“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all” (2 Cor 13:13).
We usually hear this greeting from the priest at the beginning of Mass. It is one of the trinitarian passages in the New Testament. Even though there are trinitarian formulas in the New Testament, the Holy Trinity remains a big mystery for us human beings. Some people think that it is only a matter of theological speculation, a dogma. It is therefore beyond our understanding and has nothing to do with the reality of our existence.
It is true that consubstantial Trinity is a dogma, a truth of faith. However, trinitarian faith is rooted in life. The Christian representation of God as Trinity did not originate in the minds and study of theologians. It originated in the hearts of believers. Therefore, the theological conceptualization should not take us away from the lived experience of the Holy Trinity, the way God reveals Himself to us humans.
The experience of the first generation of Christians, the apostolic generation, is based on three pillars: the memory of Jesus of Nazareth, the conviction that he continues to live as the Risen Christ, and the realization that His Spirit is still powerfully at work among His followers. It is Jesus who shared with His apostles about Yahweh, God, as Creator of heaven and earth. He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who has intervened throughout history. And the Spirit of God is the power by which God acts in our lives. Indeed, God is neither far away nor invisible. He is part of our history through Jesus, who made visible the invisible God and who lives in intimate relationship with God. He addresses Him as Abba, Father.
Like it was with the first believers, we participate in the love-relationship that exists between the Father and the Son, the Word of God who became man. We also share in the same powerful Spirit which had been at work in the incarnation and the resurrection of Jesus. To share in the Spirit is to share in Jesus' relationship with the Father. It means to share in the life of God Himself. Christian life is about this sharing in the life of God the Father through the Son by the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the fulness of our Christian life involves a threefold conversion.
Intellectual conversion consists in overcoming our egotism which regards the self and the self’s limited experience of the world as the whole of reality. It requires humility to accept the existence of realities beyond our understanding like the Holy Trinity. Moral conversion requires a radical option to pursue good, even when this option contradicts self-interest. It involves responsibility for ourselves and for the world we live in, or a willingness to act with and for others. Religious conversion helps building, through prayers and deeds of salvation, an intimate relationship with God and being-in-love with Him who is Love. God so loved us that He sent us His begotten Son who redeemed us and who is still present in our midst through the Holy Spirit. Yes, I believe in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit: One God.