INTRODUCTION
Today we celebrate the eternal mystery, the mystery of mysteries. Today we celebrate the mystery of the most Holy Trinity. It is the eternal mystery and the mystery of mysteries. It is a basic doctrine of the Church and the pillar on which all profession of the Christian faith stands. It is a mystery that is less understandable with our heads but which our hearts must live. It teaches us that there are three distinct Persons in one God, sharing the same Divine Nature, co-equal and co-eternal. Our mind cannot grasp this doctrine which teaches that 1+1+1 = 1 and not 3. But we believe in this Mystery because Jesus, Who is God, taught it clearly, the Evangelists recorded it, the Fathers of the Church tried to explain it, and the Councils of Nicaea and Constantinople defined it as a dogma of Christian Faith. And today we are witnesses of this great mystery.
FIRST READING: Deuteronomy: 4:32-34, 39-40
According to biblical scholars, we are meant to understand that the book of Deuteronomy was written down much later after the era of Moses Moses (ca. 1250 BC), during the Babylonian Captivity (587-539 BC). Due to internal corruption and external pressures, the Jews were brought into extinction. The elements that define their national glory such as the Kings, the priests, the prophets, and Temple all failed to hold them together. The hagiographers who were keen to treasuring the glorious past of the people esponded to this crisis by offering amplified explanations of the Mosaic legal traditions, in the hope of setting the Jews on a viable course for their future. Since the audience for the written presentation of Deuteronomy was having a very hard time holding on to its Faith and identity, the book then served as a reminder to them that even their ancestors had had to pass through struggle to achieve and keep to faith their strict conviction in the one, true and invisible God.
In today’s reading, Moses speaks to the people who were often tempted to admire their pagan neighbours. Moses gives them reasons to be proud of how they differ and much more blessed to have God as their God. He asserts, in effect, “We have a better God Who gave us a better Law and we’re a better people than any of them. Therefore, there’s no other god like our God, the Only Real God, and no other Law like ours, and no other people like us, so shape up and be proud of who you are!”
The words of Moses are meant to guide the spirits of the believers to understand that no matter the challenge they may undergo in life, they should never lose hold of God. His silence is not a sign of indifference but He prepares greater things for his people who patiently wait upon him.
SECOND READING: Romans: 8:14-17
As a response to some who insisted that pagan converts to Christ had to practice the Jewish law, Saint Paul tries to get his audience to let themselves be saved by the grace of God, instead of trying to save themselves through their own unaided efforts through their observance of the Mosaic laws. He advises them to lead their lives “in the Spirit,” that is, to let God take over. This reading addresses some of the relations among Spirit, Father and Son, as we experience our relationship with God.
GOSPEL: Matthew 28-16-20
The evangelist Matthew tells us that, returning to the Father, Jesus completed his mission on earth. But just before the Ascension, Jesus entrusted to his disciples the mission of preaching and teaching the Good News and evangelizing the whole world by bearing witness to Him through their lives. Jesus also ordered them to baptize the believers in the Name of the Holy Trinity: “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” (Jn 16:19). In the descriptions of Christ after the Resurrection, we are given a hint of what life will be like in Heaven. But it is in Jesus’ Ascension that we see him entering fully into the life and glory of God. The prospect of sharing in that glory should be the driving force in our lives.
SOME EXEGETICAL NOTES
1) THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE TRINITARIAN DOCTRINE IN THE CHURCH.
