Catholic Caucus: Sunday Mass Readings, 05-22-05, Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

USCCB.org/New American Bible ^ | 05-22-05 | New American Bible

[Salvation]

May 22, 2005
The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

Psalm: Sunday 24

Reading I
Ex 34:4b-6, 8-9

Early in the morning Moses went up Mount Sinai
as the LORD had commanded him,
taking along the two stone tablets.

Having come down in a cloud, the LORD stood with Moses there
and proclaimed his name, "LORD."
Thus the LORD passed before him and cried out,
"The LORD, the LORD, a merciful and gracious God,
slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity."
Moses at once bowed down to the ground in worship.
Then he said, "If I find favor with you, O LORD,
do come along in our company.
This is indeed a stiff-necked people;
yet pardon our wickedness and sins,
and receive us as your own."

Responsorial Psalm
Dn 3:52, 53, 54, 55, 56

R. (52b) Glory and praise for ever!
Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of our fathers,
praiseworthy and exalted above all forever;
And blessed is your holy and glorious name,
praiseworthy and exalted above all for all ages.
R. Glory and praise for ever!
Blessed are you in the temple of your holy glory,
praiseworthy and glorious above all forever.
R. Glory and praise for ever!
Blessed are you on the throne of your kingdom,
praiseworthy and exalted above all forever.
R. Glory and praise for ever!
Blessed are you who look into the depths
from your throne upon the cherubim,
praiseworthy and exalted above all forever.
R. Glory and praise for ever!


Reading II
2 Cor 13:11-13

Brothers and sisters, rejoice.
Mend your ways, encourage one another,
agree with one another, live in peace,
and the God of love and peace will be with you.
Greet one another with a holy kiss.
All the holy ones greet you.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ
and the love of God
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.


Gospel
Jn 3:16-18

God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him might not perish
but might have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world,
but that the world might be saved through him.
Whoever believes in him will not be condemned,
but whoever does not believe has already been condemned,
because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

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For your reading, reflection, faith-sharing, comments, questions, discussion.

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The Holy Trinity

by Rev. William G. Most

Perhaps the deepest, the most profound of all mysteries is the mystery of the Trinity. The Church teaches us that although there is only one God, yet, somehow, there are three Persons in God. The Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Spirit is God, yet we do not speak of three Gods, but only one God. They have the same nature, substance, and being.

We came to know this immense mystery because Christ revealed it to us. Just before ascending He told them: "Go teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 28:19). We know that these Three are not just different ways of looking at one person. For at the Last Supper, Jesus told us: "I came forth from the Father." So He is different from the Father. But He also promised: "If I go, I will send Him [the Paraclete] to you. . . . He will guide you to all truth" (John 16:28, 7, 13). So the Holy Spirit is also different.

Even though the Three Persons are One God, yet they are distinct: for the Father has no origin, He came from no one. But the Son is begotten, He comes from the Father alone. The Holy Spirit comes or proceeds from both the Father and the Son. These different relations of origin tell us there are three distinct Persons, who have one and the same divine nature.

Even though everything the Three Persons do outside the Divine nature is done by all Three, yet it is suitable that we attribute some works specially to one or the other Person. So we speak of the Father especially as the power of creation, of the Son as the wisdom of the Father, of the Holy Spirit as goodness and sanctification.

The two doctrines of the Trinity and the Incarnation are the foundation of Christian life and worship. By becoming man, God the Son offered us a share in the inner life of the Trinity. By grace, we are brought into the perfect communion of life and love which is God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This sharing in the life of the Trinity is meant to culminate in heaven, where we will see the three Persons face to face, united to them in unspeakable love.

---

Taken from The Basic Catholic Catechism
PART TWO: The Apostle's Creed
First Article of the Creed: "I believe in God the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth."

By William G. Most. (c)Copyright 1990 by William G. Most

[Salvation]

From: Exodus 34:4b-6, 8-9


The Covenant is Renewed

---

[4b] He (Moses) rose early in the morning and went up on Mount Sinai, as the
LORD had commanded him, and took in his hand two tables of stone. [5] And
the LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the
name of the LORD.


God Appears

---

[6] The LORD passed before him, and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD, a God
merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and
faithfulness." [8] And Moses made haste to bow his his head toward the earth,
and worshiped. [9] And he said, "If now I have found favor in thy sight, 0
Lord, let the Lord, I pray thee, go in the midst of us, although it is a
stiff-necked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for
thy inheritance."

---

Commentary:


34:1-28. This chapter narrating the renewal of the Covenant follows the same
pattern as the account of its original establishment (cf. Ex 19-24); but it
is shorter, concentrating on the two main protagonists, God and Moses. Thus,
it begins with the preparations for the theophany and for the encounter with
the Lord (vv. 1-5); then follows the revelation of God, and Moses' prayer
(vv. 6-9); and it ends with the renewal of the Covenant and the so-called
Rite of the Covenant (vv. 10-28). The account hinges on the remaking of the
tables of stone after the sin of the golden calf; the tables symbolize God's
offer to keep to the pact and never to go back on it.


34:1-5. The theophany is described very soberly here, but it has exactly the
same elements as given in chapter 19: very careful preparation by Moses (v.
2; cf 19:10-11); the people forbidden to approach the mountain (v. 3; of.
19:12-13); God appearing wrapped in the cloud (v. 5; of. 19:16-20).


