Trinity Sunday 3.6.12 Quest for unity
Many people are searching for God; many others are not sure if He exists or not.
There is much confusion about His existence; His nature; the way He intervenes or not in human affairs; the way it all works.
Many would say they believe in a God ‘of some sort’ but would not know how to describe or define Him.
Nor would they know how to approach Him with any confidence.
With so much confusion about it might seem that to explain the workings of the Blessed Trinity could make matters even less clear – if we bring in a lot of difficult terms and phrases.
The technical information might seem dry and unhelpful but it all has its place.
The best way to understand God for most people would be in terms of how He impacts upon us.
In evangelising others we would tell people that God is personal, something like we are, only much better.
The Persons of the Trinity are perfect in every way, not subject to the frailties and changing moods and whims which we experience.
If this seems to put God beyond reach it is not the intention. His perfection is not a barrier so much as an invitation for us to join Him.
We like the idea of a personal God, to whom we can relate. But we have to accept that we must relate on His terms rather than our own.
If we are to seek a personal relationship with God we must see such a relationship as He sees it.
In general we could say the human race settles for too little in the manner of personal relationships and of love.
Many people would think that the highest form of love is with another human person, usually to be sought in marriage. In books and films the story often ends with a marriage and that is seen as self-evidently the right place to end the story. The greatest possible happiness has been reached. What more is there to say?
Nothing, except that marriage is not the ultimate happiness even if it is the happiest marriage ever - because we are made for God, and our hearts cannot rest until they rest in Him. Of course it is better if we have good human relationships but they are never enough as such.
Our ultimate need, whether we realize it or not, is to be in union with God, loving and being loved by Him. If we have this we have discovered the Trinity. To be in relation to God is to share in the love of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
We are doing this even if we do not understand all the technical terms.
We find God through prayer, sacraments, reading the signs, trusting Him to steer us through each event, finally coming to see Him face to face, but preparing all the time for that encounter.
The more seriously we seek Him in this life the more we will understand Him and the more ready to spend eternity with Him.
We already relate to Him personally. The images of the Trinity can help but would never be enough by themselves.
God is not a triangle. Nor a perfect circle. He is much better than any image we can think of.
It is all about getting us closer to God than we otherwise were. Far from thinking that God is distant we learn more and more that we have no life apart from Him. We are not only created by Him; not only to return to Him; but nothing even in our non-religious activity falls outside His holy will.
The Trinity was not invented for our purposes but we are glad all the same to be included. God does not need us but He is happy to have us along.
May He help us to know Him better, both personally and technically, and finally to live in perfect union with Him. Glory to the one God and three Persons. Father, Son and Holy Ghost.
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