Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity
Cycle A
June 4, 2023
As a friar, it sometimes happens that when I’ve planned a trip by car another member of my community asks to ride along. I confess it makes me stop and think: Do I want to spend hours in the car with that person? Traveling with another person means forming a relationship or building on one.
In today’s First Reading, Moses asks God to “come along in our company,” to travel with the Israelites to the Promised Land. Moses admits they are “stiff-necked”—perhaps not the best traveling companions. But in reality, it’s God who’s invited Israel on this trip. And God will supply what’s needed to get them to their destination. Their relationship with God will be life-giving.
Today on Trinity Sunday, we celebrate a divine relationship—Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Three divine persons, one God. Understanding how that relationship works may be more than we can comprehend. But understanding what that relationship means is essential.
Through the Trinity we have the strength to live in relationship to one another. As today’s Second Reading says: We’re to encourage one another and live in peace—and the God of love and peace will in effect “come along in our company.” Such a relationship is God’s plan for us. The Gospel tells us that, in what is perhaps the New Testament’s most famous quote, John 3:16—God so loved the world that he gave his only Son.
