7 Things about the Holy Trinity by Fr. Nelson Lobo OFM Cap

   1. The Trinity is Christianity’s most unique, defining, awesome BUT incomprehensible mystery. You can keep on meditating on it and it will never cease to impress our little minds.  1+1+1 = 1 and not 3. You can meditate on it for eternity like the little angel on the sea shore who told St. Augustine. That you may not lose your hair thinking too much about it you can use the examples given by saints.

2. The doctrine of Three Persons in one God, co-equal and co-eternal in Divinity yet distinct in Person, is not explicitly spelt out in the Bible. The origin of the doctrine of the Trinity can be found in the Bible, although the word Trinity is not used in the Bible. We believe in this Mystery because Jesus, who is God, taught it clearly even though He did not use the word, Trinity. There are vague and hidden references to the Trinity in the Old Testament. But the New Testament gives clear teachings on the Holy Trinity or on the three divine persons. The Annunciation, the baptism of Jesus, the missionary command by Jesus to his disciples before Ascension speaks about the action of the Holy Trinity. John’s Gospel, chapters 15–18 speaks more on the role of each Person of the Holy Trinity: a) God the Father creates and provides for His creatures. b) God the Son redeems us and reconciles us with God. c) God the Holy Spirit sanctifies us, strengthens us, teaches us, and guides us back to God.

3. From the very beginning of the church, Christians have understood the mystery of the Trinity, even before they began using the term, Trinity.

4. The Church father Tertullian (AD 160–225) was the first to apply the term Trinity to God. Tertullian uses the term to explain and defend the Trinity against the teaching of his contemporary Praxeus, who espoused the Monarchian heresy.

5. To counter all heresies (such as Monarchianism & Arianism -Arius (ca. 256–336)) and also the schisms the Fathers of the Church tried to explain it, and the Councils of Nicaea (325) and Constantinople defined it as a dogma of Christian Faith. For exact definition please refer (CCC #234, #253-256).

6. All prayers in the Catholic Church begin in the Name of the Holy Trinity and end glorifying the Trinity.  All Sacraments are administered in the name of the Holy Trinity. When Church bells ring thrice daily, they remind us to give glory to the Holy Trinity. We bless ourselves, and the priest blesses us, in the Name of the Holy Trinity when we make the sign of the cross.

7.  What does this feast mean to us? It means 3 things.

7.1 Let us respect everyone because everyone is the temple of the Holy Spirit where all Three Persons of the Holy Trinity abide.

7.2  Let us have the firm conviction that the Trinitarian God abides in us, that He is the Source of our hope, courage and strength, and that He is our final destination.

7.3  Let us practice the Trinitarian relationship of love and unity in our family relationships because by Baptism we become children of God and members of God’s Trinitarian family.