Dig Deeper into Sunday’s Gospel: Read John 16:12–15

While working on my master's in theology, I took a course on the Trinity. In it, we reflected upon and discussed Andrei Rublev’s icon of the Trinity, one that would later be gifted to us after the completion of our first year, and one I still look upon often, as it draws me into the beautiful mystery of our triune God. 

It would be easy to write an entire blog on the symbolism and significance of this icon, but I will spare you the art history lesson. Others have written far more eloquently and profoundly on this than I ever could. Instead, I'll hone in on the basics. 

At the center of the image, seated at a table, are three winged figures, said to be the angels who visited Abraham (Genesis 18:1–8). Over time, scholars and theologians have come to understand them as the three persons of the Trinity: Father, Son, and Spirit. 

They sit facing the viewer, yet their posture is intimate. They are seemingly conversing with one another. The Son and the Spirit seem to tilt their heads toward the Father, and He, in turn, directs His loving gaze upon Them. Though the mystery itself is so complex, this icon seems to simplify it beautifully without undoing the sacredness of our triune God. In the words of Henri Nouwen:

As we place ourselves in front of the icon in prayer, we come to experience a gentle invitation to participate in the intimate conversation that is taking place among the three divine angels and to join them around the table. The movement from the Father toward the Son and the movement of both Son and Spirit toward the Father become a movement in which the one who prays is lifted up and held secure …

We come to see with our inner eyes that all engagements in this world can bear fruit only when they take place within this divine circle … the house of perfect love.[1]

Like Nouwen, I have learned to prayerfully accept the invitation that is being offered. This image has helped me to understand the Trinity not merely as an unfathomable theological doctrine, the very mystery of God Himself, but as a relationship that I am invited to dwell within. 

In the gospel selected for the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, Jesus invites us to contemplate an aspect of the relationship between the Father, Son, and Spirit. Jesus reveals to the disciples that the Spirit is the Spirit of Truth who will guide them in the truth of the Father and the Son. The Spirit will lead the disciples to understand the meaning of Jesus' revelation, to help them understand the faith. The Spirit will glorify the Son (John 16:14), the Son will glorify the Father, and the Father, in turn, will glorify the Son (John 17:1). 

By the grace of our Baptism, we are able to partake in the life of this Blessed Trinity, in a life of love. The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us, "God is love: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God freely wills to communicate the glory of his blessed life. Such is the 'plan of his loving kindness,’ conceived by the Father before the foundation of the world … It unfolds in the work of creation, the whole history of salvation after the fall, and the missions of the Son and the Spirit, which are continued in the mission of the Church."[2]

God fashioned our hearts in such a way that we were made for this triune love. We will never know God, or ourselves, more fully than when we can learn to sit at the table with Father, Son, and Spirit, and enter into communion with them, to share in blessed life. No, we will not understand everything now, but by seeking the will of the Father, modeling our life after Christ, and listening to the promptings of the Spirit, we will be faithful to the deepest vocation of the Church.

Food for thought or journaling . . . 

What is your relationship with each person of the Trinity like? Is there one person you're feeling called to know more intimately?

O my God, Trinity whom I adore, help me forget myself entirely so as to establish myself in You, unmovable and peaceful as if my soul were already in eternity. May nothing be able to trouble my peace or make me leave You, O my unchanging God, but may each minute bring me more deeply into Your mystery! Grant my soul peace. Make it Your heaven, Your beloved dwelling, and the place of Your rest. May I never abandon You there, but may I be there, whole and entire, completely vigilant in my faith, entirely adoring, and wholly given over to your creative action.  —Prayer of Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity

[1] Henri J.M. Nouwen, Behold the Beauty of the Lord: Praying with Icons (Notre Dame, IN: Ave Maria Press, 2001), 33-34.
[2] Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd edition (Vatican: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2012), #257.