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4 Joans of Arc, 1 God and Us

User's Guide to Sunday

by Tom and April Hoopes in Faith on Saturday, May 29, 2010 12:52:00 PM

Sunday, May 30, is Trinity Sunday (Liturgical Year C, Cycle II). May 31 is the feast of the Visitation (not a holy day of obligation).

Saints

May 30, the feast of St. Joan of Arc, is supplanted this year by Trinity Sunday.

Joan of Arc is a fascinating saint to share with your children because her story brings into sharp relief certain facts that kids will have to face as they grow older. For example, the Church is a saving institution, but her members — and sometimes her leaders — can be disappointing, even severely disappointing. In the story of Joan of Arc, Church leaders, both lay and ecclesial, miss the opportunity to follow God’s will with Joan. God has given them real freedom, and they use it poorly. God has done the same with us: We can follow his will, or thwart it. Virtue isn’t automatic.

There are several Joan of Arc movies to choose from. Tom’s favorite is Joan of Arc starring Ingrid Bergman. It has a 1950s’ Hollywood epic feel about it, but it drags in parts, with too much talking.

We suggest skipping the one starring model Milla Jovovich. The film turns Joan into a woman who is haunted more than inspired by her faith. She’s more unbalanced than holy.

The best Joan of Arc movie to engage the kids is the 1999 Joan of Arc starring Leelee Sobieski. The leading actress is the movie’s weakest link, unfortunately. But the movie does a good job of presenting the elements of the story in an engaging way.

You could also try the old silent film The Passion of Joan of Arc. The acting is phenomenal, and the story of Joan’s trial is told in depth, but it is very slow moving for a generation raised on modern movies.

Readings

Proverbs 8:22-31; Psalm 8:4-9; Romans 5:1-5; John 16:12-15

Our Take

Today’s readings describe what God is like — and how we are like him.

First, God is awe and majesty. The Psalm compares the awe we have looking up at the stars with the awe we should have in God: “When I behold your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you set in place — what is man that you should be mindful of him, or the son of man that you should care for him?”

Second, God is self-giving. Jesus explains the Holy Spirit in the Gospel: “He will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you. Everything that the Father has is mine.” This perfect harmony and communal sharing is sort of a divine version of humility. None of the Persons claims the graces of divinity exclusively for himself, but each glorifies the other.

Third, God’s life isn’t all awe and majesty: It is also “delight” and “playfulness.” Today’s first reading gives a rare glimpse of the “inner life” of the Holy Trinity. It depicts the relationship of God the Father and God the Son “long ago ... before the earth.” The reading shows the two working as partner “craftsmen” in creation. And it includes this detail, from the voice of Wisdom, traditionally identified with the second Person of the Trinity: “I was his delight day by day, playing before him all the while, playing on the surface of his earth.”

Human beings are made in the image and likeness of God and share exactly these three characteristics.

First, we have a share in the awe and majesty of God. Says the Psalm, “You have made [humanity] little less than the angels, and crowned him with glory and honor.” Knowing how high our calling is should help us aspire to a high standard of character.

The second reading shows how the Trinity, in very practical ways, helps us meet that high standard in the rough and tumble of life. “Through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us,” writes St. Paul, “affliction produces endurance, and endurance, proven character, and proven character, hope, and hope does not disappoint.”

Third, the readings make clear that the “delight” and “playfulness” of God isn’t reserved to his own inner life. In the course of creation, the second Person of the Trinity says “I found delight in the human race.”

We’ve always loved the Marie Bellet song “It Was His Delight to Walk Among Men,” taken from a verse in Sirach. God doesn’t just tolerate us: He delights in us, and that’s the greatest help we have in the Christian life.

—Tom and April Hoopes write from Atchison, Kansas. This article originally appeared in our sister publication, the National Catholic Register.

Vespers -- Evening Prayer

Vespers (Evening Prayer)

Introduction

O God, come to my aid.

O Lord, make haste to help me.

