Monday of the Fifth Week of Easter
I teach junior high students religious education at our church. Because these young people are entering a stage in their lives where they are beginning to become reflective and inquisitive, our discussions can sometimes be very lively. At one point, they questioned me to help them grasp what we mean when we say we believe in the Holy Trinity. Although I tried to use words as best I could to help them better understand, in the end I said that the Trinity was beyond our human understanding- it was a mystery.
In today’s reading, Jesus gives us a glimpse into the meaning of the Trinity. Jesus explains that the essence of God is love and it is the sharing of this love between the Father, Son and Spirit that unites these three persons into the triune God.
The most amazing part of our faith is that Jesus invites us to become a part of this relationship with the Trinity. Through the grace and power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus promises that God will make “a dwelling” in each person who keeps His word. Our God loves us beyond our imagination, gives His Son to bring us salvation, and sends His Spirit to bind us together as one. The Trinity is not only a mystery but is the source of our hope and joy, and is the truth upon which the kingdom is being built.
In the gospel reading, Jesus describes how He and His Father are intimately connected as one. If a person loves Jesus, He explains that he or she “will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him.” (John 14:21) Jesus tells His disciples that they show their love for Him by observing His commandments and keeping His word. But even the word which Jesus shares with us comes from “the Father who sent me.” (John 14:24) Jesus recognizes that His followers cannot know His commands and keep His word, unless they have help from above. He promises “the Advocate- the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send” (John 14: 25) It is God’s own Spirit that will “teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you.” (John 14:26) Between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit there is this seamless interplay that works together to create, to love and to draw all things into union with them. Although all people are welcomed, not all people choose to follow Jesus despite the invitation. Jesus promises that those who hear His call and follow will know the presence of God-” we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.” (John 14:23)
So how will our lives be changed if we begin to allow the mystery of the Trinity to guide how we live? Our God is relational- it is the love shared by the Father, Son and Spirit that allows His work to be done. If our triune God works together to create good, could this be His invitation to us to work together with Him and one another in love to create good? The Father sends Jesus as His sign of love for us, and Jesus obeys the Father as His love for the Father. Jesus shows us that obedience to God’s will is the way that we best show God our love. To follow the example of Christ, we are called to obey God as a sign of our love. Which leads us to the question of how do we know God’s will for us? Jesus shows us in the way He lived that prayer was an essential part of his relationship with His Father, and the way He came to know the Father’s will. I think Jesus calls us to relationship with Him and the Father through prayer. To aid us in our prayer, Jesus promises the Holy Spirit, and it is this very Spirit of God that comes to us and abides in us and draws us to the Father and Son. So if we look to Jesus to better understand the mystery of the Trinity, I think that he is inviting us to follow Him in these ways: recognize that God is love and His love is great, work together in love with God and one another to create good, show our love for God through our obedience to His will, spend time in prayer to build relationship with God as He reveals His will for us, and be open to the Spirit of God in our lives so we are able to be drawn to Him as He calls all people to become one in Him. Although I may never comprehend what it means that my God is three persons- Father, Son and Spirit, I know that the mystery of the Trinity is the foundation of my faith, and is what calls me to be holy.
"Heavenly Father, you created the world out of love. In love for this creation, you sent your Son to bring salvation for all people. Through the power of Your Holy Spirit, may you live in us, so we may keep your word and thereby return our love for You. May Your love- Father, Son and Holy Spirit gather us all to be one in You. We pray this through Christ our LORD. Amen."
Marylynn Herchline