MOST HOLY TRINITY SUNDAY, YR B: HOMILY BY FR JUSTIN ADIELE
THEME: “LIVING IN THE ONENESS, UNITY AND LOVE OF THE TRINITY”
INTRODUCTION:
Today, we celebrate the greatest mystery of our Catholic faith, the mystery of the Trinity. It is a truth and doctrine based on divine revelation rather than on science, human reasoning or sophistry. St. Thomas Aquinas began his teaching on the Trinity by asserting that; “God is Father, God is Son, and God is Holy Spirit”, and these are not three but one God. It is this same unity in diversity that unites us in faith, and in humanity. Living out in principle this one, loving and undivided unity revealed in the Trinity will perfect humanity; will perfect our world just as God is perfect in Trinity.
GOD WANTS US TO BE ONE/LIVE AS ONE
As we celebrate the Blessed Trinity today, we are challenged to reflect amongst us the Oneness of the Trinity. It is an effort in futility (unrealizable) to determine which of the Trinity is more powerful, more glorious, more majestic, or more eternal. They are just one in glory, equal in majesty and co-eternal. In the same vein, we should strive to eliminate amongst us every power tussle; every racial/tribal domination/supremacy; and every claim/pride of primacy/importance over others. The more we emphasize on our differences, the more we end in futility. The more we see, feel and work as one, the more powerful we become as God. Jesus had to pray; Father, may they be one, as you and I are one, seeing no discriminatory difference between us and our brothers and sisters.
GOD WANTS US TO BE UNITED
As we celebrate the Holy Trinity today, we recall their distinct persons and their undivided unity, no one person claims to work without the others. Jesus revealed that he only gave what he received from the Father, and the Holy Spirit also gives what he took from the Son (cf. Jn. 16: 14,15). We all are also distinct by names and personality, yet we can still live and work harmoniously together, taking, giving and receiving from each other. We can actually live and share without any greed, strife, envy, enmity, division, war or rancor. We must be united in the service of God and humanity. We must learn to accept and receive one another, unbiased and in good faith.
GOD WANTS US TO LOVE, BECAUSE ONLY LOVE UNITES
Peter Kreeft once said; “If God is not a Trinity, God is not love. For love requires three things: a lover, a beloved, and a relationship between them.” The Bible says God is love; the Trinity is the perfect expression of that ‘love essence’ of God. In a similar way, we must essentially be loving / love one another. We must remain in the Trinitarian cycle of love; either you are the lover, or the beloved or in the relationship/business of love. Scripture crowns it all; “…God is love. Whoever lives in love, lives in God and God in him… We have received from him this commandment; whoever loves God must also love his brother.” (cf. 1 Jn. 4: 16 & 21)
CONCLUSION:
Robert A. Heinlein said something that could be interpreted in both ways; he said; “Anyone who can worship a trinity and insist that his religion is a monotheism can believe anything.” This could be interpreted positively to imply that the person is a man of faith. The Trinity One God is a real basis/expression of strong faith. If you can believe it, you can believe in all that the Scripture revealed, you can believe in love, you can believe in unity, you can believe in yourself, you can believe in others, you can believe in the impossibility, you can believe in the sacraments, you can believe and share in the power and essence of the Trinitarian God.
Happy Sunday!
Fr. Justin