The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity is an invitation to reflect on the mystery of unity, both human and divine. Today’s reflection suggests that the Trinity can reveal unity even in our divided culture, if only we are open to being surprised by God.

June 15, 2025: Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, Year C

Proverbs 8:22–31

Psalm 8:4–9

Romans 5:1–5

John 16:12–15

Surprised by God: On Unity

A reflection by Carter Fahey

For the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity last year, I reflected on the mysterious nature of the Trinity, and how that very mystery could help us break away from our need to fit ourselves into society’s boxes, resting instead in the mysterious and infinite love of God. Since the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity has not been miraculously clarified since then, I’d like to pick up that same thread of mystery that is so bound up in our faith and our lives, and which draws us into unity with each other.

In the past year, we’ve seen a lot of change: a “new” president and administration, a new pope, new legislation–the list goes on, and many of the changes seem to be tearing us apart. Amidst this turbulence, unity seems to be further away than ever. Everything seems to oblige us to pick a side, to take up our weapons and man the defenses. Even the Church seems plagued by this issue. Unity would not be the word to describe the current situation.

This was my view until quite recently, when I heard a sermon that challenged my perception. Preaching on 1 Corinthians 12, the priest pointed out that unity, in many ways, is a mystery. We know that we are united as Christians and as humans because Scripture reveals this inherent unity to us, even if we can’t comprehend how this could be true in such a divided world.

Just as the Trinity is mysterious, so too is our unity, and indeed the Trinity can reveal something of this unity to us.

In today’s reading from the Gospel of John, we read about the three distinct persons of the Most Holy Trinity, who are nevertheless fully one, totally united as God. Jesus–the Begotten One–tells us that the Spirit “will not speak on her own initiative, rather, she will speak only what she hears” from Himself and Abba God. We also read that everything Abba God has belongs to Christ, too, and that the Spirit will reveal it to us. The Trinity is utterly united in all things–and yet, we are still speaking of three persons. Our human minds cannot comprehend how this is true, but we know that it is. Our rationality cannot contain God.

The mystery of the Trinity is not simply a doctrinal truth; it has a profound impact on our lives. Our divine adoption, our sharing in the spirit of Christ, means that we are also included in this inheritance. We are enfolded into this mysteriously infinite and eternal relationship of love. In Christ, we have become a united body, even if we cannot comprehend how this is true.

Paul’s letter to the Romans confirms this enveloping unity: “We are at peace with God through our Savior Jesus Christ… [who] brought us to the grace in which we now stand.” All of us are part of the glorious creation in which God rejoices, and we have been adopted as God’s children. Paul is realistic about this unity, though, and gives us insight into facing the challenges the world presents. He reminds us that we can hope in God’s love to help us realize the fullness of unity in our human society, because “hope does not disappoint, [and] because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”

But this hope requires us first to accept the mystery on which it rests. Our well-intentioned ideas about what unity looks like cannot compare to the glorious reality of God’s plan. To accept this mystery is, to quote Fr Simon Tugwell OP, to let God be God, which means “forgetting to run the world, forgetting to run one another’s lives…forgetting to run even our own lives.”

This is not to say we should abandon our work. Indeed not! But while we continue to advocate for love and inclusion, we should recall that the unity which is both inherent in humanity and lacking in our society does not conform to our preconceptions. As Fr Simon says, we must “unlearn the kind of order which we try to impose on the world and on ourselves and on one another, simply to subject everything to ourselves, to protect us from the wideness and freedom of God’s world.” We must free ourselves from the boxes we create and let ourselves be open to being surprised by God.

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Carter Fahey (he/him) is the Associate Editor of Breath of the Spirit and studied at Oxford. He is a convert and has an interest in doing outreach work to Catholic communities to combat misinformation and create opportunities for community among LGBTQIA+ people.

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