Catholic Caucus: Sunday Mass Readings, 06-15-14, SOL, Most Holy Trinity

USCCB.org/RNAB ^ | 06-15-14 | Revised New American Bible

[Salvation]

June 15, 2014

The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

 

Reading 1 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 2 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.

[Salvation]

A Christian Pilgrim

THREE, YET ONE

(A biblical reflection on the Solemnity of THE MOST HOLY TRINITY- Sunday, 15 June 2014)

First Reading: Exodus 34:4b-6,8-9; Psalms: Daniel 3:52-56; Second Reading: 2Corinthians 13:11-13; Gospel Reading: John 3:16-18

In his brilliant series The Ascent of Man, author Jacob Bronowski devotes an episode to mathematics under the title “The Music of the Spheres.” He shows historically how man’s ascent in civilization was marked by an increasing understanding of mathematical patterns which he saw reflected in the harmonies of music, for example, or in the motion of the spheres around the sun.

One of the most fascinating geometric discoveries by the early Greeks was the fact that three fixed points, not all on the same line, determine uniquely one and only one triangle, one and only one plane, and one only one circle. Why this should be, we don’t know. All we can do is observe it as a fact and apply it to the real world in art, architecture, engineering and science.

Even more mysterious is our belief that there are three Persons, yet one and only one God. Why this should be, we don’t know. All we can do is accept it as a revealed fact and apply it to our Christian life.

Today’s readings are part of this Trinitarian revelation. In Exodus we read about God announcing His name to Moses as YHWH, and then giving us the meaning of that name as a God who is merciful and gracious. In the second reading, St. Paul concluded his letter to the Corinthians with a Trinitarian farewell: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all” (2Corinthians 13:13).

Finally, in the Gospel of John, Jesus tells Nicodemus that God has Father so loved the world that He sent His only Son. Recall that last Sunday on Pentecost we also read in John’s Gospel that Jesus breathed on His disciples and said: “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

In his book The Theology of the Trinity, Laurence Cantwell devotes a chapter to interpreting the Trinity in the light of the universal religious sense of mankind.

This sense of religion makes itself felt first in a feeling of awe at finding ourselves in a world we did not make. We see evidence of God’s hand in creation, but we don’t see God Himself. Our awe expresses itself in worship.

Second, a religious sense is felt by an insight into God’s presence at the heart of the world. Poetry, music, art and human love awaken in us an awareness of divine presence in our very midst. We perceive that human activity has a divine dimension.

If the first religious sense can be characterized as vertical, pointing beyond the world, then the second way can be characterized as horizontal, pointing the way within the world. In the first way we look at God as that mysterious source from which creation came – the Father as we would say. In the second way, we see God as a presence within creation – the Son as we would say.

There is a third dimension to the ways a religious sense is felt, a depth dimension whereby we detect a presence within ourselves. Great artists, for example, testify to an inspiration from within their very being which moves them to creative activity. This divine spark within us we call the Holy Spirit.

No matter where we look, then – up into the universe, out into this world, or inside our own hearts – we sense the presence of a mysterious God who is three, yet one.

In every dimension of our existence God reveals Himself to us in order to surround us with His light, share with us His life and draw us into His love. May we always praise the Father for creating us, the Son for redeeming us and the Holy Spirit for sanctifying us.

Source: Fr. Albert Cylwicki CSB, HIS WORD RESOUNDS, Makati, Philippines: St. Paul Publications, 1991, pages 42-43.

[Salvation]

Marriage=One Man and One Woman 'Til Death Do Us Part

Daily Marriage Tip for June 15, 2014:

“Encourage one another, agree with one another, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you.” (2 Cor 13:11) Follow the advice of St. Paul today. Fathers, set an example of love and peace for your children.

[Salvation]

Sunday Scripture Study

The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity - Cycle A

June 15, 2014

Click here for USCCB readings

Opening Prayer  

First Reading: Exodus 34:4b-6, 8-9

Psalm: Daniel 3:52-56

Second Reading: 2 Corinthians 13:11-13 

Gospel Reading: John 3:16-18

• Today’s gospel comes right after a conversation Jesus had with a certain Jew named Nicodemus (John 3:1-15). Nicodemus is described as a teacher, or rabbi (verse 10), and a Pharisee (verse 1), a member of a strict religious party of the time. He was probably also a member of the Sanhedrin, the ruling body of the Jews (verse 1).

• Jesus has just finished explaining to Nicodemus the necessity of being born again (or from above) by water and the Holy Spirit, i.e., by baptism (verse 5). Nicodemus has a hard time grasping the concept since he continues to think in earthly terms (verses 4 and 9). Jesus invites him to see God’s plan through heavenly eyes.

• In a veiled manner, Jesus further reveals to him that as part of that plan, Christ will be “lifted up” (on the Cross and into heaven) so that Nicodemus and all who believe in Jesus can have eternal life.

 

QUESTIONS:

• Where do you see the Persons (or the actions of the Persons) of the Most Holy Trinity in this Sunday’s readings? What is the effect of each Person of the Trinity?

• Did God send his Son to judge or to save (John 3:17; Rom 5:8; CCC 734)? What kind of love is this (Ephesians 4:2-5; John 15:13; CCC 218-21, 604-5)? What is God (1 John 4:8)? How was this manifested to us (1 John 4:9-10; CCC 457-58)? What should be our response?

• From this reading, what stands out to you about God? About what he wants you to do? About how a person is saved? About how a person is condemned? What does it mean to “believe” (verses 15-21, 36)?

• What does Jesus mean when he talks about eternal life? What does it call to mind for you? What does eternal life mean to you in regards to duration? Quality? Activity?

• What does it mean to be “saved? From what? For what? What is the alternative? When did you begin to see God as saving you, rather than condemning you?