The oldest doctrinal formulation of the Church’s belief in the Trinity is found in the Apostles’ Creed which has served both as the basis of instruction for catechumens and as the Baptismal confession of Faith since the second century. Later, the Nicene Creed, originating at the Council of Nicaea (AD 325), stated the doctrine more explicitly. This creed was introduced into our Western liturgy by the regional council of Toledo in AD 589. God has revealed to us three separate functions that are attributed to the Three Persons. He has told us that it is proper to attribute to God the Father the work of Creation, to God the Son the work of Redemption, and to God the Holy Spirit the work of Sanctification. Our knowledge of God as Trinity is made possible by God, who has chosen to reveal Himself as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. As Father, God has brought forth the created universe, including our own being. As the Father’s Only-begotten Incarnate Son, Jesus, God has made known One Who hears our cries, Who cares, Who counts the hairs on our head, and Who loves us so passionately that He became one of us in order to suffer for our sins, and even to die for us. As Spirit, God remains with us and within us.
2) THE TRIUNE GOD AS SEEN IN THE OLD TESTAMENT:
Since Yahweh, the God of Israel, was careful to protect His Chosen People from the pagan practice of worshipping several gods, the Old Testament books give only indirect and passing references to the Trinity, and the Jewish rabbis never understood them as references to the Holy Trinity. Genesis 1:26 presents God speaking to Himself: “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.” Genesis 18:2 describes how Yahweh visited Abraham under the appearance of three men, an event that the Russian Orthodox Church celebrates as the “Trinitarian Experience of Abraham.” In Genesis 11:7, before punishing the proud builders of the Tower of Babel, God says, “Come, let Us go down among them and confuse their language. “These passages imply, rather than state, the doctrine of the Trinity.
3) CLEAR DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY IN THE NEW TESTAMENT.
a) The Annunciation (Lk 1: 26-38), describes how God the Father sends the Archangel Gabriel to Mary to announce to her that God the Holy Spirit, will “come upon” her, that “the power the Most High will overshadow” her, that the Son will be made flesh in her womb: “Therefore, the Child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.”
b) During the baptism of Jesus (Mt 3:16-17), the Holy Spirit is shown descending on Jesus in the form of a Dove, while the Voice of God the Father is heard from the clouds, saying, “You are My Beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased” (Lk 4:22).
c) John (Chapters 15 through 18) presents the detailed teaching of Jesus on the Persons of the Holy Trinity.
d) In the preaching mission given by the risen Lord to the disciples, Jesus commands them to baptize people “in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” (Mt 28:19; Jn 10:30).
(Fr. Anthony Kadavil).
LIFE MESSAGES
1) WE NEED TO BE CONVINCED OF OUR TRIUNE FAITH:
We need to thank God today as Moses admonishes the old Israelites in the first reading, for we have been privileged to be witnesses of the revelation of the eternal mystery of God. The mystery hidden from the ancient people has been made known to us thanks to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Trinity does not just teach us about the beauty of communion of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit, but it also reveals to us the inexhaustible mystery in God. Since our faith is faith seeking understanding, we are called to constantly deepen our search for God. It is this longing to know more of Him that determines the authenticity of our faith.
2) WE NEED TO BE AWARE OF GOD AS THE SOURCE OF OUR STRENGTH AND COURAGE:
Our awareness and conviction of the presence of God within us give us the strength to face the manifold problems of life with Christian courage. It was such a conviction that prompted the early Christian martyrs being taken to their execution to shout the heroic prayer of Faith from the Psalms: “The Lord of hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our refuge ” (Ps 46:7,11).
3) WE NEED TO SEE THE TRINITY AS THE MODEL FOR OUR CHRISTIAN FAMILIES:
We are created in love to be a community of loving persons, just as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are One in Love. From the day of our Baptism, we have belonged to the One God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. How privileged we are to grow up in such a beautiful Family! Hence, let us turn to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in prayer every day. We belong to the Family of the Triune God. The love, unity, and joy in the relationship among the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit should be the supreme model of our relationships within our Christian families. Our families become truly Christian when we live in a relationship of love with God and with others.
PRAYER
Father, You sent your Word to bring us truth
and your Spirit to make us holy.
Through them we come to know the mystery of your life. Help us to worship you, one God in three persons, You reveal yourself in the depths of our being, by proclaiming and living our faith in you. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever. Amen
PAX VOBIS!
