Sister Kate’s “Gospel Question of the Week” (John 16: 12-15) …Weekend of 5/25-26/13 … Trinity
Sunday. Today we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Trinity. The mystery of the most Holy Trinity is a basic doctrine of faith in
Catholicism, understandable not with our heads but rather with our hearts. It teaches us that there are three distinct persons in one God, sharing the same divine nature. Our mind cannot grasp this doctrine which in essence teaches us that 1+ 1+ 1 = 1 and not 3. But we believe in this mystery because Jesus who is God taught it clearly, the Gospel writers recorded it, the Fathers of the Church tried to explain it and the Councils of Nicaea and Constantinople defined it as a dogma of our faith. We are constantly reminded about the Trinity. All of our prayers begin in the name of the Holy Trinity and end glorifying the Trinity. All sacraments are
administered (we are baptized, confirmed, anointed, sins forgiven and marriage blessed) in the name of the Holy Trinity.
Church bells ring three times, inviting us to remember and pray to the Holy Trinity. We bless ourselves and the priest
blesses us in the name of the Holy Trinity. The dogma of the Holy Trinity is a mystery. Our human minds are not large
enough to understand HOW there can be three persons in ONE God, but we believe it in faith. In John chapters 15-18,
we have a detailed account of Jesus’ teaching of the role of each person of the Holy Trinity. God the Father creates and
provides for His creatures. God the Son redeems us and reconciles us with God. God the Holy Spirit sanctifies us,
strengthens us, teaches us and guides us. And sooooo…let us endeavor to respect ourselves and others because every
one is the temple of the Holy Spirit where all three Persons of the Holy Trinity abide. Let us have the firm conviction that the
Trinitarian God abides in us and He is the source of our hope, courage, and strength and our final destination. Let us practice the
Trinitarian relationship of love and unity in the family relationships of father, mother and children because by baptism we become
children of God and members of God’s Trinitarian family. Let us practice the I–God–my neighbor vertical and horizontal Trinitarian
relationship in society by loving God living in others. A good illustration of the Trinity comes from world-renowned scientist Dr.
Henry Morris. He notes that the entire universe is Trinitarian by design. The universe consists of three things: matter, space, and time.
Take away any one of those three and the universe would cease to exist. But each one of those is itself a trinity. Matter = mass +
energy + motion. Space = length + height + breadth. Time = past + present + future. Thus the whole universe witnesses to the
character of the God who made it. Joke of the week... A priest went into a second-grade classroom of the parish school and asked, “Who can tell me what the Blessed Trinity means?” A little girl lisped, “The Blethed Twinity meanth there are thwee perthonth in one God.” The priest, taken aback by the lisp, said, “Would you say that again? I didn’t understand what you said.” The little girl answered, “Y’not suppothed to underthtand; ‘t’th a mythtewy.” GOSPEL HOMEWORK OF THE WEEK: The next time you make the sign of the cross, think about what you are saying and acknowledge the Trinity!