Comparing the two accounts, this one says less about the transcendence of
God and puts more stress on his closeness to Moses: "he stood with him
there" (v. 5). God's initiative in drawing close to man is clear to see; it
lies at the very basis of the Covenant.


"He proclaimed the name of the Lord" (v. 6); the context would suggest that
it is Moses who proclaims the name of the Lord, but the Hebrew could indeed
be as the RSV has it, "and he proclaimed his name, 'Lord' ". The same
wording appears in v. 6 implying that it is the Lord who is "proclaiming",
defining himself as he promised he would (cf. 33:19). The sacred writer may
have intentionally left these words open to either interpretation; whether
spoken by Moses or said directly by God, they are equal from the revelation
point of view.


34:6-7. In response to Moses' pleading, the Lord makes himself manifest. The
solemn repetition of the name of Yahweh (Lord) emphasizes that the Lord is
introducing himself liturgically to the assembled Israelites. In the
description of himself which follows (and which is repeated elsewhere, cf.
20:5-6; Num 14:18; Deut 5:9-18; etc.), two key attributes of God are
underlined--justice and mercy. God cannot let sin go unpunished, nor does
he; the prophets, too, will teach that sin is, first and foremost, something
personal (cf. Jer 31:29; Ezek 18:2ff). But this ancient text refers only in
a general way to the fact that God is just, and puts more stress on his
mercy. A person who is conscious of his own sin has access to God only if he
is sure that God can and will forgive him. "The concept of 'mercy' in the
Old Testament," John Paul II comments, "has a long and rich history. We have
to refer back to it in order that the mercy revealed by Christ may shine
forth more clearly. [...] Sin too constitutes man's misery. The people of
the Old Covenant experienced this misery from the time of the Exodus, when
they set up the golden calf. The Lord himself triumphed over this act of
breaking the covenant when he solemnly declared to Moses that he was a 'God
merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and
faithfulness' (Ex 34:6). It is in this central revelation that the chosen
people, and each of its members, will find, every time that they have
sinned, the strength and the motive for turning to the Lord to remind him of
what he had exactly revealed about himself and to beseech his forgiveness"
("Dives In Misericordia", 4). On
"God's jealousy", see the note on 20:5-6.


34:8-9. Moses once more implores the Lord on behalf of his people; he makes
three requests, which sum up many earlier petitions: he begs God to stay
with the people and protect them in their hazardous journeying in the desert
(cf. 33:15-17), to forgive the very grave sin they have committed (cf.
32:11-14), and finally to make them his own property, thereby distinguishing
them from all other peoples (cf. 33:16) and restoring them to their status
as "his own possession" (cf. 19:5). These three requests are ones that were
constantly on the lips of the people of Israel and in the hearts of everyone
who acknowledges God (cf. Ps 86:1-15; 103:8-10; etc.).

---

Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.

[Salvation]

From: 2 Corinthians 13: 11-13


Epilogue

---

[11] Finally, brethren, farewell. Mend your ways, heed my appeal, agree
with one another, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with
you. [12] Greet one another with a holy kiss. [13] All the saints greet you.

---

Commentary:


11. In his words of farewell, the Apostle once more shows his great
affection for the faithful of Corinth, exhorting them to practise the
fraternity proper to Christians and thus live in concord and peace (cf. I
Cor 1:10-17). And, St John Chrysostom comments, he tells them what this will
lead to: "Live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you, for
God is a God of love and a God of peace, and in these he takes his delight.
It is love that will give you peace and remove every evil from your church"
("Hom. on 2 Cor", 30).


St Paul's call to the faithful to be cheerful is particularly
significant--"gaudete"(rejoice) in the New Vulgate--contains a rnessage he
repeats on other occasions: "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say,
Rejoice" (Phil 4:4; cf. 3:1). Joy is something very characteristic of
Christians because their awareness of being children of God tells them that
they are in the hands of God, who knows everything and can do everything
(cf. note on 5:10). Therefore, we should never be sad; on the contrary: we
should go out into the world, Monsignor Escrivd says, "to be sowers of peace
and joy through everything we say and do" ("Christ Is Passing By", 168).


12. On the "holy kiss", see the note on 1 Cor 16:20.


"The saints" who send greetings to the Corinthians are the Christians of
Macedonia, from where St Paul is writing. Regarding this description of
Christians, see the note on 1 Cor 1:2.

---

Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.

[Salvation]

From: John 3:16-18


The Visit of Nicodemus (Continuation)

---

(Jesus said to Nicodemus,) [16] "For God so loved the world that He
gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but
have eternal life. [17] For God sent the Son into the world, not to
condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. [18]
He who believes in Him is not condemned; He who does not believe is
condemned already, because He had not believed in the name of the only
Son of God."

---

Commentary:


16-21. These words, so charged with meaning, summarize how Christ's
death is the supreme sign of God's love for men (cf. the section on
charity in the "Introduction to the Gospel according to John": pp. 31ff
above). "`For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son' for
its salvation. All our religion is a revelation of God's kindness,
mercy and love for us. `God is love' (1 John 4:16), that is, love
poured forth unsparingly. All is summed up in this supreme truth,
which explains and illuminates everything. The story of Jesus must be
seen in this light. `(He) loved me', St. Paul writes. Each of us can
and must repeat it for himself--`He loved me, and gave Himself for me'
(Galatians 2:20)" ([Pope] Paul VI, "Homily on Corpus Christi", 13 June
1976).