 

Closing Prayer

Catechism of the Catholic Church:  §§ 232-267, 219, 444, 458, 679

 

Our Lord does not come down from Heaven every day to lie in a golden ciborium. He comes to find another heaven which is infinitely dearer to Him - the heaven of our souls, created in His Image, the living temples of the Adorable Trinity.   -St. Therese of Lisieux

[Salvation]

“For God So Loved the World…”

Pastor’s Column

Trinity Sunday

June 15, 2014

 

“God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish, but may have eternal life.” John 3:16

We are now living in a time of great mercy from God. Yet we may legitimately ask, why was it necessary for our Lord to die the way he did? Couldn’t there have been another way? Even Jesus, in the garden of Gethsemane, prayed that the Father would take the cup away from him and that he knew that God could do all things, implying that there was another way. But this was the way God chose to save us. God the Father could have sent a surrogate.

We remember that Abraham was called upon by God to sacrifice Isaac, his only son. Yet, in the end, God did not ask this sacrifice of Abraham – he simply wanted to know if Abraham was willing. Instead, through Jesus, God the Father offers us his Son. Only in this way could God show us unequivocally that he loves us and how much he loves us.

How can we deny that God has given us everything when we realize who it was that died for us, who it was that was offered up for us? And we, as Catholics, renew this every time we come to Mass! In John chapter 3 Jesus also points out that some will not take him up on this offer. It seems incredible – who doesn’t want to have eternal life?

Ah, but others feel there must be strings attached – perhaps they think Jesus is going to cheat them out of a fun life. Or they think he’s a figment of somebody else’s imagination. They are perhaps too distracted or busy. Or, seemingly, a better offer comes along than waiting for eternal life – we want to live just the way we want to – in the here and now.

And it’s true – to have an authentic relationship with Christ does demand discipleship of us. We can’t meet him and stay the same way we were! But who would want to – after hearing the truth, we want to become truth ourselves in every aspect of our being.

Jesus warns us in John 3 that there are those who will refuse to believe in his mercy or even his existence – and, in the end, there is a cost to this because Christ is all that there is. The very fact that he came into the world begins the wheels of judgment turning because we human beings are in the process of sorting ourselves out between those who want to move in with God – which is heaven – and those of us who will refuse to go in – and this is hell.

It is not the will of God that anyone be lost – look at his open arms on the cross! They are nailed in a position of forgiveness. All we have to do is come to him. Only those who refuse to come to him invite the judgment. We as Catholics have a wonderful sacrament of reconciliation. We can come to Jesus with the greatest of sins, anytime we want and he will always forgive us.

                                    Father Gary

[Coleus]

[Salvation]

Reflections from Scott Hahn

How God Loves: Scott Hahn Reflects on The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

Posted by Dr. Scott Hahn on 06.12.14 |

Readings:
Exodus 34:4-6, 8-9
Daniel 3:52-56
2 Corinthians 13:11-13
John 3:16-18

We often begin Mass with the prayer from today’s Epistle: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.” We praise the God who has revealed himself as a Trinity, a communion of persons.

Communion with the Trinity is the goal of our worship - and the purpose of the salvation history that begins in the Bible and continues in the Eucharist and sacraments of the Church.

We see the beginnings of God’s self-revelation in today’s First Reading, as He passes before Moses and cries out His holy name.

Israel had sinned in worshipping the golden calf (see Exodus 32). But God does not condemn them to perish. Instead He proclaims His mercy and faithfulness to His covenant.

God loved Israel as His firstborn son among the nations (see Exodus 4:22). Through Israel - heirs of His covenant with Abraham - God planned to reveal himself as the Father of all nations (see Genesis 22:18).

The memory of God’s covenant testing of Abraham - and Abraham’s faithful obedience - lies behind today’s Gospel.

In commanding Abraham to offer his only beloved son (see Genesis 22:2,12,16), God was preparing us for the fullest possible revelation of His love for the world.

As Abraham was willing to offer Isaac, God did not spare His own Son but handed Him over for us all (see Romans 8:32).

In this, He revealed what was only disclosed partially to Moses - that His kindness continues for a thousand generations, that He forgives our sin, and takes us back as His very own people (see Deuteronomy 4:20; 9:29).

Jesus humbled himself to die in obedience to God’s will. And for this, the Spirit of God raised Him from the dead (see Romans 8:11), and gave Him a name above every name (see Philippians 2:8-10).

This is the name we glorify in today’s Responsorial - the name of our Lord, the God who is Love (see 1 John 4;8,16).

[Salvation]

The Sacred Page

The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

 

 Three Angels of Gen 18 as Symbol of Trinity

At the end of, and following, the Easter Season, we have a sort of “trifecta” of major feasts: Pentecost, Trinity, and Corpus Christi, as the Church celebrates the central mysteries of the faith before the Lectionary returns to the readings of the Ordinary Time cycle on Sundays once again.  This June we get a sort of “quadrafecta,” with the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul landing on the Sunday after Corpus Christi. 

 

In any event, this weekend is Trinity Sunday, a meditation and celebration of the central mystery of the Christian faith, the dogma that distinguishes Christianity from all other religions.  Christians alone believe in one God, who nonetheless exists in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

 

Strangely, our Readings for this Sunday tend not to be classic “proof texts” for the idea that there is more than one person in the Godhead.  Instead, the readings tend to focus on the character or essence of God.  This is appropriate, because as we will see, the character of God is very different, and the meaning of salvation history as well, when one knows God to be a Trinity of persons. 

 

Reading 1: Exodus 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."

 

The context of this passage is very important, and hopefully the celebrant will explain in the homily.  This is not Moses’ first visit up the mountain.  It is his return visit after the debacle with the Golden Calf.  Moses had descended the mountain, interrupting his reception of the instructions for the Tabernacle, in order to regain control of the people, who were running wild in a pagan ritual-orgy in worship of the Egyptian bull god Apis.  He now returns to the mountain to intercede for the people and plead for forgiveness and covenant renewal.  God accepts his intercessions on behalf of Israel and agrees to forgive and renew the covenant, but Moses has an additional request: he wishes to see the face of God.  God cannot reveal his “face” (unmediated revelation) to Moses in this life, but he condescends to show his “back” (mediated or indirect revelation) to Moses on the mountain.  So God makes his presence pass before Moses while Moses is hid in a cleft in the rocks.  While his presence passes by, the LORD proclaims his “name,” that is, declares what his essence is:

 

"The LORD, the LORD, a merciful and gracious God,

slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity."

