27 MAY 2018 - MOST BLESSED TRINITY Deut 4:32-34, 39-40; Romans 8:14-17; Mt 28:16-20
May Tam
www.FLL.cc
“The mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of Christian faith and life” (CCC 234).
It is a mystery of Christian faith because “it is the mystery of God in Himself” (CCC 234), that is, His inmost Being. “[It is] hidden in God which can never be known unless [it is] revealed by God” (CCC 237). Therefore to comprehend it is beyond our capability but by it, Christianity is different from other monotheistic religions for we believe “one God in three Persons” who “do not share the one divinity among themselves but each of them is God whole and entire … i.e., by nature one God” (CCC 253).
It is a mystery of Christian life because from it we know that God is not solitary. He is both a personal and relational God, like a family, involving mutual love and interaction. His divine love goes outward and spills over to include us in His creation. He made us not only in His image and likeness but also as a reflection of His Trinitarian life. Therefore Christian life is not a natural life from its first birth, but a supernatural life from a spiritual birth made possible when a person is baptized in the name of the Trinity—the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
From this second birth, things start to change. I am a sinner yet I am a child of God and an heir of the heavenly inheritance (Rom 8:15-17; Gal 4:7). I begin to see and do things differently: I see life as full of meaning and purpose, a wonderment of God’s love. I see God as present among all peoples, reaching out and calling them to Himself. I no longer take things for granted but gratefully appreciate the grace and blessing behind everything. I no longer dwell on my own suffering and misfortune for I now see in others the same problem and I want to share theirs. I no longer only pray for myself or for my loved ones but also for those who hurt me and forgive them. I feel peace in the midst of turmoil and struggle for I know I am watched over by one who intimately and passionately loves me. I experience something new and marvelous——the foretaste of the transcendent life of the Trinity——-a life of love, communion, self giving, joy and peace.
When asked why I believe something that I don’t understand, I don’t know either but I know that from the moment I bear the seal of the Trinity I have been changed. I am gradually becoming more pleasant and pleasing to others and I thank God for it.
“O most holy Trinity, undivided Unity
Holy God, Mighty God
God Immortal, be adored”
(From the hymn O God, Almighty Father in the Catholic Book of Worship III)
The joy of discovering the hidden mystery
Fr Fernando Armellini SCJ
Claretian Publications, Macau
Peter, on the day of Pentecost, turned to the people and urged them to repent and be baptized “in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven” (Acts 2:38). The custom of baptizing in the name of the Trinity was introduced later. It is the formula that Matthew puts in the mouth of the Risen One. It reflects the liturgical practice of the second half of the first century AD.
In today’s gospel, Jesus entrusts a mission to his disciples on a mountain of Galilee. The disciples receive the commission to make disciples of all nations, to baptize them and teach them to observe all that Jesus commanded.
Jesus refers, in a solemn manner, to his authority. The Father has sent him to bring the message of salvation and gave him all power in heaven and on earth. Nothing, therefore, escapes the “rule” that the Father gave to Christ.
This universal “power” over all creation has nothing in common with the kingdoms of this world. It consists in the ability to serve man, leading him to salvation and introducing him in the intimacy of love with the Father.
After that Jesus utters the mystery of the divine life that we celebrate in this feast is placed. Stammering with our poor language we call this mystery “Trinity.”
We are not called to give adherence to an abstract concept, to profess a cold formula, but to sing a grateful hymn to God for the gift he has made of his life. Our fate was death but, “God gives us, by grace, life everlasting” (Rom 6:23). Then the shout of joy emerges from our lips: “See what singular love the Father has for us: we are called children of God, and we really are! We are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been shown. Yet when he appears in his glory, we know that we shall be like him, for then we shall see him as he is” (1 Jn 3:1-3) and also: “Eye has not seen, ear has not heard, nor has it dawned on the mind what God has prepared for those who love him. God has revealed it to us, through his Spirit” (1 Cor 2:9-10). Baptism and preaching of the gospel are two ways of sharing the divine life.
The “family” of God, the Trinity, is the picture of perfect harmony. This unity of all in the peace of the Father’s “home” is fully realized when the “saving power” of the Risen One will have reached, through the disciples, every person. However, it must begin now, in this world, because God has already made us partakers of his own Love.
Translated by Fr John Ladesma SDB
Abridged by Fr Jijo Kandamkulathy CMF
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