Rev. Fr. Rommel M. Arcilla
Much has been said about the vagueness of the Trinity. Theologians ended up with twisted minds just to be able to come up with a clear presentation and explanation regarding the mystery of the Triune God. There is the person of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Father as the Creator of the universe, the Son as the Redeemer of humankind, and the Holy Spirit as the Paraclete who continuously guides the Church in her journey. They have distinct roles and yet, as God, they are but one.
The most popular understanding is that they are one though three different persons, all because of the love that they have for one another. They are united because of love. I do not intend to give you a substantial explanation regarding this dogma of faith since my knowledge regarding this topic is limited. What I want to share with you are some reflections about the message of the Blessed Trinity that, hopefully, will help you get closer to the triune God.
We are facing a lot of evils in this world today. Some are tolerable and some are there to crush our faith and bring disaster to our relationship with God. There is a lot of anger in our hearts and sometimes it leads us to far greater sins such as murdering our brothers and sisters. It is my belief that this present global pandemic, the Covid-19, is intended to bring death and destruction to almost every aspect of our lives. There is a lot of poverty around us which is a sure prelude to robbery and sometimes to abortion. Our minds are so filled up to the brim with impurities that lead us to commit rape, marital discord, and adulterous life. With all these in mind, we can never say that we are living in a perfect society “flowing with milk and honey”.
In the different aspects of our life, we can find perennial problems that destroy our person, our whole being and our relationship with God. We can say that there is no peace in our lives, even as Christians, and that there is no harmony and unity in our society today. To live in a “perfect world”, unity and harmonious relationships must be present. To bring peace, order, harmony and unity in our society, love is essential. But it appears as if love has left us on the very same day that Christ ascended into his throne.
But all is not lost because there is still one last hope that can make us united, peaceful, orderly, and living in harmony with one another. There is still that glimmer of hope that only our decision can bring it into reality. The message of the Trinity is our only hope for a better world.
The 3-in-1 God loved each other so much that everything was brought into reality. Their love for one another is so immense that even up until now the Holy Spirit is still with us, guiding us in our journey towards His kingdom. The three persons but one God is telling us to imitate the Trinitarian way of loving. The three persons are telling us loudly to love so we can be one just like them. But is it not that love is a mystery and that love is so elusive at times?
The trouble with this present generation is that we keep on building walls and fences instead of constructing roads and bridges. Instead of striving to be united as a nation or as one people, we devise tools of divisiveness and separation. Instead of helping one another, we would rather trample on each other’s heads and pin them down just to propagate ourselves to the topmost level of our false principles and selfish motives.
If we can only open ourselves to God’s grace and God’s commandment to love, then, we can hope for a better life and a better world. In that state, there can be no more hate but pure love, no more violence and wars but unlimited peace, no more discord and misunderstandings but widespread harmony among all races and beliefs. I wonder what would that dream society be like? Maybe it will be like the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit in their love.
We are being called to live out their message and it is our primordial calling to love just like the way God has love us all unconditionally. Now is our chance to heed that call. In this world of corruption, violence, and violations to our human rights side by side with some natural calamities, we are all called to stand up and give love to everyone around us. When everything that is good and godly seems to have run out and abandoned us, we are challenged to be a tiny ember in the vastness of the dark to give hope by living in love. I believe love is the best solution to all these world’s problems we are faced with in these dangerous times in our human history.
Let us therefore be courageous enough to take on this challenge to love. A challenge which may be a real burden to people with hardened hearts and selfish motives but it is as simple as living our lives if we are real Christians who are living up the Christian ideals with conviction and unwavering faith in the Triune God.
O, most Holy Trinity, have mercy on us!