HOLY TRINITY SUNDAY, YR B: REFLECTION BY FR. JULIAN EKEH
THEME: LIVING OUT THE TRINITY IN THE WORLD
(Matthew 28:16–20)
In the face of the mysterious happenings in our world today, the Church celebrates the mystery of the Holy Trinity.
This is the doctrine that states that God is One God, but Three coeternal and consubstantial persons: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Thus, the Gospel of today presents us with the Great Commission, where Christ sent His disciples in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit to participate in the Trinitarian mission and baptise people into this family.
The Father, as we know, is known for the principal role He played at creation in union with the Trinitarian Family. The Son is the Saviour, sent by the Father to redeem the creation of God when Sin, corruption, and the devil threatened to destroy it. The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son to confirm the work of the Son, sanctifying and renewing the face of the earth doing wonders among the people of God and proving that God is not just transcendental but immanent even after the ascension.
Today, we celebrate the love of God. We celebrate the unity of God. We celebrate peace and harmony. We celebrate divine mentorship. Yes, we celebrate what God designs for us, for our world, for the Church, and for our society.
We hereby open ourselves to learn from the TRINITY, calling to mind once again what the Holy Trinity reminds us in our daily living as Christians and how we can be missionaries of the Trinity wherever we find ourselves in the world.
LEARNING FROM THE TRINITARIAN SCHOOL
From the Most Holy Trinity; God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we’ve got a lot to learn.
CREATIVITY AND PROGRESSIVENESS
The Father is the maker of all things, visible and invisible. All He created are good. The success of His creation is team spirit: ‘Let us’ He carried the Son and the Holy Spirit along. His spirit hovered. His Spirit was breathed in man. His Spirit was with His people by day and night as they journeyed. His spirit inspired the prophets.
Let us carry each other along and put in our best wherever we find ourselves to be useful and bring out something from the chaotic situations serving as raw materials for us to apply our creative initiatives. Is it impossible to create an ordered, peaceful, good, and loving world? No. It is not. If only we could come together with pure intention and dedication. Let’s put our talents together. Let’s pull our resources for the common good. Doing this is living the Trinitarian creativity. Let us respect each other’s functions and roles. Let us not frustrate the positive enhancement of our society and missions by laziness. Let’s be positively creative.
REDEMPTION AND SALVATION
Jesus, the Saviour in the family of the Trinity reminds us of: Whom shall I send? Asked by the Father answered by the Son and made possible by the Holy Spirit.
The work of redemption calls for passion, determination, and readiness to say yes to what ought to be done. It calls for being sensitive, having feelings, and being touched. In our case, we need to know when things have fallen apart. Moses on the mountain was able to learn when the people began to derail, and He intervened. We need to in our little way to restore and salvage the peace that has become a thing of the past in our world, the love that has gone on exile from our families, the truth that has departed from our lips, the dignity for the human person and human life that has gone away from our people etc.
We can reposition our society where God wants it to be, we can bring back lost values, glories, and positive cultures that are gradually suffering extinction.
RENEWAL AND SANCTIFICATION
The Holy Spirit in the Trinitarian Family is the fruit of the love that exists between the Father and the Son. His expression is seen in making the dream of the Father and the Son to come true in the world. The dream that we should be one, holy, pure, and make the face of the earth radiate with the love of God.
In the light of the Spirit of God, let us renew our joy, our zeal, and our desire for spiritual things. We need to renew our prayer life. We must renew and rekindle the life of our consciences.
We have to put away the old-fashioned ways of doing things. The old way of politicking, the corrupt practices we indulge in, the various vices that are being enthroned among us must be refined and allowed to pass through the purifying furnace of the Spirit of God in order to make them become what the godhead wills.
OTHER LESSONS
The TRINITY is indeed a school that offers us a lot. We learn trust. The Trinity believes in each other and trusts each other so much.
We see accountability; the Son gave feedback to the Father and the Holy Spirit when His work on earth was done.
We learn consultation; they consult one another. We must learn this and not make ourselves ‘eze onye agwalam’ (self-willed, sole administrators, dictators).
We learn supportive Spirit. No one knows it all. We need each other. Let’s be there for one another in good times and bad. The Father and the Holy Spirit were there with Christ during His passion.
Unity in diversity: We may be many, but we can be one. We can drop our differences and come together to achieve a common goal. There may be separation of powers and roles, but with love for a positive end, there comes a beautiful masterpiece.
In the family, let the father, mother, and children be united in the purpose of forming a lovely society, a loving church journeying to the lovely kingdom where the Trinity lives and reigns.
May the Most Holy Trinity be blessed both now and forever.
LET US PRAY
We thank You, God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, for being the sign of our Blessing. Continue to bless us and remain glorified in Your undivided nature. Grant that we may become worthy abiders in the Trinitarian Love as we pray: Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be world without end. Amen.
Happy Trinity Sunday (Yr B).
Rev Fr Julian O Ekeh.