Trinity Sunday, Cycle C, 2007, June 3, 2007

Scripture: Proverbs 8:22-31. Psalm 8. Romans 5:1-5. John 16:12-15.
Lectionary # 167:

Mystery is an important reality in our reflection upon God and on the great
loving mystery of the Trinity. In looking for a third time at our readings
I noticed that they do emphasize the different Persons of the Trinity in
the unity of the Godhead. The first catches us immediately with Wisdom
coming forth from God (the Creator). The Psalm emphasizes the wonder of an
inspired Psalmist to praise the God of Creation. Paul's letter to the
Romans is centered on the mystery of the Redemption and the great Paschal
mysteries of Jesus, the Son of God, as our Redeemer. Then the Gospel
mentions all three Persons of the Trinity but has the Advocate or the Holy
Spirit at the center of Jesus's final discourse to his apostles on the
night before he died. As I reflect on this mystery and teaching of the
Christian faith, I was helped by reading the latest book of Benedict XVI on
the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity--Jesus. Again and again the
Sovereign Pontiff tells how Jesus is the face of God, how Jesus is
personified by the Beatitudes, how Jesus prays in giving us the Lord's
Prayer. God can be seen by humankind in the Person of Jesus; some even
experienced this while they lived and moved about with him in his public
ministry.( I John 1:1-4). Mary and Joseph were graced with a longer period
of enjoying the face of God in Jesus. Though we have not experienced Jesus
in his time in history as did his apostles, we do see him with the eyes of
faith and with our participation in the sacraments of our Baptism and in
the Eucharist.. We start our Eucharistic celebrations with the sign of the
Trinity: "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Spirit." We were baptized in this same profession of faith into the mystery
of Christ's death and resurrection. And we end most of our prayers with an
invocation of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit sometimes in Trinitarian
form at others in the name of the Son through the Holy Spirit. We remember
that no one can say "Jesus is Lord" and really believe and mean it unless
the Holy Spirit prompts us to do so. Yes, our initiation into the faith
was through Baptism and it is strengthened through the power of the Three
Persons within our sacramental life. We the People of God, the Body of
Christ, do see the face of Jesus today and are praised by the Lord himself
in believing that we do. "Blessed are they who have not seen but have
believed." Believing in Jesus is seeing him on a deeper level than the
physical vision of our eyes. Each day we experience the love of God through
our humanity for we have been created into the image and likeness of God,
redeemed by the life-giving of the Son our Redeemer, and then sanctified
through the gentle and persistent presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
The Holy Spirit is the intimate love of God the Father reciprocated by the
Son of God and then given to us super-abundantly when Jesus returns to the
Father. It is the Holy Spirit who helps us to remember and to have hope
that we will be able to see the Father and the Son. Jesus tells us that
the one who sees him sees the Father! This mystery of Three Divine Persons
in One is the most profoundof mysteries
that has ever been revealed to us humans. This was made possible through
resurrection of Jesus from the dead and his glorification at the right hand
of the Father. He then sent the Holy Spirit upon his community which
continues in us to this very day and moment. We are blessed if we are able
to believe this mystery. It is a gift of grace that makes this possible.
St. Francis Xavier was so moved by this mystery that he would pray often
during the day with the simple words, "O MOST HOLY TRINITY." As we think
of the Creator God the Father we express our thanks for the gift of our
lives; as we receive Jesus in the Eucharist we praise him for his total
love for us in the mystery of the Redemption; as we grow in our spiritual
lives we realize the workings of the Holy Spirit the Sanctifier and under
the guidance of the Spirit we move on towards the goal of our lives, union
with the Trinity of Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Our own lives
resonate and vibrate with peace, joy, and love whenever we respond in faith
to the Most Holy Trinity. We then can pray, "Glory be to the Father, and
the Son, and the Holy Spirit as it was in the beginning is now and ever
will be. And with our spirituality as Marianists we can sing,"May the
Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit be glorified in all places through
the immaculate virgin Mary." Amen.