THE SOURCE OF LOVE

Readings for June 15, 2014

The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

                                                                              It-Trinita' Qaddisa   -  Solennita'                                                                            

Messalin A pp 238

Reading 1                        exodus 34:4b-6, 8-9

Early in the morning Moses went up Mount Sinai  as the LORD had commanded him, taking along the two stone tablets.  Having come down in a cloud, the LORD stood with Moses there and proclaimed his name, "LORD."  Thus the LORD passed before him and cried out,  "The LORD, the LORD, a merciful and gracious God,  slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity."  Moses at once bowed down to the ground in worship. Then he said, "If I find favor with you, O Lord, do come along in our company.  This is indeed a stiff-necked people; yet pardon our wickedness and sins, and receive us as your own."  This is the Word of The Lord.

L-Ewwel Lezzjoni   -   Qari mill-Ktieb ta' l-Eżodu 34, 4b-6. 8-9

F'dak iż-żmien, Mose' qam filgħodu kmieni, u tala' fuq il-muntanja tas-Sinaj,  kif kien ordnalu l-Mulej, u ħa f'idejh iż-żewġ twavel tal-ġebel.  Imbagħad  il-Mulej niżel fi sħaba u waqaf hemm  Maġenbu; u xandar l-isem tal-Mulej.  U l-Mulej  għadda minn quddiemu u għajjat:  "Jaħweh! Jaħweh!  Alla li jagħder u jħenn;  tqil biex jagħdab u kbir  fit-tjieba u fil-fedelta'."  Mose' minnufih inxteħet għal wiċċu fl-art, u ta qima u qal:  "Jekk jien tassew sibt ħniena quddiemek, Sidi, ħa jiġi Sidi ġo nofsna, nitolbuk; għax dan hu poplu rasu iebsa.  Aħfrilna ħżunitna u ħtijietna, u ħduna b'wirt għalik.!  Il-Kelma tal-Mulej

Responsorial Psalm                               DaNiel 3:52, 53, 54, 55, 56

R/ (52b) Glory  and praise for ever!

Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of our fathers,
praiseworthy and exalted above all forever;
And blessed is your holy and glorious name,
praiseworthy and exalted above all for all ages.                                            R/

Blessed are you in the temple of your holy glory,
praiseworthy and glorious above all forever.                                  R/

Blessed are you on the throne of your kingdom,
praiseworthy and exalted above all forever.                                   R/

Blessed are you who look into the depths
from your throne upon the cherubim,
praiseworthy and exalted above all forever.                                   R/

Salm Responsjali  -       Danjel 3, 32,33,34,55,56

                        R/  Ta' min ifaħħrek u jgħollik fuq kollox għal dejjem.

Imbierek, int, Mulej, Alla ta' missirijietna.                                        R/

Inbierek ismek, qaddis u msebbaħ.                                                  R/

Imbierek int fit-tempju tas-sebh imqaddes tiegħek.                     R/

Imbierek int li qiegħed fuq il-kerubini, li ħarstek

tifned  l-abbissi.                                                                                    R/

Imbierek int fuq it-tron ta' saltnatek.                                                R/

Imbierek int fil-wisa' kollu tas-sema.                                                R/

Reading 2                        2 corinthians 13:11-13

Brothers and sisters, rejoice.  Mend your ways, encourage one another,  agree with one another, live in peace,  and the God of love and peace will be with you.  Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the holy ones greet you.  The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God  and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.  This is the Word of The Lord.

It-Tieni Lezzjoni    -   Tieni Ittra lill-Korintin 13, 11-13

Ħuti, ifirħu, ħabirku għall-perfezzjoni, isimgħu milli wieħed igħidilkom, kunu ta' fehma waħda, żommu s-sliem, u Alla ta' l-imħabba u s-sliem ikun magħkom. Sellmu lil xulxin b'bewsa qaddisa. Il-qaddisin kollha jsellmulkom. Il-grazzja ta' Sidna Ġesu' Kristu, l-imħabba ta' Alla u l-għaqda fl-Ispirtu s-Santu jkunu magħkom ilkoll.   1l-Kelma tal-Mulej        

Gospel                                john 3:16-18

God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,  so that everyone who believes in him might not perish  but might have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world,  but that the world might be saved through him.  Whoever believes in him will not be condemned,  but whoever does not believe has already been condemned,  because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.  This is the Word of The Lord.

