The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, Sunday, June 12, 2022

Romans 5, 1–5

Brothers and sisters: Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith to this grace in which we stand, and we boast in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we even boast of our afflictions, knowing that affliction produces endurance, and endurance, proven character, and proven character, hope, and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

Just as when we were small children, when  we understood our parents in their relations and interactions with us, and only when we were grown did we start to see them as themselves, so we understand the Holy Trinity now in terms of the Persons interacting with us, though in heaven we shall see the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit as they are, in a wondrous and dazzling embrace.

In this passage from St. Paul’s Letter, used for the second reading of today’s Mass, the Apostle reflects on the “working” of the three Persons in our lives.  

Paul’s sentences in this Letter are long and the theology a little hard to follow, so it is best to look at it bit by bit.  “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith.”  The term “justified” means to be made right with God.  Justification results from the graces of Baptism, the Sacrament of Faith, in which all sin is wiped away.  It is important to understand that the sin is actually destroyed, and not hidden or covered up, as Protestants belief grace does to it.  “We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”  That is, on account of our justification we possess this peace with God.  It comes to us through the redemptive suffering and Death of our Lord.  “Through whom we have gained access by faith to this grace in which we stand.”  We have gained “access to this grace” of justification by the faith we have been granted.  “We stand” in it — justification is a stable state to which we can be restored even after further sin through the Sacrament of Penance.  “And we boast in hope of the glory of God.”  That is, because of our justified state, we can rejoice in our hopes of everlasting heaven.  

“Not only that, but we even boast of our afflictions.”  Here is a remarkable statement that would have been hard for unbelieving Gentiles to understand.  Affliction was never to be sought out but to be endured when necessary for some greater good; it was also considered better to hide one’s afflictions to the extent possible as it revealed weakness that could be exploited by one’s enemies.  Paul speaks of “boasting” of our afflictions as though they were triumphs, and for the Christian, they are because by persevering in our afflictions we imitate our Saviour and also render him glory, for our steadfastness shows his greatness: no one would willingly suffer for a charlatan, but one would suffer for one who is greatly loved.  “Knowing that affliction produces endurance, and endurance, proven character, and proven character, hope.”  Viewed in this way, affliction for Christ becomes an exercise which leads to strength of soul.  “And hope does not disappoint.”  This hope is a gift from Almighty God, and because it comes from him, it cannot fail but will become certainty in heaven.  “Because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.”  The love of the Father gushes into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has come to us from the Father and Son especially in the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation.  

Thus, in this reading, we see how faith, hope, and love work together in us, coming from God.  Faith comes through the Son and love through the Holy Spirit.  Hope comes through both faith and love, through both the Son and the Holy Spirit, for the Son tells us of what to hope, and makes its object possible for us to possess, and the Holy Spirit provides the grace with which to hope.  All comes from the Father, the Son begotten by him and the Holy Spirit generated by him with the Son.