Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

As the priest was giving his Homily last night, I thought, “Well, if he doesn’t understand the Holy Spirit, then how should I?” And there lies the very root of the Holy Spirit: We aren’t meant to understand it. It’s called a mystery for a reason. And, according to Father, we should rejoice in the mystery that is the Holy Spirit. It isn’t dependent on how intelligent you are, but rather on belief; it opens the door to salvation.

Just as I read in 1 Body 1 Bread, “we can understand the Trinity enough to know that we can never understand them very well.” It’s like that Christmas present that we can’t wait to open: we don’t know what’s in it; we have to wait for the “big day” to see what’s in it so that our question will be answered. I remember telling my mother when I was much younger that sometimes I couldn’t wait to get to heaven so all my questions would be answered. Understanding the Holy Spirit is a big one.

The Holy Spirit, to me, is more faith-based than the Father and the Son. It’s intangible; it allows our faith to be shown. As I read in ePriest: faith is the same for everyone, but it is very personal, too.

I live in the “Bible Belt”. We were one of three Catholic families in my public school (although one of those families wasn’t practicing). My faith is a very personal thing to me. I’ve had times when people have tried to talk to me about their religion. I’ve had times when people left me alone because of my religion. I’ve been uncomfortable when people talk to me about their religion because my faith is very personal to me. I have a personal relationship with Christ, and, just like my relationship with my husband, I don’t go blabbing about every little detail with people I’m close with, much less with people I barely know. Just as I think people know I’m married by my actions, I hope they know I’m a Catholic by my actions as well.

We have a picture in our mind of what the Father and the Son look like. What does the Holy Spirit look like? I think it’s more of a “feeling”, but that may not be the best description as I think about it. Maybe it’s more of how we live our life or the faith that we have. Pope Francis described the Holy Spirit as “love”.  Even St. Augustine couldn’t grasp the Holy Spirit; it took a child on the beach to tell him that it would be easier to fill in a hole on the beach with all of the water in the sea than it would be for him to understand the Holy Trinity. (Moments of Mercy from Loyola Press) The Holy Spirit is just one of those things that make us long for heaven so we can have questions answered.