Patrick's Shamrock

 

Do you know what this is? This is a shamrock. A shamrock is also known as a three-leaf clover. Did you know that we Christians use the shamrock as a symbol for God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit?

St. Patrick of Ireland was famous for using the shamrock as a symbol of the Trinity because there are three leaves to the shamrock. There are also three Persons of the Trinity. Just as there are three leaves to one shamrock, there are three Persons to One God.

I mention this because today is Trinity Sunday. We celebrate Trinity Sunday every year one week after Pentecost. We also remember the Trinity every Sunday when we recite one of our Creeds – the Apostles Creed, the Nicene Creed or the Athanasian Creed. And we remember the Trinity every time we make the Sign of the Cross because we say, “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

What other symbols are like the Trinity? How about a triangle or a circle? We use triangles and three overlapping circles to remind us that God is three Persons in one God.

Finally, our families are like the Trinity. You know what it’s like to be a member of your family. Families help us understand the Trinity, and the Trinity helps us understand what it’s like to be a family. And do you know why? It’s because the three members of the Trinity love each other. As members of a family, we are called to love each other as the Father, Son and Holy Spirit love each other.

With that, let us pray. Heavenly Father, from whom all fatherhood in heaven and earth is named: Bless these and all children, and give their parents the spirit of wisdom and love, so that the homes in which they grow up may be to them an image of Your Kingdom, and the care of their parents a likeness of Your love. We pray in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.