 

The term translated “kindness” here is that very freighted word “hesed,” which specifically connotes faithfulness and love in a covenant relationship. 

 

So why is this text read on Trinity Sunday?  On this day, we reflect on God’s very nature, and this is one of the most important texts of the Old Testament that addresses the issue of what God is.  The answer given is that God’s nature consists primarily in mercy, grace, forgiveness, truth, and especially covenant fidelity. 

 

This does relate to the Trinity, which has meaning for our redemption.  Several facts follow from the realization that the Son and the Spirit are God Himself.  First, it dawns on us that God did not send some other creature to suffer and die for us, but paid the penalty for our sins by himself (the Son).  Secondly, it becomes apparent that God does not merely share his energies or power with us, but shares with us his very life and self (the Spirit). 

 

For if God is not a Trinity, then Jesus the Son is a creature, and God sent a creature to work our redemption rather than doing it himself.  And if God is not a Trinity, the Holy Spirit is not God, but some active force or emanation from the almighty.  Therefore through faith and the sacraments we do not receive into our hearts the true God, but something else that radiates from him. 

 

Furthermore, the Trinity reveals that God is, in himself, a circle of self-giving love.  Prior to the creation of the universe, God did not exist as a self-aggrandizing sole individual, but he existed as a communion of persons bound by the gift of self in love. A possible way to imagine this: the Father continually gives himself to the Son, and the Son gives himself to the Father, and the Self they exchange is the Holy Spirit.  Thus, the gift of self in love, which is the essence of hesed, belongs to God’s nature from all time.  It is not an accidental feature of God’s character that arises when he creates other beings to be loved.

 

So doctrine of the Trinity enables us to understand that faithful love (hesed) is at the heart of God’s nature, and he shares himself with us in a way more profound and intimate than we would ever have imagined. God's hesed is on display in this First Reading, because God remains faithful to his covenant with Israel even when they have broken their covenant with him by worshiping other gods.

 

Responsorial Psalm: Daniel 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!

 

The revelation of God’s nature prompts praise from us, his people.  The Church turns to the Song of the Three Young Men, the song of praise they sang while being sacrificed in the fiery furnace.  The fiery furnace is an image of the burning love of God, which is more than our mortal nature can bear.  Yet God sustains us supernaturally, so that we can praise him while plunged in his presence.  The young men were being sacrificed because of their covenant fidelity to God expressed by their refusal to worship idols.  Their willingness to be faithful to God, even to death, leads them to a greater knowledge and experience of God’s nature, resulting in exuberant praise. 

 

Reading 2: 2 Corinthians 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.

 

Our Second Reading gives us a more explicitly Trinitarian text.  Although the doctrine of the Trinity is not explained in detail in the text of the New Testament, the reality of the Trinity must be presumed in order to make sense of the assertions and statements of the apostles and other sacred writers.  For example, in the concluding blessing of this short passage of St. Paul, it would be inappropriate to put the “grace of the Lord Jesus Christ” and the “fellowship of the Holy Spirit” in poetic parallelism with “the love of God” unless all three realities were of equally dignity.  If Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit were mere creatures, they could not be the source of “grace” and “fellowship” on par with the “love of God.”  Furthermore, the term “grace” is particularly freighted, as elsewhere Paul develops the concept as a divine attribute.

 

Benedict XVI explained that dogmas are nothing other than authoritative interpretations of Scripture.  Another way to look at them would be as “truths one must assume in order to make sense of all the Scriptural data.”  The doctrine of the Trinity helps us make sense of this threefold blessing in 2 Corinthians 13 and many other passages as well.

 

Gospel John 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.

 

Many may be more familiar with the formulation of these verses in the King James-Revised Standard tradition, which reads: "God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son."  "Only begotten" is an English rendering of the Greek monogenes, which in turn is probably an attempt to translate the Hebrew yahid, "unique, one and only."  St. John alludes here to Genesis 22, the near-sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham on the mountain top.  Abraham and Isaac's fidelity to God in this harrowing test merited a solemn divine oath which sealed forever the covenant God had made with them: "Because you have done this, and not withheld your son, your only begotten son (Heb. yahid, cf. RSVCE2), I will indeed bless you ... and through your seed all the nations of the earth will be blessed."  By describing Jesus as the "one and only" or "only begotten" son, St. John draws an intentional parallel to Isaac, and indicates that God's gift of his son Jesus is a fulfillment of covenant promises made to Abraham and Isaac over a thousand years before.  The gift of Jesus the Son is not without context; it is covenant fulfillment, a sign of God's hesed, covenant love, which is his essence.

Yes, love is the essence of the Trinity.  The Trinity tells us that God is not a monopersonal individual who had only himself to love before creatures were made.  Self-love is an imperfect form of love.  Therefore, God would have needed creatures to love in order to achieve perfection of love.  God would have been imperfect in himself.  Self-giving love is the highest form of love: “Greater love has no man than this: that he lay down his life for his friends.”  From all eternity Father and Son exchange their Life for each other.  Therefore, the gift of the Son by the Father to the world, and the Son’s gift of Himself for the world and for his Father, is nothing other than an invitation for the world to enter into the circle of love that defines God’s essence. 

 

Why is it necessary to believe in the Son?  Because only Jesus reveals to us the full truth about God.  Moses revealed some truth about God.  Mohammad portrayed God as an omnipotent, monopersonal master who has no children in any sense, does not give himself to or for us, and does not share with us his very being.  The Buddha was technically an agnostic, unconcerned with discovering God’s nature or even clearly affirming he existence of God.

