Editor’s Note: This year, Trinity Sunday falls on May 26.
Nothing is quite as important to us as our name. The expression “our good name” is synonymous with the reputation we cherish, enjoy and do everything we can do to protect among others. Because our name is special and unique, we are solicitous that others learn to pronounce it and spell it correctly.
T.S. Eliot wrote about names in his collection of poems for children, entitled “ Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats.” It was the basis for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical “Cats,” which ran on Broadway for 18 years and is still performed in various cities throughout the world.
Eliot says all cats have three names: a given name like Mary or James; a nickname like Plato or Electra; and a real name, which is a secret known only to the cat. That name reflects all that the cat is and is supposed to be, and every cat spends endless hours at rest contemplating the mystery of the secret name.
On Trinity Sunday, we contemplate the mystery of God, revealed as Trinity (“tri-unity,” three in one), and what that mystery means to us.
In Sacred Scripture, God has revealed himself to us first of all by his name. When Moses asked God what his name was, God said, “I am who I am.” (Ex 3:14) In other words, God is the one who is eternally present, present with us and for us. When God assumed a human nature and took on flesh in time, the angel of the Lord told Joseph he was to name the child “Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” (Mt 1:21) Appropriately then, the name Jesus means “God saves.”
God’s identity is also revealed to us in the functions and relationships of the three persons in one God.
The first person is called Father, not in the sense of gender, but because he is progenitor, source, origin or beginning of all that is.
The second person is called Son because he comes forth eternally from the Father. He is the eternal Word of love spoken by the Father. In time, the Son was born of the Virgin Mary as Jesus of Nazareth and became the Redeemer and Savior of all.
The third person is called the Spirit by Jesus. He is the Spirit of love of the Father and the Son, emanating eternally from their mutual love. Jesus calls the Holy Spirit our Advocate, and, in so many words, Comforter (that is, Strengthener) and Sanctifier.
If God is Creator-Father, then we are his creatures, sons and daughters of God. If God is begotten Son, then we are brothers and sisters of God. If God is Spirit-Sanctifier, then we are the sanctified, the holy ones of God.
This God of ours, therefore, is no impersonal deity, but rather one who is intimate with us. There is absolutely nothing aloof about him. That is why Jesus called him Abba, which is translated Daddy.
In the 17th century, the English writer George Herbert wrote a poem entitled “Trinitie Sunday.” The poem is aptly composed of three stanzas, each with three verses, and groupings of three terms are prominent throughout.
He begins by addressing God the Creator, Redeemer and Sanctifier. Then, to enter more deeply into the mystery of God and better reap its rewards, the poet is prompted to beg forgiveness for his sins. Finally, he prays that he might grow into a more perfect union with God, which is really the deepest longing of every human heart.
May George Herbert’s poem be our prayer this Trinity Sunday.
Lord, who hast form’d me out of mud,
And hast redeem’d me through thy bloud,
And sanctifi’d me to do good;
Purge all my sinnes done heretofore:
For I confess my heavie score,
And I will strive to sinne no more.
Enrich my heart, mouth, hands in me,
With faith, with hope, with charitie;
That I may runne, rise, rest with thee.
Father Edward Kolla is a retired priest of the Diocese.
at the bottom and then tap “Add to Home Screen”
