Pastoral, Liturgical, Teaching, and Social Justice Moments brought to you by DignityUSA.

Breath of the Spirit is our electronic spiritual and liturgical resource for our members and potential members. Nothing can replace your chapter or other faith community but we hope you will find further support here for integrating your spirituality with your sexuality and all the strands of your life.

The doctrine of the Trinity can seem so esoteric and theoretical that one can wonder if it matters at all in our daily lives. Today’s reflection, though, attempts to ground that highfalutin theology in our lived experiences. It depicts the Trinity not as arcane theological ephemera, but as practical insight into how we might live as followers of Jesus.

June 4, 2023: The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity                                

Exodus 34:4b-6, 8-9

Daniel 3:52, 53, 54, 55, 56

2 Corinthians 13:11-13   

John 3:16-18

One God in Mutuality, Relationship, and Otherness

Reflection by Ann Penick                                                                             

“For God so loved the world as to give the Only Begotten One that whosoever believes … may not die but have eternal life…”

Very powerful. But do we really understand what this scriptural passage from the Gospel of John means? God’s love for us is so great that God has found a way to bring us from death into life in the human form of Jesus. And yet, the world does not seem very lovable right now—we’ve got a pandemic of disinformation, additional attacks on transgender and cisgender LGBTQIA+ folks, racial injustice and racial prejudice, Fentanyl deaths, and the continued barrage of unexplainable gun violence. There are also people desperate to be heard, and a planet desperate to be cooled. We’ve got people and institutions who don’t seem to care, or who are tone-deaf, or who are averting their eyes hoping all this will magically disappear. Some of these people are even giving lip service to God in the process. “For God so loved the world…” Powerful words, but in this current environment, merely saying powerful words or seeing those words on a bumper sticker, just rings hollow. Believing in these words and congratulating oneself on believing these words is not the same as believing in Jesus as Messiah. What does it mean to believe in Jesus as Messiah?  It means trusting in Jesus and journeying with Jesus, committing oneself to living this message of love, hope and peace for the world—that is where the rubber meets the road.

Today we celebrate the Holy Trinity. How do we understand the Trinity? How does the Trinity even relate to our current situation? By definition, God is beyond conceptualization, beyond imagination, and beyond language. In 325, the Council of Nicaea gave us some of the language for God we profess today: there is one God in three persons. The Creed isn’t meant to make everything perfectly clear. No creed can ever capture the reality of God because God can’t be captured and put into a box—no matter how hard people have tried over the centuries and still trying to do today! This is what the Trinity is all about: mutuality, relationship, and otherness. Mutuality is the source of life. Relationship grounds being. Otherness is there from the start.

God, our creator, invited us on earth to a lasting and loving relationship: “I will be your God and you will be my people” (Genesis 17:7). But what does this mean? We have people all around us hurt and betrayed. People whose health has been compromised by the coronavirus. People who have been hurt by the economy, hurt by the Church, betrayed by social systems and legislation supposed to be there to help. Mixed-up motives by well-meaning (and not-so-well-meaning) leadership. “For God so loved the world…” can get lost in such a world and not be heard. Too often, we choose the paths of least resistance and behave with greed and privilege. We find it easier than getting down to the hard work of walking the talk of our faith and living the words of the gospel message today. Living the gospel goes beyond inspiring words and lofty thoughts. It means practicing patience, civility, and anti-racism with justice and action; practicing inclusion and diversity; educating ourselves around issues, practicing compassion for ourselves and with those around us; and practicing peace. Living in communion with one another as the Holy Trinity lives in communion with each other. Mutuality, Relationship, and Otherness.

Into this ocean of stuff, Jesus the Christ has plunged—headfirst! Rev. John Foley said it best, “Think of Jesus as the most profound insides of God’s love for the world.” It is this love between God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit that can dwell within us—if we let it. Walking this talk takes commitment, hard work, and a hard, long, reflective look at ourselves. But we can allow the Holy Spirit to breathe life into us, because the Holy Spirit is our Sustainer, our Sanctifier, and our Encourager.

Do I walk with God who revealed the Divine Essence through Jesus Christ—merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in kindness and faithfulness? Or am I following a god of my own making—perhaps a god of vengeance, a god of prosperity, or another kind of god? 

We remember what Teresa of Avila said:

“Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which he looks compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good. Yours are the hands through which he blesses the world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are his body. Christ has no body now on earth but yours.”

It’s true! Practice this and the world could change dramatically—it begins with you and me! We can renew the face of the earth through mutuality, relationship, and otherness—Three in One!