Gospel—Matthew 28: 16 – 20

This weekend we celebrate the mystery of the Holy Trinity. The word mystery is used rather broadly in our day to describe something that we can’t personally figure out but has a clear explanation, mystery stories that take some thought to solve, and the truly mysterious that cannot be explained. The mystery of the Holy Trinity fits in the last type of a mystery, it cannot be explained, understood or solved. The Youth Catechism of the Catholic Church (YouCat) describes the Trinity this way, “Christians do not worship three different Gods, but one single Being that is threefold and yet remains one. We know that God is triune from Jesus Christ: He, the Son speaks about his Father in heaven. He prays to him and sends us the Holy Spirit, who is the love of the Father and the Son. That is why we are baptized ‘in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.’” Mt. 28:19–20. The Trinity is a mystery that is central to our faith and our relationship to God. In the one God we encounter the three persons who are totally and completely one God and who relate to us as three persons, each in a distinct way.

Rather than trying to solve the unsolvable let us experience the beauty of the mystery and how it touches each one of us. The Gospel takes place at the Ascension and gives us the final instruction of Jesus. He clearly outlines the mission of the followers of Jesus, to “make disciples of all nations,” by Baptizing them. He then gives the formula, familiar to all of us, of how to Baptize. I am a Catholic today because these disciples took this command seriously and traveled throughout the known world preaching and Baptizing. The message of Christ was passed on from generation to generation, with more and more people being Baptized “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” Shortly after I was born my parents had me Baptized so as to share in their Faith. It would be interesting to trace our Christian genealogy from one who was present at that final instruction of Jesus.

There would be people of various nations and states of life all joined together by our Baptism into God’s family. I like to imagine that there were Saints in Martyrs, slaves and freemen, royalty and commoners, those who were Baptized because they were born into Christian families, and those who were pagan and professed their faith in Jesus Christ.

Through Baptism we are all united with God and one another. The mystery of the Triune God fills us with the Love of the Father, the Peace of Christ, and the unity of the Holy Spirit. We are united with God who draws us into His family, he is the loving Father, he is the Son our Brother who brings us Peace, and the Holy Spirit who sanctifies us. In celebrating the Feast of the Holy Trinity it is a day for us not to get bogged down with trying to wrap our minds around an unsolvable mystery, rather let us allow the mystery of God wrap himself around our hearts and souls and fill us with a deeper experience and appreciation of God. May the unity of God enter our lives to bring inner unity to anything within us that is in discord, as well as unity in the outward tensions we face. The mystery of the Holy Trinity is a to behold with awe and to celebrate with joy.

Father Killian Loch, O.S.B.