The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity
Lectionary: 164
Lectionary: 164
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."
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!
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 22
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.
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.
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.
Scripture Study
June 15, 2014 - Trinity Sunday
FIRST READING: Exodus 34:4-6: 8-9. 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. And the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there,
and proclaimed the name of the Lord. 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." And Moses made
haste to bow his head towards the earth, and worshiped. And he said, "If
now I have found favor in thy sight, O 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."
EXPLANATION: Exodus, the second book in the Old Testament, describes the going-out (exit of the Israelites from the slavery of Egypt under the leadership of Moses whom God appointed as their deliver. The verses read today describe Moses' second meeting with Yahweh (God) on Mount Sinai. Yahweh had told him to come there again so that he would rewrite the ten commandments on two new tablets of stone. Moses had earlier come down from Sinai to find the people indulging in idolatry, and had broken the first stone tablets on which Yahweh had written the commandments (Ex. 32:19).
Moses . . . Sinai: Moses was commanded by God to come up to Mount Sinai again. Regardless of the idolatry of the Israelites God was willing to renew the covenant or pact with them---they had been severely punished for their crime, and were repentant (Ex. 32: 27-35).
The Lord . . . cloud: No human being could see God, but he spoke to Moses from within a cloud (see 35:20).
proclaimed . . . Lord: God assured Moses that he was Yahweh the true God. He had already given this his name to Moses when sending him to lead the Israelites out of Egypt (Ex.6:3). This name Yahweh means "I am who am," or "I am the Being" implying the one Self-Existence.
merciful and gracious: God describes his qualities, insofar as the human words could describe him. "Merciful," that is understanding the needs of man, "and gracious," ready to give aid, kind and sympathetic.
slow to anger: The NEBA expresses it as: "long-suffering." God does not get angry quickly or slowly in our human way.
abounding . . . faithfulness: His love for man and his fidelity to any promises he gives man, are boundless and everlasting.
Lord . . . us: Moses now asks a great favor of Yahweh, namely that he would accompany them on their journey to the promised land.
although . . . people: Moses admits that his Israelites are unworthy of such a favor, for they are stubborn and rebellious.
our . . . sin: The recent act of idolatry while Moses was on Mount Sinai with Yahweh (Ex. 32) is the reference here.
take . . . inheritance: Moses asks Yahweh to make the Israelites his chosen people. This Yahweh did as following verses show.
APPLICATION: The mystery of the Blessed Trinity---three Persons in one God---was not revealed to the Jews of the Old Testament. They were not yet fit to accept this truth. Surrounded as they were by nations that practiced polytheism (many gods) there would be danger that the Jews would see three Gods in the Trinity---it would look like polytheism to them. Hence it was not revealed to them and therefore we have no Trinitarian text in the Old Testament which could be read on this feast of the Blessed Trinity.
The text chosen gives the basis for its eventual revelation., Yahweh made a covenant with the Israelites. He made them his Chosen People, though whom he would eventually send his divine Son and the Holy Spirit to give man---the whole chosen human race---the possibility and the means of reaching the destination that he had planned for them from all eternity. The covenant made by Yahweh with Moses on Mount Sinai was the preparation for the revelation of the dogma of the Blessed Trinity and its relationship with our salvation.
The Israelites were stubborn, unfaithful and ungrateful to God in spite of all he did for them. Yet God was long suffering. He put up with them for centuries and in spite of their infidelities he proved himself faithful to his promises. He sent to them (and to us through them) the Messiah---the promised King, Priest and Prophet (teacher) who brought to a happy conclusion the divine plan for mankind.
If the Israelites were stubborn and so often unfaithful. what can we say of ourselves? They were so ungrateful and so forgetful of favors received, but are we not ungrateful and forgetful too of even greater favors? We have a better knowledge of God's love and mercy than the Israelites had. Are we not worse than they? They saw the power of God so often used in their favor; we have seen the weakness of God, as it were, the Son of God who took our human nature and suffered and died for our sakes, and we can and do forget this infinite love of God for us.
Yahweh (the particular name for himself which he gave as a special favor to the Israelites) was with the Chosen People all through their journeying in the desert and eventually he led them by his almighty power into the promised land of Canaan. His divine Son whose name Jesus, means savior of all men, became one with us in his human nature and, as he promised, is with us daily leading us into the real promised land which he won for us through the humiliation and sufferings which his Incarnation brought on him. Yahweh fed the Israelites in the desert with manna to give them strength to reach Canaan. Christ, his Son, has given us his own body and blood under the mysterious form of the Blessed Eucharist to be our spiritual sustenance on our journey to heaven.
Is there really any comparison between what God did for the Chosen People of the Old Testament and what he has done and is daily doing for us---the Chosen People of the New Covenant? Yet How unworthy we prove ourselves of this his infinite love, how ungrateful we so frequently are for this divine interest in our eternal welfare! True, we are dealing with a God of mercy, a God who is long-suffering, a God abounding in steadfast love. But let us not put all these loving qualities of our good God too much to the test. He will never let us down but we could let ourselves down by presuming too much on God's loving kindness and forgetting that he does ask of us certain proofs of our love in return.
One simple resolution on this great feastday would be to promise to make the sign of the cross as an act of dedication and thanksgiving to the loving Father, Son and Holy Spirit, who have already done and are daily continuing to do so much in order to bring us to heaven.
SECOND READING: 2 Cor.13:11-13. Mend your ways, heed my appeal, 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 saints greet you. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
EXPLANATION: These three verses are the conclusion of St. Paul's second letter to the Corinthians. The letter was written during his third missionary journey, 53-58 A.D., and probably from Ephesus where he was from 54-57 A.D. Paul had much advice and correction to give them and he praises them. In these last verses he repeats his appeal for unity and fraternal charity and wishes the blessing of the Holy Trinity upon them.
mend . . . ways: Mend your ways Paul says. They have many defects to correct which are evident from this letter and also from the first epistle. He urges them to pay heed to what he has said in the letter.
agree . . . peace: He begs them to live in harmony and brotherly love, the basis of true peace in the community.
Greet . . . kiss: At the liturgical celebration of the Eucharist they were to give the "pax," the kiss of peace, to one another, and it must not be an empty formula but a true sign of fraternal love. This ancient custom has been reintroduced recently into the Mass.
All the saints greet you: The title "Saints" was sometimes used for the members of the church in the early days. Here it stands for the church in Ephesus or whatever church he wrote from.
The grace . . . all: He ends by invoking the blessings of the three divine Persons on his readers. "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ": that Jesus was God as well as man was the basic truth of Christianity; "the love of God": God had already proved he loved them by the Incarnation, and by giving them the Christian faith which enabled them to profit by the Incarnation; "fellowship of the Holy Spirit": his indwelling in them which began when they were baptized and was made manifest by many signs, especially among the Corinthian converts (1Cor. 12). Paul wishes all these blessings of the Trinity on the whole Christian church in Corinth.
APPLICATION: By celebrating the feast of the three divine Persons today, we too are invoking on ourselves the blessings St. Paul invoked on the Corinthian Christians. We need the grace of Our Lord Jesus Christ if we are to reach heaven. He has already put us on the right road by baptism, and has made us receptacles of grace, but that is only the first step although a supernatural one. Every human act we perform in the state of grace-even our eating and drinking, and our daily tasks---is moving us along the road to heaven. But if we lose the divine grace through mortal sin, all our actions, even holy actions, are useless as regards our heavenward journey.
