The Solemnity Of The Most Holy Trinity

Today marks the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. This great day is given to us to meditate and reflect upon the great mystery that is the Holy Trinity. This is a reality that man could never reason to. Only through revelation can we come to understand that God is three-in-one. That is why the Church gives us this great feast day. It is a chance for us to pause and reflect on what a gift God’s Trinitarian nature is to us.

The Solemnity Of The Most Holy Trinity

Gospel - John 16:12-15

Jesus said to his disciples:

"I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now.

But when he comes, the Spirit of truth,

he will guide you to all truth.

He will not speak on his own,

but he will speak what he hears,

and will declare to you the things that are coming.

He will glorify me,

because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you.

Everything that the Father has is mine;

for this reason I told you that he will take from what is mine

and declare it to you."

Scriptural Analysis

Jesus makes his fifth promise about the Holy Spirit by first telling the disciples, “I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now.” The disciples are unable to receive this news because they lack the Holy Spirit and the understanding that He will bring to them. Jesus then works to clarify what he means when he says that the Spirit, “will guide you to all truth.”

In the Gospel of John, the truth is revealed as the knowledge of the Father that Jesus presents, along with Jesus' identity as the Son. However, it is through the Holy Spirit that the disciples can understand, in faith, the meaning of all that Jesus has revealed to them. The task of the Holy Spirit is to open the hearts of the faithful so that they may understand the faith. Saint John reminds us of this in his first letter when he says, “And the Spirit is the witness, because the Spirit is the truth.” (1 John 5:7) The Prophet Jeremiah foretells of this when he says, “I will put my law within them, and I will write it upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” (Jeremiah 31:33)

The Holy Spirit does not work independently of Jesus and the Father. Just as Jesus does not speak on his own but shares with us what the Father has told him, so too does the Spirit speak only what He has heard. This includes the gift of prophecy that the Spirit will bring. The Greek word translated here as “declare” designates the revelation of eschatological realities (end-time realities). Jesus has revealed these realities, but it is the Spirit who enables believers to genuinely understand Jesus’ words.

Finally, Jesus gives us a glimpse of God’s inner life. The Spirit will glorify Jesus and make Jesus’ mission of mercy known to believers. The Son also glorifies the Father, so the Spirit glorifying the Son coincides with this. The Father glorifies the Son in his resurrection and ascension. The relationship between Father and Son is total, self-giving love. The Father gives everything he has to the Son, and the Son gives everything he has to the Father, as revealed in his complete gift of his life on the cross. Jesus’ revelation is the eternal communion of life and love. The Spirit makes this infinite exchange of love within God known and real to believers. Through the Spirit, we can know the Father’s love revealed in Christ and cry out, “Abba, Father!”

Daily Application

In this Gospel, Saint John tells us that the Holy Spirit does not bring new revelation to us. Instead, he reveals only that which he has received from Jesus, which has already been made known to us. So often, people get caught up looking for something new that they forget one vitally important truth. We have already received everything we need to know to live this life in a manner worthy of spending eternity in heaven with God. The Holy Spirit does not bring us new truth but only helps us to understand the truth that God has given to humanity through His Son, Jesus Christ.

Chief among these truths is the Trinitarian nature of God. In that truth, we see a beautiful model of self-giving love. We see a model of love that is so full and holds nothing back. Aquinas sees the love of God the Father as foundational, expressing itself in the begetting of the Son. The Son’s love of the Father is also an eternal act expressed in his willingness to do the Father’s will and die on the cross. The Holy Spirit is the love that proceeds from the Father and the Son, acting as a bond between them. For Aquinas, love is an essential part of the divine nature expressed through the interpersonal relationships of the Trinity. It is the model of love to which we are all called to live out in our lives.

On this Trinity Sunday, we would do well to take a moment and reflect upon our relationships. Do we love like the Trinity? Do we pour ourselves out completely for others? If we answer no to those questions, that is fine. It is okay to say on June 15, 2025, I do not love like the Trinity. What we should not say is that we are OK with that. Our goal must be to love as God loves: unconditionally holding nothing back.

Fortunately, God does not simply give us a model to follow; he also provides us with the help to implement that model if we allow him. As you reflect upon your relationships, invite the Holy Spirit into that reflection. Ask him to illuminate for you the areas in which you are holding back, where you are not loving completely. Then ask him to help you love as the Trinity loves. When you do this, not only will you see your relationships improve, but you will enter more deeply into the great mystery that is the Trinity.

Ex quo ómnia, per quem ómnia, in quo ómnia: ipsi glória in scula.

From whom are all things, through whom are all things, and in whom are all things: to him be glory for evermore.