What is the Most Holy Trinity? Well, that is the mystery – the central mystery – of our faith. In this lesson, we discuss the meanings of both, the basic justification for the understanding we have, and how this and other mysteries have been revealed to us, the Church. And there is a simple activity that perhaps we should all be doing anyway…

The Central Mystery: Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

by Beth & Kristofer | Beth's Blog of Blessings, Catechesis, Help, Moral Clarity, This Week's Mass Warm-Up!

First Reading

Dt 4:32-34, 39-40

Moses said to the people:
“Ask now of the days of old, before your time,
ever since God created man upon the earth;
ask from one end of the sky to the other:
Did anything so great ever happen before?
Was it ever heard of?
Did a people ever hear the voice of God
speaking from the midst of fire, as you did, and live?
Or did any god venture to go and take a nation for himself
from the midst of another nation,
by testings, by signs and wonders, by war,
with strong hand and outstretched arm, and by great terrors,
all of which the LORD, your God,
did for you in Egypt before your very eyes?
This is why you must now know,
and fix in your heart, that the LORD is God
in the heavens above and on earth below,
and that there is no other.
You must keep his statutes and commandments that I enjoin on you today,
that you and your children after you may prosper,
and that you may have long life on the land
which the LORD, your God, is giving you forever.”

Responsorial Psalm

33:4-5, 6, 9, 18-19, 20, 22

R. (12b) Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
Upright is the word of the LORD,
   and all his works are trustworthy.
He loves justice and right;
   of the kindness of the Lord the earth is full.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
By the word of the LORD the heavens were made;
   by the breath of his mouth all their host.
For he spoke, and it was made;
   he commanded, and it stood forth.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
See, the eyes of the LORD are upon those who fear him,
   upon those who hope for his kindness,
To deliver them from death
   and preserve them in spite of famine.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
Our soul waits for the LORD,
   who is our help and our shield.
May your kindness, O LORD, be upon us
   who have put our hope in you.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.

Second Reading

Rom 8:14-17

Brothers and sisters:
For those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear,
but you received a Spirit of adoption,
through whom we cry, “Abba, Father!”
The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit
that we are children of God,
and if children, then heirs,
heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ,
if only we suffer with him
so that we may also be glorified with him.

Gospel Reading

Alleluia

Rv 1:8

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Glory to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit;
to God who is, who was, and who is to come.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

Mt 28:16-20

The eleven disciples went to Galilee,
to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them.
When they all saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted.
Then Jesus approached and said to them,
“All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.
And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”

Catechesis At Home – Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity – Year B

The Most Holy Trinity is the Central Mystery

DISCUSSION – What is the Holy Trinity? What is a Mystery?

The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us that “the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of the Christian faith and Christian life. God alone can make it known to us by revealing himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” (261)

When we speak of the mysteries of faith, we are not referring to a mystery like a “who-dunnit” or a spy novel. We are speaking of truths of our faith that cannot be known without God revealing them to us. Mystery means “secret”. The Trinity – One God in Three Persons – is the most fundamental of these truths. Everything else we know about God and believe finds its foundation in the Trinity.

Our creed is Trinitarian (“I believe in one God, the Father almighty…Jesus Christ only begotten Son…the Holy Spirit, Lord and giver of life”). We learn of the secret of the Trinity through God’s revelation (sharing the secret; revealing the mystery) of the three Persons in Scripture – first the Father reveals himself to the People of Israel, then the Son becomes Incarnate in Jesus Christ who is our Redeemer, and finally the Holy Spirit is revealed explicitly by Jesus as the Advocate who will lead and guide the Church.

We begin and end every Mass with the Sign of the Cross in which we invoke the name of God in the Three Persons. Each time we pray the Glory Be (this week’s Gospel Acclamation), we are praising and glorifying God in this mystery He revealed to us.

ACTIVITY – Praying to the Holy Trinity

Many times we have a “go to” for prayers to one or another of the Three Persons in the Trinity. How do we address God? Do we mainly call on God the Father? Or do we pray to Jesus, the Son? Or do we invoke the Holy Spirit most often? Each Person of the Trinity can handle anything, but God wants us to relate to Him in our own comfort. The other two Persons do not get jealous if we have a “favorite”!

There is no wrong way to address God if we are praying sincerely. Our relationship with God develops more deeply when we relate to him personally. Sometimes our focus changes from one to another of the Persons. In times of uncertainty we may focus on God the Father and His protection and power. In times of struggle or temptation or illness, we may turn to Jesus to save us from sin and forgive us and offer healing. When we are making decisions we might ask for guidance from the Holy Spirit. This is good and natural. God is unchanging, but we change and grow. Through his revelation of his Trinitarian nature, we can have the freedom to change and grow and relate to him in different ways.

So, how do you pray? Discuss with your family members the different ways you each relate to God and pray to him.

“Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.”

Download or Print TWFT as a PDF