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. Alleluia.

Hymn

O Trinity of blessèd light,

O Unity of princely might,

The fiery sun now goes his way;

Shed thou within our hearts thy ray.

To thee our morning song of praise,

To thee our evening prayer we raise;

Thy glory humbly we adore

For ever and for evermore.

All laud to God the Father be;

All praise, eternal Son, to thee;

All glory, as is ever meet,

To God the Holy Paraclete.

Psalm 109 (110) The Messiah, king and priest

O true, most high, eternal Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit!

The Lord has said to my lord:

“Sit at my right hand

while I make your enemies your footstool.”

From Zion the Lord will give you a sceptre,

and you will rule in the midst of your foes.

Royal power is yours in the day of your strength,

among the sacred splendours.

Before the dawn, I begot you from the womb.

The Lord has sworn, and he will not repent:

“You are a priest for ever,

a priest of the priesthood of Melchisedech.”

The Lord is at your right hand,

and on the day of his anger he will shatter kings.

He will drink from the stream as he goes –

he will hold his head high.

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.

O true, most high, eternal Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit!

Psalm 113A (114) Israel set free from Egypt

Free us, save us, give us life, O blessed Trinity.

When Israel came out of Egypt,

Jacob’s people from a land of strangers,

Judah became his sanctuary

and Israel his domain.

The sea saw it, and fled;

the Jordan flowed backwards at the sight;

the mountains leapt like rams;

the hills, like yearling sheep.

Sea, what was it, what made you flee?

And you, Jordan, why did you flow uphill?

Mountains, why did you leap like rams?

Hills, like yearling sheep?

Tremble, Earth, at the presence of the Lord,

the presence of the Lord of Jacob,

who has turned the rock into a pool of water

and made a fountain out of the flint.

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.

Free us, save us, give us life, O blessed Trinity.

Canticle	(Apocalypse 19)

The wedding of the Lamb

Holy, holy, holy Lord God almighty, who were, who are, who are to come.

Alleluia.

Salvation and glory and power belong to our God,

because his judgements are true and just.

Alleluia.

Praise our God, all his servants,

and you who fear him, small and great.

Alleluia.

For the Lord reigns, our God, the Almighty:

let us rejoice and exult and give him glory.

Alleluia.

The marriage of the Lamb has come,

and his spouse has made herself ready.

Alleluia.

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.

Holy, holy, holy Lord God almighty, who were, who are, who are to come.

Short reading	Ephesians 4:3-6 ©

Do all you can to preserve the unity of the Spirit by the peace that binds you together. There is one Body, one Spirit, just as you were all called into one and the same hope when you were called. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God who is Father of all, over all, through all and within all.

Short Responsory

Let us bless the Father and the Son with the Holy Spirit.

– Let us bless the Father and the Son with the Holy Spirit.

To God alone is honour and glory: let us praise him for ever.

– Let us bless the Father and the Son with the Holy Spirit.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.

– Let us bless the Father and the Son with the Holy Spirit.

Canticle	Magnificat

My soul rejoices in the Lord

With all our hearts we proclaim you in a loud voice, uncreated Father, only-begotten Son, Holy Spirit our support and advocate, the holy and indivisible Trinity. We praise you and bless you: to you be glory for ever.

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,

and my spirit rejoices in God, my salvation.

For he has shown me such favour –

me, his lowly handmaiden.

Now all generations will call me blessed,

because the mighty one has done great things for me.

His name is holy,

his mercy lasts for generation after generation

for those who revere him.

He has put forth his strength:

he has scattered the proud and conceited,

torn princes from their thrones;

but lifted up the lowly.

He has filled the hungry with good things;

the rich he has sent away empty.

He has come to the help of his servant Israel,

he has remembered his mercy as he promised to our fathers,

to Abraham and his children for ever.

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.

Prayers and Intercessions

Through the Holy Spirit the Father gave life to his Son’s human flesh so that we might have life through him. To the Triune God let us give glory: