Most Holy Trinity Sunday – June 4, 2023
Once upon a time, Jesus miraculously appears to Catholic who was a philosopher and asked him, “Who do you say that I am?
The philosopher answered, “You are the Logos, existing in the Father as His rationality and then, by an act of His will, being generated, in consideration of the various functions by which God is related to his creation, but only on the fact that Scripture speaks of a Father, and a Son, and a Holy Spirit, each member of the Trinity being coequal with every other member, and each acting inseparably with and interpenetrating every other member, with only an economic subordination within God, but causing no division which would make the substance no longer simple.”
And Jesus replied, “What?” (adapted from Trinity Episcopal Church, Lumberton, NY May 2015)
Yes, sometimes, philosophers and theologians have constructed elaborate systems to describe a mystery that goes beyond words: the Holy Trinity. When we do that, we lose something of the beauty and the meaning that this mystery is supposed to bring to our worship, praise and honor of God and to the cultivation of healthy relationships toward one another.
To help recapture that mystery and meaning, let’s start by recalling the first time we experienced the Holy Trinity at work within us! at our baptism.
- Signed for the first time in the name of the F S and HS on our foreheads\
- Listened to the Word of God, Jesus, inviting us into fellowship with God.
- Asked God’s mercy through intercessions to renew the grace of baptism in the hearts of all present
- Asked the saints to intercede for us, to help us to enter more fully into the Mystical Body of Christ, the Church
- Priest prayed the prayer of Exorcism, that the HS may dwell within the one being baptized.
- Anointed with Oil of Catechumens on our heart, to serve as a protection against sin.
- Invoked God’s HS to bless the water, that those baptized may inherit eternal life
- Renounced Satan and Sin, and committed to adhere to the Faith of the Church
- The actual baptism with water in the name of F S and HS
- Anointed with Sacred Chrism to configure our lives to live as Priest, Prophet and King
- Celebrated the freedom from sin of the newly baptized symbolized in the white clothes the baptized wear
- Child received the Light of Christ, representing the Faith that will be handed on by those who have presented the candidate for baptism.
- Priest prays over the ears and mouth of the newly baptized, that he/she may hear and speak God’s Word to the honor and glory of God.
- The Our Father prayed in unison, which represents our being sons and daughters of God.
- Final Blessing upon Mom, Dad and all those present to the Father, in the holy Spirit, through the Son.
Whether we knew it or not, we encountered the F S and HS in various parts of the baptismal celebration.
In like manner, we encounter the Holy Trinity whenever we celebrate the Holy Eucharist together.
- The opening salutation the priest gives is a Trinitarian formula, signalling our very entry into the life of God!
- As we listen to the Scriptures being proclaimed, we ourselves become part of that story, part of that salvation. We hear how God has continually revealed Godself to the People of God and how that revelation led them closer and closer to Jesus’ revelation of God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
- If we listen carefully, we’ll notice that in the Eucharistic prayer part of the mass, Christ offers our prayers to God the Father and invokes the Spirit upon the gifts of bread and wine (called the epiclesis).
- As our Eucharistic Prayer draws to a close, the priest prays the doxology: “through him, and with him, and in him, O God almighty Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all Glory and Honor is yours, forever and ever.” This doxology reminds us that our lives are meant to be lived in honor of the Trinity and to glorify God in the process. Such glorification of God will bring us, one day, to the final union with God in Heaven.
- Receiving the Body and Blood of Christ at Mass is meant to strengthen us for our Trinitarian Mandate, to go forth from the assembly to announce the Kingdom of God by living out our faith to the best of our ability.
- Indeed, our life is incomplete unless the faith that we professed is lived out in loving service to our neighbor. Through the proclamation of the word and the celebration of our eucharist, then, we celebrate the mystery of God among us, and through lives of loving service afterward, we show what it means for us to live to the praise of God’s glory and honor.
- The work of our transformation and divinization is therefore the work of Jesus Christ who, in concert with the Father works with the Holy Spirit to perfect us, more and more, into the image of God, with each passing day. May all praise, honor, and glory be give to the Holy Trinity, now and forever. Amen.
To Download please click below.
