Most Holy Trinity (C)

 

Most Holy Trinity (C) [Jn 16:12-15]

15.06.2025

Revelation of the Father by the Son and the Holy Spirit

Readings: (1) Prov 8:22-31 (2) Rom 5:1-5

1.    Theme in brief

Our continual discovery of God’s love

2.    Focus Statement

Jesus reveals to us who the Father really, and sends the Holy Spirit to guide us in our discovery of God’s love in day-to-day life and to know the inner mystery of the Triune God.

3.    Explanation of the text

In today’s gospel, Jesus confides to his disciples about many more things he still has to tell them but if he will tell them all those things they will not be able to bear them now (16:12). Since nobody is sure about the exact meaning of these words, some experts say that it refers to the mystery of God and his love which nobody can fully grasp. They say that it implies that the revelation of the mystery of God takes place progressively, stage by stage through the help and guidance of the Spirit (16:13).

Some other experts say that it may refer to his passion, crucifixion, resurrection, descent of the Holy Spirit, future persecution of the Church and the gathering of the Gentiles into the fold of the Church. All these future events are totally contrary to their expectations from the Messiah. These matters are not only beyond their grasp at present but also shocking and scandalizing. Therefore, before his departure from this world, he promises them to send the Holy Spirit with whose guidance and enlightenment they will be able to grasp the meaning of these events. That will give them the courage and strength to bear future shocks (16:13). One thing is clear: Jesus makes known his wish to continue his close communication with them after his Ascension through the guiding work of the Holy Spirit (16:12).  

Jesus calls the Holy Spirit “the Spirit of truth” whose role is to guide them into all the truth (16:13).  In John’s gospel, the words ‘God’s truth’ refer to the revelation brought by Jesus about God’s true nature, about who God really is, in what way and to what extent he loves human beings. Jesus has already revealed to them ‘God’s truth’ – who the Father actually is. Now the role of the Holy Spirit is to help the disciples further discover ‘God’s truth’ or God’s boundless and unconditional love in day-to-day life so that they may grow stage by stage in their knowledge of the inner mystery of God. The Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of Truth precisely because of his role of guiding the disciples into all the truth (revelation) about the mystery of God. Thus, revelation of God’s love, his mystery and his holy will continues till today and will continue for ever – all because of the presence of the Holy Spirit in the world.

The guidance given by the Holy Spirit is not going to be his own or coming from his own authority, but only what he hears from Jesus (16:13). Thus he does not add anything new to the once-for-all revelation of God through Christ. He constantly keeps on updating our understanding of Christ’s revelation. Further, the Holy Spirit does not do anything for his own glory or to attract people to himself. By his work of guidance in the path of truth, he draws people to Jesus and thus glorifies Jesus and not himself (16:14).

Jesus further tells his disciples that whatever the Father has, belongs to him (16:15). Earlier also he had mentioned: “I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father” (Jn 15:15). Now he tells his disciples whatever he has, the Holy Spirit declares or makes it known to them (16:14-15). The word ‘declaring’ means giving right interpretation or explaining the significance of what Jesus has revealed about the Father. Thus, the Holy Spirit glorifies Jesus by interpreting (‘declaring’) the meaning of the words he has heard from Jesus (16:13), just as Jesus has revealed whatever he has heard from the Father. He takes what the Father has given to Jesus and prompts its implications to the disciples. By explaining to us Jesus’ teaching, the Holy Spirit indirectly reveals the Father’s mind just as Jesus does. Thus, there is a perfect link from the Father to the Son and from the Son to the Holy Spirit and from the Holy Spirit to the disciples. From this we get some glimpses of the oneness of purpose, total transparency, sharing and intimate communication that exist among the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

4.    Application to life

Our faith tells us that our God, though one, does not exist alone or in isolation. He is neither a loner nor unrelated or disconnected. He is a community of three persons – a Divine Community of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Actually speaking, the Holy Trinity is nothing but another expression of the briefest definition of God given by John in his First Letter, "God is love" (1 Jn 4:8). If God is love, he needs others to give and receive love. Among the three Divine Persons of the Trinity, love is shared through a closer interaction or communion, total sharing and the deepest level of communication. If God were not love, he need not have been a Trinitarian God. He could very well be a solitary God.

What are the implications of our faith in the Holy Trinity for our Christian life? We are all baptized in the Trinitarian formula: in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Hence by baptism itself we are inserted into the Divine Community or Family. Hence, by baptism itself we are called to imitate the traits of the Trinity – sharing, understanding, communication, transparency. Besides, we are called to practice something of the unity in diversity that we find in the Holy Trinity. In spite of their diversity in functions (the Father being Creator, the Son being Redeemer and the Holy Spirit being Sanctifier), all the three work for one goal or purpose – the salvation of all humankind. We should not forget that our baptismal vocation involves a responsibility to work out unity within our families, communities and society in spite of differences of opinions, viewpoints, gender, nationality, race, caste, tribe, ethnicity, religion or faith traditions. We are called to build up oneness of purpose by respecting our differences and accepting/ appreciating what is good in others and emphasizing what is common to all of us, instead of exaggerating our differences and making an issue out of them.