The love of God, the true paternal interest of the Father, as well as the fellowship of the Holy Spirit who is within us, inspiring us to good works, will also be always with us unless we deliberately cut ourselves off from their influence by serious sin.
The Blessed Trinity through Jesus Christ has foreseen this possibility. God knows our weaknesses and our inclination to do what is evil, better than we know them ourselves, and he has provided us with an easy and an accessible remedy. He has left to his Church the Sacrament of Penance in which our sins can be wiped out provided we are sincere in repenting of them. If it should happen that this sacrament is not available, the Church teaches us, following Christ's instruction, that a sincere act of contrition which implies and contains an act of love for God will likewise blot out our sins and bring us back once more into, the family of the Blessed Trinity. In this case however, if and when we get the opportunity of confessing these sins in the Sacrament of Penance, we must do so.
While we see the absolute necessity then of being in God's grace and friendship, in close union with the Holy Trinity, if we are to proceed toward heaven, we see how easy the good and loving God has made this for us. Should anybody be so foolish as to think that sins can keep us from heaven, one glimpse of the past history of the Church will suffice to change his mind. Among the canonized martyrs and saints (to say nothing of the millions of saints who are not officially canonized) for every one adult saint who has preserved his baptismal innocence through life 9,999 had some sins but repented of them and had them forgiven.
It is not sins that will keep us from heaven, but the refusal to repent of them. Let us all take courage then on this great feast of the Blessed Trinity. The three divine Persons want us in heaven. They have proved this already in the past; they are proving it daily in the Church. If we appreciate what the Blessed Trinity has done and is doing for us, and if we show our sincere gratitude by frequent acts of thanksgiving---a simple "thank you, God," a reverent making of the sign of the cross, a symbol which reminds us of the lengths God went to in order to give us a place in heaven---if we develop this sense of gratitude we need never fear. Should we fall through human weakness, the three Persons are there to help us and put us on the right road to heaven once more.
"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all" now and forever.
GOSPEL: John 3:16-18. Jesus said to Nicodemus, "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. He who believes in him is not condemned; he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God."
EXPLANATION: We have in these verses a part of the conversation that Jesus had with Nicodemus. Nicodemus was a rich Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin, the supreme ecclesiastical court of the Jews. He had evidently seen or heard of some of Jesus' miracles and was anxious to learn more about him. He came to Jesus at night for fear evidently of his fellow Pharisees. He did not openly become a follower of Jesus after this conversation, but later on (Jn. 7: 50-52) he defended Jesus when the Pharisees wanted to condemn him as a false Prophet. When Jesus died on the cross Nicodemus assisted Joseph of Arimathea in the burial, and supplied a large amount of myrrh and aloes for the embalming of his body (Jn. 19, 39). It is probable that he became a follower of Christ later but there is no record.
God . . .Son: Christ openly tells Nicodemus that the reason why he (Christ) was in the world---the Son of God in human nature---was the infinite love of God for mankind.
whoever . . . life: All those who will accept him and keep his law will have eternal life. They "should not perish": this does not mean that they would not die an earthly death, but that they would not have an eternal death.
God . . . him: God sent him so that the whole world, all men, would be given the means of salvation, that is, the means of reaching eternal life. His coming will condemn nobody, but those who knowingly refuse his offer will condemn themselves. He came "that men may have life and have it to the full," that is to say: eternal life (Jn. 10:10).
who . . . believe: He who does not believe willingly shuts his mind to the evidence.
name . . . God: To believe in the name is to believe in the person. The Pharisees and others refused to believe the proofs of Christ’s miracles which showed he had power from God. He, Christ, claimed to be the Son of God. Could God give power to such a blasphemer, as he would be, if his claim were false?
APPLICATION: Although the Holy Spirit is not mentioned in this text from St. John's gospel, the text is included in the readings for the feast of, the Blessed Trinity because two of the Persons are mentioned. They are clearly distinguished one from the other, yet both are the one God. God the Father sent God the Son into the world (in human nature) in order to bring eternal life within the reach of all men.
While we must admit from the evidence so clearly given in the story of our redemption and elevation to adopted divine sonship, that the three Persons of the Trinity cooperated in that work, we cannot claim we understand the mystery of three Persons in one God. We can and must admit the fact on the evidence presented to us, but we must also admit that our human intellects are too finite to grasp the essence, the nature of that fact.
How could it be otherwise? If our limited minds could grasp the divine nature and all its qualities it would no longer be divine---it would be limited like ourselves. There are many finite created things in our world which we cannot fully understand. How then could we claim that we should be able to understand the infinite? Of infinity itself we have only a negative description---something that has no beginning or no end. When we get to heaven our minds will be illuminated with greater graces but even then there will always be something new in God for us to see and admire. In the meantime our attitude toward the Trinity should be one of sincere gratitude for having placed us on the road to heaven.
Through the divine graces given us, we believe that Jesus Christ was the divine Son whom the Father sent on earth to give us eternal life. We have accepted Christ as our master and Savior. We are striving to follow him by living our Christian lives. We are assured of his assistance and of the assistance also of the Holy Spirit, so that if we play the part Christ asks of us in the drama of our salvation, we can wait with serenity for the final curtain.
The Son and Holy Spirit will sustain us on our heavenward journey. If we make use of the aids so thoughtfully left by Christ in his Church---the true teaching and the sacraments---we shall remain on the right road. We shall be lifted up if we fall, spurred on when we grow weary, and nourished with the divine food of the Blessed Eucharist---the manna of the new covenant. Then we can feel very sure that at the end of our life's journey we shall be ushered into the presence of the Trinity---the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, in whose happy and holy company we shall remain forever.
EXPLANATION: Exodus, the second book in the Old Testament, describes the going-out (exit of the Israelites from the slavery of Egypt under the leadership of Moses whom God appointed as their deliver. The verses read today describe Moses' second meeting with Yahweh (God) on Mount Sinai. Yahweh had told him to come there again so that he would rewrite the ten commandments on two new tablets of stone. Moses had earlier come down from Sinai to find the people indulging in idolatry, and had broken the first stone tablets on which Yahweh had written the commandments (Ex. 32:19).
Moses . . . Sinai: Moses was commanded by God to come up to Mount Sinai again. Regardless of the idolatry of the Israelites God was willing to renew the covenant or pact with them---they had been severely punished for their crime, and were repentant (Ex. 32: 27-35).
The Lord . . . cloud: No human being could see God, but he spoke to Moses from within a cloud (see 35:20).
proclaimed . . . Lord: God assured Moses that he was Yahweh the true God. He had already given this his name to Moses when sending him to lead the Israelites out of Egypt (Ex.6:3). This name Yahweh means "I am who am," or "I am the Being" implying the one Self-Existence.
merciful and gracious: God describes his qualities, insofar as the human words could describe him. "Merciful," that is understanding the needs of man, "and gracious," ready to give aid, kind and sympathetic.
slow to anger: The NEBA expresses it as: "long-suffering." God does not get angry quickly or slowly in our human way.
abounding . . . faithfulness: His love for man and his fidelity to any promises he gives man, are boundless and everlasting.
Lord . . . us: Moses now asks a great favor of Yahweh, namely that he would accompany them on their journey to the promised land.
although . . . people: Moses admits that his Israelites are unworthy of such a favor, for they are stubborn and rebellious.
our . . . sin: The recent act of idolatry while Moses was on Mount Sinai with Yahweh (Ex. 32) is the reference here.
take . . . inheritance: Moses asks Yahweh to make the Israelites his chosen people. This Yahweh did as following verses show.