Christ's self-surrender is a pressing call to respond to His great love
for us: "If it is true that God has created us, that He has redeemed
us, that He loves us so much that He has given up His only-begotten Son
for us (John 3:16), that He waits for us--every day!--as eagerly as the
father of the prodigal son did (cf. Luke 15:11-32), how can we doubt
that He wants us to respond to Him with all our love? The strange
thing would be not to talk to God, to draw away and forget Him, and
busy ourselves in activities which are closed to the constant
promptings of His grace" ([St] J. Escriva, "Friends of God", 251).


"Man cannot live without love. He remains a being that is
incomprehensible for himself, his life is senseless, if love is not
revealed to him, if he does not encounter love, if he does not
experience it and make it his own, if he does not participate
intimately in it. This [...] is why Christ the Redeemer `fully reveals
man to himself'. If we may use the expression, this is the human
dimension of the mystery of the Redemption. In this dimension man
finds again the greatness, dignity and value that belong to his
humanity. [...] The one who wishes to understand himself thoroughly
[...] must, with his unrest and uncertainty and even his weakness and
sinfulness, with his life and death, draw near to Christ. He must, so
to speak, enter into Him with all his own self, he must `appropriate'
and assimilate the whole of the reality of the Incarnation and
Redemption in order to find himself. If this profound process takes
place within him, he then bears fruit not only of adoration of God but
also of deep wonder at himself.


How precious must man be in the eyes of the Creator, if he `gained so
great a Redeemer', ("Roman Missal, Exultet" at Easter Vigil), and if
God `gave His only Son' in order that man `should not perish but have
eternal life'. [...]


`Increasingly contemplating the whole of Christ's mystery, the Church
knows with all the certainty of faith that the Redemption that took
place through the Cross has definitively restored his dignity to man
and given back meaning to his life in the world, a meaning that was
lost to a considerable extent because of sin. And for that reason, the
Redemption was accomplished in the paschal mystery, leading through the
Cross and death to Resurrection" ([Pope] John Paul II, "Redemptor
Hominis", 10).


Jesus demands that we have faith in Him as a first prerequisite to
sharing in His love. Faith brings us out of darkness into the light,
and sets us on the road to salvation. "He who does not believe is
condemned already" (verse 18).


"The words of Christ are at once words of judgment and grace, of life
and death. For it is only by putting to death that which is old that
we can come to newness of life. Now, although this refers primarily to
people, it is also true of various worldly goods which bear the mark
both of man's sin and the blessing of God. [...] No one is freed from
sin by himself or by his own efforts, no one is raised above himself or
completely delivered from his own weakness, solitude or slavery; all
have need of Christ, who is the model, master, liberator, savior, and
giver of life. Even in the secular history of mankind the Gospel has
acted as a leaven in the interests of liberty and progress, and it
always offers itself as a leaven with regard to brotherhood, unity and
peace" (Vatican II, "Ad Gentes", 8).

---

Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.

[Salvation]

Trinity Sunday (and the Trinity season)

HaSheeloosh HaKadosh: The Holy Trinity

Trinitarian Mystery

MARY’S RELATIONSHIP WITH THE TRINITY

The Divine Trinity

[NYer]

Trinity Sunday

[Salvation]

Catholic Culture

 

Collect: Father, you sent your Word to bring us truth and your Spirit to make us holy. Through them we come to know the mystery of your life. Help us to worship you, one God in three Persons, by proclaiming and living our faith in you. We ask you this, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, one God, true and living, for ever and ever. Recipes: » Elegant Barbecued Chicken » Superb Barbecue Sauce Activities: » Feast of the Holy Trinity » Prayers to the Blessed Trinity » Stitching Feast-Day Symbols » Teaching the Trinity more » The Trinity and the Mass less Prayers: » Prayer Cards for Easter Grace at Meals » Prayer for Trinity Sunday » Te Deum » Litany of the Most Holy Trinity