 

Alone among the religious teachers and philosophers of the world, Jesus claims in word and deed that God is a loving Father who gave his only Son for the salvation of the world, and that the Son is, finally and mysteriously, the Father’s own Self, for “I and the Father are one,” and “He who has seen me, has seen the Father.”  Therefore, whoever does not believe in the Son is condemned forever to labor with an inadequate understanding of God, which leads—perhaps sooner, perhaps later—to estrangement from God.  We become like what we worship.  How important, then, truly to understand the nature of the God we worship.  The worship of the Trinity should lead us to a life of self-giving love.

[Salvation]

Insight Scoop

The Central Mystery of the Faith, The Source of Reality

(Photo: © zwiebackesser - Fotolia.com)

A Scriptural Reflection on the Readings for The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity | Carl E. Olson

Readings:
• Ex 34:4b-6, 8-9
• Dan 3:52, 53, 54, 55, 56
• 2 Cor 13:11-13
• Jn 3:16-18

The Trinity, the Catechism states, is “the central mystery of Christian faith and life” (CCC 234). There are, I think, a couple of mistakes that can be made when it comes to thinking about this great mystery.

The first is to treat the dogma of the Trinity as a fascinating but abstract concept, a cosmic Rubik’s Cube that challenges us to fit all of the pieces into their place through elaborate, brain-twisting moves. What might begin as a sincere desire to understand better the mystery of one God in three persons can be a dry academic exercise. If we’re not careful, the Trinity can become a sort of theological artifact that is interesting to examine on occasion but which doesn’t affect how we think, speak, and live.

The second mistake is to simply avoid thoughtful consideration of the nature and meaning of the Trinity. The end result of this flawed perspective is similar to the first, minus all of the study: to throw up one’s hands in frustrated impatience, “Well, it doesn’t make any sense. I don’t see what it has to do with me and my life!” While many Christians might not consciously come to that conclusion, the way they think and live suggests that is, unfortunately, their attitude.

In a sermon given in the early 1970s, Father Joseph Ratzinger wrote of how “the Church makes a man a Christian by pronouncing the name of the triune God.” The essential point of being a Christian is to have faith in God. Yet, he wrote, this can be disappointing and incomprehensible if not understood correctly. The primary concern in Christianity, he explained, “is not the Church or man, but God. Christianity is not oriented to our own hopes, fears, and needs, but to God, to his sovereignty and power. The first proposition of the Christian faith and the fundamental orientation of Christian conversion is: ‘God is.’” (The God of Jesus Christ [Ignatius Press, 2008], pp 26-27).

This truth was dramatically revealed to Moses when God spoke from the burning bush and declared, “I AM WHO I AM” (Ex 3:14). In today’s Old Testament reading, from a later passage in Exodus, God further proclaims who and what He is: “a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity.”

But God, of course, is not static or even stoic. In the words of the French poet, Paul Claudel, “we worship a living God who acts, who breathes, who exhales his very Self.” This is beautifully expressed by Saint John the Theologian in today’s Gospel reading. While Moses had been sent by God to reveal the reality and name of God, the Son was sent by the Father to reveal the mystery of God’s inner life, which is perfect love and self-gift (cf., CCC 236, 257). “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son…” Why? That we might have eternal life. And what is eternal life? It is actually sharing in the supernatural life of the Blessed Trinity.

Far from being abstract or of little earthly value, the Trinity is the source of reality and the reason our earthly lives have meaning and purpose. Because God is, we have a reason to be. Because God is love, we are able to truly love. Because God is unity, we are able to be united to Him. Because God is three Persons, we are able to have communion with Him.

St. Gregory of Nazianzus once wrote, “Above all guard for me this great deposit of faith for which I live and fight, which I want to take with me as a companion, and which makes me bear all evils and despise all pleasures: I mean the profession of faith in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” (CCC 256). May we guard our belief in the Triune God with our lives. And may we better know that the Trinity gives us life. Make no mistake about it!

(This "Opening the Word" column originally appeared in the May 18, 2008, edition of Our Sunday Visitor newspaper.)

[Salvation]

Vultus Christi

Elizabeth of the Trinity: Her Mission in Heaven

Sunday, 15 June 2014 08:36

Blessed Elizabeth in the Catechism

Opening the Catechism of the Catholic Church one morning, I discovered that among the ecclesiastical writers cited in the text, there are fifty-nine men and eight women. Three of the eight women cited are Carmelites, and one of the three is Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity: an outstanding honour for a young nun who died, hidden in her Carmel at Dijon, at twenty-six years of age on November 9, 1906.

Light, Love, Life

Faced with death, Blessed Elizabeth said, “Je vais à la Lumière, à l’Amour à la Vie — I am going to the Light, to Love, to Life.” The influence of the young Carmelite has grown prodigiously all over the world. Her Prayer to the Holy Trinity has been translated into thirty-four languages.

Her Mission

Before her death, Elizabeth sensed that she would be entrusted with a mission in heaven. “I think,” she said, “that in Heaven my mission will be to draw souls by helping them go out of themselves to cling to God by a wholly simple and loving movement, and to keep them in this great silence within that will allow God to communicate Himself to them and transform them into Himself.”

God at Work in Us

Saint Paul, whose Epistles were the young Carmelite’s daily nourishment, says: “God is at work in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Phil 2:13). Blessed Elizabeth’s secret of holiness was total surrender to God at work in her for his good pleasure, transforming her into the Praise of His Glory (cf. Eph 1:6). Believing this, one dares to pray, “I trust, O God, that you are at work in me, even now, both to will and to work for the praise of your glory.”

For the Praise of His Glory

The Catechism says that, “even now we are called to be a dwelling for the Most Holy Trinity: ‘If a man loves me,” says the Lord, ‘he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our home with him’” (Jn 14:23). And as a kind of commentary on the mystery of the indwelling Trinity, the Catechism gives us Blessed Elizabeth’s magnificent prayer. I know souls who by dint of repeating that prayer day after day have learned it by heart; God alone knows what changes it has wrought in them . . . for the praise of His glory.