Love is basically other-oriented, both at the human and divine levels. In every love-relationship we discover each other’s love day by day as it takes newer and newer forms. As we come to know each other, more and more, deeper and deeper we discover their love in a deeper level. This is made possible by imitating the qualities of transparency, sharing and communication which exist in the Holy Trinity. From today’s gospel-message we come to know that Jesus shares with his disciples all that he hears from his Father on equal footing and in total transparency and promises them to send the Holy Spirit to continue this sharing – though in a little different way. All the three Divine Persons share among them whatever they hear from one another. None of the three keep anything exclusively as one’s own. All the three take from the other and share it among themselves. They have nothing to hold back or hide from each other and from us; no hidden agenda, no secrecy. Therefore, Jesus says in today’s gospel that all that the Father has is his, and the Holy Spirit ‘declares’ (that is, interprets for us or discloses to us) what is revealed by him about his Father.

Faith in the Holy Trinity means faith in a God who goes out of himself in self-communication and self-disclosure. First he did it through his Son Jesus and now continues to do it through the Holy Spirit. That is why Jesus says that he has many more things to tell us about the mystery of God and his love. Not only that, we too have many more things to learn. We are learning it through the enlightenment and guidance of the Holy Spirit. He helps us to personalize and interiorize the words of Jesus. Thus, we are perpetual learners. We need constant updating not only in the secular field due to the fast changing world, but also in religious and spiritual sphere. There is always something to learn, share and teach. We need to discover and learn daily newer and newer signs of God’s love for us and the significance of various events (sweet and sour) in our lives. We also have to discover daily the meaning of various signs of love in human relationships with the guidance and enlightenment of the Holy Spirit. We have to discover and learn from what is happening in our world today – what God wants to tell us concerning certain shocking and unexplainable events such as terrorist attacks, global warming, ethnic cleansing, communal riots, growing corruption in public life and so on.

Jesus reveals to us who God is (the truth about God); he sends the Holy Spirit to guide us in our discovery of God’s love in daily life. Thus, divine revelation is a continual and progressive disclosure of God’s mystery. Hence, our faith is not static thing, a deposit we received from our parents which needs to be kept in a ‘safe-deposit vault.’ It is a dynamic and progressive process. Faith is like a tool which we have to apply to discover new truths and new mystery about God. Jesus tells us that the Holy Spirit does not add anything new to what Jesus has already revealed. He only guides us and interprets (‘declares’) to us the meaning and significance of Jesus’ words for present situation. How can the Holy Spirit do it unless he is in constant dialogue with the Father and the Son? Similarly, how can we know what is going on in the minds and hearts of others with whom we live unless we enter into a deeper communication or dialogue?

Our families and communities are called to reflect the transparent relationship and deeper level of communication. Quite often we engage only in social and superficial communication, and share only general information within our families and religious communities. Communication is an act of self-disclosure of what is going on inside us – a deeper sharing of our joyful and hurtful feelings, likes and dislikes, plans, aspirations, hopes, fears and faith in God on a regular basis. Nobody will know what is going on inside us (what troubles and worries us) unless we choose to disclose it to those who are close to us. It is through this kind of depth-level communication we discover each other’s love, grow deeper into it and understand each other. We grow in love and understanding and improve the quality of relationships only when we make known to the other what is going on inside us, what struggles are going on inside us.  By this we discover who the other person is; then we discover his/her love. By discovering genuinely human love we discover God’s own love. When our level of communication improves, the quality of our life improves.

Today we have to examine whether our communication is deeper, or superficial – limited only to news, jokes, weather report, work, tomatoes and potatoes. Also let us examine whether most of our talk is limited to only criticizing/ judging/ condemning somebody, grumbling, complaining and gossiping against somebody, or whether it is supportive, appreciative, encouraging and is concerned about showing compassion towards those with whom we daily interact.

5.    Response to God's Word

Do we discover each other’s love and grow deeper into it through a deeper level of communication? Is our faith static or dynamic? In other words, do we aim at growing in our faith and becoming more mature Christians? Do we share our joys and sorrows, hopes and aspirations, problems and fears, doubts and faith, plans and projects on a regular basis? Ask yourself: Am I a good communicator or bad? Is my communication on a deeper level or superficial? Do I have a lot of things to hide from others? Are my dealings, speech, work, accounts and financial handling transparent?

6.    A Prayer

Most Holy Trinity, you are a model for transparency, sharing and communication which should characterize our families and communities. Today we realize how far away we are from this ideal. Quite often we engage only in social and superficial communication, and share only general information in our families and communities. We repent for the times we failed to cultivate a deeper level of communication or sharing of our likes and dislikes, hope and aspirations, emotions and pain, fears and doubts and above all our faith in you on a regular basis. May we discover daily your love for us and the meaning of various signs of love in human relationships with the guidance of your Spirit. Amen.