Reading:
Deuteronomy 4:32
Romans 8:16-17
Mathew 28:19-20
Write:
“Moses said to the people: ‘Ask now of the days of old, before your time, ever since God created man upon the earth; ask from one end of the sky to the other: Did anything so great ever happen before? Was it ever heard of?’”
“… we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if only we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.”
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.”
Reflect:
I want to begin this weekend by giving three short quotes, one from each of the readings for today. (Do readings.)
Now, let me try to bring them together: did anything so great ever happened that we should be called children of God and that we would be commissioned as his children to make other children of our fellow human beings – to make them brothers and sisters by baptizing them. And all of this with the knowledge that God who has created us is with us “until the end of the age”.
Yes, he does want us to know that in the middle of all of this we face suffering as well. Some of it for the sake of the gospel. Some of it as a witness to the gospel.
This week I had a unique experience. I buried a husband and wife – together. They both die from cancer. She died a week ago on Friday, he died the next day. Their suffering showed the love of their marriage, their dedication to Christ, and the witness of faith that is one of the most powerful I have ever seen. We buried them side-by-side from the church and side-by-side in the cemetery. As a friend of mine said, “what a witness to love and marriage!”
I know, that seems to be a bit of a distraction from the point of this feast day of Trinity Sunday. But it is not far from the core of what the Trinity is. The core of the Trinity is tied up in one of the shortest sentences of the Bible: God is love.
And that is really the core of all three of the selections I made from the readings that we have this weekend.
• Moses was reminding the Israelites of the marvelous work God did out of love for them in bringing them out of slavery.
• St. Paul is reminding us that out of love God did not just bring us out of slavery, but he made us his own children, heirs with Christ to the glories of heaven.
• And Jesus is reminding us in the gospel that he chooses – he chooses – out of love to be with us by the power of his Holy Spirit, intimately involved in each of our lives, until the end of the age when we will witness those glories of heaven.
But God does not stop there. He has chosen to show himself a loving Father – a brother, who is also a bridegroom – a Spirit that, when invited, has chosen to enter into our lives to guide us to this full relationship of love.
Apply:
This relationship of love is not something that should be seen as an easy convenience. It certainly was not for the couple I described earlier who died within twenty-four hours of each other. Nor was it a relationship of convenience for Jesus.
This, I think, is the ultimate message of the mystery of the Trinity. It is, and always will be a mystery to us mortals. I think it is even a mystery to the Angels. We have some understanding of it because of how God has chosen to reveal himself. And the readings that we have for this weekend and in particular the short verses that I pulled from each reading reveal that so well.
But the full mystery of the Trinity is a story that is only explainable because God has made it understandable in a way that leaves us wanting for more. And there are more and better ways, better parts, of trying to understand the mystery of God in our lives. Most of these I find valuable, but many find them are out of touch with our own “modern sensibilities”.
Let me explain. I have always found it most helpful to think in terms that go back to medieval times and the idyllic notions of chivalry, of knighthood, of a king who would be worth dying for. These things in our modern day for so many people are thought of as quaint or even as irrelevant. But I would suggest to you that it is our modern world that is irrelevant.
I am not saying we should get rid of our modern technology, but I am sure that we have lost some things to our faith that are relevant because the modern world has so distracted us that we do not think in terms of sacrifice for others, but we are encouraged to think of ourselves above anyone or anything else.
There are many novels available that speak about this. There are stories of saints who lived this type of virtuous and chivalrous life. I can suggest many books for you if you are interested.
We celebrate, civilly, Memorial Day this weekend. A time when we should be remembering these same self-sacrificing, valorous deeds of those who paid the highest price in defense of our own country. Whether those deeds would be seen as chivalrous or foolish defines the very nature of our country and the way we have brought our faith to our modern world.
The message of our faith at its core is that we are called to live for others. This is the second commandment that Jesus said is most important: love your neighbor as yourself. This is how we see, and transmit to others, the message that Jesus wants us to hand on.
The message is that we are all called to be children of God by his choice to adopt us. This adoption brings us back to Moses’ statements to the Israelites in the desert, reminding them of all the things that God has done.
Pray/Praise:
Finally, as a closing prayer, I found this short expansion of our traditional prayer to the Holy Trinity.
GLORY BE TO THE FATHER, Who by His almighty power and love created me, making me in the image and likeness of God.
AND TO THE SON, Who by His Precious Blood delivered me from hell, and opened for me the gates of heaven.
AND TO THE HOLY SPIRIT, Who has sanctified me in the sacrament of Baptism, and continues to sanctify me by the graces I receive daily from His bounty.
AS IT WAS IN THE BEGINNING IS NOW AND EVER SHALL BE WORLD WITHOUT END. AMEN.
