June 11, 2017

Holy Trinity

June 11, 2017:  Most Holy Trinity

See a dozen connections with today?
Legend below

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For the canticle
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    Don't forget Holy Spirit music; today is the octave of Pentecost
    For next Sunday
    Pope Francis Angelus
    Paul's greeting, "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you,” was inspired by his personal experience of God's love.  He encouraged the Christian community to reflect the communion, goodness, and beauty of the Trinity.  This comes only through experiencing God's mercy and forgiveness.
    During the Exodus, when the Jewish people broke the covenant, God came to Moses to renew the pact and revealed his own name and its significance.  This name shows us God is not distant and closed in on himself but rather is Life wishing to communicate itself; he's openness and redeeming love.  That revelation of God's Name is fulfilled in the words of Christ and his saving message.  Jesus showed us God's face:  one in substance and Triune in Persons; God is all and only Love, in a subsisting relationship that creates, redeems, and sanctifies all.
    Though Nicodemus was important in the community, he kept seeking God.  But speaking with Jesus, he came to know God had already sought him, was waiting for him, and loved him.  Eternal life is the Father's immeasurable and gratuitous love that Jesus gave on the Cross for our salvation.  May the Virgin Mary help us to enter more, with our whole selves, into the Trinitarian Communion, to live and bear witness to the love that gives sense to our existence.
    Read
      Animate
    • Ex 34:4b-6, 8-9  The Lord, having come down in a cloud, stood with Moses at Mt. Sinai, proclaimed his name, "Lord," passed before him, and cried, "The Lord, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity."  Moses, bowing in worship:  "If I find favor with you, come along in our company.  Pardon us, and receive us as your own."
    • Dn 3:52-56  "Glory and praise for ever!"  Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of our fathers, in the temple of your glory, on your throne; blessed are you who look into the depths, praiseworthy and exalted above all forever.
    • 2 Cor 13:11-13  Rejoice, mend your ways, encourage, agree, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you.  Greet one another with a holy kiss.  The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
    • Jn 3:16-18  God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so all who believe in him might have eternal life.  God did not send his Son to condemn the world but to save it.  Whoever believes in him will not be condemned...
    Reflect
    • Creighton:  In the 1st reading, God stands with Moses and proclaims: The Lord, the Lord, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity.  May I trust in God's mercy and serve with courage as Moses did.  The 2nd reading reminds us we can bring out the best in each other by living peacefully in community, but we know how hard it can be to mend our ways, encourage one another, agree, and live in peace.  May I show others the compassion and love I experience.  Today's gospel is the foundation of our faith; we need it especially in challenging times.  Love is what the Trinity is all about:  out of love God sends his son.  Jesus shows love on earth and by his death and resurrection.  And his death and resurrection bring us the love of the Holy Spirit.  How do I live in appreciation of this love?
    • One Bread, One Body:  "Triple play":  We can't grasp the how of the Trinity but can know the Who because God continually reveals himself to us.  The Father and Son pour out their love into us through the Spirit, who reminds us we're God's adopted children of God and helps us know the Father so deeply that we cry out, "Abba! (Papa)."  When our heads spin, we can respond like Moses and worship, rejoicing and praising God "in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit."
    • Passionist:  Today we celebrate that we believe God to be One in Three Persons in perfect relationship.  Out of Love God created the universe and revealed himself in the Son.  There are people we love dearly and know well, maybe better than they know themselves.  God chooses to be in relationship with us and loves us even though he knows us better than we ourselves.  To love someone, I need to be in a relationship with them.  So when Jesus calls us to love our enemies, the “least,” or those who can't repay our love, is he asking us to be in relationship with them?  Can we be that vulnerable?  May we broaden our circle of relationships.  God was that vulnerable with us in becoming one of us to save us.  Are we willing to be vulnerable with God, to to surrender to his love and will?  May we enter into the mystery of love and relationships, trusting that God, Love, will show us how.
      Holy Trinity, fresco by Rossetti da Orta
    • DailyScripture.net:  "God's incredible gift of love for the world":  When God met Moses and made a covenant with the Israelites, he revealed his nature and love.  The Father sent his Son to redeem, heal, and restore.  God gives us freedom to choose good over evil, life over death.  Jesus was sent to free us from sin and death and bring us unending life.  He brought us freedom, life in the Spirit, pardon, reconciliation, and adoption as God's children.  His mission was motivated by love and obedience.  He told his disciples there's no greater love than to lay down your life for a friend.  Jesus loved us, even while we were captive to sin, to free us and make us God's friends and children.  We were created to be united with God and share his love and glory.  "God loves each one of us as if there were only one of us to love" (Augustine).  God's love is directed towards our good, to make us whole and unite us in love and peace.  God's love can free us from sin, fear, guilt, pride, greed, envy, hatred....  We experience God's love and healing to the extent that we trust and surrender to him, turning away from disobedience and to the Lord.  Faith opens the door to God's presence and work in us.  Jesus revealed God's nature and the union of Father, Son, and Spirit.  His mission is to reveal God's glory, a Trinity of persons, and unite us with God in a community of love.  God created us to enter into the unity of the Trinity.  The Jews understood God as Creator and Father and understood Israel as God's firstborn son.  Jesus revealed the Father in an unheard of sense:  by his relationship to his Son.   Jesus revealed the Spirit as 'Paraclete' and Helper to be with, teach, and guide us.  In baptism we're called to share in the life of the Trinity.
    "What an astonishing mystery!  There's one Father of the universe, one Logos [Word] of the universe, and also one Holy Spirit, everywhere one and the same; there's also one virgin become mother, and I should like to call her 'Church'" (Clement of Alexandria) 
    The Spirit reveals the Father and Son to us and gives us faith to know and understand God's word.  Through the Spirit, we proclaim our faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  The Lord gives us his Spirit as Teacher and Helper that we may grow in knowledge and wisdom of God.  "May the Lord Jesus put his hands on our eyes, for then we'll begin to look not at what's seen but at what's not seen.  May he open the eyes concerned not with the present but with what is yet to come, may he unseal the heart's vision, that we may gaze on God in the Spirit, through the same Lord, Jesus Christ, whose glory and power will endure" (Origen).
      • Barnabas ["son of encouragement"], apostle, early convert, accompanied Paul on his first missionary journey, then went to Cyprus to preach with cousin John Mark (the evangelist).  (Synopsis with scriptural references)  Likely martyred in Cyprus; see also New Advent, Wikipedia.  Find those who need encouragement today.
    Dress legend
    • 'Alps' pin:  Moses went up Mount Sinai... (1st reading)
    • 'Stone' tie pin:  ...with the two stone tablets (1st reading)
    • 'Crown' tie bar:  Blessed are you on the throne of your kingdom (canticle)
    • 'Peace sign' tie bar:  Live in peace, and the God of peace will be with you (2nd reading)
    • 'Dove' pin':  The fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you (2nd reading); end of unofficial Pentecost octave
    • 'Hearts' suspenders:  God loved the world so much... (gospel)
    • 'I ♥ my dad' tie:  Father of Holy Trinity
    • 'Jesus' pin:  Son of Trinity
      • '3 jewels, 1 pin':  Holy Trinity:  three Persons, one God (see below re 'bad analogies' :-)
        • White shirt and socks:  Holy Trinity solemnity
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