A bigger mystery than the Trinity to me, as I sit down to write this Reflection, is what am I going to write about the Trinity.  Perhaps I could write a funny story to take your mind off the reality of such a God having three divine Some-Ones, or persons, as we say.  The First Reading of today’s liturgy helps a bit.

The Book of Proverbs has the Wisdom of God speaking of itself as witness to the goodness of creation.  Before ever there was anything, “then was I there beside Him as His craftsman and I was His delight day by day, playing before Him all the while, playing on the surface of His earth.” 

There is a Creator Who brought all things out of nothing and a Wisdom-Person Who urges this creation to be all that it is meant to be.  This Person was before the creation and seems to celebrate the Creator and the creation.  This Wisdom knows from where this creation comes, what it is and for what it is meant. 

The gospel is a section of Jesus’ last words with His friends.  He speaks of the Spirit Who shares all that the Father has given to Jesus, the Son.  This Spirit will guide the disciples, learning all that Jesus has to say.  There is much to learn later and the Spirit accompanies the truths of Jesus. 

The deepest truth that Jesus came to reveal is that there is a Creator Who loves all the creation and this creation is to return to the Creator.  We speak here only in human terms, but what else do we have?  The work of Jesus is to embrace as sacred in the eyes of all, that which is sacred in the eyes of God. 

The Persons of the Trinity do not have three tasks or missions, but the one work of revealing the love of the One God.  Our problem has three parts and so we picture the Persons of the Trinity in three ways.

Our first temptation or problem is about creation itself.  What is it, and why?  The temptation is that we can gravitate to the belief that this universe happened independently from the Creator’s love.  Hence, we can misuse or selfishly abuse created things, because they really weren’t created, but happened.  They all are ours or all for the strongest or most wealthy and they can do whatever they want, because it belongs to them.  “Happenation” then is not a revelation, but an accident which the accident of humanity happened upon.

The first temptation then is against the “Father” or Creator.

The second problem has to do with the holiness of our humanity.  Jesus becomes human to notify our minds, hearts, and spirits that we are not only created, but also embraced in love beyond all other creatures.  There is nothing “throw-away” about us and everything about us He has thrown Himself into.  Jesus begins the process of returning us into the image of God in which we were originally made.  With Christ as a part of our humanity, we no longer can say anything untruthful or despairing about our selves.  As Redeemer, we are moved by His life, to embrace as sacred, our own.

The second temptation then has to do with our having been saved. 

The temptation which deals with the Holy Spirit has to do with where is it all going and are we going with it.  “All good things around us, have come from heaven above.  So praise the Lord, praise the Lord for all His goodness.”  These words from the Musical Gospel sing of where creation comes from, but the Spirit moves it all along in a return path.  All the good things come from God and are a part of God’s goodness and so must return.  Our problem might be that though we believe we were created and redeemed, we do not trust the return trip.  The play of the Spirit “Who found delight in the sons of Men” delights in working within our souls to keep us from thinking this is all there is. 

The Spirit labors to keep us patient with the journey of life as a sacred voyage and a holy pilgrimage.  We are tempted to give up on our holiness, but the Spirit assists us in seeing all the other gifts given to us so that we may continue to the beyond.

One temptation we have is to think that it is all here, all life, all love, all peace is meant to be experienced here on this temporary, but sacred globe.  It is the play of the spirit to show us the sacred emptiness or limitedness of absolutely every created good.  We can become upset and impatient or frustrated because we fail to find fullness of life in this relationship or that ownership.  The Spirit gently reveals things and persons as the creation they are and not the creator.

The third temptation against the Holy Spirit has to do with the “beyondness” built into all creation.

The mystery concerning what I would write about the Trinity has been revealed.  I humbly admit that the mystery of the Trinity remains.