Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, Year A
Theme: How Does God Love Us?天主怎樣愛我們？
Like all other global monotheist religions, the God we Christians believe in is one. However, our God is more “refined in details” in the sense that Jesus Christ reveals to us that there are three divine Persons in one Godhead. They are God the Father, the Creator who is the source of everything. God the Son is the Word of God who participated in the creation of the known universe. Moreover, the Son of God, Jesus Christ also takes up another role as the Redeemer to deliver humanity from the bondage of sins. The Father loves His only begotten Son and the Son loves the Father and obeys Him unconditionally. The love between them is the Holy Spirit, the spirit of truth (John 14:17) and the spirit of love because love is the essence of God! John the Apostle and Evangelist beautifully summarizes it, “God is love” (1 John 4:8). If God is love, how does love harmonize with His meting out punishments?
The first reading today highlights God’s love in the Torah by emphasizing God’s mercy and readiness to forgive. “The Lord, the Lord, a God gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in love and fidelity” (Exodus 34:6). Mercy is bestowed when sins are forgiven. God’s mercy is shown by His readiness to forgive. Even notorious kings such as Ahab was spared the punishments he deserved for the murder of Naboth when he showed signs of repentance (1 Kings 21:29). In this particular story, God had stayed the punishments until Ahab died. The punishments still descended on Ahab’s children, thus showing God’s righteousness. In selecting today’s reading, the Liturgical Commissions emphasize God’s mercy by skipping the next verse in Exodus, which says, “continuing His love for a thousand generations, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion, and sin; yet not declaring the guilty guiltless, but bringing punishment for their parents’ wickedness on children and children’s children to the third and fourth generation!” (34:7) This verse echoes the first Commandment (the second Commandment according to the Protestant way of counting) mentioned in Exodus 20 (20:5-6). If God brings punishments for parent’s wickedness to children (such as the case of King David and King Ahab) and children’s children to the third and fourth generation, how does this verse square with the prophets’ teaching on God’s righteousness? For example, “Only the one who sins shall die. The son shall not be charged with the guilt of his father, nor shall the father be charged with the guilt of his son. Justice belongs to the just, and wickedness to the wicked” (Ezekiel 18:20).
Let me organize it this way. One group of Jews showed God’s righteousness by stressing that God would punish a person’s wickedness to the third and fourth generation. Therefore, be forewarned of the consequences of your wickedness to your children and children’s children! The Torah and even the Former Prophets, namely the books of Judges, I & II Samuels and I & II Kings seem to advocate this position. This moral position is more communal because your responsibility lies beyond your lifetime! The other group insisted that God’s punishments were confined to the wicked person concerned. Children would not bear the brunt of the punishments of the wickedness of their parents! Their children would only be responsible for their own wickedness. The major and minor prophets buy this position. This moral position is more individualistic. There seems to be an evolution of morality. The importance of individuals is gaining an upper hand. Following the tradition of prophets, the gospels take up a more personal stance. Everyone is held accountable for his own iniquities.
The gospel passage for the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity is chosen well even though the Holy Spirit does not show up explicitly in the text like the narrative of Jesus’ baptism in the River Jordon does. However, bear in mind that the Holy Spirit is the love between the Father and the Son whose love is manifested in the Holy Spirit. If “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son …” (John 3:16a), then the Father’s love will go where His only Son goes, namely the world. Where else but the world must the Holy Spirit be present as well! The most holy Trinity is present in this often-quoted passage from John, which harmonizes the love of God with His righteousness. The Father sent His only begotten Son to humanity and invited us to believe in the Son to receive salvation. The Father does not force us to accept Jesus Christ and leaves it open for us to accept or to reject the invitation. We have the choice. This is the modulus operandi of God. The parable of the Prodigal Son conveys this message most beautifully. This parable does not tell us whether the elder son accepts the father’s explanation and reconciles with the younger brother. The ending is left open for the audience to decide for themselves whether they are willing to reconcile with “other sinners”. If they don’t genuinely believe in Jesus, they won’t be able to reconcile with “other sinners” who have entered eternal life before them (Matthew 21:31) while they refuse to enter unless “other sinners” are removed. Who made you the judge of the living and the dead? Therefore, we only have ourselves to blame if we insist on our own righteousness. “Whoever believes in Him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God” (John 3:18).
Alas! It is difficult to keep trusting in the love of God because many terrible things are happening around us and even to our loved ones. As of this writing, two women were brutally stabbed and killed in a bustling shopping mall in less than two minutes the afternoon before. The police quickly arrived and apprehended the perpetrator. Many passers-by were shocked and the government appealed to the mass media and social media not to forward the videos because the scene was too disturbing! Naturally one wonders where God was when this incident took place. How can we hold on to the belief that “The Lord will guard you from all evil; He will guard your soul. The Lord will guard your coming and going both now and forever.” (Psalms 121:7-8)
To be candid, had God appeared to us and explained, like the father in the parable of the Prodigal Son did why He allowed such a brutal killing to happen in broad daylight, we would not have accepted it either because the reason is too complex beyond our intelligence or our prejudice has clouded our charity so much so that we are unable to tolerate “other sinners”! Such intolerance persuade us to question God and His love! However, I opine that questioning God is better than becoming indifferent because God is still relevant in our lives.
“Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. But for many Hongkongers, this is a day for deep-reflections. We beseech the Lord’s mercy to receive the dead in His eternal bosom. We pray for those whose hearts have been hardened. Lord, soften and liberate them gradually from the abysses of fear and anxiety. May the eternal mercy of the Trinity give our society and our country the grace of healings so that we may proceed to a brighter tomorrow. Amen.”
+Stephen Chow Sau Yan, S.J. Bishop of Hong Kong.
2020 Reflection Photo Credit: hongkongfp.com
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