Youth Ministry Resources - Trinity Sunday

Year A: John 3:16-18 - Trinity Sunday

The amazing world we live in was created by God and we are told that God looked on the whole of creation and saw that it was good. So, it is amazing that this creation of God often stands in opposition to God. Too frequently humanity makes disastrous decisions regarding our environment and it is not uncommon to hear statements about melting polar caps, rising sea levels and extreme levels of pollution that are destroying our earth. We also are God's creation and we were given life and the potential to grow into something special, something or someone that God can look at and describe as good. In God's generosity, God also gave us free will and with this capacity we make decisions throughout our life. Our decisions can take us in a different direction to the one we were created for and other decisions can help us grow into the potential of our creation.

We hear that God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, and it is here that we become aware of the enormity of God's love and the working of the Trinity because nothing was spared for the world's salvation. The scope of divine love is enormous because there was a price to pay for that love, the price was rejection by God's creation of Jesus and the barbarous manner of his death clearly identifies when humanity uses free will in a destructive way. The reality is that we live in a sinful world - today it is no different to the 1st Century Mediterranean world except that we have found even more barbarous ways of killing each other. And yet, God continues to believe in the goodness of creation, to believe in the goodness of each person, to continue to love us into the potential of our creation.

It is worth contemplating how we use the gift of free will and the abundance of gifts we have received - are we destructive or do we choose life? Do we make decisions that bring us closer to God? Do we turn off the television and spend some time each day in quiet prayer? How do we treat other people? Do we destroy their reputations with hearsay and gossip? Do we treat people with respect regardless of their status in the community? Do we support the most marginalised - the homeless, the migrant, the refugee, the elderly, those with disabilities? Or are we just too good, do we look at ourselves and decide we are good and judge everyone else to be the lesser and the one who is wrong?

Today we celebrate one of the great tenets of our faith - that God is three and God is one. It is a matter of faith because despite the centuries of writing on the subject the concept of a Trinitarian God is something we believe and publicly state each time we bless ourselves, proclaim the Creed and join in all the prayers of the mass. One of the most beautiful prayers is the greeting to the people "the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all." How can we ask for more? We hear this blessing so frequently that it probably wafts by without our recognition of just what it is that God is offering to us. God is telling us that we will never be alone, we will never be without God's love and that we will never be without God's guidance. God is constantly seeking relationship with us, all we have to do is to stop what we are doing and become aware of God's presence. It is quite amazing what can happen when we close our eyes and take a big breath.

The disciples had the privilege of walking, talking, laughing with and touching Jesus and yet Jesus recognises that they would not understand all that he has to say. Jesus is trying to prepare the disciples for the time when he is not physically with them. That is the space where we find ourselves. God is not physically with us and yet God tells us that we will receive the Spirit of truth so that we grow in understanding. This Spirit of truth gifts us with wisdom and knowledge to help us understand the relationship between Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The same Spirit will glorify Jesus and reveal Jesus to be the chosen one of God. The teachings of Jesus are the teachings of God. This dynamic relationship of God that we describe as Trinitarian is what God is offering to us - God's children. As a child of God we always have immediate access to God, that is God's gift. This week, we could choose to spend more time with God or we could choose to watch TV. Which choice will nurture our spirit and continue to mould us into being people of hope?

Cate Mapstone

Youth Ministry Resources Trinity Sunday
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