Trinity Sunday (2026)

There’s an old song from the band Three Dog that begins with the line: “One is the loneliest number that you'll ever do.”

I remember hearing that song years ago and thinking it was a strange idea. 

Usually we think of “number one” as something positive. Number one means first place. Number one means victory. Number one means being at the top.

But the song makes a different point. There is something difficult about being alone. And if we're honest, most of us know that's true.

At one time or another, we've all experienced loneliness.

Some people come home to an empty house.

Some have lost a spouse.

Some have children or grandchildren who live far away.

Some are surrounded by people and still feel alone.

There is something deep within us that longs for connection, friendship, family, and love.

And that brings us to Trinity Sunday.

Every year on this Sunday people expect priests to explain one of the greatest mysteries of our faith: one God in three Persons. 

Over the centuries people have tried. Some use a shamrock. Others use water—liquid, ice, and steam. Some use an egg—shell, white, and yolk.

But sooner or later every comparison breaks down.

There is a story told about St. Augustine. He spent years trying to understand the mystery of the Trinity. 

One day he was walking along a beach, pondering the mystery of the Trinity, when all of a sudden he saw a child carrying water from the ocean and pouring it into a small hole in the sand.

Augustine asked, “What are you doing?”

The child replied, “I'm trying to put the whole ocean into this little hole.”

Augustine said, “That's impossible.”

And the child answered, “And you are trying to fit the mystery of God into your little mind.”

Then, the child vanished.  You see he was really an angel sent by God to teach Augustine a lesson!

Whether the story actually happened or not, the point is true. God is greater than our understanding.

But maybe Trinity Sunday is not asking us to explain God.

Maybe it is inviting us to experience God.

Because the Trinity tells us something important.

Before there was a world, before there were stars, before there were people, there was love.

At the very center of reality is not loneliness.

At the very center of reality is love.

That's what Jesus reveals in today's Gospel.

"God so loved the world that he gave his only Son."

Notice what Jesus does not say.

He does not say God was angry with the world.

He does not say God wanted to condemn the world.

In fact, Jesus says exactly the opposite:

"God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him."

God loves.

And because God loves, God reaches out to us.

Think about what happens in our own community when someone is hurting.

A family loses a loved one.

Someone receives a difficult diagnosis.

A house is damaged by fire.

A neighbor falls on hard times.

People show up. They bring meals. They send cards. They make phone calls. They offer rides. They pray.

Why do they do that?

Because something deep inside us knows that no one should have to carry life's burdens alone.

That instinct comes from God.

We were made for relationships because we were created by a God whose very nature is relationship.

We were made for love because we were created by a God who is love.

And that's why the Trinity matters.

Not because it gives us a theological puzzle to solve.

But because it tells us who God is and who we are.

The Trinity tells us that we are not accidents.

We are not forgotten.

We are not alone.

We have been created by love, saved by love, and invited into love.

Every time we gather for Mass, God draws us closer to His life.

Every time we receive Holy Communion, God draws us closer to His life.

Every time we make the Sign of the Cross, we remind ourselves who God is:

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

A God who creates.

A God who saves.

A God who remains with us.

A God who invites us into His love.

The song says, “One is the loneliest number.”

Trinity Sunday reminds us that God has never been lonely.

And because God has never been lonely, He does not want us to be alone either.

The deepest reality in the universe is not power.

It is not success.

It is not wealth.

It is not even loneliness.

The deepest reality in the universe is the love of God.

And through Jesus Christ, we have been invited to share in that love, now and forever.