Mt 28:16-20
At that time, the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.”
The Holy Trinity, whom we worship and adore, is so near and yet so far.
It is distant because we will only be able to contemplate the fullness of its glory in eternity, when we will see God as He is. In this life, on the other hand, our knowledge of God is blurred, as through a glass (cf. 1 Cor 13:12), and we depend on the testimony of Scripture. Sometimes the glory of God comes to us, for example, when we experience a wonderful liturgy that has not been robbed of its transcendence.
But what will it be like when we can see God face to face and worship Him with all the angels and saints? For now we do so by faith alone, but this faith is already such a bright light that our hearts long for its fullness.
But God does not remain distant, He comes to meet us Himself. The Lord wants us to experience His nearness already here, in our earthly life, so that He may dwell in our midst.
Thus the Holy Trinity, whose mystery we can never exhaust theologically and whose depth leaves us stammering, comes so close to us that we can say: God is a loving ‘You’! He is not just a distant and inaccessible God; nor is He just any “You” we long for; He is the most loving “You” par excellence; a “You” that can fill us to the point where we lack nothing else; a “You” that exists and remains forever!
But how is it possible to understand Him as a ‘You’ when we do not even see Him? It is love that makes it possible. God reveals Himself to us through the light of faith and speaks to us in the Holy Scriptures. He also whispers directly into our hearts, and since God is Spirit, He does not always need the mediation of a human person; He can speak to us in the most diverse ways.
Now the image of the Holy Trinity becomes clearer and clearer.
God reveals Himself to us as Father and wants us to address Him as such. It is not that we should take our experience of having an earthly father and apply it to God. On the contrary! The existence of our human father should reflect the fatherhood of God.
The Second Person of the Trinity comes into this world as a man. He reveals to us the goodness of our heavenly Father and redeems humanity. We know His name: it is Jesus Christ! He enables us to understand God better by becoming one of us. He walks with His disciples and lives in their midst. In Mary, His Mother, He gives us the Mother of all people. On the cross He reveals to us His love to the point of death, and in His resurrection He reveals the life of the world to come.
And the Third Person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, makes Himself known especially at Pentecost, when He enlightens the disciples of Christ and makes them heralds of the Kingdom of God, full of power and authority. He dwells invisibly but truly in the faithful, and if they listen to Him, they will walk safely on the path of salvation.
God’s love is truly great and infinite! The best we can do is to worship and serve Him gratefully. How wonderful it would be if we lived this reality in this earthly life and took our place in the vineyard of the Lord!