May 22, 2005 Solemnity of the Trinity The fundamental dogma on which everything in Christianity is based, is that of the Blessed Trinity in whose name all Christians are baptized. The feast of the Blessed Trinity needs to be understood and celebrated as a prolongation of the mysteries of Christ and as the solemn expression of our faith in this triune life of the Divine Persons, to which we have been given access by Baptism and by the Redemption won for us by Christ. Only in heaven shall we properly understand what it means, in union with Christ, to share as sons in the very life of God. The feast of the Blessed Trinity was introduced in the ninth century and was only inserted in the general calendar of the Church in the fourteenth century by Pope John XXII. But the cultus of the Trinity is, of course, to be found throughout the liturgy. Constantly the Church causes us to praise and adore the thrice-holy God who has so shown His mercy towards us and has given us to share in His life. Trinity Sunday The dogma of faith which forms the object of the feast is this: There is one God and in this one God there are three divine Persons; the Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Spirit is God. Yet there are not three Gods, but one, eternal, incomprehensible God! The Father is not more God than the Son, neither is the Son more God than the Holy Spirit. The Father is the first divine Person; the Son is the second divine Person, begotten from the nature of the Father from eternity; the Holy Spirit is the third divine Person, proceeding from the Father and the Son. No mortal can fully fathom this sublime truth. But I submit humbly and say: Lord, I believe, help my weak faith. Why is this feast celebrated at this particular time? It may be interpreted as a finale to all the preceding feasts. All three Persons contributed to and shared in the work of redemption. The Father sent His Son to earth, for "God so loved the world as to give His only-begotten Son." The Father called us to the faith. The Son, our Savior Jesus Christ, became man and died for us. He redeemed us and made us children of God. He ever remains the liturgist par excellence to whom we are united in all sacred functions. After Christ's ascension the Holy Spirit, however, became our Teacher, our Leader, our Guide, our Consoler. On solemn occasions a thanksgiving Te Deum rises spontaneously from Christian hearts. The feast of the Most Holy Trinity may well be regarded as the Church's Te Deum of gratitude over all the blessings of the Christmas and Easter seasons; for this mystery is a synthesis of Christmas, Epiphany, Easter, Ascension and Pentecost. This feast, which falls on the first Sunday after Pentecost, should make us mindful that actually every Sunday is devoted to the honor of the Most Holy Trinity, that every Sunday is sanctified and consecrated to the triune God. Sunday after Sunday we should recall in a spirit of gratitude the gifts which the Blessed Trinity is bestowing upon us. The Father created and predestined us; on the first day of the week He began the work of creation. The Son redeemed us; Sunday is the "Day of the Lord," the day of His resurrection. The Holy Spirit sanctified us, made us His temple; on Sunday the Holy Spirit descended upon the infant Church. Sunday, therefore, is the day of the Most Holy Trinity. — (Excerpted from The Church's Year of Grace, Volume 4, by Dr. Pius Parsch) Symbols of the Trinity: Equilateral Triange; Circle of Eternity; Three Interwoven circles; Triangle in Circle; Circle Within Triangle; Interwoven Circle and Triangle; Two Triangles interwoven in shape of Star of David; Two Triangles in shape of Star of David interwoven with Circle; Trefoil; Trefoil and Triangle; Trefoil with points; Triquetra; Triquetra and circle; Sheild of the Holy Trinity; Three Fishes linked together in shape of a triangle; Cross and Triangle overlapping; Fleur de Lys; St. Patrick's Shamrock. Things to Do: Depending on the ages of family members, research symbols of the Trinity and create something for the centerpiece of your family table, or something for your family altar, such as a small banner or poster. It can be as little as a 4 x 6 photograph or something to use every year as a backdrop or wallhanging. Think of different foods to serve that can reflect the symbolism of the Trinity. One example is clover leaf rolls. These rolls are formed with three balls of dough put into one hole of the muffin tin for each roll. They are easy to make. Use your favorite roll recipe (you can even buy frozen bread or roll dough), or search on the Internet for one of many examples. The Directory on Popular Piety explains some of the pious exercises related to the devotion of the Holy or Blessed Trinity. Three very simple prayers are the Sign of the Cross, Gloria Patri (Glory Be to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, etc.) and the Trisagion (meaning "thrice holy"): "Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, Have mercy on us." This is just one version, there are many others, and it is usually found in the Eastern liturgies.

[Salvation]

Prayers to the Blessed Trinity

DIRECTIONS

The making of the sign of the cross, which professes faith both in the redemption of Christ and in the Trinity, was practiced from the earliest centuries. St. Augustine (431) mentioned and described it many times in his sermons and letters. In those days Christians made the sign of the cross (Redemption) with three fingers (Trinity) on their foreheads. The words ("In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit") were added later. Almost two hundred years before Augustine, in the third century, Tertullian had already reported this touching and beautiful early Christian practice:

In all our undertakings—when we enter a place or leave it; before we dress; before we bathe; when we take our meals; when we light the lamps in the evening; before we retire at night; when we sit down to read; before each new task--we trace the sign of the cross on our foreheads. — (Handbook of Christian Feasts and Customs, by Francis X. Weiser)

The "Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen." Surely no prayer is said more often. It forms the conclusion to every psalm, and every Hour of the Divine Office is begun with it. Truly the "Glory be" is like a chime in the church tower that is ever ringing.

The soul-stirring Te Deum, a praise and thanksgiving chant to the triune God, is prayed very frequently at the end of Matins (Evening Prayer).

[Salvation]

Te Deum

Te Deum, also sometimes called the Ambrosian Hymn because if its association with St. Ambrose, is a traditional hymn of joy and thanksgiving. First attributed to Sts. Ambrose, Augustine, or Hilary, it is now accredited to Nicetas, Bishop of Remesiana (4th century). It is used at the conclusion of the Office of the Readings for the Liturgy of the Hours on Sundays outside Lent, daily during the Octaves of Christmas and Easter, and on Solemnities and Feast Days. The petitions at the end were added at a later time and are optional. A partial indulgence is granted to the faithful who recite it in thanksgiving and a plenary indulgence is granted if the hymn is recited publicly on the last day of the year.

