Trinity Sunday – one of the days that many priests hate part of their job – preaching on Trinity Sunday is no easy task. Go and explain the Trinity… Come on… can’t be that hard! The task sort of reminds me of herding cats - just when you think you are getting somewhere half of them wander off, and you may even be in a worse mess than when you started! So... keeping that in mind... we are surrounded with images often employed to help explain it… Like this one: I am me, but I can also be a daughter and a sister, but I am still me…. Well – that sort of gets it – but not very satisfactory. Alright – the old H2O compound – can be present in a solid (ice), a liquid (water) or a gas (steam), but it is still H2O. A bit better – but still lacking. St. Augustine once tried to explain it as “the Lover”, “the Beloved” and “Love”. Of all the explanations I have heard to date this is one of my favourites, and though it too is an imperfect explanation, it gets the idea of a relationship within the characteristics. It uses the greatest commandment “to love” as the explanation of the one who gave that commandment and who embodies what it is to truly love.
By the way – did you notice my little Trinity of explanations… huh, huh… did ya??
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