glory to the father, the son, and the holy spirit; to god ... · glory to the father, the son, and...

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May 31, 2015 THE MOST HOLY TRINITY May 31, 2015 Glory to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; to God who is, who was, and who is to come. Glory be to the Father, to the Son and the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever will be world without end. We are at a wonderful time in our scripture readings, last Sunday, was Pentecost; this week, Trinity Sunday; next week, the Body and Blood of Christ, or “Corpus Christi.” The mystery of the Trinity, today’s feast, is really the heart of God’s revelation of Himself to us. Anyone who hopes to approach God as He really is must approach Him as Trinity. People all over the world and all generations affirm the existence of God in many ways and call Him by many titles. The early American Indians on the plains, the Incas in South America, the people of Islam, all cultures affirm the existence of God in one way or another. But it is given only to the Christian to know the secret of God’s inner life and to know Him as truly a Trinity of Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Catechism says quite bluntly: “The mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of Christian faith and life. It is the mystery of God in Himself. It is therefore the source of all the other mysteries of faith.” In other words, the mystery of the Trinity makes Christian faith distinctive. The mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of Christian faith and life. Even though it is a mystery, one God in three Persons, each distinct but still one God, a mystery that defies rational analysis, still it is a mystery with which we are all familiar. We all know the prayer called the doxology, “Glory to the Father, to the Son and the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever will be, world without end.” God always was three in one, is three in one, will always be three in one. “As it was in the beginning, is now and ever will be.” In our first reading, the Israelites are about to enter the Promised Land and Moses reminds the people never to forget all that God had done for them. We too experience God the Father in the miracle of creation and in the miracles of providence as God guides our life. As Father, God manifests His lifegiving power, His majesty and transcendence through creation. It takes as much power to keep the universe in being as to create it. And so, the Father not only brought us into being but also sustains every beat of our heart. This should evoke respect for the fact that, like the rest of creation, our lives are also in God’s hands. To see God in the world around us is to experience God the Father. As Son, God shows Himself as our Redeemer, a Savior. He is the Son faithful to the Father, Who lived a life like ours but in perfect fidelity. He taught us how to live in love and die in peace as we journey to our eternal home with the Father. The Son knows how easily we can fall and damage that image of God, which we all carry from birth. He died to give us the grace to live as He did and to come to eternal happiness. To know His forgiveness, to hear His truth is to know God the Son. Jesus tells the Apostles in today’s Gospel “Go make disciples of all the nations. I am with you always.” Here in the sacramental life of the Church, He touches, He heals, He enlightens, He gives strength, He corrects, He renews, just as He did in His earthly life. To live within the life of the Church is to know the powerful touch of God the Son. As Holy Spirit, God binds us to Himself as Father and Son. Because the Holy Spirit has been given to us, we can be drawn into the very life of God. In the second reading, St Paul calls Him the “Spirit of adoption” that makes us a member of the very family life of the Trinity. By Baptism, we become by adoption what Jesus was by nature, a part of God’s inner life. For the first disciples, the Trinity was not primarily a doctrine but an experience. This most profound doctrine of the Church is indeed hard to explain but that should not deprive any of us of experiencing its truth, the ways God is part of our life creating, sustaining, redeeming and guiding us. We all can do something more important than trying to explain the Trinity. We can live in its power. We can anchor our lives in the guiding providence of the Father. Who created and sustains the universe and our heartbeat. We can all know the redeeming, cleansing love of the Son, so powerfully close to us in the Sacraments. We can all know the living presence of the Holy Spirit in us, linking us to the Father and the Son, binding us to the Church.

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Page 1: Glory to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; to God ... · Glory to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; to God who is, ... Father, Son and Holy Spirit. ... This should

May 31, 2015 THE MOST HOLY TRINITY May 31, 2015

Glory to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; to God who is, who was, and who is to come.

 Glory be to the Father, to 

the Son and the Holy Spirit, as it was  in the beginning,  is now and ever will be world without end. 