O God, we praise Thee, and acknowledge Thee to be the supreme Lord.
Everlasting Father, all the earth worships Thee.
All the Angels, the heavens and all angelic powers,
All the Cherubim and Seraphim, continuously cry to Thee:
Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Hosts!
Heaven and earth are full of the Majesty of Thy glory.
The glorious choir of the Apostles,
The wonderful company of Prophets,
The white-robed army of Martyrs, praise Thee.
Holy Church throughout the world acknowledges Thee:
The Father of infinite Majesty;
Thy adorable, true and only Son;
Also the Holy Spirit, the Comforter.
O Christ, Thou art the King of glory!
Thou art the everlasting Son of the Father.
When Thou tookest it upon Thyself to deliver man,
Thou didst not disdain the Virgin's womb.
Having overcome the sting of death, Thou opened the Kingdom of Heaven to all believers.
Thou sitest at the right hand of God in the glory of the Father.
We believe that Thou willst come to be our Judge.
We, therefore, beg Thee to help Thy servants whom Thou hast redeemed with Thy Precious Blood.
Let them be numbered with Thy Saints in everlasting glory.

V. Save Thy people, O Lord, and bless Thy inheritance!
R. Govern them, and raise them up forever.

V. Every day we thank Thee.
R. And we praise Thy Name forever, yes, forever and ever.

V. O Lord, deign to keep us from sin this day.
R. Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us.

V. Let Thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us, for we have hoped in Thee.
R. O Lord, in Thee I have hoped; let me never be put to shame.

[Salvation]

Sunday, May 22, 2005
(Eighth Week in Ordinary Time) The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

First Reading: Psalm: Second Reading: Gospel:

Exodus 34:4-6, 8-9 Daniel 3:52-55 2 Corinthians 13:11-13 John 3:16-18 As by the Word of God, Jesus our Savior was made Flesh and had both Flesh and Blood for our salvation, so also the food which has been blessed by the word of prayer instituted by Him is both the Flesh and Blood of Jesus Incarnate. -- St Justin Martyr

[Fritzy]

I am still sending prayers and thankfulness your way... I truly appreciate these morning pauses... if I am traveling.. it is always waiting for me when I return...
Blessings to you and your family...

[lightman]

[annalex]

Jn 3:16-18
#	Douay-Rheims	Vulgate
16	For God so loved the world, as to give his only begotten Son: that whosoever believeth in him may not perish, but may have life everlasting.	sic enim dilexit Deus mundum ut Filium suum unigenitum daret ut omnis qui credit in eum non pereat sed habeat vitam aeternam
17	For God sent not his Son into the world, to judge the world: but that the world may be saved by him.	non enim misit Deus Filium suum in mundum ut iudicet mundum sed ut salvetur mundus per ipsum
18	He that believeth in him is not judged. But he that doth not believe is already judged: because he believeth not in the name of the only begotten Son of God.	qui credit in eum non iudicatur qui autem non credit iam iudicatus est quia non credidit in nomine unigeniti Filii Dei

[annalex]

Holy Trinity (Pala della Convertite)
Sandro Botticelli, 1491-1493

The altarpiece shows the Holy Trinity with Mary Magdalene, St John the Baptist and Tobias and the Angel

The Holy Trinity appears as a vision between the penitent saints Magdalene and John in a bleak desert landscape. The Baptist is inviting the observer to worship the Trinity, and Mary Magdalene is turning to face it full of emotion. The exhausted figure of the penitent, a late work of Donatello's, had a decisive influence on Botticelli's Magdalene.

The penitent sinner was the patron saint of the nuns' monastery of the Magdalenes, and this pala or altarpiece was ordered for their church. The figures of Tobias and the angel are very small compared to the others. They might be a reference to the donors of the altar, the guild of doctors and apothecaries: archangel Raphael was their patron saint.

(Source: Web Gallery of Art)

[Salvation]

Does the Trinity Matter?

by Marcellino D'Ambrosio, Ph.D.

Other Articles by Marcellino D'Ambrosio, Ph.D.

Does the Trinity Matter?

05/23/05

Many are ready to give a polite nod of some sort to Jesus of Nazareth. Most honor Him as a great moral teacher. Many even confess Him as Savior. But the Incarnation of the Eternal God? Second person of the Holy Trinity?

God can’t be one and three at the same time. Such a notion is at worst illogical, at best meaningless. “This was all invented by the Roman Emperor Constantine in 313 AD,” scoffs a motley crew ranging from the Jehovah’s Witnesses to the DaVinci Code.

Of course this charge has no historical leg to stand on. St. Ignatius of Antioch wrote seven brief letters around 110 AD in which he called Jesus “God” 16 times.

True, the word “Trinity” is not in the Bible. But everywhere the New Testament refers to three distinct persons who seem to be equally divine, yet one (e.g. 2 Cor 13:13). So over 100 years before Constantine, a Christian writer named Tertullian coined the term “Trinity” as a handy way to refer to this reality of three distinct, equal persons in one God. It stuck.

But if the doctrine of the Trinity is authentically biblical, is it relevant? Does it really matter?

If Christianity were simply a religion of keeping the law, the inner life of the lawgiver would not matter. But if Christianity is about personal relationship with God, then Who God really is matters totally. Common sense tells us that some Supreme Bbeing made the universe and that we owe Him homage. But that this Creator is a Trinity of Persons Who invites us to intimate friendship with Himself — we never could have guessed. We only know it because God has revealed it.

God is love, says 1 John 4:8 (see also Jn 3:16). If God were solitary, how could He have been love before He created the world? Who would there have been to love? Jesus reveals a God Who is eternally a community of three Persons pouring Themselves out in love to one another before the dawn of time.

