Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity | May 31 | Jn 3: 16-18 | Fr. Cyril Walder OP

Added: 2026-05-31

[00:00:01][music] [music] >> In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Greetings of peace and joy dear brothers and sisters from Satyagiri Dominican Retreat Center. A warm welcome to you the Divine Spark YouTube channel.

[00:00:24]Last Sunday with the celebration of the Pentecost, Easter season came to an end and we entered into the ordinary time in the liturgical calendar. This Sunday dear brothers and sisters, we are celebrating the solemnity of the most holy Trinity. One God, three persons. In the Nicene Creed we pray, we believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth. We believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, true God from true God, light from light, begotten not made, consubstantial with the Father. We believe in the Holy Spirit who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who is adored and glorified with the Father and the Son.

[00:01:15]So, the Creed Nicene Creed makes it very clear the dimensions of the mystery of the Holy Trinity. One God, three persons.

[00:01:28]God is one because all the three persons in the Trinity share one essence, one nature.

[00:01:35]That is divine nature, the divinity what we call, one substance. So, that is why Father, Son and the Holy Spirit, all three persons are sharing same in fullness the divinity.

[00:01:52]Let us ask ourselves why we call the Trinity as a mystery because we cannot fully comprehend the essence of God. We are not infinite beings. We are finite. With our finite mind we cannot grasp the fullness of God, the essence of God. Even in the nature, dear brothers and sisters, there are so many things which remain as mystery to us. We do not grasp them fully. To give you a few examples for that matter look at the universe itself. The scientists tell us that there are nearly thousand billion in fact galaxies and our galaxy Milky Way alone has nearly 400 billion stars. 400 billion stars. And the diameter of the universe is nearly 93 billion light years. Do we all understand all this?

[00:02:52]This is mostly a mystery to us. The scientists, the biologists would tell us there are nearly 30 trillion cells in our body and every cell is as they say is a little chemical factory. And there are nearly 3 billion DNA pairs. So like that, there are a lot of mysteries in our body, in the nature.

[00:03:18]If the created things are so mysterious to us, we cannot comprehend them fully, how much more would be the essence of God to us. It is a mystery to us. That is why Saint Augustine nicely says, "Si comprehended non est Deus." What it means is that if you have understood, that means what you have understood is not God. If you have understood fully, that means what you have understood is not God because God is beyond full grasp. Uh even St. Thomas Aquinas, great philosopher, great theologian, uh St. Thomas Aquinas also says that the essence of God cannot be comprehended fully, understood fully.

[00:04:08]We need the help of God. Does that mean that mystery of the Trinity is unknowable? No. It is a revealed mystery. The Blessed Trinity is a revealed mystery. Whatever can be known, the divine Son, only begotten Son of the Father has revealed to us. In fact, St. John in his gospel says that no one has ever seen God, but only Son, who was in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known. Jesus has made him known to us. So, whatever is known to us or can be known about God is revealed to us in the scriptures, in the nature, in the history of salvation, through the inspiration. So, God has revealed to us about the nature of God, about the persons of God. Um in fact, what does the scripture say about the oneness of God? If you read book of Deuteronomy, um chapter 6 verse 4, the beautiful Shema prayer of Jews, what we have here or Israel, the Lord your God is one God.

[00:05:20]The Lord your God is one God, one Lord.

[00:05:23]You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind.

[00:05:29]So, the Lord is one. God is one. What about the three persons? In fact, if you read New Testament, uh here and there we have plenty of references for the distinctiveness of three persons. Right from the beginning, if you see, even the very annunciation scene, if you take, it is God the Father who takes initiative to send his only begotten son. So, that is why he sends Gabriel angel to Mary and the child to be born is by the power of the Holy Spirit. Look at it the baptism of Jesus.

[00:06:03]You hear the voice of the Father, "This is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased."

[00:06:12]And the Holy Spirit comes down in the form of a dove. So, you have there clear indication of three persons. In fact, if you see the farewell discourse in the Gospel according to John, you have all the descriptions about three persons. Jesus himself says, "I and the Father are one and I will ask the Father to send the another counselor, the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete." In fact, in the farewell discourse, Philip asked this wonderful question, "Lord, show us the Father and we shall be satisfied." Lord, show us the Father and we shall be satisfied. And Jesus beautifully answers to him and tells him, "The Father is in me. I am in the Father. He who has seen the Father has seen me. He who has seen the Father has seen me. I am in the Father and Father is in me." In fact, after the resurrection at the end when Jesus commissions his disciples for the mission, in fact, he specifically speaks about three persons.