APPLICATION: The mystery of the Blessed Trinity---three Persons in one God---was not revealed to the Jews of the Old Testament. They were not yet fit to accept this truth. Surrounded as they were by nations that practiced polytheism (many gods) there would be danger that the Jews would see three Gods in the Trinity---it would look like polytheism to them. Hence it was not revealed to them and therefore we have no Trinitarian text in the Old Testament which could be read on this feast of the Blessed Trinity.
The text chosen gives the basis for its eventual revelation., Yahweh made a covenant with the Israelites. He made them his Chosen People, though whom he would eventually send his divine Son and the Holy Spirit to give man---the whole chosen human race---the possibility and the means of reaching the destination that he had planned for them from all eternity. The covenant made by Yahweh with Moses on Mount Sinai was the preparation for the revelation of the dogma of the Blessed Trinity and its relationship with our salvation.
The Israelites were stubborn, unfaithful and ungrateful to God in spite of all he did for them. Yet God was long suffering. He put up with them for centuries and in spite of their infidelities he proved himself faithful to his promises. He sent to them (and to us through them) the Messiah---the promised King, Priest and Prophet (teacher) who brought to a happy conclusion the divine plan for mankind.
If the Israelites were stubborn and so often unfaithful. what can we say of ourselves? They were so ungrateful and so forgetful of favors received, but are we not ungrateful and forgetful too of even greater favors? We have a better knowledge of God's love and mercy than the Israelites had. Are we not worse than they? They saw the power of God so often used in their favor; we have seen the weakness of God, as it were, the Son of God who took our human nature and suffered and died for our sakes, and we can and do forget this infinite love of God for us.
Yahweh (the particular name for himself which he gave as a special favor to the Israelites) was with the Chosen People all through their journeying in the desert and eventually he led them by his almighty power into the promised land of Canaan. His divine Son whose name Jesus, means savior of all men, became one with us in his human nature and, as he promised, is with us daily leading us into the real promised land which he won for us through the humiliation and sufferings which his Incarnation brought on him. Yahweh fed the Israelites in the desert with manna to give them strength to reach Canaan. Christ, his Son, has given us his own body and blood under the mysterious form of the Blessed Eucharist to be our spiritual sustenance on our journey to heaven.
Is there really any comparison between what God did for the Chosen People of the Old Testament and what he has done and is daily doing for us---the Chosen People of the New Covenant? Yet How unworthy we prove ourselves of this his infinite love, how ungrateful we so frequently are for this divine interest in our eternal welfare! True, we are dealing with a God of mercy, a God who is long-suffering, a God abounding in steadfast love. But let us not put all these loving qualities of our good God too much to the test. He will never let us down but we could let ourselves down by presuming too much on God's loving kindness and forgetting that he does ask of us certain proofs of our love in return.
One simple resolution on this great feastday would be to promise to make the sign of the cross as an act of dedication and thanksgiving to the loving Father, Son and Holy Spirit, who have already done and are daily continuing to do so much in order to bring us to heaven.
SECOND READING: 2 Cor.13:11-13. Mend your ways, heed my appeal, 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 saints greet you. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
EXPLANATION: These three verses are the conclusion of St. Paul's second letter to the Corinthians. The letter was written during his third missionary journey, 53-58 A.D., and probably from Ephesus where he was from 54-57 A.D. Paul had much advice and correction to give them and he praises them. In these last verses he repeats his appeal for unity and fraternal charity and wishes the blessing of the Holy Trinity upon them.
mend . . . ways: Mend your ways Paul says. They have many defects to correct which are evident from this letter and also from the first epistle. He urges them to pay heed to what he has said in the letter.
agree . . . peace: He begs them to live in harmony and brotherly love, the basis of true peace in the community.
Greet . . . kiss: At the liturgical celebration of the Eucharist they were to give the "pax," the kiss of peace, to one another, and it must not be an empty formula but a true sign of fraternal love. This ancient custom has been reintroduced recently into the Mass.
All the saints greet you: The title "Saints" was sometimes used for the members of the church in the early days. Here it stands for the church in Ephesus or whatever church he wrote from.
The grace . . . all: He ends by invoking the blessings of the three divine Persons on his readers. "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ": that Jesus was God as well as man was the basic truth of Christianity; "the love of God": God had already proved he loved them by the Incarnation, and by giving them the Christian faith which enabled them to profit by the Incarnation; "fellowship of the Holy Spirit": his indwelling in them which began when they were baptized and was made manifest by many signs, especially among the Corinthian converts (1Cor. 12). Paul wishes all these blessings of the Trinity on the whole Christian church in Corinth.
APPLICATION: By celebrating the feast of the three divine Persons today, we too are invoking on ourselves the blessings St. Paul invoked on the Corinthian Christians. We need the grace of Our Lord Jesus Christ if we are to reach heaven. He has already put us on the right road by baptism, and has made us receptacles of grace, but that is only the first step although a supernatural one. Every human act we perform in the state of grace-even our eating and drinking, and our daily tasks---is moving us along the road to heaven. But if we lose the divine grace through mortal sin, all our actions, even holy actions, are useless as regards our heavenward journey.
The love of God, the true paternal interest of the Father, as well as the fellowship of the Holy Spirit who is within us, inspiring us to good works, will also be always with us unless we deliberately cut ourselves off from their influence by serious sin.
The Blessed Trinity through Jesus Christ has foreseen this possibility. God knows our weaknesses and our inclination to do what is evil, better than we know them ourselves, and he has provided us with an easy and an accessible remedy. He has left to his Church the Sacrament of Penance in which our sins can be wiped out provided we are sincere in repenting of them. If it should happen that this sacrament is not available, the Church teaches us, following Christ's instruction, that a sincere act of contrition which implies and contains an act of love for God will likewise blot out our sins and bring us back once more into, the family of the Blessed Trinity. In this case however, if and when we get the opportunity of confessing these sins in the Sacrament of Penance, we must do so.
While we see the absolute necessity then of being in God's grace and friendship, in close union with the Holy Trinity, if we are to proceed toward heaven, we see how easy the good and loving God has made this for us. Should anybody be so foolish as to think that sins can keep us from heaven, one glimpse of the past history of the Church will suffice to change his mind. Among the canonized martyrs and saints (to say nothing of the millions of saints who are not officially canonized) for every one adult saint who has preserved his baptismal innocence through life 9,999 had some sins but repented of them and had them forgiven.
It is not sins that will keep us from heaven, but the refusal to repent of them. Let us all take courage then on this great feast of the Blessed Trinity. The three divine Persons want us in heaven. They have proved this already in the past; they are proving it daily in the Church. If we appreciate what the Blessed Trinity has done and is doing for us, and if we show our sincere gratitude by frequent acts of thanksgiving---a simple "thank you, God," a reverent making of the sign of the cross, a symbol which reminds us of the lengths God went to in order to give us a place in heaven---if we develop this sense of gratitude we need never fear. Should we fall through human weakness, the three Persons are there to help us and put us on the right road to heaven once more.
"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all" now and forever.
GOSPEL: John 3:16-18. Jesus said to Nicodemus, "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. He who believes in him is not condemned; he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God."
EXPLANATION: We have in these verses a part of the conversation that Jesus had with Nicodemus. Nicodemus was a rich Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin, the supreme ecclesiastical court of the Jews. He had evidently seen or heard of some of Jesus' miracles and was anxious to learn more about him. He came to Jesus at night for fear evidently of his fellow Pharisees. He did not openly become a follower of Jesus after this conversation, but later on (Jn. 7: 50-52) he defended Jesus when the Pharisees wanted to condemn him as a false Prophet. When Jesus died on the cross Nicodemus assisted Joseph of Arimathea in the burial, and supplied a large amount of myrrh and aloes for the embalming of his body (Jn. 19, 39). It is probable that he became a follower of Christ later but there is no record.
