God's Explosion of Love: The Holy Trinity's Relationship Blueprint

 

Three Persons, One God

Today is the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity - - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. One God, three persons. Not, as someone once said, three gods and one God. That makes no sense. Three persons, one God.

It is a strong reminder that there is a close relationship between God and human beings. God is, in a real sense, a family. Father, Son, Holy Spirit. And we are created in the image and likeness of that God. Man, woman, family, child - - the three become one. We can see this reflected in our own lives and in the world around us.

A Traffic Stop and a Ticket

One of the very first assignments in Dallas was over at St. Joseph in Richardson. That was the first parish. The drive was 40 minutes each way because there was no room at the rectory, so the commute started from my mother’s home out in Fort Worth.

One morning, running late to celebrate Mass, a police officer pulled the car over. When the window came down and the officer walked up, he looked in and said, “Father.” The response came right back: “Son.” And thus began a great mystery. What would happen next?

“Father” - that was a good sign. If he had said “sir,” chances are he was a Baptist or something. But “Father” was encouraging. I told the officer, “I am so sorry. I am running late. I have Mass in five minutes.” He looked back and said, “In five minutes?” Yes, in five minutes. “Okay,” he said. “I’m going to do this quickly.” And he gave the ticket anyway.

If a good friend or a mother had been in that car, they would have told me: “Al, slow down. It’s not that important.” But when you are by yourself, you can get very confident. You can start to think you know it all.

That is exactly the point. Relationships are important because they bring out the best in us - - and sometimes the worst. But the best is better than the worst, and it should be.

The Name God Spoke

In the first reading from the book of Exodus, the Lord declares his name. It is a little tricky, because the text says that having come down in a cloud, the Lord stood with Moses and proclaimed his name as “Lord.” But he did not say “my name is Lord.” He said, “I Am Who I Am” — Yahweh.

Because the Jewish people believed the name of God could not be spoken aloud, we removed it from the text and substituted the word Adonai, which means Lord. But the word God actually spoke was “I Am Who I Am.”

Bold. Confident. No doubts.

But it also sounds a little lonely. “I Am Who I Am” — as if isolated, insulated from everything else. And yet God is not alone. He is more one by being three, by being in relationship. That is the mystery. He is more fully one by being in relationship than he could ever be by being alone.

If any of us said “I am who I am” in a room by ourselves, that would sound like loneliness. And loneliness is not the goal. We want to be confident, yes — but not just in ourselves. We want to be confident in others too. That is why relationships are so beautiful, whether between husband and wife, boyfriend and girlfriend, or close friends. They bring out the best in us. Inside a real relationship, you discover who you are and what you are truly capable of doing.

The Person Next to You Is a Mystery

One of the toughest things about being a priest is having no automatic person to bounce an idea off of. Who do you trust with something that is going on in your heart? It is a real question.

When you are in a relationship, do not take it for granted. That person next to you is a treasure. Let them in. Allow that person to penetrate into the mystery of who you are.

If we think the Holy Trinity is a great mystery that we cannot fully understand, one that sometimes makes us wonder, look at the person sitting next to you. You do not fully know that person either. You may have been married for 45 years, and that person is still a mystery. And so are you. 

I don’t even know for certain what I would do if something tragic or deeply challenging happened. I believe I know, but I am not 100% sure. Maybe I won’t know until it actually happens.

You discover who you are because of the relationships you have. “I Am Who I Am” is, in the end, shaped by all the relationships you carry. Build those relationships, and you will begin to find out what that name means for your own life. And build first the relationship that matters most, the relationship with God, and he will tell you.

God So Loved the World

In the Gospel today, we hear those words: “God so loved the world.” How do we know that? Because he sent his only Son. It is the relationship God has with his Son, and that the Son has with us, that reveals God as love. Not a God looking for ways to condemn, but a God looking for ways to save, to help, to encourage. God brings out the best in each and every one of us.

And because God reveals himself through his Son, we know how God thinks, how God loves, how God acts.

What It Looks Like in Practice

The second reading connects all of this directly to how we treat one another. It reads like a short and practical list.

• Rejoice.

• Mend your ways.

• Encourage one another.

• Agree with one another.

• Live in peace.

One of the toughest things about being a priest is having no automatic person to bounce an idea off of. Who do you trust with something that is going on in your heart? It is a real question.

When you are in a relationship, do not take it for granted. That person next to you is a treasure. Let them in. Allow that person to penetrate into the mystery of who you are.

If we think the Holy Trinity is a great mystery — one we cannot fully understand, one that sometimes makes us wonder — look at the person sitting next to you. You do not fully know that person either. You may have been married for 45 years, and that person is still a mystery. Even after 50 years. And so are you. None of us knows for certain what we would do if something tragic or deeply challenging happened. We believe we know, but we are not 100% sure. Maybe we will not know until it actually happens.

You discover who you are because of the relationships you have. “I Am Who I Am” is, in the end, shaped by all the relationships you carry. Build those relationships, and you will begin to find out what that name means for your own life. And build first the relationship that matters most — the relationship with God — and he will tell you.

God So Loved the World

In the Gospel today, we hear those words: “God so loved the world.” How do we know that? Because he sent his only Son. It is the relationship God has with his Son, and that the Son has with us, that reveals God as love. Not a God looking for ways to condemn, but a God looking for ways to save, to help, to encourage. God brings out the best in each and every one of us.

And because God reveals himself through his Son, we know how God thinks, how God loves, how God acts.

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What It Looks Like in Practice

The second reading connects all of this directly to how we treat one another. It reads like a short and practical list.

• Rejoice.

• Mend your ways.

• Encourage one another.

• Agree with one another.

• Live in peace.

“And the God of love and peace will be with you.”

It is remarkable how the two great commandments fold right into that. Love God above all things, and love your neighbor as yourself - - or, in the words of Jesus, love your neighbor as I have loved you. The reading even closes by tying everything back to the Trinity: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”

When you have a relationship with God, what follows is an explosion of love.

The Big Bang Was an Explosion of Love

What does that explosion actually look like?

The Big Bang is the only explosion in history that created something rather than destroyed something. When you think about the universe, it was created out of an overflow of love. Not just molecules or particles combining, but an explosion of intent. I want to create. I want to give life.

One day, waiting at the airport for a brother to arrive, the image finally became clear. The gates were quiet. People were standing around, just waiting to leave. Then the gates opened, and a little girl came running out. Another little girl who had been waiting saw her, and both of them just screamed and ran straight for each other. The hug that followed was absolutely beautiful.

That was an explosion of love.

Imagine trying to describe that moment as two bodies, molecules and particles joining together to form kinetic energy. It would be technically possible and completely wrong. That was not physics. That was love.

An Unexpected Face at the Door

Last night I went to a dinner loaded down with bags. One of them broke and was spilling across the floor. And then, suddenly, there was a face that was completely unexpected. A face connected to years of working together for the kingdom of God.

Sister Lois. Standing right there in the house, as if no time had passed at all.

That moment of recognition, that sudden rush of warmth, that is what it looks like when relationship breaks through the ordinary noise of a day. It is not something you can plan. It just happens, and it reminds you of something true.

Why This All Matters

The relationships you build (at least the good and loving ones) will make you the person God created you to be. They will help you become the best version of yourself. And they will reflect God’s life in you.

We were created in the image and likeness of a God who lives in relationship within himself, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and with each and every one of us. That is not a theological abstraction. It is the most practical truth there is.

And what will be the result when we actually live it out?

An explosion of love.