The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

Our Catholic faith centres on the doctrine of the Trinity.  We believe that God is one and at the same time a trinity of three persons.  Since God is the Creator and we are the creatures, we will never be able to fully fathom the mystery of His being.  However, as we ponder the Trinity, we are led into a deeper understanding of God.

Considering the Trinity also helps us to understand God’s act of creating humanity, and his redemption of it after we had fallen from grace.  God became a human being in the person of Jesus Christ, and Jesus offered his life for us in atonement for our sins. Jesus ascended to Heaven but promised us the gift of the Holy Spirit.

At baptism, we are given the gift of God’s Holy Spirit dwelling within us, and last Sunday we celebrated Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was given to the early Church.  But the gift of the Holy Spirit is not a one-off event.  We can be renewed in the Spirit across our lives.

This year, the great solemnity coincides with Fathers’ Day, so we pray that God will anoint all our fathers with a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit to empower them in their great vocation of fatherhood.

The solemnity also falls on the weekend that 31 children are making their First Holy Communion, so again we pray for an anointing in the Holy Spirit for the children and their families.  May they be inspired in particular to remain faithful to attendance at mass each week.

The solemnity falls shortly before some of our young people are going to be confirmed by Bishop John.  They are praying for particular Gifts of the Holy Spirit to help them on their journeys of faith.

At this time, as we are mindful of receiving Jesus Christ in his Body and Blood in Holy Communion and also mindful of the way God sends his Holy Spirit to dwell in us, it is good to remember that actually, our lives of faith should also mean that we are drawn into the love enjoyed between the three persons of the Trinity.  

God bless, Fr Kevin.