How many times have we sung: “Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost”? Yet the Trinity seems incomprehensible in metaphysical terms. It is. But the gift of the Trinity far outweighs its metaphysical boundaries. The gift of the Trinity can be as comforting as the image of The Good Shepherd.
In the Trinity, our Father beckons us. He reminds us that His love knows no boundaries. He reminds us that He gave up His Son for our salvation. He reminds us that great or small, we are all His children. As with any good Father, he reminds us that he will always be there for us. To comfort us in our first fall, to love us as we grow and ultimately to welcome us home when we enter His kingdom.
Jesus, our Savior and Brother, beckons us contiguously. His presence on earth gave each of us a human role model. He knew our limitations and our strengths because the human Jesus felt them. His death on the cross, and subsequent raising up by the Father, is a permanent memorial to His love for us. As our brother and our God, he stands witness to our Father’s love for us.
The Holy Spirit – almost as ethereal as an image of the Trinity, is as real to us as it was on the day of Pentecost. Just as each apostle was filled with the Sprit and emboldened to go forth to preach the good news of Jesus Christ, we too are given the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is present in our lives and often helps each of us make those decisions that are consistent with the etchings of Jesus Christ.
So the next time we make the sign of the cross, do more than just say the words. Focus on the Father as the Shepherd, on the Son as a sign of eternal love and on the Spirit as the strength within to do the right thing.
