THE SOLEMNITY OF THE MOST HOLY TRINITY, JUNE 15, 2025
- Maria Knox
- Jun 15
- 3 min read
Gospel John 16:12-15
Jesus said to his disciples: "I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth. He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming. He will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you. Everything that the Father has is mine; for this reason I told you that he will take from what is mine and declare it to you."
REFLECTION
The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells of of the Trinity:
Christians are baptized "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" Before receiving the sacrament, they respond to a three-part question when asked to confess the Father, the Son and the Spirit: "I do." "The faith of all Christians rests on the Trinity." (CCC 232)
Our faith rests on the Trinity. This is a mystery that is not easy to explain, and is very easy to fall into a heresy trying to. It is a mystery of the Church.
What is a mystery of the Church?
The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us:
The Trinity is a mystery of faith in the strict sense, one of the "mysteries that are hidden in God, which can never be known unless they are revealed by God". To be sure, God has left traces of his Trinitarian being in his work of creation and in his Revelation throughout the Old Testament. But his inmost Being as Holy Trinity is a mystery that is inaccessible to reason alone or even to Israel's faith before the Incarnation of God's Son and the sending of the Holy Spirit. (CCC 237)
These mysteries we take with humility and believe in them without leaving reason behind. God has left traces of the Trinity in the Old Testament, and in the words of Jesus Himself throughout the New Testament.
There is a pious legend about St. Augustine and the mystery of the Trinity. It goes somewhat like this:
It was around the year 415 and St. Augustine was walking along the beach on a bright, sunny day. He was frustrated, having taken a break from working on what’s become known as one of his greatest doctrinal contributions to the Church, De Trinitate, or “On the Trinity.” The subject matter had left him bleary-eyed – in need of fresh air.
It was in this moment, as the frothy tide rushed out, that a little boy caught St. Augustine’s eye. The freckle-faced child had a determined, furrowed brow. He was clearly up to something, running back-and-forth, back-and-forth, between the sea and a tiny hole in the ground.
“My son,” St. Augustine called over the crashing waves, “What are you doing there?”
The boy held up the pink shell he was using to move water, “I’m trying to fit that great big ocean into this tiny hole,” he yelled, pointing assertively at the sand.
St. Augustine smiled, charmed by the child’s innocence, his bright eyes, the way sunlight shone in his curly hair. He then followed the boy to kneel beside the tiny hole, watching him spill out a few meager drops.
“My child,” the bishop of Hippo broke the news gently, turning the boy’s skinny shoulders to face the sea. He then spread his own arms wide, “You could never fit this great, magnificent ocean into that tiny hole!”
The child didn’t flinch, but responded quickly: “And you could never possibly understand the Holy Trinity.” Then in a flash, the boy disappeared.
Thank you, Maria