Trinity Sunday Homily by Fr. Matthias Neuman, OSB

Readings: Deut 4:32-40; Rm 8:14-17; Mt 28:16-20

Whenever the topic of Trinity comes up, people expect a barrage of mind-twisting ideas. So much Greek philosophical language got caught up in it. One of the places that is not true is in the Celtic tradition in Ireland. They were never part of the Roman Empire, nor influenced by Greco-Roman philosophy. They accepted the Christian faith in a more folksy and homely way. The following poem-prayer is probably one of their most complicated attempts to explain the Trinity.

Three folds of the cloth, yet only one napkin is there,
Three joints in the finger, but still only one finger fair,
Three leaves of the shamrock, yet no more than one shamrock to wear,
Frost, snow and ice, all in water their origin share,
Three persons in God, to one God alone we make prayer. (pp. 39-40)

Ireland had a tradition of birth-baptism songs and poems. As a completely rural society people lived on farms often far from each other. Frequently a child was baptized immediately after birth and often by the mother herself. Here’s one of those birth-baptism poems; you can almost imagine the face and gestures of the mother:

The little drop of the Father on thy little forehead, beloved one,
The little drop of the Son on thy little forehead, beloved one,
The little drop of the Spirit on thy little forehead, beloved one,
To save thee for the three, to fill thee with the graces,
The little drop of the Three to wash thee with the graces. (pp. 40-41)

The Trinity was frequently invoked in daily prayers. One of them differentiates the specific works of the three Persons:

O Father who sought me,
O Son who bought me,
O Holy Spirit who taught me. (p. 43)

The Trinity was called upon when one washed one’s face in the morning:

The palmful of the God of Life,
The palmful of the Christ of Love,
The palmful of the Spirit of Peace,
Triune of Grace. (p. 77)

Another asks the Trinity for help in daily life.

Bless to me, O God, each thing mine eye sees,
Bless to me, O God, each sound mine ear hears,
Bless to me, O God, each odor that goes to mine nose,
Bless to me, O God, each taste that goes to my lips,
each note that goes to my song,
each thing that I pursue,
The zeal that seeks my living soul, the Three that seek my heart,
The zeal that seeks my living soul, the Three that seek my heart. (pp. 70-71)

Finally, the Trinity was called upon to guard one’s entire life:

The guarding of the God of life be upon me,
The guarding of loving Christ be upon me,
The guarding of the Holy Spirit be upon me,
Each step of the way,
To aid and enfold me,
Each day and night of my life. (p. 27)

In the end we can only say: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

(All poems are from Esther de Waal, The Celtic Way of Prayer, Doubleday, 1997.)