The Mystery of the Trinity and the Dignity of Relationships

On any given Sunday, the odds of a congregation hearing some form of heresy is low, but never zero. However, on the Sunday of the Most Holy Trinity, it goes up a little bit. The danger of falling into some sort of heresy by trying to explain the Holy Trinity is usually where you fall into some form of reduction of the Trinity to something less than the sublime glory that is God himself.

The Holy Trinity is a mystery, and we need to first and foremost recognize that and realize that in our faith there are many different mysteries that are simply meant to be lived and experienced, not solved or figured out, because we'll never do it, because it is an expression of God himself. And we as human beings are Mysteries. So, we don't fully even understand ourselves. Why should I even try to explain God when my own being is confusing enough to me?

But the mystery of the Trinity as we celebrate it, draws us into something about who we are as human beings, because each and every one of us is created in the image of God. And not just God the Father or God the Son, or God the Holy Spirit, but in the image of God. If we go back to Genesis, as God is creating human beings, he says, “Let us create man in our own image.” And God created them, male and female. He created them in the divine image. He created them. Period. But what does that really mean? And I think that's the reason why we have a liturgical celebration in our calendar for this. Not so that any brilliant priest can stand here and explain what the Holy Trinity is.

The mystery of the Holy Trinity is a mystery of personhood. It is a mystery of relationship, because you can only really be a person in relationship to others. That is why God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. That there is the lover, the one who is loved, and the love that they share. It's all about a relationship. And that's why the Son is coeternal with the Father. Because if God is Eternal, and he cannot change, God is always Father. If he's always Father, that means there must always be a Son. And as it should be, fathers and sons should love one another. And that love is also eternal.

That's the relationship that is God, and that is the image in which you and I were created. We are created to be in relationship with other people  and to love them after the model of love that God has shown us in creating us out of nothing, in sustaining us in this world, in coming as one of us, in the person of the Son, Jesus Christ, in redeeming us, giving of Himself for us. That is the mystery of the love that is God, the mystery of the Most Blessed Trinity.

You and I are created in that image, and we can fail to live up to that image, which makes us somehow less than fully human. We must love others for their sake. We must love others for their good. Not because we get a reward for it, not because they necessarily deserve it, but simply because that is what true love is. And that is the relationship that we were created for.

This past Monday, the Pope released his first encyclical. It's about AI, but it's not simply about the technology. It's about the humanity that this technology could deny. And if you read it, it's not “AI Bad. Stay away from it.” It’s that humanity is incredibly beautiful and magnificent. That's why it's entitled Magnifica Humanitas, which literally means magnificent humanity. Not artificial intelligence, but magnificent humanity. And we can lose that magnificence when we fall into pitfalls that deny relationship with other people. That's why we should limit, if not get off, of social media. The beauty of it is that we're connected. The horror of it is that we are connected because we don't relate to other people as persons, but as objects and opponents. There's competition, and that's not what we were created for. Neither competition with one another nor competition with God. When we look up from our screens and look into the eyes of one another and we see someone infinitely loved by God. But we don't fulfill that swiping through our phones. We don't fulfill that sitting at our desks behind a keyboard. We only fulfill that in real human relationships, we fulfill it in real human creativity, we even fulfill it in real human shortcomings and mistakes. Because it's better for you to fail a test honestly than to ace it through AI. Because at least you maintained your humanity.

If I were to ask AI to explain the Blessed Trinity to me, it would treat the Trinity as a problem to be solved. And the Trinity is not a problem. A human being is not a problem. A human being is a blessing. Everything about you is blessed, even in your brokenness. That is the joy and the magnificence of who we are. And it stems completely from the fact that we are created in the image and likeness of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, male and female. He created us. In the divine image. He created us.

So that's what I want you to take away from this weekend when you say, what is the Holy Trinity? Did you learn any more about the Holy Trinity? Relationship, person, dignity. That is what the Blessed Trinity is about, and that is what you and I are about.