A sermon for Trinity Sunday

By Fr. Mike Paraniuk
St. Mary Catholic Church
St. Benignus Catholic Church 
St. Mary Queen of Heaven
and Holy Trinity Catholic Church

The year was 415 A.D. when St. Augustine decided to take a break from writing his greatest theological work called "De Trinitate" (On the Trinity). He was exhausted trying to understand how God could be Three Persons yet still be only One God. Augustine took a stroll along the beach to contemplate this mystery. He was not alone on the beach. A little boy was running back and forth between the sea and a little hole he dug in the sand. 

St. Augustine walked up to the boy and asked, "Son, what are you doing there?" 

The boy held up a pink shell. He replied, "I'm trying to fit this great big ocean into this little hole." The boy would take the shell, dip it into the sea, then carry it back to dump in a few drops of water into the hole. St. Augustine laughed and said, "Son you could never fit this vast ocean into this little hole." 

The child looked at Augustine, laughed and said, "Your little mind could never understand the vastness of the Trinity." 

At that moment, the child disappeared." 

It is interesting to note St. Augustine worked on writing "De Trinitate" for 30 years. He never finished it. Maybe that's God's way of saying I have no ending. I will always just "Be." 

God revealed to Moses His name for the very first time at the burning bush. "God appeared to Moses in the burning bush and told him to go to Egypt to lead the Israelites out of slavery. In response, Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” (Exodus 3:13.) 

God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you’.” (Exodus 3:14.)

The very name of God reveals who He is. God is saying, "I AM who created everything. I need no one for my Being." But when God revealed His name to Moses a wonderful thing happened.

In those days, if you knew someone's name you had power over them. You had the power to call upon them for help in time of need. With God revealing His name to Moses He is saying, "I do not need you, but I need you to need me." 

The God who has Divine sovereignty over you chose to give you power over Him when you call upon His name for help. When I was a chaplain at Children's Hospital I used to say, "The CEO, Board of Directors and doctors don't run this hospital. It's the little baby crying in the incubator." 

Knowing God's name gives you power over His heart. That's why Catholics have pictures of Jesus's Heart displayed prominently in their homes. God says, "The same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans 10:12-13.) 

I find it so cool that God, who is all powerful, wants you to call Him "Daddy" (Abba) because He cares for His children. This real mystery of the Trinty is this: Why does God love me so much?  

Theologians have used earthly examples to explain the Trinity. An egg has a shell, yolk and egg white, but it is still one egg. Water can be steam, ice or liquid, yet it is the one same essence. 

I like the example of the pretzel. Several hundred years ago, a monk from Europe was teaching his students about the Trinity. To help them understand, he took some dough and shaped it into the three-hole pretzel loop which he used to explain the Trinity. He baked it and covered it with sugar. He gave them to the children so they would remember the Trinity. He named them "pretiolas," which means "little rewards." 

I'll never look at a bag of Rold Gold pretzels the same way again.