If we ponder the beauty of Rublevs’ Icon of the Trinity, one of the things we might see is that the ‘Three’ are sitting at a table with an empty space. They are offering hospitality to anyone who would like to sit with them and share their banquet. It also reminds me of the answer of the messenger, who, when asked by the Great King (Luke,3) threw a party, how he managed to persuade people to come, answered, “I told them that there is a feast for all who are willing to feast with all.” This made the king roar with laughter. It is only a small step from hospitality to holiness after all.
In Franco Zeffirelli’s Jesus of Nazareth, the man who was the scheming architect behind Jesus execution enters the empty tomb, looks around and, in a resigned voice announces to no-one but himself, ‘Now it begins.’ A disciple might say, ‘Now it continues.’ The mountain where they meet the Risen Lord is in Galilee. It is the same place where he taught the spectacular sermon on the mount. It is this teaching that the disciples are commissioned to bring to the nations. Jesus is handing it on and it will go on in a new way.
Notice that not everyone was convinced. The Twelve have become eleven and some of these are filled with doubt. Can they trust Him to be who He says He is? In the Gospel of St. Luke and Saint John, Jesus shows them His wounds as proof. But this does not happen in St. Matthews Gospel. Instead, Jesus moves towards them with the words, “All authority in heaven and on earth have been given to me.’ The Father has vindicated the Beloved Son and the Message He proclaims. Even the death of the Beloved Son is part of the plan. All competition is set aside. Thereafter, they are commissioned to go, to baptise and to teach. They are to go to all nations because the Father is a universal reality and not bound to one house. They are to invite people into a new community which has Jesus as its centre. Jesus, the Beloved Son of the Father is to be openly revealed, proclaimed and situated between the Father and the Spirit. He is with them always. He can never be lost. The commission of the disciples is to invite everyone into this new community. They take their place at loves table and to do so till the end of time!
The Holiness of the Most Holy Trinity is revealed as endless hospitality. For me, one of the easiest ways to begin deepening our understanding of what this might mean is this. The guiding principle of all Catholic Social Teaching is the eternal dignity of the human person. This means that everyone is treated with respect. It does not matter where they come from, what they own or what they have done. Their dignity is inviolate and does not come and go or fade with circumstance. The Dignity of the Person is consulted again and again whenever decisions are made about the big questions of life. This principal rests on the revelation that we are made in the image and likeness of God. But since we are made in the image and likeness of the Trinity, who we are might be much more than we ever imagined ourselves to be! In the Trinity, the gift of Self is so complete that it makes the three One. This offers a beautiful vision for human life. But it is not how we are used to thinking about ourselves.
We think we are closed captions who face individual triumphs or disasters. We seem to be in competition for power over others or for a temporary hold on larger territory. Our dignity is always threatened by the stupidity or cruelty of others who have misread their essential beauty. But. If we could see our dignity not as mine but as ours everything changes. It is love and our loving activity that now defines us as persons. It is love and loving activity that becomes the primary interpretation of all creation.
When we ponder the Trinity in this way it stirs a curiosity in us that is worth pursuing. Instinctively, we sense the Truth of it. Finally, we can escape the prison of individualism and all the misery that brings. We can step into the heart of a loving community which is God’s first gift to us and which we now help grow
