BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (# 29)
Trinity Sunday, Year B – June 15, 2003
BIBLE READINGS
Dt 4:32-34, 39-40 // Rom 8:14-17 // Mt 28:16-20
Our life is deeply permeated by the Blessed Trinity, but we can be oblivious to this reality. A little story reported by Anthony de Mello in his book, The Song of the Bird, can give us an idea of this unfortunate situation.
“Excuse me,” said one ocean fish to another. “You are older and more experienced than I, and will probably be able to help me. Tell me; where can I find this thing they call Ocean? I’ve been searching for it everywhere to no avail.”
“The Ocean,” said the older fish, “is what you are swimming in now.”
“Oh, this? But this is only water. What I’m searching for is the Ocean,” said the young fish, feeling quite disappointed as he swam away to search elsewhere …
Stop searching, little fish. There’s nothing to look for. Just be still, open your eyes, and look. You cannot miss it.
Indeed, we are immersed in the life of the Blessed Trinity. We are enveloped and drenched in the creative power, redeeming sacrifice, and sanctifying love of the One and Triune God – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, number 261: “The mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of the Christian faith and of the Christian life. God alone can make it known to us by revealing himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” By his actions in history and in our lives, God wills to reveal himself to us in his inmost being. In number 236 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, there is an interesting statement about divine revelation: “God’s works reveal who he is in himself; the mystery of his inmost being enlightens our understanding of all his works. So it is, analogously, among human persons. A person discloses himself in his actions, and the better we know a person, the better we understand his actions.”
The Bible readings proclaimed on the Feast of the Holy Trinity help us understand the threefold character of God through his activity in human events and in the things that occurred to his people. The first reading (Dt 4:32-34, 39-40) speaks powerfully of the uniqueness of Israel’s God who makes himself known through his marvelous saving actions on their behalf. Their monotheistic confession, “The Lord is God in the heavens above and on earth below, and that there is no other”, is a necessary foundation for the Trinitarian revelation. According to the biblical scholar, Eugene Maly: “Without that conviction, the later revelation of the three Persons in the one God would make no sense. Polytheism, or many gods, would exclude a Trinity.”
In the second reading (Rom 8:14-17), instead of saying “There are three Persons in one God”, Paul tells us what the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit are doing in our lives. He speaks of the Spirit of adoption through whom we cry, “Abba, Father!” The Holy Spirit bears witness that we are children of God and joint heirs with Christ. Indeed, the possibility of divine adoption and access to the Trinitarian life would not have been possible without Jesus Christ. According to Eugene Maly: “In the life of that man from Nazareth, God revealed himself as Father and Jesus as the only Son. Because he is the true Son, it is possible for us to receive adopted sonship.”
For the members of the early Christian community, the Paschal Mystery is the basis of Trinitarian revelation. The saving events surrounding Jesus of Nazareth were the basis of their belief and confession that he was the Son of God. They had grasped not only Jesus Christ’s incomparable, singular rapport with God, but also his special and astounding relationship with the Spirit. The community of believers perceived the Spirit as the one who makes Christ’s saving event present in the “here and now” of the universe and history. From the experience of the Paschal Mystery, the Church would come to a profound understanding that the one God, in his most intimate nature, is Trinitarian:
- as the loving Creator Father, the source of our redemption;
- as the obedient Son who accomplished the Father’s saving plan by his death on the cross;
- and as the Spirit of love, proceeding from the Father and the Son, who witnesses to our being God’s children and enables us to call him, “Abba, Father!”
The Gospel reading (Mt 28:16-20) contains the Risen Lord’s Easter command: “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.” The apostolic mandate to baptize “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” signifies that the person baptized belongs to the Trinity of persons and enters into an intimate relationship with them. According to St. Isidore of Seville, the sacrament of baptism is the “sacrament of the Trinity” for it makes us share in the life of the one God in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. In the baptismal waters, we are immersed into the life of the Blessed Trinity and consecrated to the Triune God: to the Heavenly Father as his adopted children; to the Son of God as his brother/sister and disciple; and to the Holy Spirit as his holy temple.
As persons baptized “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit”, do we truly believe that we have been born to a new life, that of the three Persons of the Trinity?
As baptized persons are we truly consecrated to the Triune God and make of our lives a “glory to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit”?
How do we carry out today Christ’s apostolic command: “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”?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD
(“Prayer to the Holy Trinity” by Blessed James Alberione)
Divine Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, present and active in the Church and in the depths of my soul, I adore you, I thank you, I love you! And through the hands of Mary most holy, my Mother, I offer, give and consecrate myself entirely to you for life and for eternity. To you, heavenly Father, I offer, give and consecrate myself as your son/daughter. To you, Jesus Master, I offer, give and consecrate myself as your brother/sister and disciple. To you, Holy Spirit, I offer, give and consecrate myself as a “living temple” to be consecrated and sanctified. Mary, Mother of the Church and my Mother, who dwells in the presence of the Blessed Trinity, teach me to live through the liturgy and the sacraments, in ever more intimate union with the three divine Persons, so that my whole life may be a “glory to the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.” Amen.
IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD
The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the week. Please memorize it.
“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.” (Mt 28:19-20a)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION
ACTION PLAN: At the celebration of the Eucharist on Trinity Sunday, sing/recite the Gloria and the Creed with greater consciousness and devotion, renewing your faith and consecration to the Triune God: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
ACTION PLAN: This week offer three good deeds and acts of kindness in honor of the most Holy Trinity.