[Salvation]

Vultus Christi

Most Holy Trinity

Sunday, 15 June 2014 08:47

Cascades of Jubilation

The Office of Lauds this morning was a torrent of undiluted praise. The Church gives us doxology upon doxology. She expresses her adoration in great cascades of jubilation. In some way, today’s Divine Office is a preview and foretaste of heaven. How is heaven described in the book of the Apocalypse? It is an immense and ceaseless liturgy of adoration. Angels and men together doxologize ceaselessly. In the presence of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost all created things become an utterance of glory. Eternity’s ceaseless doxology begins here on earth. If this is apparent anywhere, it should be so in a monastery.

The Doxological Life

See how Moses exemplifies the doxological life. He rises “early in the morning” (Ex 34:5). You recall what God had said to him: “Be ready to come up to Mount Sinai in the morning, and there thou shalt stand before me on the mountain top” (Ex 34:2). God asks for readiness in the morning. He bids us come up in the morning to Mount Sinai. He asks that we present ourselves to Him on the mountain top. How are we to understand God’s commands to Moses?

Christ himself is our morning. You know Saint Ambrose’ marvelous hymn for the office of Lauds, Splendor Paternae Gloriae:

Thou Brightness of Thy Father’s Worth!
Who dost the light from Light bring forth;
Light of the light! light’s lustrous Spring!
Thou Day the day illumining.

If Christ Be Your Morning

For the soul who lives facing Christ it is always morning. For the soul who lives in the brightness of His Face it is always a new day. If Christ be your morning it is never too late to start afresh.

Christ the Mountain

God summons us to the mountain top. Christ Himself is our mountain. Christ is the high place from which earth touches heaven; Christ is the summit marked on earth by the imprint of heaven’s kiss. If your feet are set high on the rock that is Christ you are held very close to the Father’s heart, for Christ is the Son “who abides in the bosom of the Father” (Jn 1:18). “I am in the Father and the Father is in me” (Jn 14:11).

“Stand before me on the mountain top” (Ex 34:5), says God. What is God saying if not, “Offer yourself to Me there through Christ, in Christ, and with Christ.” God’s three commands to Moses are fulfilled for us in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

Christ the Sun of Justice

The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the light of the Church’s day. Mother Marie-Adèle Garnier, the foundress of the Tyburn Benedictines in London, called the Mass “the Sun of her life.” Without the Most Holy Eucharist we have neither warmth nor light. Without Holy Mass there is no new day, no morning, no possibility of starting afresh. That is why the Christian martyrs of Carthage when interrogated by Diocletian’s proconsul could only answer, Sine dominico non possumus, “Without Sunday,” that is without the day of the Holy Sacrifice, “we cannot go on.” So long as we have the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass we have a new day. So long as we remain faithful to the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar we will have before our eyes Christ, “the Sun of justice who rises with healing in His wings” (Mal 4:2).
Ravished Upward

The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the mountain top; it is the descent of heaven to earth. It is the summit of the Church’s life; it is from the rock of the altar that the Church is ravished upward into the love of things invisible. In the Holy Sacrifice we are certain of standing in the presence of the Father; Christ, the Priest and Victim of every Mass, says, “Nobody can come to the Father, except through me” (Jn 14:6). The Father waits for us in the Mass even as He waited for Moses on the heights of Mount Sinai. He “comes down to meet us hidden in cloud” (Ex 34:5) that is, in the Holy Spirit, to reveal to us His Name and His mystery.

Stand Before Me

God calls us to the mountain in the morning that we might stand before Him. “There thou shalt stand before me” (Ex 34:2). We go to the mountain to be offered. We go to Christ our Altar to be offered upon Him. We go to Christ our Priest to be offered by Him. We go to Christ our Victim to be offered with Him.

The offering takes place under the overshadowing of the Holy Ghost who, “like a bright cloud” (Mt 17:5), covers the mountain. For this we pray in every Mass, asking to be assumed into heaven, begging God to command our quick transport “to his altar on high in the sight of his divine majesty” (Supplices te rogamus, Roman Canon). “There thou shalt stand before me” (Ex 34:5), says God. This is the posture of the sacrificing priest before the altar. Saint Paul explains it, saying, “And now brethren, I appeal to you by God’s mercies, to offer up your bodies as a living sacrifice, consecrated to God and worthy of his acceptance; this is the worship due from you as rational creatures” (Rom 12:1).

The Lord Comes Down

Only after Moses obeys the commands of God by rising early, by climbing the mountain, and by presenting himself there, does the Lord “come down to meet him, hidden in cloud and Moses stood with him there” (cf. Ex 34:5). “Thus the Lord passed by, and he cried out, It is the Lord God, the ruler of all things, the merciful, the gracious, slow to take vengeance, rich in kindness, faithful to his promises, true to his promise of mercy a thousand times over” (Ex 34:6-7).

This too is a mystic foreshadowing of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Holy Mass is the Lord passing before us. It is the Lord revealing himself merciful and gracious. In the Eucharist God makes himself known. In the Most Holy Eucharist He comes down hidden in cloud to meet us. In the Most Holy Eucharist He lays bare the merciful love of his heart a thousand times over.

Adoration

How does Moses respond to God’s revelation of Himself? “And Moses making haste, bowed down prostrate unto the earth, and adored” (Ex 34:8). He adored. Adoration is the only response worthy of God’s self-revelation. For the believer it becomes the only response possible. Out of adoration flows all else. Only adoration allows us to take in the mystery of the Lord passing before us.

