A St. Patrick’s Day Reflection ...

“I bind unto myself today, the strong name of the Trinity, by invocation of the same. The Three in One and One in Three.”

So begins St. Patrick’s breastplate. Patrick understood the importance of the Trinity.

Today many people think about the Trinity - the idea that there is One God in Three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — as mere academics. People water it down by saying these are simply three ways God shows Himself. Others see the Trinity as Tri-Theism.

Most simply say that it is more than want to think about.

The Trinity speaks to the oneness of God, while affirming that God is a relational being. The Hebrew-Christian Scriptures speak to the oneness of God. The first commandment, “You shall have no other gods before me,” assumes monotheism, even as it forbids the worship of many gods.

When people talk about God’s love and the idea of having a relationship with God, they assume a God who is able to look outside of Himself. They assume a God who wants to give of Himself to others. This is an idea rooted in the relational nature of the Trinitarian God. Without the Trinity, God is not a relational being who knows eternal love and desires to pour forth that love beyond Himself.

This God who loves, claims us as His own people in Baptism. He claims us as His own people through water and the Word. We who are His are a part of the universal church through baptism; we are claimed by, and identified as belonging to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He pours His gifts on us that we may believe in Him.

Every Sunday, God comes to us as we open worship: “In the Name [singular] of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” The sign of the cross emphasizes we have a relational God who chooses to go beyond Himself, create humanity, show us His love in the cross, and call us as His people in Baptism.

We begin worship both receiving God’s words and claiming God’s words to be true for us as we make the sign of the cross - the language of faith. He calls us as His. Through the faith He gives, we claim His word to be true in us. He binds Himself to us. We bind ourselves to Him.

On St. Patrick’s Day, Irish Catholics traditionally wear green; Irish Protestants traditionally wear orange. They remember how St. Patrick brought Christian Faith to Ireland in the 5th Century.

Whatever your custom, even if you do not share Irish ancestors with me, give thought to St. Patrick’s great commitment to the historic Christian faith, the Trinitarian Faith.

Rev. Dr. Robert Holaday

(Editor’s Note: This column is written by a different Littlefield pastor for the Leader-News each week. The columns are published on this page on Wednesdays.)