Mat 31, 2026
HOLY TRINITY
FOCUS: God, the Holy Trinity, is perfect Love.
As Christians, we believe that God is love. This love is essentially love in relationship. Saint Augustine described the Holy Trinity as God the Lover, God the Beloved, and the Love between them. May we recognize God’s triune presence all around us, particularly in the experience of the loving relationships in our own lives.
What's in Your Heart
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"The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ . . . ." Where have you found the greatest graces? For what gifts are you particularly grateful? What does redemption and salvation mean to you?
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"And the love of God . . . ." How have you experienced God as Father, parent, creator?
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"And the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all." How do you describe the ongoing presence of God? Companion, advocate, comforter?
Homily Stories
While the Trinity is perhaps the Christian doctrine, it's also one of the hardest to explain. Over the centuries people have used everything from sunbeams to shamrocks to try to describe how three "Persons"—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—can be one God. Oceans of theological ink have been spilt on the topic; Saint Augustine of Hippo's De trinitate alone runs to 15 books. Not surprisingly, the Trinity is an official "mystery": above reason but not contrary to it. Faith and revelation are also required.
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Of course the Trinity is present throughout scripture, but the Bible does not use the term. That honor goes first to one Theophilus of Antioch, around 180 A.D., and a lot of what Christians believe about the Trinity was battled over in those early centuries of the church. Much was at stake: What people said about the relationship between the Persons was connected to how they defined each of them. So to get the Trinity right you had to get things like the divinity of Jesus right.
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Behind all the theology, though, is one word: love. The love within God that is God's very nature, the love God has for creation, and the trinitarian divine love in which all God's people have a share.
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First Reading
Second Reading
Gospel
Quotes
The Three are of one substance, power, and knowledge, and are one God.
—Saint Teresa of Avila
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God for us, God alongside us, God within us.
—Father Richard Rohr, O.F.M.