The text says that Moses “made haste, bowed down prostrate unto the earth, and adored” (Ex 34:8). Why does he make haste to adore? Adoration cannot be delayed. Adoration is urgent at every hour. “The hour is coming and now is,” says Our Lord to the Samaritan woman, “when true adorers shall adore the Father in spirit and in truth. For such the Father seeks to adore him” (Jn 4:23). We make haste in going to adoration because the desire of the Father precedes us there. We cannot arrive a moment too soon. The imperative of adoration once understood brooks no delays, admits of no excuses. “Martha went, and called her sister Mary secretly, saying: ‘The Master is come, and is calling for you.’ She, as soon as she heard this, rose quickly, and came to him” (Jn 11:28-29).

In bowing down prostrate with his face to the ground Moses discovers something about himself and about his people. “This is indeed a stiff-necked people” (Ex 34:9). In adoration we discover just how stiff-necked we are, how unbending we are, how proud, and how resistant to grace.

Compunction

Adoration “in spirit and in truth” (Jn 4:24) leads to compunction. Compunction in turn leads to the prayer of contrition and to conversion of life: “Guilt of our sins do thou pardon,” says Moses, “and keep us for thy own” (Ex 34:9).

This then is the experience of Moses. It is ours as well. We know nonetheless that after the morning there is the rest of the day, that after the mountain’s height there is the descent into the plain, and that after the offering there is the sacrifice and the communion. Saint Paul spells out the consequences of this for us: “Perfect your lives, listen to the appeal we make, think the same thoughts, keep peace among yourselves, and the God of love and peace will be with you.” (2 Cor 13:11-12). Thus does the Eucharistic life radiate from the morning Sacrifice into every hour of the day; from the mountain into every valley and plain; from the place of offering into every occasion for sacrifice and communion.

Presence of the Trinity

The word “Trinity” occurs nowhere the Bible. The adorable Mystery is nonetheless wondrously present: Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, revealed in the morning light, shining on the mountain, summoning us into the Eucharistic life of offering, sacrifice, and communion. “God so loved the world that he gave up his only-begotten Son” (Jn 3:16).

Abba, Father

The gift of the only-begotten Son is renewed in Holy Mass. With the Body and Blood of the Son comes the outpouring of the Holy Ghost.  “To prove that you are sons, God has sent out the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying out in us, Abba! Father!” (Gal 4:6).  Make haste! It is time to adore.

[Salvation]

Regnum Christi

An Embrace of Love
2014-06-15

U. S. A. | SPIRITUAL LIFE | SPIRITUALITY

John 3:16-18

At that time, Jesus said to Nicodemus: “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.”

Introductory Prayer: Lord Jesus, I believe in you. I believe you have called me to the faith and to share that faith. I trust that you will fill me with your spirit of courage and truth so that I might faithfully assimilate and transmit the faith. I love you. I want to love you more with my prayer and with my life, and so grow in the unity of the love you share with your Father and the Holy Spirit. 

Petition: Holy Trinity, enable me to know, love and serve you better.

1. Big News: Today’s Gospel is truly big news. Jesus is on a mission of love from the Father to save the world from sin. He comes not to condemn, but to bring salvation. The catch is, to accept this salvation we need to use the gift of faith. Faith is not primarily having a strong emotion in favor of Jesus; rather, real faith essentially implies living out the demands of belonging to Christ through the filial obedience of love. Do I take Jesus’ words seriously: “If you love me keep my commandments”? Does my faith in Christ seep its way into all the aspects of my daily life?

2. Jesus’ Mission Reveals the Trinity: God the Father sends us his Son to reveal the mystery of his love. Jesus sends us the Holy Spirit to be the gentle guest of our souls. Through the sacrament of baptism we have been permitted to share in the life of God. When we are in a state of grace, the Trinity dwells within us. We have been transformed into children of God and temples of the Holy Spirit. Am I grateful for God’s intimate presence within my soul, and are my actions in accordance with my existence as a “Temple of the Holy Spirit”?

3. Self-Giving Love: Jesus’ revelation of the Holy Trinity allows us to get a glimpse of the mystery of unity and self-giving love: God himself. It is a love expressed in the reciprocal relationship between the Father and the Son united in an everlasting embrace of love, who is the Holy Spirit. This unity or “family” aspect of God is the model for the unity of all Christians, all Christian families, and even society as a whole. Do I realize that my family is a reflection of the Blessed Trinity? Do I strive to practice the self-giving that makes family life a joy? How can I practice greater charity and be less self-serving? 

Conversation with Christ: Dear Jesus, I know that I am truly blessed to have you as my companion and redeemer. Help me to be true to my Christian vocation and glorify the Father through docility to your Holy Spirit.

Resolution: I will say one Our Father and three Hail Marys for an increase of faith, hope and charity.

[Salvation]

God of the Second Chance

Dr. Mark Giszczak

June 15, 2014
Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity
Exodus 34:4b-6, 8-9
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/061514.cfm

Sometimes we mess up. Hopefully, most of the time our errors are small, easily fixed, or even overlooked. But sometimes we mess up big, really big. The people of Israel found themselves in that kind of spot. They had seen God’s power deliver them Pharaoh and the Egyptians; they miraculously crossed the Red Sea; he appeared to them in thunder at Mt. Sinai, and yet they fail. They set up a false idol, the Golden Calf, and worship it at the base of the mountain while Moses is receiving the law from God. Oops.

Context

This Sunday’s Old Testament reading presents a scene right after God’s people have sinned against him by worshiping the Golden Calf. After that happens, Moses stalks down the mountain and smashes the two stone tablets of the law in anger. Then he intercedes before God on behalf of the people, and the Lord offers to renew the covenant and write on a new set of stone tablets. Here Moses brings two fresh tablets (clean slates!) before the Lord on Mt. Sinai and awaits a revelation.

The setting for the scene looks a lot like the giving of the Ten Commandments in Exodus 19—20, but here Moses encounters God alone. The people as a whole are not hearing his voice. Moses acts as covenant mediator. The Lord shows up in power, with the full force of his presence before Moses. The Lord repeatedly declares his holy name: YHWH.

