We celebrate Trinity Sunday, a day on which we emphasize that our one God manifests himself as three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In fact, we begin and end our prayers, making the sign of the cross and saying that we pray in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Those words can roll off our tongues quite easily, but when we try to explain them, instead of rolling off our tongues, we may end up tongue tied.

Over the centuries, many have explained how there is one God but three persons. We have a huge desire to explain even the unexplainable. St. Patrick used the image of a clover leaf. The single piece of clover with its three leaves reflects the reality of the Trinity, one clover but three leaves.

Pope Francis proposed: “Jesus is the Son who made us know the merciful Father and brought to the world his ‘fire,’ the Holy Spirit.” Those words capture, perhaps a bit more dynamically the essence of the Trinity with Jesus revealing by his words and actions the dynamic reality of the Trinity.

We do not dismiss the reality of a mystery just because we cannot give a full description and explanation. In life, one entity can have several identities. For example, each one of us has different identities depending on what we are doing. The mother of the family is mom to her children, sis to her siblings, boss at work, beloved to her husband.

Admittedly, this comparison pales in many ways because we are talking about the same person. With the Trinity we speak about one God and three persons. However, our weak comparisons can perhaps reveal a portion of the truth.

Then, again, other moments in our lives will reveal different aspects of the same reality just as Father, Son and Holy Spirit reveal different aspects of the same God. Perhaps we should enjoy the fact that God manifested himself to us in three different ways: creator, redeemer and continuous sanctifier. We should revel in the reality of a God who created us and reaches out to us, who never abandons us, who loves us beyond all limits, who wants us to be in union with him forever in eternity.

This year we are celebrating 250 years as a country. You may wonder why I speak about this anniversary in the context of the Trinity. Well, think about this. There is one God, but three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. There is unity, but there is also diversity. Is not our country supposed to be something like that? Unity coming out of diversity may sound contradictory. In secular terms, we speak about the “melting pot”: a new entity made up from many different backgrounds. The core of the spiritual life is one God with three persons. Perhaps, a pathway to our national identity can be found by emulating the Trinity, then foster, promote, encourage, work for and create unity from the richness of the existing diversity. After all, one of our core fundamental beliefs is that we are made in the image and likeness of God. As such, we respect all life from birth to natural death.

So, our message is a simple one: let us live, let us love, let us rejoice. The Trinity is one with many. As a country, we strive to be one with many. With faith in God, this can happen. St. Catherine of Siena prayed these words: “O eternal Trinity, You are light, give us light. You are wisdom, give us wisdom. You are supreme strength, strengthen us.” So, we can pray “In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. AMEN.”