The Christian God: a TRINITY of Love

SOLEMNITY OF THE MOST HOLY TRINITY

[ John 3: 16-18 ]

   God is love. [cf. 1 Jn 4: 7-21]

God is Love.

The very foundation of Christianity is ‘Deus caritas est’, which means ‘God is love’ [cf. 1 Jn 4: 7-21].

St John [cf. 1 Jn 4: 7-21] deliberately says, “God IS love”, and not “God is LIKE love” – because for St John, God’s very nature, His very essence, His very being and His very self is love.

Echoing this, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI beautifully explains that, “Jesus has revealed to us that God is love ‘not in the oneness of a single Person, but in the Trinity of one substance’. God is the Creator and merciful Father; God is the Only-Begotten Son, eternal Wisdom incarnate, who died and rose for us; God is the Holy Spirit who moves all things, cosmos and history, toward their final, full recapitulation. Three Persons who are one God because the Father is love, the Son is love, the Spirit is love. God is wholly and only love, the purest, infinite and eternal love...”

   God loves.

If the big bang theory is somewhat right – the universe was created as a result of a massive explosion from an infinitesimally small singularity – then the singular origin of everything must be God, and the universe must have been created from the explosion and outpouring of God’s infinite love! Yes, the love between the three Persons in the Most Holy Trinity has been expanded and extended to us and the whole of creation. 

The Triune God has created the world out of love: He loves us into existence; he loves us into being. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI reminds us that, “Each of us is the result of a thought of God. Each of us is willed. Each of us is loved. Each of us is necessary.”

Each one of us is created by love, created for love, created to love, and created to respond with love.

   Jesus Christ: God’s fullness revelation of His love for the world.

In the First Reading [Ex 34: 4-6, 8-9], ‘God proclaims His own Name! … And what is God’s name? It never fails to move us: “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness”.’ (Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI | The CTS New Daily Missal 2012)

And ‘God loved the world so much’ that – in the fullness of time – ‘He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not be lost but may have eternal life.’ [Jn 3: 16]

Jesus Christ – His Incarnation, His Life, His Passion, His Death and His Resurrection – is the fullness revelation of God’s love for you, for me and for the whole world.

Here is another important point [Jn 3: 17]: ‘God sent His Son into the world not to condemn the world, but so that through Him the world might be saved.’ The name of JESUS means ‘God saves’ [cf. Mt 1: 21], and that is exactly why Jesus came into the world – to save us from our sins!

Jesus is the ONLY Saviour of the world [Ac 4: 12]: ‘There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved.’ Jesus is THE ONLY WAY we must embark on, THE ONLY TRUTH we must believe in, and THE ONLY LIFE we must embrace. [cf. Jn 14: 6]

   Jesus Christ is our ‘Life Jacket’ and ‘Lifebuoy’.

He who puts on Christ and clings onto Him will be saved.

God loves us. He ‘desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth’ [1 Tm 2: 4].

From heaven above, God has not sent fires and brimstones to wipe out the entire humanity from the face of the earth!

Instead, He has sent down from heaven Jesus Christ: our ‘Life Jacket’ and our ‘Lifebuoy’.

As the world sinks, drowns and spirals deeper into the abyss of sins, everyone who puts on ‘Christ the Life Jacket’ [cf. Rm 13: 14] OR clings onto ‘Jesus the Lifebuoy’ will be saved [cf. Jn 15: 4].

Yes, Jesus Christ is the ‘Life Jacket’ who will lift us up and keep us afloat. He is also the ‘Lifebuoy’ who will not let us down or let us drown.

Jesus Christ is given to us: it is our freedom to believe or REFUSE to believe. It is not the Father or the Son or the Holy Spirit who condemns us! It is our REFUSAL to believe, i.e., our hardness of hearts, our stubbornness and obstinacy, our total rejection of the one true God, that has condemned us. Be warned: we need to make an informed and conscious decision  – every day and every moment – because the salvation of our very souls depend on it. At any moment, when our pride overcomes us, we decide to be our own God, and walk away from Jesus our Saviour, we will surely sink like lead in the mighty waters.

   To be rooted in God is to be rooted in love.

God is a TRINITY of Love.

St Augustine, when explaining the mystery of the Holy Trinity, says:

   “Wherever there is love (God),

   there is TRINITY:

   a lover (the Father),

   a beloved (the Son),

   and a fountain of love (the Holy Spirit).”

Since God’s Name is ‘The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness’, perhaps we should examine ourselves:

   1) How have God’s love and mercy affected my life?

   2) How have I been merciful and gracious to others?

   3) How have I been the master of my own anger?

   4) How have I been loving and faithful?

To be rooted in the Triune God is to be rooted in God’s love.

God’s love must not remain as mere empty words, fleeting emotions, or elusive feelings. Rather, God’s love must permeate every aspect of our life: God’s love must imbue our prayers, our thoughts, our words, our deeds, and our lives [cf. 2 Co 13: 11] to:

• try to grow perfect (called to holiness),
• help one another (called to be merciful),
• be united (called to one Holy Communion and one Church),
• and live in peace (called to fraternity). 

Infused by God’s love, we must share God’s love with one another. As Christians, let us truly be the Imitators of Christ: the bearers of God’s love, the witnesses of God’s love, the ambassadors of God’s love, and the stewards of God’s love.

Let our fervent prayer be:

   “O Triune God, show me mercy, and teach me love.”

Let us also pray that God’s justice, peace, truth and love may prevail in Ukraine, Sri Lanka and Nicaragua.