The Father does not create the Son and then, with the Son, create the Spirit. No, the Father eternally generates the Son. And with and through the Son, this Father eternally “breathes” the Spirit as a sort of personalized sigh of love. “As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be.” That’s what the conclusion of the Glory Be really means, that the self-giving of the three divine Persons did not begin at a moment in time, but was, is, and is to come. This trinitarian love is the fundamental ground of all reality.

If we are truly to “know” our God, we must know this. But if we are ever to understand ourselves, we must also know this. For we were made in the image and likeness of God, and God is a community of self-donating love. That means that we can never be happy isolated from others, protecting ourselves from others, holding ourselves back selfishly from others. Unless we give ourselves in love, we can never be fully human. And unless we participate in the life of God’s people, we can never be truly Christian, either. Because Christianity is about building up the community of divine love which is called the Church. If God is Trinity, then there really is no place for free-lance, lone-ranger Christians.

Trinitarian traces abound everywhere in creation. The atom is proton, neutron, and electron. Our experience of time is triune — past, present, and future. The family too is a reflection of trinitarian love — the love of husband and wife, distinct and very different persons, generates the child who is from them but is nonetheless distinct from them, indeed absolutely unique.

And that is the final point. One of the greatest treasures of Western culture is the concept of the uniqueness and dignity of the individual person. You really don’t find this idea in the ancient societies of Greece and Rome. And you really don’t find it either in cultures formed by other great world religions, such as Islam.

The concept of the irreplaceable uniqueness of each person came into Western culture straight from the doctrine of the Trinity, three who possess the exact same divine nature, but who are yet irreplaceably unique in their personhood.

The irony? As it progressively abandons the Triune God and His commandments in the name of “choice,” the Western world is undermining the very foundation of personhood, dignity, individuality, and freedom.

That’s how much the Trinity matters.


Dr. D'Ambrosio studied under Avery Cardinal Dulles for his Ph.D. in historical theology and taught for many years at the University of Dallas. He now directs www.crossroadsinitiative.com, which offers Catholic resources for RCIA, adult faith formation, and teens, with a special emphasis on the Year of the Eucharist, the Theology of the Body, the early Church Fathers, and the sacrament of confirmation.

[Salvation]

Your kind words are well-received this morning.

May God bless you with a wonderful week.

[Salvation]

The Word Among Us

Sunday, May 22, 2005 Meditation John 3:16-18 “God so loved the world that he gave . . .” (John 3:16) Let’s stop right there. Sometimes these words can become too familiar and they roll by on the page without eliciting any new thought. But the greatest mystery of the universe is that God gave—and he gave and he gave some more. In fact, he gave everything so that we could be with him. That’s how much he loves us! This is the real mystery that we celebrate today. This is a day to rejoice in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit who love us! It’s a day to rejoice in the very personal love that God has for each one of us—a love that will never abandon us. God has held nothing back. He invites us, weak and sinful human beings, to share completely in his divine life. And he has moved heaven and earth to make it possible! What an amazing lover and a most generous giver! John’s Gospel tells us that God has given us the Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth by revealing the mysteries of the gospel to our hearts. The Holy Spirit takes what he hears from the Father and the Son and reveals it to us in a personal, life-giving way (John 16:12-15). And this is not just a passing on of information. The Spirit works in such a way as to bring us into an experience of the Trinity. His revelation always lifts our hearts, fills us with joy, and gives us confidence that we are God’s beloved children. At Mass today, ask for a deeper revelation of the Trinity, a revelation of the love that gave everything so that we could be with him. Expect God to fill you with his divine life and give you a deeper taste of his love. “Thank you, heavenly Father, beloved Lord Jesus, and gracious Holy Spirit, for your amazing love. How incredible that you would give so much just for us. We praise you for revealing yourself to us and for filling us with your grace. Lord, we praise and glorify you!” Exodus 34:4-6,8-9; (Psalm) Daniel 3:52-56; 2 Corinthians 13:11-13

[Salvation]

One Bread, One Body

One Bread, One Body

All Issues > Volume 21, Number 3

<< Sunday, May 22, 2005 >>

Trinity Sunday

Exodus 34:4-6, 8-9
2 Corinthians 13:11-13

Daniel 3:52-56
John 3:16-18

View Readings

THE THREE R’S

“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all!” —2 Corinthians 13:13

When God revealed to Moses that His name was “Lord” and that He was “a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity” (Ex 34:6), “Moses at once bowed down to the ground in worship” (Ex 34:8). Moses immediately knew that when God gives greater revelation of Who He is, this is an event of great significance.

There are 3 R’s in life: revelation, relationship, and responsibility. When the Holy Spirit of Pentecost further reveals to us the depths of God (see 1 Cor 2:11), that God is Trinity, all relationships are dramatically changed. Before the Trinity was revealed, we were God’s people. After the Trinity was further revealed through Jesus’ Paschal mystery, we can be God’s family, even His adopted sons and daughters. Moreover, before the Trinity was revealed, marriage included polygamy, concubines, and divorce. When we began to realize that God  is Trinity, Family, and unconditional Love (1 Jn 4:8, 16), monogamy was obviously the essence of marriage, divorce was superseded, and marriage and family became a sacrament of Trinitarian love. Finally, these transformed, Trinitarian relationships are so beautiful and life-giving that we have the responsibility to tell everyone that the revelation of the Trinity can raise every relationship to a new level of love.