God . . .Son: Christ openly tells Nicodemus that the reason why he (Christ) was in the world---the Son of God in human nature---was the infinite love of God for mankind.
whoever . . . life: All those who will accept him and keep his law will have eternal life. They "should not perish": this does not mean that they would not die an earthly death, but that they would not have an eternal death.
God . . . him: God sent him so that the whole world, all men, would be given the means of salvation, that is, the means of reaching eternal life. His coming will condemn nobody, but those who knowingly refuse his offer will condemn themselves. He came "that men may have life and have it to the full," that is to say: eternal life (Jn. 10:10).
who . . . believe: He who does not believe willingly shuts his mind to the evidence.
name . . . God: To believe in the name is to believe in the person. The Pharisees and others refused to believe the proofs of Christ’s miracles which showed he had power from God. He, Christ, claimed to be the Son of God. Could God give power to such a blasphemer, as he would be, if his claim were false?
APPLICATION: Although the Holy Spirit is not mentioned in this text from St. John's gospel, the text is included in the readings for the feast of, the Blessed Trinity because two of the Persons are mentioned. They are clearly distinguished one from the other, yet both are the one God. God the Father sent God the Son into the world (in human nature) in order to bring eternal life within the reach of all men.
While we must admit from the evidence so clearly given in the story of our redemption and elevation to adopted divine sonship, that the three Persons of the Trinity cooperated in that work, we cannot claim we understand the mystery of three Persons in one God. We can and must admit the fact on the evidence presented to us, but we must also admit that our human intellects are too finite to grasp the essence, the nature of that fact.
How could it be otherwise? If our limited minds could grasp the divine nature and all its qualities it would no longer be divine---it would be limited like ourselves. There are many finite created things in our world which we cannot fully understand. How then could we claim that we should be able to understand the infinite? Of infinity itself we have only a negative description---something that has no beginning or no end. When we get to heaven our minds will be illuminated with greater graces but even then there will always be something new in God for us to see and admire. In the meantime our attitude toward the Trinity should be one of sincere gratitude for having placed us on the road to heaven.
Through the divine graces given us, we believe that Jesus Christ was the divine Son whom the Father sent on earth to give us eternal life. We have accepted Christ as our master and Savior. We are striving to follow him by living our Christian lives. We are assured of his assistance and of the assistance also of the Holy Spirit, so that if we play the part Christ asks of us in the drama of our salvation, we can wait with serenity for the final curtain.
The Son and Holy Spirit will sustain us on our heavenward journey. If we make use of the aids so thoughtfully left by Christ in his Church---the true teaching and the sacraments---we shall remain on the right road. We shall be lifted up if we fall, spurred on when we grow weary, and nourished with the divine food of the Blessed Eucharist---the manna of the new covenant. Then we can feel very sure that at the end of our life's journey we shall be ushered into the presence of the Trinity---the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, in whose happy and holy company we shall remain forever.
Meditation: God's incredible gift of love for the world
What does Scripture tell us about God and how he relates to us?
When God met with Moses on Mount Sinai and made a covenant with the people of
Israel, he revealed the nature of his character and his personal love for them:
"The LORD passed before him, and proclaimed, "The
LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in
mercy and faithfulness'" (Exodus 34:6).
God is all-loving, faithful, merciful, and forgiving by nature.
God's love is supreme because it directs, orders, and shapes everything he
does.
Love and judgment
Scripture tells us that God is all just and all loving. How does his love and justice go together? God opposes sin and evil with his just wrath (his righteous anger) and right judgment - and he approaches sinful people and evil doers with mercy ("slow to anger" and "ready to forgive") and discipline ("fatherly correction" and "training in righteousness"). John the Evangelist tells us that the Father sent his Son into the world - not to condemn but to redeem - not to destroy but to heal and restore. Paul the Apostle tells us that "the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23). God does not desire the death of anyone(Ezekiel 18:23,32, Ezekiel 33:11, Wisdom of Solomon 1:13). Instead he gives us the freedom to choose between life and death - good and evil.
Scripture tells us that God is all just and all loving. How does his love and justice go together? God opposes sin and evil with his just wrath (his righteous anger) and right judgment - and he approaches sinful people and evil doers with mercy ("slow to anger" and "ready to forgive") and discipline ("fatherly correction" and "training in righteousness"). John the Evangelist tells us that the Father sent his Son into the world - not to condemn but to redeem - not to destroy but to heal and restore. Paul the Apostle tells us that "the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23). God does not desire the death of anyone(Ezekiel 18:23,32, Ezekiel 33:11, Wisdom of Solomon 1:13). Instead he gives us the freedom to choose between life and death - good and evil.
When we choose to sin and to go our own way apart from God, we
bring condemnation upon ourselves. Sin draws us away from God and leads to a
spiritual death - a death that is worse than physical loss of life because it
results in a hopeless life of misery and separation from God's peace and joy.
Jesus was sent on a rescue mission to free us from slavery to sin and death and
to bring us the abundant life which will never end. His death brought us true
freedom and abundant new life in his Spirit - as well as pardon, reconciliation
and adoption as sons and daughers of God.
Jesus took upon himself all of our sins and nailed them to the
cross (Colossians 2:14). His death was an atoning sacrifice for our sins
and a perfect offering to the Father on our behalf. We can find no greater
proof of God's love for fallen sinful humanity than the cross of Jesus Christ.
"To ransom a slave God gave away his Son" (from an early Christian
hymn for the Easter vigil liturgy). Jesus' mission was motivated by love and
obedience. That is why he willingly laid down his life for us. Jesus told his
disciples that there is no greater love than for a person to willingly lay down
his or her life for a friend (John 15:13). Jesus loved us first - even
while we were captives to sin and Satan - in order to set us free and make us
friends and beloved children of God.
Believing in the Son of God
Do you believe that Jesus personally died for you - for you alone - simply because he loved you? Scripture tells us that God knew each one of us even before we were knit in our mother's womb (Psalm 139:13, Jeremiah 1:5). We were created for a purpose - to be united with God and to share in his love and glory now and forever. Augustine of Hippo wrote: "God loves each one of us as if there were only one of us to love." God's love is complete and perfect because it is wholly directed towards our greatest good - to make us whole and to unite us in a perfect bond of love and peace. That is why God was willing to go to any length necessary to save us from slavery to sin and death.
Do you believe that Jesus personally died for you - for you alone - simply because he loved you? Scripture tells us that God knew each one of us even before we were knit in our mother's womb (Psalm 139:13, Jeremiah 1:5). We were created for a purpose - to be united with God and to share in his love and glory now and forever. Augustine of Hippo wrote: "God loves each one of us as if there were only one of us to love." God's love is complete and perfect because it is wholly directed towards our greatest good - to make us whole and to unite us in a perfect bond of love and peace. That is why God was willing to go to any length necessary to save us from slavery to sin and death.
How does God's love bring healing, pardon, and wholeness to our
lives? God's love has power to set each one of us free from every form of
bondage to sin - whether it be bondage to fear and guilt, pride and greed, envy
and hatred. We can only know the love of God and experience his healing power
to the degree that we put our faith in him and surrender our lives to his will.
