Tag: Trinity

“I am with you always.” | The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

From the responsorial psalm: “Our soul waits for the LORD, who is our help and our shield. May your kindness, O LORD, be upon us who have put our hope in you. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 28:16-20)

The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them. When they all saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted. Then Jesus approached and said to them, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”

The last words of the Gospel according to Matthew, this passage gives us Jesus’ parting words with the disciples. Only eleven disciples are present since Saint Matthias had not yet been chosen. Although they had not yet seen the risen Christ, Matthew tells us that Jesus ordered the disciples to go to the mountain. On first seeing him after the resurrection, they nonetheless face interior doubts even as they worship him. At that moment, Jesus approaches them to reveal in words what he has accomplished through the resurrection. As he approaches, he tells them as the second person of the Trinity: “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” For that reason, the disciples are able to go forth preaching and baptizing in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. In the fulfillment of his earthly mission, Jesus is also able to say to the disciples and to all who believe in him, “I am with you always, until the end of the age.”

In the Gospel acclamation, we pray: “Glory to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; to God who is, who was, and who is to come.” Father in heaven, guide me today according to your will. Help me call to mind throughout the day the last words of Jesus. Unbound by time, the risen Christ is able to say that he is with us always—”until the end of the age.” In obedience to you, he was able to approach the disciples and invite them to go out to all the world, teaching all that he commanded them. Give me the grace to do the same as I ponder the mystery of the Trinity and understand the relationship I am invited into union with. Glory to the holy and undivided Trinity, now and forever!

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.

“And you also testify.” | Monday of the Sixth Week of Easter

From the Gospel acclamation: “The Spirit of truth will testify to me, says the Lord, and you also will testify.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John (Jn 15:26—16:4a)

Jesus said to his disciples: “When the Advocate comes whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, he will testify to me. And you also testify, because you have been with me from the beginning.”

Jesus is preparing the disciples for his ascension and the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. When he refers to this coming, he speaks of the Trinity, the Spirit of truth that Jesus sends them from the Father. When Jesus ascends to heaven, he doesn’t go away. There is no diminishment of his presence but an amplification of it. In his ascension, he sends more of himself through the Father in the Spirit of truth, from the power of the Holy Spirit who proceeds from him. Strengthening them with these words, Jesus goes on to prepare the disciples for their coming persecution and rejection from the Jewish leaders. “I have told you this so that you may not fall away,” he says to them. Rather than alienating them, the suffering they will face will take place not apart from Jesus but in the fulfillment of his mission and in the consummated embrace of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

God, help me understand today’s Gospel. Jesus says to the disciples, “I have told you this so that you may not fall away.” Help me remain in your Son as he remains in you. Give me the grace to know that you are present even when I face rejection for the glory of your name. Guide me and show me what Jesus showed the disciples in their mission to spread the Gospel.

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.

“No one has greater love than this . . .” | Sixth Sunday of Easter

From the responsorial psalm: “All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation by our God. Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands; break into song; sing praise. The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John (Jn 15:9-17)

“This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father.”

As he speaks to the disciples, Jesus uses the word love nine times. In the second reading from the First Letter of John, we hear love spoken about in almost every line—nine times altogether. “Whoever is without love does not know God,” John says, “for God is love.” In the Gospel, Jesus invites us twice, in his words, “remain in my love” just as he has kept his Father’s commandments and remains in his love. And twice he commands the disciples and all who hear him to love one another as he has loved us. How is it possible to remain always in God’s love? On our own, it’s impossible; failure is certain. John reassures us that despite this, love has triumphed: “In this is love,” he says, “not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins.” Similarly, Jesus says to the disciples: “It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you.” Our love—human love—doesn’t always win, but God’s does because God is love. To this—to the loving relationship of the persons of the Trinity—Jesus asks us to be obedient.

Father in heaven, in your love free me from the domination of false gods and contrived notions of who you are; bring me into the saving friendship of your Son. I am inclined to hear the words “love one another” and then hear my cynical, jaded self respond, “Yeah, right.” Love can be a feeling, but feelings fade. Should I be looking more at a decision, a line drawn in the sand that limits what is passing? The very being of love, you loved me first (“not that we have loved God, but that he loved us”). Let me choose to love, Lord, and reject what is not of you. “Go and bear fruit that will remain,” Jesus says, “so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you.” In the name of your Son, Father, help me know the limitlessness of your love and make it known to others.

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.

The Baptism of the Lord

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (Mk 1:7-11)

This is what John the Baptist proclaimed: “One mightier than I is coming after me. I am not worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

In Mark’s account of the baptism of Jesus, we see from John’s point of view the revelation of his identity as the Son of God. John preached a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins to prepare the way for the Savior, who is anointed by the Holy Spirit as he emerges from the water. With this, the three persons of the Trinity are revealed as the Father’s voice from heaven is heard, saying, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” The Father confirms Jesus’ identity as the Son of God, Emmanuel. In the mystery of the Incarnation, God brings heaven to earth; in the resurrection and institution of the Eucharist, Jesus remains with us on earth.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD. As high as the heavens are above the earth so high are my ways above your ways and my thoughts above your thoughts.” Father in heaven, help me recall your words as I begin a new week. Give me the grace to trust in your power, something I am incapable of understanding. In seeking to do your will, give me the peace of trusting in your strength and mercy. Let me take in the responsorial psalm for its depth and breadth in the result of giving glory to your name: “The voice of the LORD is over the waters, the LORD, over vast waters. The voice of the LORD is mighty; the voice of the LORD is majestic. The Lord will bless his people with peace.”

From the Gospel acclamation: “John saw Jesus approaching him, and said: Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”

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.

Tuesday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 4:31-37)

Jesus went down to Capernaum, a town of Galilee. He taught them on the sabbath, and they were astonished at his teaching because he spoke with authority. In the synagogue there was a man with the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out in a loud voice, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are–the Holy One of God!” Jesus rebuked him and said, “Be quiet! Come out of him!” Then the demon threw the man down in front of them and came out of him without doing him any harm.

In the synagogue, a man possessed by a demon calls Jesus by his name and place and also recognizes his divinity, the “Holy One of God.” With a few words, Jesus exorcises the demon, and the man is left unharmed. “Be quiet!” The demon cannot withstand the authority of Jesus and the reality-forming words that he speaks. “Come out of him!” The people who witness this are amazed and say to one another, “What is there about his word?” The spirit knows that Jesus was from Nazareth and raised there. Like the people of Capernaum, the unclean spirit probably also knew that Jesus was the son of Mary and Joseph, a carpenter. And it beheld that at the same time Jesus’ divinity coexisted with his humanity. While the people were amazed, the unclean spirit is convicted in God’s presence and cannot remain standing within it.

Father in heaven, no evil can remain hidden in darkness in the presence of your light. In the relationship of the Trinity, Jesus your Son is “God from God, Light from Light . . . by the power of the Holy Spirit he was born of the Virgin Mary, and became man.” Whenever I am threatened by overpowering darkness, come to my aid to quiet evil in all its manifestations and banish it in the name of Jesus. Through the grace of the sacraments, help me remain in your light. As Saint Paul says in the first reading: “But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness, for that day to overtake you like a thief. For all of you are children of the light and children of the day.”

From the responsorial psalm: “The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom should I fear? The LORD is my life’s refuge; of whom should I be afraid?”

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.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAaVQ82g2C4