Today we acknowledge our belief in One God as Three Persons. Jesus of Nazareth is the lens through which we interpret this mystery. On the Ascension we celebrated Jesus’ return to his Father’s side. Pentecost fulfilled Jesus’ promise that he would not leave us on our own to struggle in a contrary world of rejection, indifference and outright hostility. Now, we continue to celebrate the gift of the Spirit’s faithful presence in our midst. As he promised, Jesus has not left us orphans.
The constant challenge of our Christian faith is to allow the Spirit of Jesus to live fully and forcefully in us. His Spirit should touch our vision, our hearing, our speech, our relationships, our recreation, our study, our sickness, and our well being. Whenever we are confronted by the challenge to be Christ like in a particular circumstance, we should pause momentarily to draw strength and insight from His Spirit within us… to draw strength from the community of Love which we call "The Trinity."
Through Jesus, we come to know God as Father/Creator. This means that we keep our eyes open to see God’s power and wisdom towards all creatures. This is the God in whom we live, and move and have our being.
We profess faith in the Son, the mystery of God-with-us in Jesus Christ. We identify closely with his life, words, attitudes and actions. We participate in his dying and rising in the very experience of our daily lives. Through the Son we experience an intimate relationship with God and we come to know God-with-us always. We are servants called to serve one another by the Christ we have heard and are called to imitate.
We profess faith in the Spirit, who stirs the divine life of Christ within us. Through the Spirit we come to perceive and experience the grace-filled works of our God and we are moved to respond. The Spirit raises our spirits above fear and hesitancy and energizes us to do what Jesus tells us to do in today’s gospel, “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”
The community of persons in the Triune God is simply the result of a divine love that is so intense and so profound that it cannot be contained or defined in one dimension. It is a love that not only creates, but a love that redeems and sanctifies. It is a love that brings light and warmth to the dark side of our journey. It is a love that is constantly healing our brokenness, lifting us above our selfishness and pettiness, and reaching out to save us when we edge toward the abyss of despair.
Pope Francis has commented about the best way that today's Catholics can proclaim Christ and live the Gospel message in the modern world. The key to become effective "proclaimers" of God's Word, he said, is lived witness. "The love of Christ, poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, enables us to live like this, to be like this: as persons always ready to forgive: always ready to trust, because we are full of faith in God; always ready to inspire hope, because we ourselves are full of hope."
God reaches out to us through Jesus, His Son and our brother, who is the full sign of God’s love for all people. We may not be able to define this God of ours, or list all of His attributes, but this much we do know: our God is merciful, gracious and relentless in His love. If our life as the community of the people of God is as vital as Paul says it is, it will reflect the very real and active presence of the Trinity living among us and binding us together.
Today we have the opportunity to proclaim what we believe: our God is personal, involved in our lives and is calling us to come home together.
God is the perfect love that engenders hope and courage, and it is this Love that helps us to maintain a sense of purpose, peace and unity in our lives. It is this love that enables us to go out and preach to all nations, knowing that God is with us until the end of the age.
