Holy, Holy, Holy: the mystery of the Holy Trinity
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” (2 Corinthians 13:13)
The teaching of the Holy Trinity is that there is one God who exists eternally in three ‘persons’: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The three persons are distinct but inseparable, with the same nature and essence.
Catholics believe that the Father generates the Son, while the Holy Spirit proceeds from them both (John 1:14,18; 5:26; 15:26; 20:22). In Scripture, Christ is referred to as “the Word of God”, which reflects his nature as an expression of God the Father (John 1:1-14; 1 John 1:1; Revelation 19:13). The Holy Spirit is described as the Lord, the Giver of Life, to reflect his nature as God, giver and gift (2 Corinthians 3:6, 17-18).
As the Catechism of the Catholic Church says: “The mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of Christian faith and life. It is the mystery of God in himself. It is therefore the source of all the other mysteries of faith, the light that enlightens them. It is the most fundamental and essential teaching in the “hierarchy of the truths of faith”. The whole history of salvation is identical with the history of the way and the means by which the one true God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, reveals himself to men “and reconciles and unites with himself those who turn away from sin.” (CCC 234)
The significance of the teaching is that God is not a solitary being, but interpersonal by nature. Within the one God, there are relationships of love, of sharing and of mutual knowledge. The Trinity means that God’s very life is an eternal “we,” not a solitary “me.”
When God said “us”: the Trinity in the Old Testament
The Trinity isn’t directly revealed in the Old Testament, but there are indications about the ‘togetherness’ of God found throughout its pages.
The Catechism explains: “From the beginning until “the fullness of time,” the joint mission of the Father’s Word and Spirit remains hidden, but it is at work. God’s Spirit prepares for the time of the Messiah. Neither is fully revealed but both are already promised, to be watched for and welcomed at their manifestation. So, for this reason, when the Church reads the Old Testament, she searches there for what the Spirit, “who has spoken through the prophets,” wants to tell us about Christ.” (CCC 702)
The book of Genesis, for example, hints at the collective identity of God. In Genesis 1:2, we read that the Spirit of God was involved in the act of creation. We also learn that God created the universe by speaking: “God said, “Let there be light!” And there was light.” (Genesis 1:3) This means that God created the world through both his Word and his Spirit.
Christian interpreters in the Early Church also noticed that in Genesis, God speaks in the plural (“us”). For example, when God was creating the world, he said: “Let us make man in our image and likeness.” (Genesis 1:26). Similarly, after the Fall, God said: “Behold, man has become like one of us, for he has knowledge of that which is good and that which is evil.” (Genesis 3:22) They believed these to be conversations between the persons of the Trinity.
Later in the book, Abraham is described as being visited by God in the form of three guests. We read: “The Lord appeared to Abraham at the Oak of Mamre… He looked up and saw three men standing nearby.” (Genesis 18:1-2) In later Christian tradition and iconography, this passage came to be understood as a sign of the threefold nature of God. You can see a detail of this scene in the icon at the start of this article (by Dimitri Pascari, in St Patrick’s Redfield).
At the start of his gospel, St John wrote: “No one has ever seen God. It is the only Son, God, who is at the Father’s side, who has made him known.” (John 1:18). Based on this statement, Christian scholars concluded that when people interacted with God in the Old Testament, they were really engaging with God the Son, not God the Father.
In the New Testament, we find references to various secret appearances that the pre-existent Son of God made in the Old Testament. For example, St Paul explained that Christ accompanied the Hebrews on their journey from Egypt to the Promised Land (1 Corinthians 10:4).
Similarly, St Jude wrote that the Lord (i.e. Jesus Christ) was the one who “delivered the people out of the land of Egypt” (Jude 1:4-5). And in St John’s gospel, we discover that when Isaiah saw his vision of God enthroned in glory, he was actually seeing the Son of God (John 12:37-41).
In the book of Psalms, we also find an important clue about the relationship between the Father and the Son. In Psalm 110:1, we read: “The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I have made your enemies a footstool for you.” In the gospels, Christ explained that in this text, God the Father was speaking to his Son (Mark 12:35-27).
Turning to the Holy Spirit, the Old Testament describes him not merely as a divine power or force, but as a personal presence within God’s own inner life.
For example, the Spirit of God can be disobeyed, grieved and reacts to sin (Psalm 106:33; Isaiah 63:10; Wisdom 1:5). He also speaks, teaches and is aware of everything said (2 Samuel 23:2; Nehemiah 9:20; Wisdom 1:7).
The Prophets – such as Isaiah, Ezekiel and Joel – spoke of a time when the Holy Spirit would be poured out to transform people’s lives, bringing blessings, and a range of spiritual gifts (Isaiah 44:3; Ezekiel 36:24-28; Joel 2:28-29).
One God, One Lord, One Spirit: the Trinity in the New Testament
In the New Testament, the Trinity is more clearly revealed. With his disciples, Christ spoke about his close relationship with both the Father and the Holy Spirit. This is particularly clear within the Gospel of St John, during Christ’s speech at the Last Supper.
As Pope St John Paul II explained: “It is a characteristic of the text of John that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are clearly called Persons, the first distinct from the second and the third, and each of them from one another. Jesus speaks of the Spirit-Counselor, using several times the personal pronoun “he”; and at the same time, throughout the farewell discourse, he reveals the bonds which unite the Father, the Son and the Paraclete to one another.” (Dominum et Vivificantem, 8)
In the gospels, we get a glimpse of the Trinity in other key moments of Christ’s life.
- At the Baptism of Christ, the three persons were publicly revealed. God the Father’s voice was heard, God the Son was baptised in the river, while the Holy Spirit descended from heaven in the form of a dove.
- During the Transfiguration of Christ, we see something similar. God the Father spoke from heaven, God the Son shone like the sun, while the Holy Spirit overshadowed the scene in the form of a cloud.
- And after the Resurrection, God the Son sent his disciples out into the world, to baptise converts “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 28:16-20).
On the day of Pentecost, when the Church was born, we read of the arrival of the Holy Spirit. The Book of Acts says that the Spirit descended on the community in the form of tongues of fire (2:1-11). St Peter explained the episode as an act of the Trinity, saying: “Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he [Christ] has poured out this that you both see and hear.” (Acts 2:33)
In the Letters of St Paul, while he insists that there is only one God, he also consistently speaks of One God, One Lord and One Spirit (1 Corinthians 8:6; 12:4-6; Ephesians 2:18; 4:4-6; 1 Timothy 2:5).
Finally, in the Book of Revelation, we get a window into the glory of the Trinity. In chapter 4, the angels in heaven are described as continually praising God by singing the ‘Holy, Holy, Holy’ hymn. This song, known as the Sanctus, was first revealed in the Book of Isaiah (6:1-10). The triple “Holy” has traditionally been considered as a sign of the threefold nature of God.
Here are ten biblical moments of revelation about the three persons of the Trinity – five from the Old Testament, and five from the New:
2. The Sanctus
3. The Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit
4. Joel foretells the Holy Spirit
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