The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity - Homily
June 07, 2020 11:30 am · Sergio Muñoz Fita
Holy Trinity Sunday is one of the most special days of the liturgical calendar. Today we look up at the “spring that flows and runs”, in the words of Saint John of the Cross. It is the most beautiful Mystery, the fullness of life and happiness, the God of love and peace (second reading), mercy and grace (first reading). Contemplating it from this shore, the soul desires to exclaim with the psalmist: "Glory and praise for ever!”
As you know, every day of this week the parish priests and the Carmelite sisters have covered the eleven hours of Perpetual Adoration that runs from 7 pm to 6 am. It has been a very beautiful time of being with the Lord and I must confess that I have spent several hours contemplating the icon that presides over us at today's Holy Mass. Prayer these days has been a glimpse into the heart of the Mystery of the Holy Trinity as we see it represented here in this image which is inspired by the famous icon of the Trinity by Andrei Rublev. This explanation is based on what you can read on the parish website, as well as what I have read over these days (attracted and captivated by this image) and what the Lord has shown me in personal prayer.
Our image takes us to chapter 18 of the book of Genesis, to the food that Abraham and Sarah prepared under the shade of an oak tree for three mysterious personages in which tradition has always seen a foreshadowing of the mystery of the Trinity. On my trip to the Holy Land, I had the grace to visit the place in Hebron where this biblical scene took place. In the Russian Orthodox monastery of the Holy Trinity, the dry trunk of this tree is still venerated, the first tree that gave shade and shelter to the Three, as well as a sprout born from it that still continues to produce acorns every year. Although they are three figures, Abraham addresses them in the singular, calls them "Lord" and prostrates himself before this Mystery. This morning, we are also invited to worship the same Mystery and to serve it in an attitude of listening all the days of our lives.
In the Mystery of God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are "coeternal and coequal", in the words of Saint Athanasius. The Three Persons are really different: the Father is not the Son, nor is the Son the Father, nor is the Holy Spirit the Father or the Son. However, they share the same nature: there are not three Lords, but one Lord. There are not three gods, but one God, "who produces all of them in everyone." (1 Cor 12:6) The Trinity is unity in the multiplicity of three Persons who are distinct and equal. That unity and distinction is beautifully expressed in the image with the similarity of the faces: the three figures have the same face, the same halo, the same wings that indicate their celestial origin, and are distinguished above all by their clothing. The face expresses unity, the clothing, the distinction of Persons. So the answer to the question, “which Divine Person is being represented in each image?” is answered by looking at their way of dress.
The colors of the icon are also symbols that represent invisible realities. The three figures are dressed in blue which expresses the attribute of their divinity. The Father is God, the Son is God and the Holy Spirit is God, and yet there are not three gods but one God. The image on the right also wears a green cloak. Green is the symbol of life and it is indicating that this angel is representing the Holy Spirit, "the Lord and Giver of life" as we call him in the Creed every Sunday; the Holy Spirit that we celebrated only 7 days ago and who has been poured into our hearts so that we have eternal life, to join in the communion of life with the Holy Trinity.
The central figure wears two colors: blue and red. That angel represents our Lord Jesus Christ, in whom exist, without confusion, two natures: the human, symbolized by the red of our blood, and the divine that we see in the celestial blue. We can hear the echo of the words of today's Gospel as we contemplate this image: "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son so that everyone who believes in him may not die but have eternal life." (Jn 3:16)
Finally, the image on the left would be the Father. We know this from several indications. His head and staff are upright, indicating his parental authority. The faces of the other two figures have their heads, along with their staffs, slightly inclined towards Him in obedience and respect. Even the mountain and the tree in the background seem to bow in adoration before the Mystery of the Trinity and, ultimately, before the Father. The image awakens serenity and silently encourages us to join in worship, with Abraham and Sarah at his feet, or with the created world we see in the tree and the mountain, or with the Son and the Holy Spirit who give glory to the Father.
One last color to which I want to draw attention is the gold present throughout the painting on the wings, the halos, the chalice, and the thrones on which they are seated. Gold represents the glory of God in which we are all called to participate. Actually, everything in this beautiful image invites us to join this mystery: the geometry of the images, the colors, the expression on the faces and the table around which they are sitting which is open to the front to encourage us to join their feast. The Holy Trinity is the goal of our Christian life and we have been created for transformation in that Mystery, as Saint John of the Cross so sublimely explains. At the end of its spiritual journey, the soul is united with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit in the "union of love". At this point, the soul enters God, lives in God, loves in God. "One should not think it impossible that the soul be capable of so sublime an activity as this breathing in God through participation as God breathes in her. For, granted that God favors her by union with the Most Blessed Trinity, in which she becomes deiform and God through participation, how could it be incredible that she also understand, know, and love - or better that this be done in her - in the Trinity, together with it, as does the Trinity itself! Yet God accomplishes this in the soul through communication and participation. This is transformation in the three Persons in power and wisdom and love, and thus the soul is like God through this transformation. I've created her in his image and likeness that she might attain such resemblance.” (Spiritual Canticle, Stanza 39, 4)
Let us conclude with one last thought. The Holy Mass that we celebrate is a real participation in that mystery. In the image, we see the face of Christ in the chalice on the altar table. This icon shows us visually that the Incarnation was a work of the three divine Persons, although only the second of them, the eternal Word, took on our fallen nature. At Holy Mass, we join in family conversation with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We do this because, as we receive the Body of the Lord, we incorporate ourselves into Jesus and, in Him, we ascend to the Holy Trinity. How wonderful! One would want to say with the Mystic Doctor: "O souls, created for these grandeurs and called to them! What are you doing? How are you spending your time? Your aims are base and your possessions miseries! O wretched blindness of your eyes! You are blind to so brilliant a light and deaf to such loud voices because you fail to discern that insofar as you seek eminence and glory you remain miserable, base, ignorant, and unworthy of so many blessings!” (Spiritual Canticle, Stanza 39.7)
There can only be communion, peace, harmony, unity and joy in union with the Mystery of the Holy Trinity. Without the charity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, there is only division, violence and death.
I invite you to pray with this image, looking at it silently and lovingly. May the Lord grant us to set our eyes on his Mystery of love, in this family that is our origin and our destiny. May he grant us to live in such a way that in this life we reach the total union with the Divine Persons we ask for in the Eucharist and that one day we can rest in that Trinitarian community, in that gaze of love, in that mystery of life, happiness and light to which we are all called.
