Every year, just after the end of Easter, we come to the Solemnity of the Holy Trinity. And year after year, as the meaning of the term Trinity is explained to us, we become more rather than less confused. What is the Holy Trinity, and why is it so important?
There are two simple facts that are both very familiar to us. The first is that “We believe in one God.” This is straightforward and simple. God is God; there is none other. God is all-powerful, all-seeing, all-knowing. But there is a second vital fact, even closer to our experience. It is that we encounter God as Father, Son and Spirit.
These are not just three different masks worn by God, so to speak. We experience God as three distinct persons. And we do not see these persons as superior or inferior to one other. We sense that they are equal yet different. When I pray to Jesus I am praying to a distinct individual, as I am when praying to the Father and the Holy Spirit. Each of them has his own character, and each plays a different role in my life.
As long as I keep these two facts distinct, that I believe in one God, but encounter Him as three distinct persons, there is no conflict. It is when I try to fit them together that I become confused. Imagine a man riding a one-wheeled bike along a tight-rope stretched over the Niagara Falls, juggling three small balls in one hand and one big one in the other. As long as he looks forward and keeps juggling and balancing, he will be fine. Let him drop one ball or try to bring them together, and he is lost. It is a fine balance, but as long as we keep our minds fixed on these few simple facts about God, it is not difficult at all.
Cardinal Newman had a beautiful illustration of the Holy Trinity. He pointed out that we can, using a prism, split white light into the seven colours of the spectrum. But if we try to combine these seven colours to produce white light, all we seem able to produce is a dirty, smudgy white. It is the same, he suggests, with the Holy Trinity. We believe in one God whom we worship as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. But as soon as we try to combine these three Persons, we run into trouble. And as we have already reflected, he says it is better not to try. Believe in one God; acknowledge him as Father, Son and Spirit; and leave it at that.
Perhaps Paul the Apostle expressed it the best of all: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” Or the words of the Creed, where we confess that there is “the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth” and “Jesus Christ, his only-begotten Son” and “the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,” but above all, in the opening words of the Creed, we “believe in One God.” That should suffice for us all.
Fr. Phillip
