Solemnity of the Blessed Trinity
(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.”

FROM OUR PASTOR'S DESK
By Msgr. Jesus Romulo C. Rañada

Once again, our Gospel reading for today, the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, is taken from one of the penultimate chapters in the Gospel of John, called the Farewell Discourse of Jesus. It is actually a long discourse, consisting of some four chapters (XIV-XVII), which leads finally to the Passion Narrative that tells us of his arrest, trial, condemnation, death, and to his resurrection appearances (XVIII-XXI). The Farewell Discourse of Jesus which is addressed mainly to his disciples is set in the context of the Last Supper and has several interrelated subjects, e.g., love, service, discipleship, the world, the Holy Spirit, sorrow, joy, etc. Returning to the subject of the Holy Spirit, the new Advocate, whom Jesus promised to send his faithful disciples to keep them company, to teach them everything as well as to help them remember all that he said to them (XIV), Jesus further expounds here the work of this Spirit (XVI) and its relation to his own.

Jesus begins by emphasizing the essential connection between his own work and that of the Holy Spirit. Because of the limits of his present temporal stay with his disciples and the limitation of his disciples’ natural capacity to receive whatever he wants to give or teach them, Jesus sees the necessity as well as the importance of the Holy Spirit’s coming and presence to the disciples. He said to them: ”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. The role of the Holy Spirit is to guide them to all the truth that Jesus revealed or would have wanted to reveal to them. Between Jesus’ own work and that of the Holy Spirit’s, therefore, there is continuity, with the Holy Spirit enabling Jesus to continue his transforming presence and formative work with his disciples, revealing to them all they should know, particularly about him as the Son of the Father. Accordingly, Jesus says, the Holy Spirit “will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming.”  In other words, the Holy Spirit is not totally independent of Jesus, the Son, nor will he work against him. In fact, Jesus says, the Holy Spirit “will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you.”

There is a certain unity of purpose between Jesus and the Holy Spirit, and, if we may say, a unity of property, quality or being as well. Indeed, they share something together by virtue of their common origin, namely, God the Father, and that which they share in the Father and with the Father. Could this be divinity? For, as Jesus says, “Everything that the Father has is mine,” and, for this same reason, as far as the Holy Spirit is concerned, this Spirit, as Jesus also says, “will take from what is mine and declare it to you.” What is it that belongs to the Father but his divinity, his glory, honor and power? If this belongs to Jesus as the Son of the Father and this also belongs to the Holy Spirit as he partakes of the same in and with Jesus the Son, then what we have here is a Trinitarian communion or a Trinitarian relationship expressed in seminal form.

As we celebrate today the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity we praise the Scriptures that give us an insight into the intimate unity that exists among God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit the Advocate. Even though the Doctrine of the Trinity, that is, the official teaching of the Church that God is One, yet, Triune, only came relatively later in the history of the Church, that is to say, not during the time of Jesus and his disciples (1st Century), but later, in the time of what we call the Fathers of the Church (2nd-5th Century), the truth is that there is already some strong basis of it in the Scriptures, particularly in the New Testament, and, more specifically, in the Gospel of John, as we have read it. But more important than the doctrine that we celebrate is the life of God that we ought to live. Having received it from God the Father in Christ the Son through the Holy Spirit, and this by virtue of our faith and baptism into Christ, we need to truly live this out with the Triune God, first of all, and with others like us as well. Thus, we, too, form a triad: God, I myself, and Others. But this triad cannot simply remain just like that, a triad—a relationship identified merely in terms of the number involved. It should be triune, three yet one; many, yet, in unity, plural, yet, in harmony, different and unique, yet, mutually enriching and truly enabling. If we are to achieve such a tri-une way of life, we have to cultivate love. We have to learn respect, trust, patience, fidelity, mutuality, humility, gentleness, graciousness, solicitude, etc. With such a triune way of living, we become an icon of the Most Holy Trinity, an image and likeness of God, a sign and agent of love itself.