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TRINITY SUNDAY
Gospel Jn 3:16-18
The God We Believe In

Introduction
The readings of today are meant to help us purify our hearts and mind from false ideas and images of God. The God of Jesus Christ is not a lonely being, he is a family. He reveals himself as Trinity. He speaks of himself and his life in order to help us become aware of the gift he is giving us, to introduce us into his family.

The Christian God
The God we know as Christians is “A merciful and gracious God, slow to anger, rich in kindness and fidelity” (Ex 34:6). God is a Father who looks at his children with tenderness, understands their mistakes and faults and loves them even when they sin. The gospel of this Sunday’s liturgy tells us that God has not moved away from us, but has joined his life to the world and to ours. God does not live far away or terrify people.

The face of God
 “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life” (Jn 3:16). These words help us to understand the ways of God. God is not just the Lord, full of compassion; he is also somebody who loved us to such a degree as to become one of us.
When we think of God becoming man in Jesus of Nazareth, we may think that this event was only one incident in his life. He came among us, was with us for thirty-three years, taught and did all kinds of things and then returned to heaven, where he resumed his routine of spying on us! Our God became a man and remains one with us for ever. He is not pulling himself out of this world. God loves us. God has shown his love for us through the gift of his Son. What proves that God loves us is that “While we were still sinners Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8).

God Loves
 “God sent his Son into the world not to condemn the world, but so that through him the world might be saved.” If we still imagine God as a king who gave us laws and is making sure that we keep them, if we still think of him as the master of the world that we must honour in fear and trembling, then we are not Christians; we are certainly not worshipping the God of Jesus Christ.
The God of the gospel, the God that Jesus taught us to call Father, is one who loves sinners. Not converted sinners, but those who are still sinners. What do the mother and father do when their son turns out to be a rascal? Do they throw him out and disown him? No! They say, “You may be a rascal, but you are still our son!” Even if all condemn him, even if he is imprisoned for life, his parents never despair and always seek a way of rehabilitating him.
God never gives up when confronted by the sin of his people. It is not that he doesn’t care about sin or that he pretends not to see it. He hates it because it destroys the life of his children. What he wants is that they stop sinning so that they can enjoy true happiness.

God’s Judgment
What if we don’t accept God’s offer? What if we don’t want to be saved? Do we really think that evil is more powerful than God’s love? Hasn’t his Son come to save the world? For John, “the world” is a symbol of evil? It is with this evil that God wants to compete. Do you imagine God being the loser in this competition?
About God’s judgment, John tells us that it is an actual reality that takes place already in the present; it is an interior and spiritual experience rather than a penalty imposed by a judge from outside. The judgment will not be at the end of time; it is we who judge and we who are judging ourselves right now. Each one of us is holding our judgment right now. We choose to love or to hate, to follow or reject Christ. The choices we make, the decisions we follow will determine our full life and happiness.

Sixth Sunday of Easter

Ascension Sunday

Pentecost Sunday

Trinity Sunday

Adapted from:

Celebrating the Word Year A

By Fernando Armellini