Homily: Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

 

Reading 1: We can come to know that there is a God, as Paul tells us, through the use of our intellect. Looking at the vastness, the multiplicity of nature in all its beauty and wonder, we can come to know that some higher power must have created all this, while not being created.

 

But as man viewed the wonders of creation, he began to worship created entities as God. So the moon, the sun, the earth, the planets, the wind, the fire, different animals were worship as gods. That is the world that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their descendants lived in, even though the One God began to reveal himself to them.

 

In the first reading, Moses tells the Israelites who have been delivered from their bondage in Egypt by the mighty power of God, that there is only one God. He reminds them that they heard his voice at Mt. Sinai. They have seen his signs mighty signs. Moses tells them that all this has been done that this people may know that the Lord is God in the heavens and on earth and there is no other god.

 

What was the response that Moses required of the people in their relationship with the One, True God? “You must keep his statutes and commandments that I have enjoin on our today.” If they did, they will live a life in relationship to him in love.

 

How blessed are we! We are the descendants of generations of those who have believed in the One God. Their faith in God has been passed down through the ages, not without a great price. Many have had to suffer persecution and even death because of their faith in God, which was precious to them.

 

This is the same God, who has revealed himself in signs and wonders in our life. Recall what God has done for you over the past years. What response should we make? The same as Moses told the people of his day. To keep God’s commandments, to seek him, to acknowledge him in words and deeds as the God/Lord/Savior, the beginning and the end of our life.  We came from him and we will return to him.

 

Gospel: As God revealed his oneness to and through the people of the Old Covenant, Jesus has revealed that the One God is triune in persons.  It took a long time for the Israelites to fully embrace that there is only one God. Now, Jesus was stretching their belief. The Son of God came into the world to redeem us as well as to reveal the fuller mystery of God, as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Many in his day refused to believe and eventually had him crucified as a blasphemer.  Faith in Jesus as Lord and Messiah and faith in his revelation of the One Triune God, separated those who followed Jesus and those who refused.

 

Even though the term Trinity is not mentioned in the scriptures, the reality of the Trinity is as we heard in today’s Gospel. In each of the Gospel narratives, we have the evangelists’ recollection of Jesus’ last will and testament to the Apostles. Last Sunday we heard Mark’s remembrance. John’s was found in the Last Supper narrative. We heard Luke’s on the Ascension. Now, we have Matthew’s.

 

“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, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always until the end of the age.”

 

Without fully understanding this mystery, they did what Jesus commanded them. It would be centuries later that this revelation would be explained theologically. In our Creed, which we proclaim each Sunday, we profess our faith in God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Though One, each divine person is distinct but equal, sharing in same life of love.  In trying to understand and concretize this mystery, the Church in the early centuries had to deal with many wrong teachings. But guided by the Holy Spirit of Truth, we proclaim the Trinity to the world.

 

Reading 2: Paul reveals the role of the Spirit in our relationship to the Trinity. He reminds us that in Baptism we not only experienced the grace of redemption but also the grace of adoption. We became sons and daughters of God, sharing in the very divine life of God. As a result, like Jesus we can call God, “Abba, Father.”  If we remain one with God, we will share in the inheritance God has for us, namely, to be glorified with him in eternity. To do so, we need to avoid falling back into the spirit of slavery which is a life of sin.  By keeping the commandments of God, we remain in God and God in us.

 

As we proudly profess our faith in the Creed today, let the words we say truly reflect our conviction and our commitment to follow the Lord in all we do.