A Meditation on Romans 11:33–36 and Matthew 28:18–20 in the Spirit of Dominica Sanctissimæ Trinitatis
“O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God! How incomprehensible are His judgments, and how unsearchable His ways!” (Romans 11:33)
On the Sunday following Pentecost, Holy Mother Church bids us contemplate the most exalted of all mysteries: the Most Holy Trinity—Dominica Sanctissimæ Trinitatis. This solemnity, though relatively late in the liturgical year, forms the very foundation of our Faith, for the Triune God is both its source and its end. In the light of two profound passages of Sacred Scripture—Romans 11:33–36 and Matthew 28:18–20—we are drawn into a dual movement of awe and mission: awe at the unsearchable majesty of God, and mission in His name to all the nations.
Romans 11:33–36 – Adoration Before the Mystery
“For who hath known the mind of the Lord? Or who hath been His counsellor?” (Rom 11:34)
Saint Paul, having completed his profound theological meditation on divine providence, election, and the mercy of God, breaks forth into a hymn of doxology. The Apostle here is not reasoning; he is adoring. His soul is caught up in a vision of divine transcendence, proclaiming the utter inaccessibility of God’s wisdom to finite man.
Saint John Chrysostom, commenting on this passage, exclaims:
“Paul, having explained all that he could explain, falls back into reverence. As if saying, ‘I have spoken much, yet all falls short: now I worship.’” (Homilies on Romans)
This adoration is not resignation before obscurity but worship in the presence of light too bright for mortal eyes. The Fathers repeatedly remind us that the mystery of the Trinity is not contrary to reason but beyond reason. It is not nonsense, but super-sense—divine truth that exceeds human grasp, as Saint Hilary of Poitiers declared:
“Let us not think it strange if we fail to comprehend the mystery of God. For it is rather irreligious to suppose that we can comprehend Him.” (De Trinitate, I.18)
And yet, through grace, the unknowable God has made Himself known.
Matthew 28:18–20 – The Trinity and the Apostolic Mission
“Go, therefore, and teach all nations; baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost…” (Matt 28:19)
From mystery we turn to mission. The same God whose judgments are unsearchable has revealed Himself with clarity in the person of Jesus Christ, and has entrusted to the Church the proclamation of His very being: One God in Three Persons. The baptismal formula of Christ’s Great Commission is perhaps the clearest Trinitarian statement in all of Scripture. It is not “names” but “name”—one divine essence, yet three distinct Persons.
The command of Christ is not to spread an abstract idea of God, but to initiate souls into divine life, into communion with the Trinity. Baptism is not a mere symbol—it is a mystical incorporation into the eternal life of God. Saint Basil the Great teaches:
“Through the Holy Spirit, we are restored to Paradise, ascend into the kingdom of heaven, and are adopted as sons… we are made partakers of the grace of Christ, called children of the Father.” (De Spiritu Sancto, XV.36)
By this command, Christ shows that the knowledge of God is not the fruit of human philosophy, but of divine revelation—and this revelation is to be preached, taught, and handed down faithfully by the Church to all nations.
Saint Augustine, contemplating this passage, wrote:
“Our Lord spoke of the Trinity in whose name we are baptized, because by this Trinity are we made. The Father created us, the Son redeemed us, and the Holy Spirit sanctifies us.” (Sermon 71)
This Trinitarian life is not only our origin but our destiny. The saints, having been baptized into the life of the Trinity, now see what Paul could only adore from afar. For the faithful soul, the dogma of the Trinity is not cold theology—it is the grammar of prayer, the logic of love, the shape of eternity.
Conclusion – From Doxology to Apostolate
On this feast of the Most Holy Trinity, the Church calls us both to worship and to witness. With Saint Paul, we bow in silence before the mystery: “For of Him, and by Him, and in Him, are all things: to Him be glory forever. Amen.” (Rom 11:36) Yet with the Apostles, we are also sent out: “Teach all nations…”
The liturgy today is a school of both humility and zeal. We are reminded that theology begins in worship and ends in mission. Credo ut intelligam—I believe that I may understand—and I proclaim what I believe, so that others may share in the light.
Let us, then, echo the words of the preface of today’s Mass, as the Church raises her voice in solemn praise:
“Who, with Thine only-begotten Son and the Holy Ghost, art one God, one Lord: not in the singularity of one Person, but in the Trinity of one substance.”
And in the words of the Apostle:
“To Him be glory forever. Amen.”