The Holy Name

The name of the Lord, YHWH, was so holy to the ancient Hebrews that they left it unpronounced and written without vowels. To this day, when devout Jews read the words of Scripture aloud, they say Adonai (“my lord”) rather than the sacred name. In fact, just a few years ago the Vatican banned the use of the name in hymns sung during the liturgy. The name is often referred to as the “tetragrammaton” because of its four consonants. The exact meaning of the holy name of the Lord is matter for debate among scholars. It might originate from the verb “to be” in Hebrew (hayah) and mean something like “the one who is” or “the one who causes to be.” Whatever its etymology, YHWH becomes the personal name for the Lord in the Old Testament.

A God of Justice and Mercy

In the course of revealing his name to Moses once again, the Lord also reveals his character. He is “a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” (Exod 34:6 RSV). The Lectionary leaves out the more difficult verse 7: “…keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.” Our God is not a hufflepuff God. He doesn’t pretend that everything is okay when sin stands between us. He is not the sort of person to pretend like nothing is the matter when a major issue separates us from him. Rather, he will confront us with our wrongdoing and seek to reestablish a relationship. If we persist in our sin, then we get to suffer the consequences. The suffering caused by sin is not individualistic, but has ramifications for our families too. In Exod 34:7, a personal sin is even said to harm one’s children and grandchildren.

However, the Lord is not only a God of justice, but a God of mercy. In fact, St. John Paul II called it “the most stupendous attribute of the Creator” (Dives in Misericordia, 13). Here in Exodus, the Lord emphasizes his mercy, his compassion. He announces his nature as slow to anger and rich in hesed (covenant love) and faithfulness. The point is that while we can trust in God’s justice, his power, his authority, his omniscience, we ought not be overwhelmed by those aspects. That is, his mercy is bigger than our faults. His forgiveness can conquer even our worst sins. His fidelity is stronger than our infidelity. He is the God who gives us a second chance (and more!)

Starting Over Again

Moses responds to his encounter with God with an attitude of humble worship and submission. He falls on his face before the Lord and worships. This is exactly the right response. He submits himself and the people to the Lord once more, asking for God’s favor and his presence. Moses again repents on behalf of the people with a confession that in fact, yes, we are “stiff-necked.” He pleads for God’s pardon and forgiveness, to be restored once more into a relationship of covenant love. I love this moment, because Moses is so brutally honest, so transparent, so humbly self-deprecating. He realizes his errors, his people’s sins, the lack of commitment that they’ve displayed. Yet he hungers for relationship with God. He wants the people to have the Lord in their midst, to live in a covenant relationship with Him.

The Lord doesn’t ignore Moses’ request, but responds in mercy, forgiveness and even covenant renewal. Immediately after this passage, the Lord reinitiates his relationship with the people of Israel and so powerfully blesses Moses that his face shines with the reflected glory of God. He answers Moses’ humble petition.

The power of this story lies in the second chance the Lord offers. When we mess up, it is easy to get discouraged, to lose hope, to fall into despair away from God. Yet he invites us back. He offers us a second chance. He is “slow to anger” and rich in mercy. He wants us more than we want him and he holds his hand out to us. Our job isn’t to wallow in our faults or to clean ourselves up before we seek Him, but to come to him in our brokenness, acknowledge our failings and ask for his help. Then perhaps he will consent to “go in the midst of us” after all.

[Salvation]

Scripture Speaks: Trinity Sunday

Gayle Somers

On this first Sunday after Pentecost, the Church calls us to remember the Most Holy Trinity. Why is this perfect timing?

Gospel (Read Jn 3:16-18)

Today’s Gospel is different from any we have seen during the long seasons of Lent and Easter. On Sunday after Sunday, the Gospels have reported actions of Jesus. They have been passages full of conversations and events that moved His story along, culminating in His Ascension into Heaven and His promise to send the Holy Spirit. Today, however, St. John gives us a kind of summary of this. It is simple, but what a sweep it has! Read the first verse carefully so as not to miss its impact through familiarity: “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.” If we understand the scope of this statement, we will know why it is perfectly fitting that today is Trinity Sunday.

“God so loved the world” inevitably takes us all the way back to Creation, where we first meet “God” and “the world.” Why does God love the world so much? We can’t fully answer this without figuring out why He made the world in the first place. As we read through the first few chapters of Genesis, the one thing we immediately grasp is that the physical world exists as a home for the crown of creation: man and woman. In a brief but remarkably important verse, we see God’s intention for mankind: “Let us make man in Our image, after Our likeness” (Gen 1:26). Surely this doesn’t tell us everything we’d like to know about our creation, but it tells us what we most need to know. God, the “Us” in this verse, wants man to be like Him. First, notice the paradox. There is plurality in the language of singularity. There is only one God creating the universe, but this God is “Us.” Mysterious! It will take a very long time for the meaning of this paradox to be made clear. Next, implicit in this statement is an invitation.

Why make man in “Our” image and likeness if not to welcome him into the communion and fellowship of “Us”? This is vital information. If man is made in the image of the God Who is “Us,” then man is made for communion with the “Us” of God. In addition, we find in the next chapter of Genesis that “it is not good” that man should be alone (Gen 2:18). This was the only thing in creation pronounced “not good” by God. It makes perfect sense, however. If we are like the God Who is “Us,” then we are meant for communion with other beings like us. This would be a true reflection of being in God’s image.

As we read on in Genesis, we find that God’s plan was seriously interrupted by man’s disobedience. Adam and Eve’s willfulness broke their communion with God and with each other. They incurred God’s just punishment, but because “God so loved the world,” He made them a promise. A “woman” and her “seed” would someday do battle with the Enemy who seduced them into rebellion. In the meantime, they were expelled from the Garden, but it was not destroyed. That hinted at the possibility of a return.

