit of power and love, you can be impelled to do all kinds of amazing things in the world.

So today, on this Feast of the Holy Trinity, these are the awesome mysteries that we celebrate. That famous philosopher named Anonymous once said, “The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother.” I think the love between the Persons of the Trinity that is poured out for us… and is destined to be the atmosphere in heaven where God wants us to spend all of eternity—with him… is an equally awesome gift to recognize. How can it not make us all feel safe… important… loved… appreciated… valued?

Thank you, God, for being one perfect God. Thank you, God, for being three blessed Persons to spread your love over this world that so desperately needs it.