Deuteronomy 4:32
Romans 8:16-17
Mathew 28:19-20
Write:
“Moses said to the people: ‘Ask now of the days of old, before your time, ever since God created man upon the earth; ask from one end of the sky to the other: Did anything so great ever happen before? Was it ever heard of?’”
“… we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if only we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.”
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.”
Reflect:
I want to begin this weekend by giving three short quotes, one from each of the readings for today. (Do readings.)
Now, let me try to bring them together: did anything so great ever happened that we should be called children of God and that we would be commissioned as his children to make other children of our fellow human beings – to make them brothers and sisters by baptizing them. And all of this with the knowledge that God who has created us is with us “until the end of the age”.
Yes, he does want us to know that in the middle of all of this we face suffering as well. Some of it for the sake of the gospel. Some of it as a witness to the gospel.
This week I had a unique experience. I buried a husband and wife – together. They both die from cancer. She died a week ago on Friday, he died the next day. Their suffering showed the love of their marriage, their dedication to Christ, and the witness of faith that is one of the most powerful I have ever seen. We buried them side-by-side from the church and side-by-side in the cemetery. As a friend of mine said, “what a witness to love and marriage!”
I know, that seems to be a bit of a distraction from the point of this feast day of Trinity Sunday. But it is not far from the core of what the Trinity is. The core of the Trinity is tied up in one of the shortest sentences of the Bible: God is love.
And that is really the core of all three of the selections I made from the readings that we have this weekend.
• Moses was reminding the Israelites of the marvelous work God did out of love for them in bringing them out of slavery.
• St. Paul is reminding us that out of love God did not just bring us out of slavery, but he made us his own children, heirs with Christ to the glories of heaven.
• And Jesus is reminding us in the gospel that he chooses – he chooses – out of love to be with us by the power of his Holy Spirit, intimately involved in each of our lives, until the end of the age when we will witness those glories of heaven.
But God does not stop there. He has chosen to show himself a loving Father – a brother, who is also a bridegroom – a Spirit that, when invited, has chosen to enter into our lives to guide us to this full relationship of love.
Apply:
This relationship of love is not something that should be seen as an easy convenience. It certainly was not for the couple I described earlier who died within twenty-four hours of each other. Nor was it a relationship of convenience for Jesus.
This, I think, is the ultimate message of the mystery of the Trinity. It is, and always will be a mystery to us mortals. I think it is even a mystery to the Angels. We have some understanding of it because of how God has chosen to reveal himself. And the readings that we have for this weekend and in particular the short verses that I pulled from each reading reveal that so well.
But the full mystery of the Trinity is a story that is only explainable because God has made it understandable in a way that leaves us wanting for more. And there are more and better ways, better parts, of trying to understand the mystery of God in our lives. Most of these I find valuable, but many find them are out of touch with our own “modern sensibilities”.
Let me explain. I have always found it most helpful to think in terms that go back to medieval times and the idyllic notions of chivalry, of knighthood, of a king who would be worth dying for. These things in our modern day for so many people are thought of as quaint or even as irrelevant. But I would suggest to you that it is our modern world that is irrelevant.
I am not saying we should get rid of our modern technology, but I am sure that we have lost some things to our faith that are relevant because the modern world has so distracted us that we do not think in terms of sacrifice for others, but we are encouraged to think of ourselves above anyone or anything else.
There are many novels available that speak about this. There are stories of saints who lived this type of virtuous and chivalrous life. I can suggest many books for you if you are interested.
We celebrate, civilly, Memorial Day this weekend. A time when we should be remembering these same self-sacrificing, valorous deeds of those who paid the highest price in defense of our own country. Whether those deeds would be seen as chivalrous or foolish defines the very nature of our country and the way we have brought our faith to our modern world.
The message of our faith at its core is that we are called to live for others. This is the second commandment that Jesus said is most important: love your neighbor as yourself. This is how we see, and transmit to others, the message that Jesus wants us to hand on.
The message is that we are all called to be children of God by his choice to adopt us. This adoption brings us back to Moses’ statements to the Israelites in the desert, reminding them of all the things that God has done.
Pray/Praise:
Finally, as a closing prayer, I found this short expansion of our traditional prayer to the Holy Trinity.
GLORY BE TO THE FATHER, Who by His almighty power and love created me, making me in the image and likeness of God.
AND TO THE SON, Who by His Precious Blood delivered me from hell, and opened for me the gates of heaven.
AND TO THE HOLY SPIRIT, Who has sanctified me in the sacrament of Baptism, and continues to sanctify me by the graces I receive daily from His bounty.
AS IT WAS IN THE BEGINNING IS NOW AND EVER SHALL BE WORLD WITHOUT END. AMEN.
