HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT
- May 28
- 4 min read
The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity
"God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life." (Jn. 3:16-18)
I challenge everyone reading this to find the word “Trinity” in the Bible. Go ahead… I’ll wait. Is it hidden in a prophecy from the Hebrew Scriptures? Maybe in one of the books Martin Luther removed during the Reformation? What about the Gospels? St. John can get pretty “out there” in his writing style. Found it yet?
Let me help. In the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew 3, Mark 1, and Luke 3), we are given the account of Jesus going to John the Baptist, His cousin, to be baptized in the Jordan River. As Jesus rises from the water, heaven opens, the Holy Spirit descends as a dove, and a voice from heaven proclaims, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” That’s it; this is a theophany, a visible manifestation of God’s presence. Yet not once does the word “Trinity” appear in Scripture, even though the Trinity stands at the very center of Christian belief.
As we continue reading the Gospels, Jesus repeatedly reveals this mysterious relationship:
“The Father and I are one” (John 10:30); “Before Abraham was, I AM” (John 8:58); “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9); “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” (Matthew 28:19).
One God in three Persons. It is difficult for us to grasp because of our limited human understanding of relationships. When we think of relationships, we often imagine hierarchy and division, like structures in a workplace. But the Trinity reveals something entirely different: perfect equality, unity, and self-giving love. Even though the mystery of the Triune God can never be fully understood, I know that I encounter and embrace the Trinity daily.
As an older teenager, I had an epiphany that I was neglecting a deeper relationship with God the Father. Hear me out. I am a cradle Catholic. I rarely missed Mass, enjoyed sacramental preparation and religion classes, and even attended non-required retreats from elementary school through college. Yes, I looked like a “Jesus Freak” on the outside, but I lacked the strength and intimacy that come from a genuine relationship with the Father. Why? Because my spiritual life had become transactional. I had my morning checklist of prayers to stay in God’s good graces. I treated prayer like an espresso shot when I needed help during the day or like a vending machine whenever I needed something. Most of us, if we are honest, have gone through that phase once or twice in our spiritual journey. But once I intentionally deepened my relationship with the Father, everything changed. My understanding of salvation through Jesus Christ grew stronger. My hunger for the Word of God deepened. The work of the Holy Spirit in ministry became tangible, and my joy began to overflow.
Why do I mention this? In the first reading from Exodus (34:4b–6, 8–9), Moses once again experiences the presence of God and bows down in worship. Then Moses asks something that all of us should desire: that God would “come along in our company.” Holding onto God is not passive. It requires determination, surrender, vulnerability, and relationship.
St. Paul echoes this in the conclusion of his Second Letter to the Corinthians when he urges the people to “mend your ways, encourage one another, agree with one another, and live in peace.” My loose translation would be this: humble yourselves before God and one another, unite in prayer, and by respecting and loving one another, you are loving God Himself. Again, this point us toward vulnerability and relationship.
That leads us to perhaps the most well-known verse in all of Scripture: John 3:16, “For God so loved the world….” I’m still not entirely sure what it has to do with football games, baseball stadiums, or sporting events, but it remains one of the most important truths we can ever hear because it reveals the role of the Second Person of the Trinity: Jesus Christ. Through His life, death, resurrection, and ascension, Jesus opened heaven for us. Salvation through Jesus Christ, who calls Himself “the gate” in John 10:7, is a freely given gift. But every gift requires a response. We are invited to participate in the divine life of the Trinity through relationship, surrender, and love. Jesus even prayed for this unity in John 17:22–23: “I have given them the glory that you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—that they may be brought to complete unity.”
The Trinity is ultimately the mystery of relationship: a perfect communion of love and unity. And we are invited into that communion through the love of God the Father, through Jesus Christ our Redeemer and the Sheep Gate, and through the Holy Spirit, the bond of divine love. May we rend our hearts, become vulnerable, and surrender our lives to the will of the Father, thus finding our unity in the Trinity.
Author: Kimberly Hopwood, MAPS, MSW
Education: Aquinas Institute of Theology & Saint Louis University, respectively
Work: Loyola College Prep in Shreveport, LA
Junior Religion Teacher for Morality, Apologetics, and World Religions
Religion Head of Department
Volunteer: Dominican Institute for Pastoral Studies Academic Team
Young Catholic Gifted Leadership Training Program Co-Founder
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