Christ the Cornerstone

The passionate love that marks the Holy Trinity in our lives

For what you have revealed to us of your glory we believe equally of your Son and of the Holy Spirit, so that, in the confessing of the true and eternal Godhead, you might be adored in what is proper to each Person, their unity in substance, and their equality in majesty. (Preface for the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity)

On Sunday, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity (Trinity Sunday). If we only think of the Trinity as a doctrine, a complex theological teaching, this solemn feast day will be difficult to observe. It’s not easy to celebrate an abstraction, so to truly experience the power, and the joy, of Trinity Sunday, we need to focus our attention on the Holy Trinity concretely—as the most dynamic, impactful force in the universe!

In the second reading for Trinity Sunday, St. Paul speaks of the God of love. “Mend your ways, encourage one another, agree with one another, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you” (2 Cor 13:11).

Love is the essence of who God is. God doesn’t simply perform loving actions, although this is a constitutive element of God’s identity. God is love. It’s who God is. And

the manifestation of God’s identity, which corresponds perfectly with who God is, is threefold: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Legend has it that when St. Patrick was teaching the Irish people about the Holy Trinity, he picked up a shamrock native to the soil of Ireland which is one plant with three leaves. The analogy isn’t perfect, but it is still a powerful illustration of how one thing can have a threefold aspect. Unlike the shamrock, however, God does not simply appear to be one-in-three. God truly is both perfect unity and genuine diversity.

If someone were to ask, “What’s a one-word description of God’s inner life?” the correct answer would, of course, be “love.” But I think there’s another word that also perfectly expresses who our triune God really is. That word is “passion.”

In the Gospel reading for the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, St. John tells us that “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life” (Jn 3:16). This is a way of saying that God the Father is so passionate in his love for us that he gives what is most dear to him—his only Son—to ransom us from the powers of sin and death. In no way is the Father remote, indifferent or absent. He cares deeply about each of us, his children, and he passionately gives us everything we need to know, love and serve him.

The Son is also passionate. The Sacred Heart of Jesus is filled to overflowing with love and forgiveness in spite of the fact that we so often betray him and show ourselves unworthy of his unconditional love.

In the Nicene Creed, we acknowledge our belief in One Lord, Jesus Christ, and we confess that:

For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate, he suffered death and was buried, and rose again on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.

In Latin, “He suffered death and was buried and rose again on the third day” reads: Passus et sepultus est, et resurrexit tertia die. “Passus” is the Latin root for “passionate,” which means “suffering with.” Jesus Christ, the second person of the Blessed Trinity, underwent an excruciating passion and death for our sake, and in the process, he demonstrated beyond any doubt that God’s love is stronger than death itself.

The third person of the Blessed Trinity, the Holy Spirit, is the source of all passionate love for God and neighbor. The Spirit is described in sacred Scripture with many images, including “tongues of fire” and “strong winds.” Paradoxically, the Holy Spirit is also pictured as a dove, the universal symbol of peace and tranquility. God’s love is passionate, but it is never violent or destructive. When the Holy Spirit sets our hearts on fire, the result is a powerful, passionate peacefulness.

Our triune God can be understood, and more importantly experienced, as a passionate love that creates, redeems and sanctifies all things visible and invisible. When we celebrate Trinity Sunday, it is this passionate love, not an abstract teaching, that we should call to mind.

This is my wish for you this Trinity Sunday: May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you! (2 Cor 13:13) †