[00:07:23]"Go therefore make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." A clear mention of three distinct persons, three persons in the blessed Trinity.

[00:07:40]So, you have clear indication.

[00:07:43]Now, why we say, dear brothers and sisters, the mystery of the Holy Trinity is very, very fundamental? Because look at this.

[00:07:52]Mystery of the Trinity is very, very foundation, very, very basis of everything about our Christian life, about our spirituality, about our morality, everything is based on the mystery of the Trinity. In fact, Pope Benedict used to say, "Christian life is anchored on the mystery of the Trinity."

[00:08:13]Look at our prayers. Every prayer we begin in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Every prayer we end with glorifying God the Father, God the Son and the Holy Spirit. What about the baptism? Every baptism uh we begin.

[00:08:32]Uh in fact, we administer the sacrament of baptism in the name of the Father. I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

[00:08:40]Every other sacrament, in fact, uh is administered in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. What about the Eucharist?

[00:08:49]Eucharist we begin always in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and concludes with a blessing of the Trinity, Father, Son and of the Holy Spirit. There is a doxology, Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. So, very, very clear explicit uh let us say detailing Jesus gives us in the scriptures. Unravels the mystery of the Blessed Trinity gradually to us.

[00:09:15]What is so important? What can we learn from the mystery of the Trinity for our life? What we learn? Before we learn something, it's also remember when this mystery was declared as a dogma, doctrine of the Catholic Church, of course, during the uh 4th century, during the councils of Nicaea and Constantinople, clearly it was enunciated, defined the mystery of the Holy Trinity that our God is Trinity trying Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit and all the three persons have the same divine essence. They are co-equal, co-eternal, and consubstantial.

[00:09:56]Share the same substance, that is the divinity or the divine nature. Father is not the Son and the Holy Spirit and Son is not the Father and the Spirit and the Spirit is not the Father and the Son.

[00:10:10]They are totally distinct because there is a difference of the relationship.

[00:10:15]They are related. So, the three different relationship between Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. So, the the thing that we can learn emulate for our life during this feast during the solemnity of the Blessed Trinity is this. The first one the communion. Blessed Trinity, all the three persons of the Trinity are in total communion with each other. Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, they are in the total communion with one another.

[00:10:46]There is no superior or inferior. There is no before and after. There is no higher and lower. They are consubstantial, same nature, they are equal. There's perfect communion. This is total unity. So, this one thing we need to practice in our families, in our communities, in our society that learn to live in communion, in love, perfect love.

[00:11:10]In fact, Saint Augustine while giving explanation about the Trinity, said that Father is the lover, Son is the beloved one, and the Holy Spirit is the love between the Father and the Son. And God is love.

[00:11:26]That is what. So, the dimensions of love, very very important for us in our family, communion of love, communion of unity. So, being together is the first thing that we learn. The second thing that we learn for our life from this feast is that our witness, our responsibility, our mission. Mission is very important. In the three persons of the Trinity, Father, Son, and the Spirit, all three persons have distinct mission. Father is the creator.

[00:11:59]In him we live, move, and have our being. Father creates, provides, and sustains. Father is the creator.

[00:12:09]And Son is the redeemer. Jesus, the only begotten Son, laid down his life for the humanity.

[00:12:17]Uh very important that he is the image of the invisible Father. He is the image of the invisible God, invisible God. So, where is stamp of God? That is what we find in So, therefore, that is redeemer. What about the Holy Spirit? He is the sanctifier.

[00:12:35]He makes us holy. He is the giver of all the gifts.

[00:12:39]So, if three persons in the Blessed Trinity have distinct function, and they do it so perfectly, all of us are given our roles, functions in the society. We have our own mission. We are called to fulfill our mission for the greater glory of God, whether in the family, whether in the church, whether in the society. We are called to do our mission with a perfect communion. And the third one, very, very important, that is model. Trinity is a model for us. We are made in the image and likeness of God, each one of us, you and I. We are the temples of God, temple of the Holy Spirit. Each one of us made in the image and likeness of God. So, therefore, we are called to imitate these values of the Blessed Trinity. We are called to love like the Father. We are called to serve like the Son, and we are called to become holy and give the life or make others holy like the Holy Spirit. I'm sure if we practice these three things, the communion, the mission, and the model that we have in the Trinity, I think I'm sure we can learn much for our life. We ask for this grace today particularly uh from the Blessed Trinity. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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