Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity/A
Massimo Palombella
Today the Church celebrates the very mystery of God’s being and, at the same time, reveals something decisive about man himself.
The Christian God is not an immobile solitude. He is life eternally given in self-offering. The Father begets the Son; the Son lives wholly turned towards the Father; and the Holy Ghost is the living bond of this love. In God, all is relation and reciprocal self-gift.
For this reason, the Trinity is not a problem to be solved: it is the revelation that at the origin of all things there is nothing other than love.
Saint Augustine teaches that wherever true love is found, there are always three realities present: the lover, the beloved, and love itself (De Trinitate, VIII, 10, 14). There can be no love without a going forth from oneself. There can be no fullness of life without communion.
And perhaps herein lies one of our deepest struggles: it seems safer to defend ourselves than to entrust ourselves; easier to protect ourselves than to become vulnerable. Yet a life folded in upon itself slowly impoverishes us: we lose the breath of life and drift away from the truth.
To be created in the image of God means that we are not made for isolation, but for communion. We become truly ourselves only in relationship: with God, with others, and even with the most fragile and wounded parts of our own selves.
In the end, our whole existence is a long apprenticeship: learning no longer to fear the gift of ourselves. For it is only in communion that we rediscover the image of God impressed within us.
The Gradual for today’s celebration is taken from Chapter 3 of the Book of the Prophet Daniel (Dan. 3:55–56), with the following text:
Benedictus es, Domine, qui intueris abyssos, et sedes super Cherubim.
Benedictus es, Domine, in firmamento caeli, et laudabilis in saecula.
Blessed art Thou, O Lord, who beholdest the depths and sittest upon the Cherubim.
Blessed art Thou, O Lord, in the firmament of heaven, worthy of praise for evermore.
The accompanying music, in Gregorian Chant, is taken from the Graduale Triplex, published at Solesmes in 1979. The musical track may be found on YouTube, where, however, no indications are given concerning its interpretation.
A blessed Sunday and heartfelt greetings.
