Every Sunday, Bishop Edward Malesic writes a Scripture reflection for the faithful. Follow the bishop on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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Today we celebrate the mystery of the most Holy Trinity. Our belief in the triune God is at the heart of who we are as Christians: there is but one God, but God exists as three divine persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Each person of God is equally God, yet there is but one God. Understand it? No. Believe it? Yes. Why? God has revealed himself to us in this way. This is who God is: God is Trinity.
Yet, the doctrine of the Trinity is not just a heady theological statement without any meaning for us. The Trinity reveals something very basic about us. For, if we are created in God’s image, then we are created in the image of a triune God. The Trinity, somehow, defines us too.
Pope Benedict XVI said this about the Trinity, “God is not solitude, but perfect communion.” In the same way, we are not meant to be alone, but together. We were also created to be in communion with each other, much like the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are in communion with each other. We are created by God to be a united community of persons, just as God is.
As one example, the Trinity is at the heart of our understanding of marriage. Marriage is also a community of persons as husbands and wives are brought together as one flesh. Here’s another example: the Trinity is at the heart of the Church. We are a group of individual believers who are brought together into one Body of Christ, with one faith, and one Lord.
That is why, one of the great prayers of Jesus was this one: “I pray. . . that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us” (John 17:20-21). Jesus wants his followers to be a united communion of persons with God.
May we never lose our unity as followers of Jesus Christ. May we never lose our desire to be in communion, so close to each other and so close to God, that we become as one as Jesus and the Father are one together with the Holy Spirit.
Happy Memorial Day weekend everyone. God bless the souls of those who died in the service of our country.