We  are  at  a  wonderful time  in our  scripture  readings, last  Sunday,  was  Pentecost; this week, Trinity Sunday; next week,  the  Body  and  Blood  of Christ, or “Corpus Christi.” The mystery of  the Trinity,  today’s feast,  is  really  the  heart  of God’s  revelation  of Himself  to us.  Anyone  who  hopes  to approach  God  as  He  really  is must approach Him as Trinity.  

People  all  over  the world and  all  generations  affirm  the existence of God in many ways and call Him by many  titles. The early American  Indians on the plains, the  Incas  in South America, the people of  Islam, all  cultures  affirm  the  existence  of  God  in  one  way  or another.   But  it  is  given only  to  the Christian  to  know  the secret of God’s  inner  life and to know Him as truly a Trinity of Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  

The Catechism  says quite bluntly:  “The mystery of  the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of Christian faith and life.  It  is  the mystery of God  in Himself.  It  is  therefore  the source of all  the other mysteries of  faith.”  In other words, the mystery of  the Trinity makes Christian  faith distinctive. The mystery of the Most Holy Trinity  is the central mystery of Christian faith and life.  

Even  though  it  is a mystery, one God  in  three Persons, each distinct but still one God, a mystery that defies rational analysis,  still  it  is a mystery with which we are all  familiar. We  all  know  the prayer  called  the doxology,  “Glory  to  the Father,  to  the  Son  and  the  Holy  Spirit.  As  it  was  in  the beginning, is now and ever will be, world without end.” God always was three in one, is three in one, will always be three in one. “As it was in the beginning, is now and ever will be.”  

In our first reading, the Israelites are about to enter the Promised  Land  and  Moses  reminds  the  people  never  to forget all  that God had done  for  them. We  too experience God the Father in the miracle of creation and in the miracles of  providence  as  God  guides  our  life.  As  Father,  God manifests  His  life‐giving  power,  His  majesty  and transcendence through creation.  It takes as much power to keep the universe in being as to create it. And so, the Father not only brought us  into being but also sustains every beat of our heart. This should evoke respect for the fact that, like 

the  rest  of  creation,  our  lives are also in God’s hands. To see God  in  the world around us  is to experience God the Father.  

As Son, God shows Himself as our Redeemer, a Savior. He is  the  Son  faithful  to  the Father,  Who  lived  a  life  like ours but  in perfect  fidelity. He taught  us  how  to  live  in  love and die in peace as we journey to  our  eternal  home with  the Father.  The  Son  knows  how easily we  can  fall and damage that  image  of  God,  which we all carry from birth. He died to give us  the grace  to  live as He did  and  to  come  to  eternal happiness.  To  know  His forgiveness, to hear His truth is 

to  know  God  the  Son.  Jesus  tells  the  Apostles  in  today’s Gospel “Go make disciples of all the nations.  I am with you always.”  Here  in  the  sacramental  life  of  the  Church,  He touches,  He  heals,  He  enlightens,  He  gives  strength,  He corrects, He renews, just as He did in His earthly life. To live within the  life of the Church  is to know the powerful touch of God the Son.  

As Holy  Spirit, God  binds  us  to Himself  as  Father  and Son. Because the Holy Spirit has been given to us, we can be drawn  into  the  very  life  of God.  In  the  second  reading,  St Paul  calls  Him  the  “Spirit  of  adoption”  that  makes  us  a member of the very family life of the Trinity. By Baptism, we become  by  adoption what  Jesus was  by  nature,  a  part  of God’s inner life.  

For  the  first  disciples,  the  Trinity was  not  primarily  a doctrine but an experience. This most profound doctrine of the  Church  is  indeed  hard  to  explain  but  that  should  not deprive any of us of experiencing  its truth, the ways God  is part of our  life creating,  sustaining,  redeeming and guiding us.  

We all can do something more important than trying to explain the Trinity. We can live in its power. We can anchor our  lives  in  the  guiding  providence  of  the  Father.  Who created and sustains the universe and our heartbeat. We can all  know  the  redeeming,  cleansing  love  of  the  Son,  so powerfully close  to us  in  the Sacraments. We  can all know the  living presence of the Holy Spirit  in us,  linking us to the Father and the Son, binding us to the Church.