Faith is the key that opens the door to Christ and to his healing power in our
lives. But for faith to be effective we must act and do our part. That is why
faith requires repentance and obedience - turning away from unbelief and
disobedience - and turning to the Lord with a believing heart and listening
ear. That is why Jesus said, "whoever believes in me is not
condemned" (John 3:18).
To believe that Jesus is the only Son of God who died for our
sins is the key that opens the door to his presence and work in our lives.
Jesus said, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my
voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me"
(Revelation 3:20). The Lord Jesus knocks at the door of your heart - will you
listen today and open at once?
Triune nature of God
The Lord Jesus has revealed to his disciples the great mystery of our faith - the triune nature of God and the inseparable union of the eternal Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Jesus' mission is to reveal the glory of God to us - a Trinity of persons - God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - and to unite us with God in a community of love. The ultimate end, the purpose for which God created us, is the entry of God's creatures into the perfect unity of the blessed Trinity.
The Lord Jesus has revealed to his disciples the great mystery of our faith - the triune nature of God and the inseparable union of the eternal Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Jesus' mission is to reveal the glory of God to us - a Trinity of persons - God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - and to unite us with God in a community of love. The ultimate end, the purpose for which God created us, is the entry of God's creatures into the perfect unity of the blessed Trinity.
The Jews understood God as Creator and Father of all that he
made (Deuteronomy 32:6) and they understood the nation of Israel as
God's firstborn son (Exodus 4:22). Jesus reveals the Father in an unheard of
sense. He is eternally Father by his relationship to his only Son, who,
reciprocally, is Son only in relation to his Father (see Matthew 11:27).
The Spirit, likewise, is inseparably one with the Father and the Son.
The mission of Jesus and of the Holy Spirit are the same. That
is why Jesus tells his disciples that the Spirit will reveal the glory of the
Father and the Son and will speak what is true. Before his Passover, Jesus
revealed the Holy Spirit as the "Paraclete" and Helper who will be
with Jesus' disciples to teach and guide them "into all the truth" (John
14:17,26; 16:13). In baptism we are called to share in the life of the Holy
Trinity here on earth in faith and after death in eternal light.
Clement of Alexandria, a third century church father, wrote: "What
an astonishing mystery! There is one Father of the universe, one Logos (Word)
of the universe, and also one Holy Spirit, everywhere one and the same; there
is also one virgin become mother, and I should like to call her 'Church'."
We can know God personally
How can we grow in our understanding and experience of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? It is the Holy Spirit who reveals the Father and the Son to us and who gives us the gift of faith to know and understand the truth of God’s word. Through baptism we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Lord renews the gift of the Spirit in each one of us as we open our hearts with expectant faith and yield to his work in our lives. Jesus promised his disciples that he would send them the Spirit of truth who would be their Teacher and Guide. Ask the Lord Jesus to renew in you the gift of the Holy Spirit who strengthens us in the seven-fold gifts of wisdom and understanding, right judgment and courage, knowledge and reverence, and holy fear in God's presence (Isaiah 11:2-3).
How can we grow in our understanding and experience of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? It is the Holy Spirit who reveals the Father and the Son to us and who gives us the gift of faith to know and understand the truth of God’s word. Through baptism we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Lord renews the gift of the Spirit in each one of us as we open our hearts with expectant faith and yield to his work in our lives. Jesus promised his disciples that he would send them the Spirit of truth who would be their Teacher and Guide. Ask the Lord Jesus to renew in you the gift of the Holy Spirit who strengthens us in the seven-fold gifts of wisdom and understanding, right judgment and courage, knowledge and reverence, and holy fear in God's presence (Isaiah 11:2-3).
"May the Lord Jesus put his hands on our eyes also, for
then we too shall begin to look not at what is seen but at what is not seen.
May he open the eyes that are concerned not with the present but with what is
yet to come, may he unseal the heart's vision, that we may gaze on God in the
Spirit, through the same Lord, Jesus Christ, whose glory and power will endure
throughout the unending succession of ages." (prayer of Origin,
185-254 AD)
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An Embrace of Love
2014-06-15 |
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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.
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SOLEMNITY OF THE MOST HOLY TRINITY, SUNDAY, JUNE 15, JOHN
3:16-18
(Exodus 34:4b-6, 8-9; Psalm: Daniel 3; 2 Corinthians 13:11-13)
(Exodus 34:4b-6, 8-9; Psalm: Daniel 3; 2 Corinthians 13:11-13)
KEY VERSE: "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son" (v 16).
READING: It is essential for our Christian belief to know that it was God's love, not condemnation, was the motivation to send the Son to redeem the world. Each person has a choice to respond to the grace God offers, or to turn away from it. By rejecting God's love, condemnation is brought upon oneself. Those who believe in God's Son have the indwelling light of the Spirit to guide them to all truth (Jn 16:13). Our belief is in the One God who is revealed in three divine Persons ̶ Father, Son, and Spirit ̶ the creative, the redemptive, and the sanctifying love of God. The Trinity is about relationship. The Son is obedient to the Father and the Father does whatever the Son asks. The Father and the Son send the Spirit and the Son is obedient to the Spirit. Although the word "Trinity" is not found in Scripture, Paul concluded his letter to the Corinthians, "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you" (2 Cor 13:13). Our concept of the Trinity has scriptural roots in the variety of ways we understand the one God in three persons that the creeds later defined.
REFLECTING: How does Trinitarian love manifest itself in me?
PRAYING: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore and worship you.
NOTE: The first Sunday after Pentecost celebrates the great dogma of the Christian faith, the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, which was declared a feast of the universal Church in 1334. During the first thousand years of Christianity there was no special feast honoring this mystery (mystery, in this sense, means a supernatural fact revealed by God that transcends the power of human reasoning). The word "Trinity," first used by Tertullian (145-220) to describe the nature of God, was only defined by the Church councils in the fourth and fifth centuries. In the fourth century, the Council of Nicaea addressed the doctrine of the Trinity in response to the Arian heresy that taught that Jesus was only a created being like others. Through the Spirit, Jesus is the "only-begotten" son, consubstantial with the Father. In baptism, we are baptized in the name of God, not the "names," for we hold that there is only one God, the Father, his beloved Son, and the Holy Spirit: the Most Holy Trinity (CCC 232).
Father's Day (USA)
The United States is one of the few countries in the world that has an official day on which fathers are honored by their children. In 1909, Mrs. Dodd approached her own minister and others in Spokane about having a church service dedicated to fathers on June 5, her father's birthday. She thought of the idea for Father's Day while listening to a Mother's Day sermon. That date was too soon for her minister to prepare the service, so he spoke a few weeks later on June 19th. From then on, the state of Washington celebrated the third Sunday in June as Father's Day. States and organizations began lobbying Congress to declare an annual Father's Day. In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson approved of this idea, but it was not until 1924 when President Calvin Coolidge made it a national event to "establish more intimate relations between fathers and their children and to impress upon fathers the full measure of their obligations." Since then, fathers had been honored and recognized by their families throughout the country on the third Sunday in June. In 1966 President Lyndon Johnson signed a presidential proclamation declaring the 3rd Sunday of June as Father's Day and put the official stamp on a celebration that was going on for almost half a century.
“See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are!…” I John 3:1
MINUTE MEDITATIONS
Always in Pursuit
Love may be patient but love doesn’t just sit & wait. Love
pursues. How overwhelming to realize that God (Love) is always in pursuit of us.
Glory and praise for ever!
