Thursday, May 27, 2021

Fr. Martin Eke, MSP - Homily for the Ninth Sunday of Easter Year B - May 30, 2021- Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

 Homily of the Most Holy Trinity Year B, 2021

 Deuteronomy 4:32-34, 39-40; Psalm 33:4-6, 9, 18-20, 22; Romans 8: 14-17; Matthew 28:16-20

 We celebrated the Solemnity of Pentecost last Sunday. The descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles brings the work of the Most Holy Trinity to its fullness. God the Father is the Creator. God the Son is the Savior. God the Holy Spirit sanctifies and renews.

 As we read in the gospel, when Jesus was about to ascend to heaven, he authorized his apostles to baptize in the name of the Trinity. He said, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19). By extension, Jesus commands us to do all things in the name of the Trinity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. That is why, all our prayers begin with the invocation of the Trinity, and end with the blessing of the Trinity. We invoke the Trinity each time we profess the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirt, and sign ourselves with the Sign of the Cross. It is, therefore, important that we profess the holy names and sign ourselves reverently. The sign of the Cross was known in Christian liturgy about 3rd century AD.

 The Trinity is one of the most important mysteries in Christianity. Thus, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are three persons, but one nature, one God, equal, undivided, and inseparable. We are not invited to fully understand the dogma because it is a mystery. We are, rather, invited to participate in the nature of the Trinity.

 What is the nature of the Trinity?

 First, the nature of the Trinity is Unity: The Trinity is one nature, inseparable, and undivided. We are invited to witness unity wherever we find ourselves. Separations and divisions are not from God.

 Second, the nature of the Trinity is harmony: There is perfect harmony in the Trinity. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit relate in harmony from creation to the descent of the Holy Spirit. We are invited to work harmoniously with one another.

 Third, the nature of the Trinity is equality: The three persons of the Trinity are equal. None is superior to the other. Therefore, we are invited to provide equal treatment and equal opportunity for everyone.

 Fourth, the nature of the Trinity is love: Unity, harmony, and equality can only be possible where there is love. The Trinity is bonded by love. We pray that we are bound together by genuine love. As we know, everything is possible with genuine love.

 Fifth, the nature of the Trinity is holy: As we celebrate and worship the Most Holy Trinity, may the rays of their holy light shine on us, dispel forces of sin and darkness, and bring us to conversion. May the rays of their holy light bring us healing. May the rays of their holy light guide us to the path of truth and righteousness. May the rays of their holy light grant us protection. Amen.

 Any family, church, community, organization, institution, or country that is rooted in the nature of the Trinity will experience unity, peace, and progress. The crises we have everywhere is because of human beings’ rejection of the nature of the Trinity. Some people are rooted only in human nature that leads to nowhere. Worse still, some people are rooted in the nature of the Evil One and they go astray. Inequality, injustice, disharmony, hate, disunity, crises, and so on are opposed to the nature of the Trinity.

 

Humanity’s trinitarian interconnectedness is in such a way that what affects one affects all. Whatever happens to one part of the world affects other parts of the world. In his Urbi et Orbi (city and world) address, March 27, 2020, Pope Francis says, “We have realized that we are on the same boat, all of us fragile and disoriented, but at the same time important and needed, …” An English author, John Donne, in 1624 wrote, “No one is an Island, entire of itself; everyone is a piece of the Continent, a part of the main. … No one is self-sufficient; everyone relies on others.”

 The celebration today reminds us the necessity of the unity and oneness. It is often said, “Where there is unity, there is strength, and there is victory;” “United we stand, divided we fall.”

We conclude with St. Paul’s trinitarian blessing in 2 Corinthians 13:14, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.” Amen.

(Please, share this homily with friends and family. Let us all become instruments of evangelization.)

 Fr. Martin Eke, MSP

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