There is nothing more terrifying to a teacher than giving a class on the Trinity. It is one of the easiest teachings to get wrong because it is hard for us as humans to wrap our minds around the absolute majesty of God. St. Augustine was famous for saying, “If you think you understand God, what you understand isn’t God.” That is to say, if we think our finite minds can fully comprehend the beauty of the Creator, then we are fooling ourselves.
But how can the Catechism call the Trinity the central mystery of the Christian faith if we can’t fully understand it? Well, just because something is a mystery doesn’t mean we can’t understand certain things about it. We may not understand God in his fullness here on earth, but we can contemplate his love, his peace, and his mercy. We can also enter into the mystery even if we can’t fully comprehend it.
You and I might never fully understand gravity, the rhythm of the heart and what makes it beat, or the feeling of love, but we sure experience these things every day. So the fact that God is so good that he is hard to comprehend should not prevent us from entering into the good and experiencing it as much as we can.
Catechism 257 states, “God is eternal blessedness, undying life, unfading light. God is love: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God freely wills to communicate the glory of his blessed life. Such is the ‘plan of his loving kindness’, conceived by the Father before the foundation of the world, in his beloved Son: ‘He destined us in love to be his sons’ and ‘to be conformed to the image of his Son’, through ‘the spirit of sonship’. This plan is a ‘grace [which] was given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages began’, stemming immediately from Trinitarian love. It unfolds in the work of creation, the whole history of salvation after the fall, and the missions of the Son and the Spirit, which are continued in the mission of the Church.”
What poetic language the Church uses to speak about the love of the Trinity and our destiny of sharing in this trinitarian love. But at the end of the day, even though the language is beautiful, it is still human language. It doesn’t even begin to encapsulate the love of the Trinity and our sharing in that love. But, like the poet describing his long lost love and falling short, we can use this feast day to look to heaven and thank God in our human language for the love he has for us, as we await the full experience of it at the end of time.
From all of us here at Diocesan, God bless!
No hay nada más aterrador para un maestro que dar una clase sobre la Trinidad. Es una de las enseñanzas más fáciles de equivocar porque es difícil para nosotros, como seres humanos, comprender la majestad absoluta de Dios. San Agustín era famoso por decir: “Si crees que entiendes a Dios, lo que entiendes no es Dios”. Es decir, si pensamos que nuestras mentes finitas pueden comprender plenamente la belleza del Creador, entonces nos estamos engañando a nosotros mismos.
Pero ¿cómo puede el Catecismo llamar a la Trinidad el misterio central de la fe cristiana si no podemos comprenderla plenamente? Bueno, sólo porque algo sea un misterio no significa que no podamos entender ciertas cosas sobre ello. Quizás no entendamos a Dios en su plenitud aquí en la tierra, pero podemos contemplar su amor, su paz y su misericordia. También podemos entrar en el misterio aunque no podamos comprenderlo plenamente.
Quizás tú y yo nunca entendamos completamente la gravedad, el ritmo del corazón y lo que lo hace latir, o el sentimiento del amor, pero seguro que experimentamos estas cosas todos los días. Entonces, el hecho de que Dios sea tan bueno que sea difícil de comprender no debería impedirnos entrar en el bien y experimentarlo tanto como podamos.
El Catecismo 257 dice: “Dios es eterna beatitud, vida inmortal, luz sin ocaso. Dios es amor: Padre, Hijo y Espíritu Santo. Dios quiere comunicar libremente la gloria de su vida bienaventurada. Tal es el ‘designio benevolente’ que concibió antes de la creación del mundo en su Hijo amado, ‘predestinándonos a la adopción filial en Él’, es decir, ‘a reproducir la imagen de su Hijo’ gracias al ‘Espíritu de adopción filial’. Este designio es una ‘gracia dada antes de todos los siglos’ nacido inmediatamente del amor trinitario. Se despliega en la obra de la creación, en toda la historia de la salvación después de la caída, en las misiones del Hijo y del Espíritu, cuya prolongación es la misión de la Iglesia.”
Qué lenguaje tan poético utiliza la Iglesia para hablar del amor de la Trinidad y de nuestro destino de compartir este amor trinitario. Pero al final del día, aunque el lenguaje es hermoso, sigue siendo lenguaje humano. Ni siquiera comienza a resumir el amor de la Trinidad y nuestra participación en ese amor. Pero, como el poeta describe el amor que ha perdido hace mucho tiempo y su fracaso, podemos usar este día festivo para mirar al cielo y agradecer a Dios en nuestro lenguaje humano por el amor que tiene por nosotros, mientras esperamos experimentarlo plenamente al fin de los tiempos.
De parte de todos nosotros aquí en Diocesan, ¡Dios los bendiga!
Tommy Shultz is a Business Development Representative for Diocesan. In this role he is committed to bringing the best software to dioceses and parishes while helping them evangelize on the digital continent. Tommy has worked in various diocese and parish roles since his graduation from Franciscan University with a Theology degree. He hopes to use his skills in evangelization, marketing, and communications, to serve the Church and bring the Good News to all. His favorite quote comes from St. John Paul II, who said, “A person is an entity of a sort to which the only proper and adequate way to relate is love.”
Feature Image Credit: Mark kassinos, unsplash.com/photos/people-walking-on-hallway-during-daytime-gjXRCmoiWxI
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