We have been baptized into the Trinity, that is, we are immersed in Trinitarian love. Let us live accordingly.

Prayer: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, You are our Life, Love, and Family. We are all Yours.

Promise: “God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him may not die but may have eternal life.” —Jn 3:16

Praise: Glory be to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit now and forever.

[Ciexyz]

"Glory and Praise to the Lord forever" bump.

[Salvation]

 

 

A Voice in the Desert

 

May 22, 2005   Trinity Sunday

Reading I (Exodus 34:4b-6, 8-9)   Reading II (2 Corinthians 13:11-13)

Gospel (St. John 3:16-18)

 If we were simply to look objectively at what it means to be Christian, there are quite a number of things that we can point to as being critical to our faith. However, the central tenet of our faith is the belief in the Most Holy Trinity; everything else revolves around that single point. It is something which, on one level, we tend to take for granted, and, on another level, most of us probably rarely even think about it. It is something that is so critical that without it we could not even call ourselves Christian. 

For instance, you can think about the Jehovah’s Witnesses who run around banging on your doors, and also the Mormons who do the same thing. They call themselves Christian, but they are not. They do not believe in the Trinity. And because they do not believe in the Trinity, neither do they even believe in the same Jesus. They talk about Jesus, but they do not believe the same thing about Him. The Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that Jesus is Saint Michael the Archangel, and the Mormons think that Jesus is just one of us, that He is not God but He is just a human being like the rest of us. They talk about Him as being a “nice guy” but that is all they can really say. They will claim He is the savior of this world, but that is because the Mormons claim that each one of us will be a savior of our own world, so we are no different than He is and He is no different than we are. This is just the world that God gave Him to save; we will all have our own. 

So we see that to deny the Trinity is to deny everything that we believe about the Person of Jesus Christ. This is why it is so critical in the Gospel reading today that Saint John tells us that God sent His Son into the world not to condemn the world but that the world might be saved through Him, and that everyone who believes in the Name of the only Son of God has eternal life and anyone who does not believe has condemnation because they did not believe in the Name of the only Son of God. It is not just believing generically in the Name of Jesus, but it is believing in the very Person of Jesus Christ. To believe in the essence of Christ is to believe that He is God and that He is one with His heavenly Father, Who revealed His Name to Moses upon the mountain as He passed by. 

Of course, it is translated in the reading that we just heard as “Lord” but that is not what it says in Scripture. What it says in Scripture is “Yahweh” – I AM, the One Who is eternal. So if we believe that Jesus Christ is one with His heavenly Father, then He also is eternal. He has no beginning and He has no end. In His humanness, there is a beginning but there will be no end, just like our souls have a beginning but they will have no end. But His Person as God has no beginning and has no end. God is eternal, and eternity means no beginning and no end. Our souls are immortal. They have a beginning, they were created at a specific time, and they will have no end. Our souls cannot die, so they will continue to live in one of two places for eternity; and as is made clear, that is going to depend upon our belief in Jesus Christ. 

Not the kind of belief that so many Christians would say, “As long as you believe in Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior you are going to heaven.” That is not what it means. It means to believe in the very Person of Jesus Christ, to believe in Who He is. If we believe in Who He is as the Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity, one with the Father and the Holy Spirit, God Who lives and reigns forever, then that means we have to believe in every single thing that He has taught and everything that He is. It is no longer merely an objective belief that we can look at a series of propositions to ask, “Do I believe that or do I not?” But it is about entering into a relationship with a Person. The only way to enter into a depth of a relationship with the Person of Jesus Christ is through the Holy Spirit because no one can even say “Jesus is Lord” except through the Holy Spirit. So we see how the entire thing works together. 

There are only two other religions in the world who believe in only one God, that is the Jewish people and the Muslims. But, again, even though they believe in one God, both reject the concept of the Trinity. The Jewish people believe in God Who revealed Himself in the Old Testament. But the idea that God revealed Himself as one was to be able to show the pagans, who were worshipping all of their false gods, all of their little idols, that it was wrong and there is only one God. There are certainly indications in the Old Testament about the Trinity, but what was made clear in the Old Testament was the oneness of God. In the New Testament, the fullness of the revelation of God is in the Person of Christ and in the sending of the Holy Spirit. 

So what we have to look at is this belief in the Trinity. So central, in fact, is this belief to who we are, that already in the Mass (not just today’s Mass because of the Trinity, but every single Sunday) we have expressed our belief in the Trinity on five occasions. We began with the Sign of the Cross. In the greeting, we repeated exactly what we heard in the second reading from Saint Paul when he wrote to the Corinthians: The grace and peace of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. That was the second point at which we pronounced our faith in the Trinity. Then in the Kyrie, three times we prayed: Lord, have mercy; Christ, have mercy; Lord, have mercy in honor of the Three Persons of the Most Holy Trinity. And then in the Gloria, once again we prayed to our Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Then at the end of the Collect, or the opening prayer, we asked through Our Lord Jesus Christ that the Holy Spirit would pray to the Father. So we see that just in the first couple of moments of Mass we expressed this belief in the Trinity five times. All of our prayers are made in the Trinity. It is critical to who we are and who we understand ourselves to be. 

