“A GOD OF TENDERNESS AND COMPASSION”

HOMILY FOR THE SOLEMNITY OF THE MOST HOLY TRINITY

Rev. Fr. Ezekoka Peter Onyekachi

Exodus 34:4-6, 8-9        2Cor 13:11-13        John 3:16-18

The doctrine of the Trinity is the doctrine of God’s love, forgiveness and mercy. If someone denies the love, forgiveness and mercy of God, that person rejects not only the doctrine of the Trinity but also the mystery of God’s intimate, relational life as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The mystery of the Holy Trinity confronts us with the limitations of the human mind, and the doctrine shows us our littleness, our frailty, and our deep-rooted need for love, forgiveness and mercy. This is why, in our liturgy of the Holy Mass, we not only acclaim God as Holy Holy Holy... (cf. Isaiah 6:3; Rev. 4:8), but also acknowledge our own littleness, our frailty in His presence, in the Confiteor with the words mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa … through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault. 

Although the mystery of the Holy Trinity was not explicit in the Old Testament, there are intimations of it nonetheless. One of these intimations is presented in the First Reading, in Yahweh’s giving of the Law to Moses. Yahweh introduced Himself to Moses in an astonishingly comforting way: Lord, Lord, a God of tenderness and compassion, rich in kindness and faithfulness. The sacred Law that God was about to entrust to His people was to be interpreted in terms of His faithfulness and loving kindness. On the one hand, the presence of Yahweh as the Almighty Lawgiver was manifested verbally; on the other hand, the presence was manifested in the form in which He descended – in the cloud, the shekinah, the reverse of the phenomenon of the Ascension. This dual aspect of God foreshadowed the revelation of the separate Persons in one God. We can go on to say that in the Giver of the Law, in the Word and in the Cloud, the triune God – the Holy Trinity – revealed Himself.

The Ten Commandments are the basic rules, the ground rules, necessary for society to live in harmony. The Law of God extends way beyond the basics set in stone; the Law of God is the sign of God’s presence among His people, especially when they acknowledge their sins and plead for mercy. Moses was quick to confess himself and all Israel as sinners under the Law and to plead on their behalf for God’s mercy. Moses was not tempted to seek personal preferment; instead, he begged, receive us as your heritage. In a sense, genuine harmony in society can only be achieved when people are genuinely able to forgive each other and to mediate forgiveness throughout society to achieve that end.

In the economy of the salvation of mankind (the economy of revelation) in history (“HIS-story”) and eschatology, the faithful prayers and appeals to God the Saviour by the people of God in the Old Testament reached out to God in unity, peace and love. In our time, we too can place our hope in salvation if we work together in unity, peace and love. 

In the Second Reading St. Paul, writing to the Corinthians, presents the mystery of the Trinity in the context of tripartite unity, peace and love: help one another…be united…greet one another with a holy kiss. This underlines that the grace of our Lord Jesus, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit abides in us and is reflected through us when we deliberately live in unity, peace and love in our own communities. When we engage purposefully in acts of forgiveness, peace and love in our personal lives and in the wider community, we are reflecting the mystery of the Trinity. In response to the redemptive work of the Son, sent by the Father, through the love of the Holy Spirit, we ought to adapt our behaviours and attitudes to God’s Creation, including our fellow man, accordingly.

It took a multitude of great minds and several centuries to thrash out the doctrine of the Holy Trinity in all its fullness – to squeeze the juice out of it in order to discover how One God comprises a relational group of three Persons in one substance. With regard to today’s Gospel reading, St. John shows us how far the process had got in his time. He highlights the generous love of God the Father: God loved the world so much that He gave His only Son that everyone who believes in Him may not be lost. God’s love is so generous that He longs for us to come to Him, like the father scanning the horizon for his prodigal son. He forgives us straight away if only we will repent and ask for forgiveness. He forgives our repeated rejections of Him, He forgives our doubting His willingness to forgive, if only we will repent and ask. In our daily dealings with other people, we know only too well that we sometimes give up on loving and forgiving them when they reject us and doubt our motives. But God’s not like that. Despite our repeated rejections of Him, and our doubts that He will ever forgive us because what we have done is unforgiveable in our own eyes, the truth is that He loves us no matter what. No matter how often we try to let go of Him, He is ever ready to hold us.

Here’s a little story for you to show you what I mean. A man was absolutely terrified of crossing a particular bridge. He was standing there, frozen with fear. Suddenly God appeared to help him cross that bridge. The man looked up into the face of God and asked: Please may I hold your hand, Lord, so that I don’t fall? But God answered: No, my child; I will hold *your* hand. This is because if you hold my hand and something awful happens, you might let go; but if I hold your hand, no matter what happens, I will never let go. 

God’s reckless love was manifested when He sent His only-begotten Son to make sure that we are saved no matter what. Never forget that we are guilty of rejecting the doctrine of the Trinity whenever we refuse to live in love, love already most generously shown to us by God. In the spirit of this most generous love of God, we renew our commitment to live in love with others. May the Lord bless and keep us, may His face constantly shine on us and be gracious to us, and may He lift up His countenance upon us and give us peace (Numbers 6:23-24). Amen. God bless you.