The Most Holy Trinity
Feast Day: Sunday After Pentecost
There is an old story about St. Augustine walking along the beach, trying to understand the Trinity.
He saw a child scooping water from the sea into a little hole in the sand.
Augustine asked what he was doing.
The child said he was going to pour the whole ocean into the hole.
Augustine laughed and said it was impossible.
And the child answered that it would be easier than fitting the Trinity into a human mind.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
One God, Three Persons
The Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of the Christian faith.
There is one God.
And in that one God are three Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Not three gods.
Not one God wearing three masks.
One God, three Persons, equal and eternal.
Revealed by Jesus
No one could have figured this out alone.
God revealed it.
At Jesus’ baptism, the Father spoke, the Son stood in the water, and the Spirit descended like a dove.
(See The Baptism of the Lord.)
And before He ascended, Jesus told the Apostles to baptize:
“Going therefore, teach ye all nations; baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.”
— Matthew 28:19, Douay-Rheims
Notice that Jesus says “in the name,” not “in the names.”
One name.
Three Persons.
The Trinity in Every Prayer
Catholics meet the Trinity every day, often without noticing.
Every Sign of the Cross begins “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”
Every Glory Be praises all three.
Every Mass begins with the Sign of the Cross, and many Masses begin with words St. Paul used:
“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the charity of God, and the communication of the Holy Ghost be with you all. Amen.”
— 2 Corinthians 13:13, Douay-Rheims
(See Why Catholics Make the Sign of the Cross.)
A Feast for the Whole Church
Many local churches had long kept a feast in honor of the Trinity.
In 1334, Pope John XXII extended it to the whole Church and placed it on the Sunday after Pentecost.
It makes sense there.
After celebrating the Father’s plan, the Son’s life, death, and Resurrection, and the coming of the Holy Spirit, the Church stops to adore the one God who did it all.
When Is It Celebrated?
Trinity Sunday is the first Sunday after Pentecost.
In 2027, it falls on May 23.
In 2028, it falls on June 11.
What the Trinity Teaches Us
The Trinity teaches us that God is not lonely.
From all eternity, God is a communion of love.
And we were made in His image, which means we were made for love too.
We do not have to understand the Trinity completely to adore it.
We only have to let the ocean be bigger than our little hole in the sand.
When Is Trinity Sunday?
The Catholic Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity on the Sunday after Pentecost.
Prayer Inspired by the Most Holy Trinity
Most Holy Trinity,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
one God in perfect love,
we adore You.
Draw us into Your life,
teach us to love as You love,
and bring us one day to see You face to face.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. Amen.
