Deuteronomy 4:32-34, 39-40; Psalm 33:4-6, 9, 18-20, 22; Romans 8: 14-17; Matthew 28:16-20
The descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles, celebrated last Sunday, 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 is the sanctifier.
In today’s gospel, Jesus authorized his apostles to baptize in the name of the Trinity. “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). Therefore, Jesus commands us not only to baptize in the name of the Trinity but to do all things in the name of the Trinity. That is why all Catholic 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 each time we sign ourselves with the Sign of the Cross. It is important that we profess the holy names and sign ourselves reverently.
The Sign of the Cross was known in Christian liturgy as early as about 3rd century AD. St. Basil in the 4th Century AD wrote that the Sign of the Cross originated in apostolic time. The exact date is not recorded.
The Trinity is one of the most important mysteries in Christianity. 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 live and move and have our being in the Trinity, and so become instruments of unity. Division comes from the Evil One. It is often said, “Where there is unity, there is strength, and there is victory.” “United we stand, divided we fall.”
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. Disagreements and bitterness hinder progress.
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. Partiality is unjust.
The Trinity is bonded in love. Unity, harmony, and equality can only be possible where there is genuine love. We pray that we are bound together in such love. Everything is possible with genuine love.
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 guard and protect us. Amen.
Any family, church, community, organization, institution, or country that is rooted in the nature of the Trinity (unity, harmony, equality, love, and holiness) will experience peace, tranquility, and progress. The dissension, crises, violence, and wars we have everywhere are due to human beings’ rejection of the nature of the Trinity but prefer human’s nature and the Evil One’s nature.
St. Paul writes how God made the human body to function in a trinitarian way, “God has so constructed the body … so that there may be no division in the body, but that the parts may have the same concern for one another. If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it; if one part is honored, all the parts share its joy” (1 Corinthians 12:25-26). “The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I do not need you,’ nor again the head to the feet, ‘I do not need you’” (1 Corinthians 12:21).
It is in this same trinitarians interconnectedness that God made the world. Whatever each person does affects the person’s environment and other people. Whatever happens in any part of the world affects other parts of the world. God’s gifts, talents, and resources are for the benefit of all. But it is human beings’ bad will and greed that bring disconnection, destruction, suffering, and death; resulting to the unfortunate existence of first world and third world, developed and underdeveloped, rich and poor, superior and inferior, strong and weak, powerful and powerless, advantaged and disadvantaged, privileged and underprivileged, affluent and slum, and so on. To remain in control and unchallenged, the first world perpetuates the third world, the developed perpetuates the underdevelopment, the rich perpetuates poverty, the superior perpetuates inferiority, the strong perpetuates weakness, the powerful perpetuates powerlessness, the advantaged perpetuates the disadvantaged, the privileged perpetuates the underprivileged, the affluent perpetuates slums. Humanity’s bad will and greed have turned the “very good” world God created (Genesis 1:31) to the ‘very bad’ world it is now.
We pray for a change of heart of those who perpetuate evil. However, we can help to return the world to “very good” by starting with ourselves. Mahatma Gandhi is quoted as saying, “If you want to change the world, start with yourself.” Are there things I am doing that are against unity, harmony, equality, love, and holiness?
Let us live and move and have our being in the Most Holy Trinity, and all will be well. Amen.
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