Grace, love and fellowship.Grace, love and fellowship are three words that conjure up beautiful images of the Blessed Trinity. We hear them often during our Mass. Sometimes, such familiarity means we can gloss over them and miss their importance. However we interpret the mystery of the Trinity, the sense of divinity and unity should remain the same. God’s grace given for our daily needs is essential for helping us overcome issues. The love of God sustains us and gives us our identity and a sense of purpose. Without the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, we will feel alone and without hope. Today, in celebration of the Trinity, let us pray for that grace, love and fellowship to flow through us. We pray for the wisdom to stop regularly and sense the power of the Triune God in our lives.
June
15
St. Marguerite d’Youville
(1701-1771)
St. Marguerite d’Youville
(1701-1771)
We learn compassion from allowing our lives to be influenced by
compassionate people, by seeing life from their perspective and reconsidering
our own values.
Born in
Varennes, Canada, Marie Marguerite Dufrost de Lajemmerais had to interrupt her
schooling at the age of 12 to help her widowed mother. Eight years later she
married Francois d'Youville; they had six children, four of whom died young.
Despite the fact that her husband gambled, sold liquor illegally to Native
Americans and treated her indifferently, she cared for him compassionately
before his death in 1730.
Even
though she was caring for two small children and running a store to help pay
off her husband's debts, Marguerite still helped the poor. Once her children
were grown, she and several companions rescued a Quebec hospital that was in
danger of failing. She called her community the Institute of the Sisters of
Charity of Montreal; the people called them the "Grey Nuns" because
of the color of their habit. In time, a proverb arose among the poor people of
Montreal, "Go to the Grey Nuns; they never refuse to serve." In time,
five other religious communities traced their roots to the Grey Nuns.
The
General Hospital in Montreal became known as the Hotel Dieu (House of God) and
set a standard for medical care and Christian compassion. When the hospital was
destroyed by fire in 1766, she knelt in the ashes, led the Te Deum (a
hymn to God's providence in all circumstances) and began the rebuilding
process. She fought the attempts of government officials to restrain her
charity and established the first foundling home in North America.
Blessed
John XXIII, who beatified her in 1959, called her the "Mother of Universal
Charity." She was canonized in 1990.
Comment:
Saints deal with plenty of discouragement, plenty of reasons to say, "Life isn't fair" and wonder where God is in the rubble of their lives. We honor saints like Marguerite because they show us that, with God's grace and their cooperation, suffering can lead to compassion rather than to bitterness.
Saints deal with plenty of discouragement, plenty of reasons to say, "Life isn't fair" and wonder where God is in the rubble of their lives. We honor saints like Marguerite because they show us that, with God's grace and their cooperation, suffering can lead to compassion rather than to bitterness.
Quote:
"More than once the work which Marguerite undertook was hindered by nature or people. In order to work to bring that new world of justice and love closer, she had to fight some hard and difficult battles" (Pope John Paul II, canonization homily).
"More than once the work which Marguerite undertook was hindered by nature or people. In order to work to bring that new world of justice and love closer, she had to fight some hard and difficult battles" (Pope John Paul II, canonization homily).
LECTIO DIVINA:
TRINITY SUNDAY (A)
Lectio:
Sunday, June 15, 2014
"God so loved the world!"
The Trinity is the best community
John 3, 16-18
The Trinity is the best community
John 3, 16-18
1.
OPENING PRAYER
Lord Jesus, send your
Spirit to help us to read the Scriptures with the same mind that you read them
to the disciples on the way to Emmaus. In the light of the Word, written in the
Bible, you helped them to discover the presence of God in the disturbing events
of your sentence and death. Thus, the cross that seemed to be the end of all
hope became for them the source of life and of resurrection.
Create in us silence so that we may listen to your voice in Creation and in the Scriptures, in events and in people, above all in the poor and suffering. May your word guide us so that we too, like the two disciples from Emmaus, may experience the force of your resurrection and witness to others that you are alive in our midst as source of fraternity, justice and peace. We ask this of you, Jesus, son of Mary, who revealed to us the Father and sent us your Spirit. Amen.
Create in us silence so that we may listen to your voice in Creation and in the Scriptures, in events and in people, above all in the poor and suffering. May your word guide us so that we too, like the two disciples from Emmaus, may experience the force of your resurrection and witness to others that you are alive in our midst as source of fraternity, justice and peace. We ask this of you, Jesus, son of Mary, who revealed to us the Father and sent us your Spirit. Amen.
2. READING
a) A key to guide the reading:
- These few verses are part of a reflection of John the
evangelist (Jn 3: 16-21), where he explains to his community of the end of the
first century, the meaning of the dialogue between Jesus and Nicodemus (Jn 3:
1-15). In this dialogue, Nicodemus finds it difficult to follow Jesus’
thinking. The same happened to the communities. Some of them, still under the
influence of the criteria of the past, could not understand the newness that
Jesus brought. Our text (Jn 3: 16-18) is an attempt to overcome this
difficulty.
- The Church too has chosen these three verses for the feast of the Blessed Trinity. In fact, they are an important key that reveals the importance of the mystery of the Triune God in our lives. When reading, let us try to keep in mind and in our hearts that in this text God is the Father, the Son is Jesus and love is the Holy Spirit. So, let us not try to penetrate the mystery. Let us halt in silence and in wonder!
- The Church too has chosen these three verses for the feast of the Blessed Trinity. In fact, they are an important key that reveals the importance of the mystery of the Triune God in our lives. When reading, let us try to keep in mind and in our hearts that in this text God is the Father, the Son is Jesus and love is the Holy Spirit. So, let us not try to penetrate the mystery. Let us halt in silence and in wonder!
b) A division of the text to help with the reading:
Jn 3:16: Says that the love of God that saves manifests itself in the gift of the Son.
Jn 3:17: The will of God is to save not to condemn.
Jn 3:18: God demands of us that we have the courage to believe in this love.
Jn 3:16: Says that the love of God that saves manifests itself in the gift of the Son.
Jn 3:17: The will of God is to save not to condemn.
Jn 3:18: God demands of us that we have the courage to believe in this love.
c) The text:
16: For this is how God loved the world: he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
17: For God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but so that through him the world might be saved.
18: No one who believes in him will be judged; but whoever does not believe is judged already, because that person does not believe in the Name of God's only Son.
16: For this is how God loved the world: he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
17: For God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but so that through him the world might be saved.
18: No one who believes in him will be judged; but whoever does not believe is judged already, because that person does not believe in the Name of God's only Son.
3.
A MOMENT OF PRAYERFUL SILENCE
so that the Word of God may enter into us and enlighten our
life.
4.
SOME QUESTIONS
to help us in our personal reflection.
a) What pleased or touched you most?
b) After a careful examination of this brief text, which are the recurring key words?
c) What is the central experience of the community by the evangelist that reveals itself in the text?
d) What does the text tell us about the love of God?
e) What does the text tell us about Jesus?
f) What does the text tell us about the world?
g) What does the text reveal to me?
b) After a careful examination of this brief text, which are the recurring key words?
c) What is the central experience of the community by the evangelist that reveals itself in the text?
d) What does the text tell us about the love of God?
e) What does the text tell us about Jesus?
f) What does the text tell us about the world?
g) What does the text reveal to me?
5.
A KEY TO THE READING
for those who wish to go deeper into the text.
a) The context within which the words of Jesus appear in the
Gospel of John:
* Nicodemus was a doctor who thought he knew the things of God.
