The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity
Thomas Paine, in his famous pamphlet entitled The Age of Reason, argued that our only true knowledge of God comes from what we know by reason. Talk about the Trinity, he held, was simply nonsense because it could not be proven and it only led to sectarian violence. Rationalism took roost in the 19th century, and the God of faith and providence fell before the image of the great clock winder who left the room when the job was done. By the end of the 19th century, even the image of the clock winder was given the boot. Replacing a God that interacts in and with our lives was removed and in its place the material laws of nature took hold on the western conscience. The consequences of this replacement were seen in racism, eugenics, and totalitarianism. The belief in the Trinity is not some inconsequential theological subtilty. The Trinity fundamentally articulates for us God’s action in three distinct persons. The very creation of the world, the incarnation, and God’s continued action in the world and particularly through the Church are the actions of the Trinity of persons. The mystery of the Trinity is something we may not be able to comprehend, but we can comprehend the effects of a God who is not distant and continues to work in the world through the Church and in each human created in God’s image and likeness.