The doctrine of the Most Holy Trinity states that there are three persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – but there is only one God, one in divinity, dignity and majesty. We believe that what unites them is love, for God is love.
They are three but one. So, it cannot be an addition – 1+1+1=3. Instead, this mystery can only be understood as multiplication – 1x1x1=1. The Father multiplies his love into begetting a Son. And in the intimate love between the Father and the Son comes forth the Spirit of Love, the Holy Spirit. The Holy Trinity, the One God in three divine persons, is a mystery of multiplication.
How do we imitate the Holy Trinity? How does the Trinity come alive in our lives? We mutliply.
Jesus said that we should forgive “seventy times seven times.” We do not put a limit to forgiveness. We do not choose whom to forgive. By multiplying our mercy, our understanding and forgiveness, we imitate the Blessed Trinity.
The first reading today proclaims that the Lord is “rich in kindness and fidelity, continuing his kindness for a thousand generations.” The Lord’s kindness is not only for the generation of Moses but is multiplied to a “thousandth generation”; a kindness that is available to our present generation. By multiplying our kindness we imitate the Blessed Trinity.
The gospel today says, “For God so loved the world that he gave us his only Son.” To love oneself, this is natural. To love one’s family, this is duty. But to love those whom we do not know, to love the poor, to love those who cannot repay us, to love those who persecute us – this is Christian love, this is multiplying our love more than the boundaries of the self. By multiplying our love for one another, we imitate the Blessed Trinity.
We multiply when we share. We truly share when we love: a love that chooses no one, a love that excludes no one, a love that embraces all.
The Mathematics of the Blessed Trinity is multiplication: 1x1x1=1. We can only become one if we multiply the love we receive from God in a way that embraces our brothers and sister. We multiply our love, our forgiveness, our kindness. Then, in the words of the second reading, “the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit” will be with us. Amen.
Trinity? Hehe...