He watches Jesus with the book of the Law of Moses in his hand to see whether
the new things announced by Jesus were in accordance with the book. In the
conversation, Jesus points out to Nicodemus (and to all of us) that the only
way one can understand the things of God is to be born again! The
same thing happens today. Often, we are like Nicodemus: we accept only those
things that agree with our ideas. We reject all else, thinking it contrary to
tradition. But not all are like this. There are those who allow themselves to
be surprised by events and who are not afraid of saying to themselves, "Be
born again!"
* When recalling the words of Jesus, the evangelist has before
his eyes the situation of the community towards the end of the first century,
and it is for them that he writes. Nicodemus’ doubts were also those of the
community. Thus Jesus’ reply was also a reply to the community. Quite probably,
the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus was part of the baptismal
catechesis, because the text says that people have to be reborn of water and
the Holy Spirit (Jn 3:6). In the brief commentary that follows, we focus on the
key words that appear in the text and that are central to the Gospel of John.
They serve as key words for the reading of the whole Gospel.
b) Commentary on the text:
* John 3:16:
To love is to give oneself for the sake of love. The word love,
first of all, points to a deep experience in the relationship between persons.
It includes feelings and values such as joy, sorrow, suffering, growth, giving
up, giving oneself, realisation, gift, commitment, life, death, etc. In the OT
these values and feelings are summarised in the word hesed, which,
in our Bibles, is usually translated as charity, mercy, fidelity or love.
In the NT, Jesus revealed this love of God in his meetings with people. He revealed this through feelings of friendship, kindness, as, for example, in his relationship with Martha’s family in Bethany: "Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus". He weeps at Lazarus’ tomb (Jn 11:5.33-36). Jesus faces his mission as a manifestation of love: "having loved his own….he loved them to the end" (Jn 13:1). In this love, Jesus reveals his deep identity with the Father: "As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you!"{Jn 15:9). He also says to us: "Love one another as I have loved you!" (Jn 15:12). John defines love as: "This has taught us love – that he gave up his life for us; and we, too, ought to give up our lives for our brothers" (1Jn 3:16). There was no other commandment apart from this for the community, "living the same kind of life as Jesus" (1Jn 2:6). Those who live love and reveal it in their words and attitudes, become Beloved Disciples.
In the NT, Jesus revealed this love of God in his meetings with people. He revealed this through feelings of friendship, kindness, as, for example, in his relationship with Martha’s family in Bethany: "Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus". He weeps at Lazarus’ tomb (Jn 11:5.33-36). Jesus faces his mission as a manifestation of love: "having loved his own….he loved them to the end" (Jn 13:1). In this love, Jesus reveals his deep identity with the Father: "As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you!"{Jn 15:9). He also says to us: "Love one another as I have loved you!" (Jn 15:12). John defines love as: "This has taught us love – that he gave up his life for us; and we, too, ought to give up our lives for our brothers" (1Jn 3:16). There was no other commandment apart from this for the community, "living the same kind of life as Jesus" (1Jn 2:6). Those who live love and reveal it in their words and attitudes, become Beloved Disciples.
* John 3:17:
He loved the world and gave his life to save the world. The wordworld is
found 78 times in John’s Gospel, but with different meanings. First,
"world" may mean the earth, the space inhabited by human beings (Jn
11:9; 21:25) or the created universe (17:5.24). In our text, "world"
means those who inhabit this earth, the whole of humanity, loved by God, who
gave his Son for its sake (cf. Jn 1:9; 4:42; 6:14; 8:12). It may also mean a
large number of people, in the sense of "the whole world" (Jn 12:19;
14:27). But in John’s Gospel the word "world" means, above all, that
part of humanity that is opposed to Jesus and so becomes his
"adversary" or "opposition" (Jn 7:4.7; 8:23.26;
9:39;12:25). This "world", contrary to the liberating practice of
Jesus, is dominated by the Adversary, Satan, also is called "prince of the
world" (14:30; 16:11), who persecutes and kills the communities of the
faithful (16:33), creating injustice, oppression, kept up by those in
authority, by those who rule the empire and the synagogue. They practise
injustice in the name of God (16:2). The hope that John’s Gospel offers to the
communities is that Jesus will conquer the prince of this world (12:31). He is
stronger than the "world". "In the world you will have trouble,
but be brave: I have conquered the world" (16:33).
* John 3:18:
The Only Son of God who gives himself up for us: One of the most ancient and
most beautiful titles that the first Christians chose to describe the mission
of Jesus is that of Defender. In Hebrew it is Goêl. This
term used to indicate the closest relative, the oldest brother, who had to
redeem his brothers who might be threatened with the loss of their properties
(cf. Lev 25:23-55). At the time of the Babylonian exile, every one, including
the closest relative, lost everything. Then God became the Goêl of
his people. He redeemed his people from slavery. In the NT, it is Jesus, the
only son, the first-born, the closest relative, who became our Goêl.
This term or title is translated diversely as saviour, redeemer, liberator,
advocate, oldest brother, consoler, and so on (cf. Lk 2:11; Jn 4:42; Acts 5:31,
etc.). Jesus takes on the defence and the redemption of his family, of his
people. He gave himself entirely, completely, so that we, his brothers and
sisters, may live again in fraternal love. This was the service he
gave us. It was thus that the prophecy of Isaiah that announced the coming of
theServant Messiah was fulfilled. Jesus himself said, "For the
Son of Man himself did not come to be served but to serve and
to give his life as a ransom (goêl) for many!" (Mk
10:45). Paul expresses this discovery in the following phrase, "He loved
me and sacrificed himself for me!" (Gal 2:20).
c) The mystery of the Trinity in the writings of John:
* Faith in the Most Blessed Trinity is the beginning and end of
our belief. Whatever we say today with so much clarity about the Most Blessed
Trinity, may be found in the New Testament. It is found there in seminal form
and was developed over the centuries. Of the four evangelists, John is the one
who helps us most to understand the mystery of the Triune God.
John emphasises the deep unity between the Father and the Son. The mission of the Son is to reveal the love of the Father (Jn 17:6-8). Jesus comes to proclaim, "The Father and I are one" (Jn 10:30). There is such unity between Jesus and the Father, that those who see the face of the one see also the face of the other. By revealing the Father, Jesus communicates a new spirit "the Spirit of Truth who proceeds from the Father" (Jn 15:26). At the Son’s request (Jn 14:16), the Father sends to each one of us this new Spirit to stay with us. This Spirit, who comes from the Father (Jn 14:16) and from the Son (Jn 16:7-8), reveals the deep unity that exists between Father and Son (Jn 15:26-27. Christians looked to the unity in God in order to understand the unity that should have existed among them (Jn 13:34-35; 17:21).
Today we say, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Apocalypse says, He who is, who was, and who is to come, from the seven spirits in his presence before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the First-born from the dead, the Ruler of the kings of the earth (Ap 1:4-5). With these names, John tells us what the communities thought about and hoped for from the Father, in the Son and in the Holy Spirit.
John emphasises the deep unity between the Father and the Son. The mission of the Son is to reveal the love of the Father (Jn 17:6-8). Jesus comes to proclaim, "The Father and I are one" (Jn 10:30). There is such unity between Jesus and the Father, that those who see the face of the one see also the face of the other. By revealing the Father, Jesus communicates a new spirit "the Spirit of Truth who proceeds from the Father" (Jn 15:26). At the Son’s request (Jn 14:16), the Father sends to each one of us this new Spirit to stay with us. This Spirit, who comes from the Father (Jn 14:16) and from the Son (Jn 16:7-8), reveals the deep unity that exists between Father and Son (Jn 15:26-27. Christians looked to the unity in God in order to understand the unity that should have existed among them (Jn 13:34-35; 17:21).
