Trinity Sunday - C 2025

Today is Trinity Sunday.  Preachers often consider the Trinity one of the more difficult topics to preach on.  Why?  Because the Trinity is, at its core, a mystery.  And when I say “mystery,” I don’t mean something we can’t understand at all, like a puzzle with missing pieces.  I mean something so deep, so infinite, that we can never fully grasp it.  Any attempt to understand the Trinity only scratches the surface.

I remember studying the theology of the Trinity in seminary and feeling frustrated.  “If I can’t fully understand this,” I thought, “what’s the point of even trying?  I’ll always fall short.”  I shared this frustration with one of my professors, a gruff old Jesuit priest from New York.  He looked at me and said, “Of course you can’t comprehend this stuff!  You’re not God, are you?  No!  You’re puny!  You can’t fit God in your head.  But that doesn’t mean you can’t understand Him at all.  And what you can understand makes all the difference in how you relate to Him.”

He was right.  Even a glimpse of who God is, just scratching the surface of this mystery, changes everything.

All of us long for fulfillment.  But we can’t be fulfilled unless we’re living according to our purpose.  So the question becomes: What were we made for?

We don’t have to look far for the answer.  Scripture tells us that we were created in the image and likeness of God.  If we want to know how and why we were created, we need to first look to God.  And God has revealed Himself as a Trinity – a communion of three divine persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  One God, three persons.  That is the mystery.

What’s essential to understand is that each Person of the Trinity is only properly understood in relation to the other Persons.  The Father eternally pours out His love upon the Son.  The Son receives that love and returns it to the Father.  That eternal exchange of love is so perfect, so alive, that it is the third person of the Trinity – the Holy Spirit.

This is who God is: an eternal communion, a family of self-giving love.

And because we are made in His image, this is who we are meant to be: people who give, receive, and become a gift.  That is our purpose.  And when we live contrary to that purpose, when we isolate, hoard, or close ourselves off, we suffer.  We become miserable.

Everyone wants happiness.  And we often seek to satisfy our desires in false ways by grasping at things: wealth, pleasure, status, control.  We chase after fulfillment by focusing on ourselves.  The paradox is that the more we focus on ourselves, the more dissatisfied we become.  But when we live for others, when we pour ourselves out in love, when we give and receive love freely, we find what we were looking for all along.  This is how we were designed and created

A mother wakes up at 2 a.m. to feed her crying baby – not because it makes her feel good, not because it earns her anything, but because she loves her child.  She pours herself out, day after day.  And in that exhausting self-gift, there is a kind of deep satisfaction and joy.  That’s Trinitarian love in action.

An elderly man caring daily for his wife who no longer recognizes him because of Alzheimer’s doesn’t do it for thanks.  He does it because he’s given his life to her.  That’s Trinitarian love in action.

Think about a friend who shows up when your life is falling apart.  They may not be able to fix the problem, but they stay with you.  They make space for your sorrow.  That’s Trinitarian love in action – a love that doesn’t take, but simply gives, receives, and abides.

Consider a father who works long hours to provide for his family.  He comes home tired, but still makes time to wrestle with his kids, help with homework, fix the leaky faucet, and listen to his wife.  He rarely gets applause for it, and he may not always feel appreciated.  But he pours himself out day after day – not for recognition, but out of love.  That’s the image of God the Father.  Quiet, steady, faithful.  He gives.  He provides.  He protects.  And in that self-giving, often unnoticed love, he reflects the very heart of the Trinity: a love that is not self-seeking but self-giving.  A love that fulfills not by taking, but by pouring itself out.

If you want to know the path to fulfillment – not just for today but for your whole life – look to the Trinity.  Let your life be shaped by the rhythm of divine love: giving, receiving, and becoming a gift.  Life is meant to be spent as a gift.

You don’t need to be a theologian to grasp the Trinity and live this mystery.  Even a glimpse of who God is, just scratching the surface of this mystery, changes everything.  Keeping our eyes fixed on the Trinity, we see that we are called to love like the Father, offer ourselves like the Son, and let the Spirit animate our daily choices at the kitchen table, in the workplace, in our friendships, in our prayers.

That’s how we glorify the Triune God.  That’s how we become who we were made to be.  That’s how we begin to taste the joy of heaven, even now.

All glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.  As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end.  Amen.