So, very early on, the stage is set for the drama of salvation that needs the rest of history to unfold. We began to explore that history in Advent, when we discovered that a young girl in Nazareth was “the woman” promised by God, and her “seed” was Jesus, God’s own Son, Who existed from the beginning but became a Man in the Incarnation. The “Us” of Genesis is beginning to take shape. Lent and Easter rehearsed the truly unimaginable history of God’s Son dying in our place to lift the punishment pronounced on us (as children of Adam) in the Garden. He experienced God’s just judgment for us, and in His Resurrection, He defeated Satan, sin, and death in one fell swoop. Then, in a move no one could have predicted, when He ascended into Heaven, King Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to complete the long-standing intention of God at Creation. It is the Holy Spirit, God’s own life in us, Who makes it possible for man to step into the fellowship for which he was made, not only with the “Us” of God, now fully revealed to be God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but also with one another. Wow!

This history helps us more fully understand St. John’s summary statement about God’s love. We know the great heights from which man fell in the Garden and the dramatic response from God—sending His only Son—to restore us. Jesus came to save, not condemn. The condemnation on sin already rested on man from the Garden. It didn’t appear in man’s history at the Incarnation. Believing in Jesus will save man from sin’s judgment. That is why St. John says, “Whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the Name of the only Son of God.”

“God so loved the world” that He did everything necessary for us to know and love Him back, a work accomplished, at various times in human history, by the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Now that the story is complete, it is the perfect time to say, “Blessed be the Most Holy Trinity today!”

Possible response: Blessed Trinity, thank You for all You have done to welcome me into Your fellowship for eternity. I was made for this.

First Reading (Read Ex 34:4b-6, 8-9)

Having reviewed the scope of salvation in our Gospel reading, we can now examine one piece of the vast history that led St. John to write, “God so loved the world.” Here we find ourselves on Mt. Sinai, as Moses returns to the LORD’s presence after Israel’s apostasy with the golden calf. In his fury at seeing for himself the orgiastic rebellion of God’s people, Moses threw the first set of the tablets of God’s Law down, shattering them in a prophetic demonstration of what the people had done by their disobedience. Moses interceded on their behalf, however, and God accepted his mediation. Now, Moses takes another set of tablets into the LORD’s presence so that He can write His Law on them a second time for His people.

Not included in today’s reading is Moses’ request that God do more than re-write the tablets: “Moses said, ‘I pray Thee, show me Thy glory” (Ex 33:18). Even with Moses’ long friendship with God, his heart’s desire was for “more,” as it should be for us, too. God grants his request, passing by him as he was protected in the cleft of a rock. In a very rare self-description, God identifies Himself as mercy, grace, patience, kindness, and faithfulness. Notice in this encounter the shadowy suggestion of the Trinity: “Having come down in a cloud, the LORD stood with Moses.” God in Heaven (the Father) comes down in a cloud (the Spirit), and stands, passing by like a man (the Son). When Moses experiences this, he “bowed down to the ground in worship,” as we are called to do on Trinity Sunday. Look carefully at Moses’ request for God’s wayward people: “…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.” What is he asking?

Moses wants communion, nearness, physical proximity for God and Israel, the very thing for which we were made. He acknowledges the problem caused by sin (resolved by Jesus, hundreds of years later), and longs for Israel to be God’s own children (accomplished by the Holy Spirit on Pentecost). Not even Moses, who knew God so well, could have imagined how this prayer would ultimately be answered. Because we do, we have yet another reason to say, “Blessed be the Most Holy Trinity today!”

Possible response: Blessed Trinity, I ask of You, for myself and the Church, what Moses asked on Sinai: “Do come along in our company” this day.

Psalm (Read Dan 3:52-55)

If our readings are getting us cranked up to bless the Holy Trinity today, this hymn of praise from the Book of Daniel gives us perfect words to do it. Its lines contain an increasing intensification of what we know God’s love for the world should call forth from us: “Glory and praise forever!”

Possible response: Blessed Trinity, I can feel in these words the ecstasy of Your reign over all creation. Help me keep this vision! It dims for me sometimes.

Second Reading (Read 2 Cor 13:11-13)

This epistle reading, with amazing brevity, helps us to see the practical application of the work of the Holy Trinity on our behalf. Imagine if we asked of St. Paul, “What difference does the doctrine of the Trinity make to my daily life?” Good question! Here is his answer. Let us savor every simple phrase: Brothers and sisters, rejoice (the only appropriate response to the work of the Trinity). Mend your ways (Jesus has conquered sin and given us His Spirit; live in that victory). Encourage… agree… live in peace…greet each other with a holy kiss (live the unity won for us by the Trinity). The God of love and peace will be with you (Moses’ request for God’s presence among His people has been accomplished by the Trinity). The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all (Blessed be the Most Holy Trinity today!).

Possible response: Read the epistle again—it IS our response.

[Salvation]

One Bread, One Body

One Bread, One Body

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All Issues > Volume 30, Issue 4

<< Sunday, June 15, 2014 >>

Trinity Sunday

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

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

THE MYSTERY AND GLORY OF TRINITARIAN LOVE

"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

The Trinity is the heart of divine revelation and of the Christian faith. The Church teaches: "The mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of Christian faith and life. It is the mystery of God in Himself. It is therefore the source of all the other mysteries of faith" (Catechism, 234). Because God is Trinity, we are family, and holiness is being one as the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are One (see Jn 17:21). Because God is three Persons in one God, we, though many, are the one body of Christ (1 Cor 12:12). Because God is the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, we can become children of the Father and cry out in the Spirit, "Abba" ("Father") (Gal 4:6; Rm 8:15), and "Jesus is Lord" (1 Cor 12:3).

The Trinity is the basis of the Church, the Bible, the Creed, the Sacraments, the Beatitudes, etc. We as Christians are constantly living in the Trinity and the Trinity in us (see Jn 17:23). Because God is Trinity, we can live forever in the mystery of His love. "Praise the Holy Trinity, undivided Unity, holy God, mighty God, God immortal, be adored!"

[Salvation]

[Salvation]

http://resources.sainteds.com/showmedia.asp?media=../sermons/homily/2014-06-15-Homily%20Fr%20Gary.mp3&ExtraInfo=0&BaseDir=../sermons/homily