The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity
“When they all saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted. Then Jesus approached them and said, ‘... And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.’” (Matthew 28:17, 20)
The disciples who had been called by Christ, who walked with and learned from Christ, who had seen His miracles, who had witnessed His sufferings, who now saw Him risen from the dead: they worshiped, but they doubted. Immersed in the mystery of Jesus Christ our Lord, the disciples fall down in adoration. Trying to grasp all that our Lord is, they fall short in doubt. Christ exceeds them. Lowering themselves as they worship, their praise cannot match what is owed to the One who died and rose for them. Christ’s dignity exceeds their ability to praise. Harboring their doubts, they cannot escape from the One who then commissions them to spread faith in Him throughout the whole world. Christ’s call exceeds their presumption to fathom who stands before them. And in their insufficient worship, and in their confused doubt, what does this most high Christ promise: that He remains by their side. Praise will not push Him higher. Doubt will not distance the Lord from these disciples. “Behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age!”
If such is the mystery of the Incarnation, what do we say of the mystery of the Trinity which the Incarnate Christ reveals? Plunged into this God at our baptism, we worship the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit every time we pray. Wanting to understand the Creator as we understand so many created things, we encounter a depth of mystery that exceeds our mind’s sight, and at times we react with doubt. And yet, the Triune God commissions us to tell others of His wondrous deeds. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, in whom we have been baptized, promise that we are the Trinity’s own, that we belong to God, that He has chosen us and remains by our side, until the end of the age. Let us ask with Moses: “Did anything so great ever happen before?” (Deuteronomy 4:32) Let us proclaim with the Psalmist: “Blessed the people God has chosen to be his own!” (Psalm 33:12)