THE LOVE OF GOD HAS BEEN POURED INTO OUR HEARTS

SOLEMNITY OF HOLY TRINITY - 

The mystery of the Most Holy Trinity pervades the entire Christian life and is always present in everything we say and do. Before this great mystery, we must sit in silence with an open mind and loving heart to be touched by the unfathomable reality of God. On our own, we cannot grapple with such a big mystery. We should not be surprised since mysteries are all around us and even within us. We are a mystery to ourselves. There is a Bemba proverb that says munda ya mubiyo tamwigilwa, that is, there is no way to enter your friend’s guts, meaning that we cannot know his thoughts and feelings unless he reveals himself. The same happens with God. Throughout the history of salvation, during a long process, God revealed himself as the One who is always looking for relationships. And that is so because God is relationship. He is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He is Yahweh, the God who is always present and ready to hear our cry and lift us. God is relationship and communion, and that is what we profess and proclaim as we celebrate the Most Holy Trinity. We speak of God as Father, from whom the Son proceeds. That’s why everything the Father has belongs to the Son as well. The Son is the perfect image of the Father. “No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.” (Jn 1:18). “For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell” (Col 1:19). Affirming the Trinity is affirming that God is love (1 Jn 4:8). In his letter to the Romans, Paul says that the “love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit which has been given us.” (Ro 5:5). The Spirit proceeds from the Father and is sent to us by the Son (Jn 15:26). He is the Spirit of truth who guides us to the truth and opens our hearts to welcome Jesus and recognise him as the Christ, the Son of God.

We do not believe in three Gods. There is only one God. Christians are monotheists, but whenever we speak of God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, we are testifying that God is love. Being created in God’s image, we must live in love to reach our fulfilment and be fully human.

We relate to God in a very different way from the way Muslims do. Yahweh and Allah are not the same God. Before Allah, a Muslim is a slave who must submit unconditionally. Before Yahweh, we are children who may call Him: Abba! Father! Allah is a lonely and very distant God. He never addresses his people, but through a messenger. He does not enter into a personal relationship with human beings. He decides and imposes his will as he wishes. We, the disciples of Jesus Christ, live in hope because “by faith and through Jesus that we have entered this state of grace in which we can boast about looking forward to God’s glory.” (Rm 5:2)

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;

the God who is, who was, and who is to come. (cf.Rv 1:8)