If the Trinity is not a reality then our faith in Jesus Christ is blasphemy. If God is not a Trinity of Persons then everything we believe about the Eucharist is completely false, because if God is not a Trinity then Jesus is not God. If God is not a Trinity then the Holy Spirit could not have overshadowed Our Lady for the conception of Jesus Christ, He could not come down upon the bread and wine to change them into the very Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, and He could not be given to each one of us to lead us into all truth. We begin to see that this point is so central that without it every single thing we can say about our faith is false. It is so central that without our belief in the Trinity everything else completely falls apart. 

So it is something that we really need not merely to take for granted, but to enter into. The Trinity is one of the mysteries that is known as an “absolute mystery,” which means it is something we will never be able to understand fully. It could not have been known without specific revelation from God, and once it is revealed there are some things that we can say and understand about it but we will never be able to grasp it completely – even in the next life. Part of what is going to make heaven so wonderful is that there is always more, because God is infinite and our minds are merely finite. Consequently, the finite cannot comprehend the infinite. So there will always be more for all eternity. And since God is love, it is more love. Our hearts are going to be completely filled with the fullness of God, and there is always more. It never, ever will end. And what is it that we are going to be caught up into? The very love of God, Who is One in Three Persons. 

Now we might say, “That sounds illogical. How can three be one?” Well, first of all, by the very nature of God. God is love. You cannot be in love with yourself; that is narcissism. So if God is one (and it is made very clear in the Old Testament that there is only one God), He cannot be alone because that completely contradicts the definition of love. Love requires a relationship; therefore, there must be at least two. But love by its very nature transcends the love of just two, as any husband and wife know. It is not enough just to be there and look at one another for the rest of your life. Love becomes life-giving; love transcends the two and becomes life-giving for others. Once again, just by its very nature, love cannot remain with two but it must go beyond that. For love to be complete, it requires at least three. It could have been more than that, but in the Trinity it is three. So the Three, loving one another perfectly, and the Three all being God, and God being perfect and the Supreme Being, that means there is nothing in one that is lacking in the other. Therefore, the Three are identical and they are One. The only difference between the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit is their relationship with one another; otherwise, all Three share the same Divine Substance. That would be as if somehow there were three of you but only one soul. Logically, we cannot grasp it, but that does not mean it is illogical, nor does it mean it is not true. 

We can understand it by the very nature of what love means and therefore what it must be. We can see it in a variety of different ways throughout creation, the vestiges of God that are shown in so many ways that there are threes in so many things. But perhaps the clearest way to see it is to be able to look at any couple who is married. We see in the teachings of Jesus and of the Church that on the day you are married your souls are united and the two become one. How can two be one? It seems illogical, doesn’t it? Yet every married couple knows it is a reality. And every married couple knows that that love they have and the unity of persons has to be more than just themselves. Now you can ask yourself, “Just exactly how did the two become one?” You did not do that to yourselves. As much as you love one another, you cannot make yourselves into one; only God can do that. So in order for the two of you to become one, it required a third, and that third is God. Therefore, we see that marriage reflects the Trinity. There is a unity of persons and it is a union that is forged in love and that love is life-giving for new persons – just like the Trinity. The unity, obviously, of husband and wife is not quite the same as in the Trinity, because in the Trinity the Three are identical and Their love is perfect. That is not quite the way it works in a marriage. However, any older married couple will recognize, and any of us looking at an older married couple will recognize, that as that couple grows they become more identical. They start to look the same, they talk the same way, they act the same way, they think the same way. The oneness that is there from the beginning of their marriage is perfected and the two become more and more identical. Never, of course, in our humanity will we ever become completely perfectly identical, but we begin to see even in this human reality how there can be a unity of persons, how more than one can still be one, how a multiplicity of persons (Three, in this case of the Trinity) can be one God. 

There are not three gods; there is one God. And that one God is Three Persons. And these Three Persons are all eternal. There is never a time that the Second or the Third Person of the Trinity did not exit. All Three have existed from all eternity, and all Three will exist for all eternity. The glory that is offered to each one of us is to enter into the love of the Trinity. We will not become part of the Trinity, but we will be brought into the very life and love of the Three Persons of the Trinity, and we will be caught up in perfect love for all eternity. That is what this is all about. Our very purpose for existence is love, and that is what God desires for each of us: to learn in this life how to love so that we will be prepared for what is to come in the next life. 

So if we want to be able to love one another, if married couples want to be able to love one another more perfectly, if we want to love God and love neighbor as we have been commanded to do, then it begins by entering more deeply into the mystery that we celebrate today, to take this up in prayer and to begin even in this life to enter more deeply into the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity; and in that way to prepare yourself for eternity because that is what heaven will be: to be caught up into the love of the Trinity and to be filled to overflowing with the love of God and the love of neighbor. That is what we see in the Trinity: Three Persons loving one another perfectly, and in that perfection of love the Three are One. Each one of us, who is the overflow of the love of the Trinity, made in the image and likeness of God and sharing in the very life of God Himself, is called now to believe in the Name of the only Son of God and live that life of faith so that for eternity the fulfillment of the purpose of our creation will be ours where we will love and we will be loved, we will be caught up into this glorious mystery which will never end and which we will never even comprehend – hardly even a fraction of – for all eternity, and we will be filled to the fullness of the very love of God in the glory of the Three Persons Who are One.

*  This text was transcribed from the audio recording with minimal editing.

[Salvation]

BTTT!