Today we say, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Apocalypse says, He who is, who was, and who is to come, from the seven spirits in his presence before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the First-born from the dead, the Ruler of the kings of the earth (Ap 1:4-5). With these names, John tells us what the communities thought about and hoped for from the Father, in the Son and in the Holy Spirit.
Let us see:
i) In the name of the Father: Alpha and Omega, Is, Was, Will be, Almighty.
Alpha and Omega. We would say A to Z (cf. Is 44:6; Ap 1:17). God is the beginning and end of history. There is no room for another God! The Christians could not accept the pretence of the Roman Empire that divinised its emperors. Nothing that happens in life can be interpreted as simple coincidence outside the loving providence of this God of ours.
Is, Was, Will be (Ap 1:4.8; 4:8). Our God is not a distant God. He was with us in the past, is with us now, will be with us in the future. He guides history, is in history, walks with his people. The history of God is the history of his people.
Almighty. This was an imperial title of kings after Alexander the Great. For Christians, the true king is God. This title expresses the creative power with which he guides his people. The title strengthens the certainty of victory and urges us to sing, even now, the joy of the New Heaven and of the New Earth (Ap 21:2).
Alpha and Omega. We would say A to Z (cf. Is 44:6; Ap 1:17). God is the beginning and end of history. There is no room for another God! The Christians could not accept the pretence of the Roman Empire that divinised its emperors. Nothing that happens in life can be interpreted as simple coincidence outside the loving providence of this God of ours.
Is, Was, Will be (Ap 1:4.8; 4:8). Our God is not a distant God. He was with us in the past, is with us now, will be with us in the future. He guides history, is in history, walks with his people. The history of God is the history of his people.
Almighty. This was an imperial title of kings after Alexander the Great. For Christians, the true king is God. This title expresses the creative power with which he guides his people. The title strengthens the certainty of victory and urges us to sing, even now, the joy of the New Heaven and of the New Earth (Ap 21:2).
ii) The name of the Son: Faithful Witness, First-born among the dead,
Prince of the kings of the earth.
Faithful Witness: Witness means the same as martyr. Jesus had the courage to witness to the Good News of God the Father. He was faithful until death, and God’s answer was the resurrection (Phil 2:9; Heb 5:7).
First-born among the dead: First-born is like saying oldest brother (Col 1:18). Jesus is the first-born who rises again. His victory over death will also be ours, his brothers and sisters!
Prince of the kings of the earth: This was a title given to Roman Emperors as official propaganda. The Christians gave this title to Jesus. To believe in Jesus was an act of rebellion against the empire and its ideology.
These three titles come from the messianic psalm 89, where the messiah is called Faithful Witness (Ps 89:38), First-born (Ps 89:28) The Most High above the kings of the earth (Ps 89:28). The first Christians took their inspiration from the Bible in order to formulate their doctrine.
Faithful Witness: Witness means the same as martyr. Jesus had the courage to witness to the Good News of God the Father. He was faithful until death, and God’s answer was the resurrection (Phil 2:9; Heb 5:7).
First-born among the dead: First-born is like saying oldest brother (Col 1:18). Jesus is the first-born who rises again. His victory over death will also be ours, his brothers and sisters!
Prince of the kings of the earth: This was a title given to Roman Emperors as official propaganda. The Christians gave this title to Jesus. To believe in Jesus was an act of rebellion against the empire and its ideology.
These three titles come from the messianic psalm 89, where the messiah is called Faithful Witness (Ps 89:38), First-born (Ps 89:28) The Most High above the kings of the earth (Ps 89:28). The first Christians took their inspiration from the Bible in order to formulate their doctrine.
iii) The name of the Holy Spirit: Seven lamps, Seven eyes, Seven spirits.
Seven Lamps: In the Apocalypse 4:5, it is said that the seven spirits are the seven lamps burning before the Throne of God. There are seven because they represent the fullness of the action of God in the world. There are seven burning lamps, because they symbolise the action of the Spirit who enlightens, refreshes and purifies (Acts 2:1). They stand before the Throne always ready to respond to any request from God.
Seven Eyes: In Apocalypse 5:6, it is said that the Lamb has seven eyes, symbol of the seven spirits of God sent throughout the earth. What a beautiful image! Suffice it to look at the Lamb to see the Spirit working there where the Lamb looks, for his eyes are the eyes of the Spirit. It is he who always looks at us!
Seven Spirits: The seven evoke the seven gifts of the Spirit mentioned in the prophet Isaiah and that will rest on the Messiah (Is 11:2-3). This prophecy comes true in Jesus. The seven Spirits are, at the same time, of God and of Jesus. The same identification of the Spirit with Jesus appears at the end of the seven letters. It is Jesus who speaks in the letters, and at the end of each letter we read, He who has ears let him hear what the Spirit says to the Churches. Jesus speaks, the Spirit speaks. They are one.
Seven Lamps: In the Apocalypse 4:5, it is said that the seven spirits are the seven lamps burning before the Throne of God. There are seven because they represent the fullness of the action of God in the world. There are seven burning lamps, because they symbolise the action of the Spirit who enlightens, refreshes and purifies (Acts 2:1). They stand before the Throne always ready to respond to any request from God.
Seven Eyes: In Apocalypse 5:6, it is said that the Lamb has seven eyes, symbol of the seven spirits of God sent throughout the earth. What a beautiful image! Suffice it to look at the Lamb to see the Spirit working there where the Lamb looks, for his eyes are the eyes of the Spirit. It is he who always looks at us!
Seven Spirits: The seven evoke the seven gifts of the Spirit mentioned in the prophet Isaiah and that will rest on the Messiah (Is 11:2-3). This prophecy comes true in Jesus. The seven Spirits are, at the same time, of God and of Jesus. The same identification of the Spirit with Jesus appears at the end of the seven letters. It is Jesus who speaks in the letters, and at the end of each letter we read, He who has ears let him hear what the Spirit says to the Churches. Jesus speaks, the Spirit speaks. They are one.
6.
PSALM 63, 1-9
O God, my soul thirsts for thee
O God, thou art my God, I seek thee,
my soul thirsts for thee; my flesh faints for thee,
as in a dry and weary land where no water is.
So I have looked upon thee in the sanctuary,
beholding thy power and glory.
Because thy steadfast love is better than life,
my lips will praise thee.
my soul thirsts for thee; my flesh faints for thee,
as in a dry and weary land where no water is.
So I have looked upon thee in the sanctuary,
beholding thy power and glory.
Because thy steadfast love is better than life,
my lips will praise thee.
So I will bless thee as long as I live;
I will lift up my hands and call on thy name.
My soul is feasted as with marrow and fat,
and my mouth praises thee with joyful lips,
when I think of thee upon my bed,
and meditate on thee in the watches of the night;
for thou hast been my help,
and in the shadow of thy wings I sing for joy.
My soul clings to thee;
thy right hand upholds me.
I will lift up my hands and call on thy name.
My soul is feasted as with marrow and fat,
and my mouth praises thee with joyful lips,
when I think of thee upon my bed,
and meditate on thee in the watches of the night;
for thou hast been my help,
and in the shadow of thy wings I sing for joy.
My soul clings to thee;
thy right hand upholds me.
7.
FINAL PRAYER
Lord Jesus, we thank for the word that has enabled us to
understand better the will of the Father. May your Spirit enlighten our actions
and grant us the strength to practice that which your Word has revealed to us.
May we, like Mary, your mother, not only listen to but also practise the Word.
You who live and reign with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit forever
and ever. Amen.
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