Happy Holy Trinity Sunday! Happy Memorial Day!
Happy Holy Trinity Sunday! Happy Memorial Day!
Happy Memorial Day! This weekend we celebrate Memorial Day. Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation's service. Let us hold them in our prayers. At the same time let us also remember all those who are serving to keep us safe.
Happy Holy Trinity Sunday! Easter season concluded on Pentecost Sunday. The Sunday after Pentecost we celebrate the Holy Trinity. Trinity is a mystery, but Jesus makes it easier for us. St. Patrick uses the shamrock to explain the doctrine of the Holy Trinity to his flocks in Ireland. Each of the leaves represent one of the three persons, but yet, it was still only one shamrock. Trinity is a community of self-giving love; an intimate relationship. We are made to love as the Holy Trinity loved.
In today’s Gospel (Matthew 28:16-20), Jesus talks to his disciples about the mission. Jesus says “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.” Genesis 1:26, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” In Deuteronomy 6:4-5, “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone! Therefore, you shall love the LORD, your God, with your whole heart, and with your whole being, and with your whole strength.”
A simple definition of Holy Trinity is One God subsists three-persons. The Holy Trinity is the more visible way we can see it in the New Testament. We see in the Gospel of Luke 1:26-38, God the Father sent the angel Gabriel to Mary and told her the Holy Spirit will come upon her and she will conceive in her womb and bear a son, whom she will name Jesus. Luke 3:21-22, when Jesus, the Son, was baptized, the heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit came down like a dove, and the voice of the Father came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you, I am well pleased.” In the Gospel of John 15:26, at the Last Supper discourse Jesus says, “When the Advocate comes whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth that proceeds from the Father, he will testify to me.” In the first reading from the book of Deuteronomy 4:32-34, 39-40, Moses gives reason to be proud of their God, who is unique and there is no other god. The second reading from Romans 8:14-17, talks about the relationship of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and our relationship with God. St. Paul says we are children of God through adaptation. In the second Corinthians 13:13, St. Paul gives a beautiful greeting or blessing prayer, which proclaims the Holy Trinity. St. Paul encourages them to live in peace and love and asks them to greet each other with a holy kiss, and close with these words: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.”
If we look at the Book of Genesis 1:1-3, God created heaven and earth by uttering Word and Spirit of God moving the face of the waters. Gospel of John 1:1-5, says, the Word was in the beginning, the Word was God, and all things came through him.
God the Father sent his only begotten Son, through him we may have eternal life (John 3:16). The Holy Spirit came upon Mary and she gave birth to Jesus in Bethlehem (Matthew 2:1) – means house of bread – and laid in a manger (Luke 2:7) – where animals were fed. In the Gospel of John 6:35 Jesus said, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst.”
At the Last Supper, Jesus took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to his disciples and said, "Take and eat; this is my body." Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed on behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins." And he commanded them and said, “Do this in memory of me” (Mt 26:26-28; cf. Mk 14:22-24, Lk 22:17-20, 1 Cor 11:23-25).
Every Mass, during the Eucharistic prayer, the Priest on behalf of the Church begs the Holy Spirit to ask the Father to send the Son that the gift of the human beings, which are to be consecrated, may truly become the Body and Blood of Christ. We receive this greatest gift of love in Holy Communion and send out to live this gift in our community. A family is a simple form of community, it grows into a church, different organizations and it grows into a wider community. We are invited to live in a community of love. Our families become truly Christian when we live in a relationship of love with God and with others.