On Trinity Sunday, the Church celebrates a “doctrinal feast” which means that in the Church’s liturgical calendar, this feast is secondary to the feasts like Christmas and Easter that celebrate events in the life of Jesus.

I find it easier to understand the message of a particular Gospel passage if it is placed in context. This Sunday’s text follows a conversation that Jesus had with Nicodemus, the Pharisee who came to Him by night.

Nicodemus was in the “dark” seeking “light” and Jesus told him that in order to come into this light, he would have to be born again through water and the Spirit, which is a description of the Sacrament of Baptism. Jesus was careful to explain to Nicodemus the mystery of the action of the Holy Spirit.

Today we see the love of the Father, the role of the Son and the action of the Holy Spirit without whom belief in the Trinity would be impossible. What stands out in this particular Gospel is the love of the Father who gives what is most precious to Him so that we may not be lost.

As a mother, in my reflection on the Gospel, the awesomeness of God’s love was incomprehensible. I remembered an experience I had which shook my composure. I always believed that I was an “OK” Christian, not great but OK.

After all, I love God, I speak to Jesus all the time, attend church regularly and receive the sacraments. However, one night my daughter was held up by three masked men with guns as she attempted to open our gate.

They demanded the keys to the car, which she gave, and then they ordered her into the car. She refused and they threatened to shoot her. She began to scream as she attempted to get away from them. We ran outside at which point one of the men got into her car and drove away followed by the others in another car.

This is where my story stops making sense. My immediate reaction was not one of relief, which came when sanity returned. I became aware of feelings I never knew I possessed. I felt we had been violated and I wanted to kill those men. This happened years ago but even today I still feel the fear when I accept that I REALLY wanted to kill those men.

I cannot love my daughter more than God loves His Son, yet God gave up His Son so that I might not be lost. In our human way of thinking – incomprehensible.

Our world trivialises and demeans love to the extent that we don’t grasp what love means. Love is equated with sex. The media advertises that if we use a particular brand of toothpaste or eat a particular mint someone would love us.

As a result, many times we feel lost and we keep searching for that one thing which we believe will satisfy the hunger within us, a hunger that is satisfied only when we experience the healing power of God’s love.

God tells us today that if we open our hearts to Jesus and trust Him to pardon and not condemn us, His light will remove the darkness that keeps us in bondage.

It is not easy to surrender to God and admit our weaknesses and imperfections as the world teaches us that we are our accomplishments. The successful people are portrayed as strong self-sufficient achievers. Jesus can be described as a “wimp” as He does not fit the “macho” image of a man.

His teachings on non-violence are seen as weakness. In this environment, real love for each other is becoming scarce. Our country has been described as having an individualistic society. We need each other. Today, we celebrate a God who is three persons.

God our Father, we thank you for your great love, a love that gives freely.
We especially thank you for the gift of your Son who came not to condemn but to save us.
Forgive us for all the times we condemned ourselves, when we were hurt and retaliated with violence and hostility instead of forgiveness; when we boasted about our self-sufficiency and refused the gift of your Spirit.
Forgive us for the times we refused to believe in Jesus and lost our way.
Lord, we believe, help our unbelief. Help us to realise that we belong to a wounded humanity in which we need each other. Help us to see that condemnation is a “from within” process which results from our rejection of Jesus’ way. Teach us to love, Lord. Help us to reach out to those in our society who feel lost. Send us your Holy Spirit and give us the grace to receive Him. Amen.

Yvonne Farmer is a lecturer at the Catholic Bible School and is a member of Lectio Divina groups at the Santa Rosa Church and the Holy Cross Chapel, Arima.