How do we understand that God is three persons? The first thing we must do is get rid of our definition of "person." Referring to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is not the same as referring to Charles, Andrew, and Edward or any other three independent individuals. St. Augustine tried to find a word other than "person" to refer to the three components of the Trinity but was unsuccessful. He said that if we don't say "persons" to talk about the Trinity, then we must remain silent because there is no other word that better expresses the reality of the mystery. Another saint said that “In the Trinity there are three ‘I don't know what’, but three."

The first reading from the Book of Proverbs is an excerpt in which Wisdom, as if it were a person, speaks of its eternal existence. Wisdom, it says, was like God's architect when God made the universe. Here the Son of God is the wisdom of God, the Son through whom all things were made. St. Paul wrote to the Colossians, “For in him were created all things in heaven and on earth” (Colossians 1:16). Wisdom says, “I was his delight day by day.” The Son of God is the image of the Father, in whom the Father “is well pleased” (Mathew 3:17). Wisdom says, “I was playing before him all the while”. This is a poetic way to describe joy. Just as the Father does, the Son also rejoices greatly in the presence of his Father. We read in the gospel, “He (Jesus) departed to the mountain to pray, and he spent the night in prayer to God” (Luke 6:12). The Lord modeled spending time with the Father.

In the second reading from the Letter to the Romans, St. Paul speaks about grace. We enter the world of grace thanks to the Son of God. St. Paul says, “Through Jesus we have gained access by faith to this grace in which we stand.” Grace is the favor of God. Grace had been lost in original sin. The sacrament of Baptism gives us this divine gift. St. Paul says, “Through grace we boast in hope of the glory of God.” Baptism opens a window to heaven, to eternal life, to the life of God. Pope Francis taught that, “Through baptism, the Holy Spirit has placed us in the heart and the very life of God, who is a communion of love.” Through Baptism, we are grafted into the mystery of the Trinity. The Holy Spirit is given to us at Baptism and Confirmation and he dwells in our hearts. The Son is given to us as nourishment in the Eucharist. Through the Holy Spirit and the Son, we are in the life of the Father, who knows us even more that a father knows his children.

In the Gospel reading, St. John recounts some of the words the Lord spoke to his disciples at the Last Supper. The Lord spoke spontaneously of his heavenly Father and the Holy Spirit as one of us would naturally speak of people from our immediate family. In the Bible, we can see the mission or work of the Trinity. The heavenly Father was the one who made himself known from creation, through Abraham and throughout the Old Testament. When the time came to send his Son, He marvelously became a human being in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Son returned to the heavenly Father and from there sent the Holy Spirit to permanently be God's presence in the world. The Lord said to his disciples, "I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you" (John 14:18).

On the solemnity of the most Holy Trinity, we thank the three persons for the wonderful gift of the world of grace in which we stand. Today, we also humbly ask the most Holy Trinity to grant help us to become a reflection of the communion of love that they perfectly are.