L-Evanġelju   -   Qari skond San Ġwann 3, 16-18

F'dak iż-żmien, Ġesu' qal lil Nikodemu:  "Alla hekk ħabb id-dinja li ta lil Ibnu l-waħdieni,

biex kull min jemmen fih ma jintilifx, iżda  jkollu l-ħajja ta' dejjem.  Għax Alla ma bagħatx lil Ibnu fid-dinja biex jagħmel ħaqq mid-dinja,  imma biex id-dinja  salva permezz tiegħu.

Min jemmen fih ma jkunx ikkundannat; iżda  min ma jemminx huwa ġa kkundannat, għax ma emminx fl-isem ta' l-Iben il-waħdieni ta' Alla.  Il-Kelma tal-Mulej

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COMMENTARY

 The Source of Love

In a commentary on this Sunday's Gospel passage, Capuchin Father Raniero Cantalamessa, the preacher of the Pontifical Household, comments that the Trinity is a model for the whole human community because it shows how love creates unity out of diversity.
* * * 
At that time, Jesus said to Nicodemus: "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. He who believes in him is not condemned; he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God."

The second reading of today's liturgy, taken from the second letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians, is the one that most directly evokes the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity: "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you." But, why do Christians believe in the Trinity? Isn't it difficult enough to believe that God exists, that we must also have added to it the enigma that he is "one and triune?" There are some today who would not be unhappy to leave the Trinity to one side, to be able to dialogue better with Jews and Muslims, who profess faith in a God who is rigidly one.

Christians believe that God is triune because they believe that God is love! It is the revelation of God as love, made by Jesus, which has obliges us to admit the Trinity. It is not a human invention. There is no love for the void, no love that is not directed to someone. So we must ask: who does God love to be defined as love? A first answer might be: He loves mankind. But we have existed for some millions of years, no more. And before then, who did God love? He could not in fact have begun to be love at a certain point in time, because God cannot change. 

Second answer: Before then he loved the cosmos, the universe. But the universe has existed for some thousands of millions of years. Before then, who did God love to be able to define himself as love? We cannot say that he loved himself because to love oneself is not love, but egoism or, as psychologists say, narcissism.

Here is the answer of Christian revelation. God is love in himself, before time, because he has always had in himself a Son, the word, whom he loves with an infinite love, that is, in the Holy Spirit. In all love there are always three realities or subjects: one who loves, one who is loved, and the love that unites them.

The God of Christian revelation is one and triune because he is communion of love. Theology has made use of the term "nature" or "substance" to indicate unity in God, and of the term "person" to indicate the distinction. Because of this we say that our God is one God in three persons. The Christian doctrine of the Trinity is not a regression, a compromise between monotheism and polytheism. It is a step further that only God himself could make the human mind take.

Let us now turn to some practical considerations. The Trinity is the model of every human community, from the most simple and elemental, which is the family, to the universal Church. It shows how love creates unity out of diversity: unity of intentions, of thought, of will; diversity of subjects, of characteristics and, in the human realm, of sex. And we see, specifically, what a family can learn from the Trinitarian model.

If we read the New Testament with care, we observe a sort of rule. Each one of the three divine persons does not speak about himself, but about the other; does not attract attention to himself, but to the other. Every time the Father speaks in the Gospel he does so always to reveal something of the Son. Jesus, in turn, speaks only of the Father. When the Holy Spirit reaches a believer's heart, he does not teach him to say his name, which in Hebrew is "Ruah," but teaches him to say "Abba," which is the Father's name.

Let's try to think what this style would bring about if it were transferred to family life. The father, who is not so concerned about asserting his authority as that of the mother; the mother, who before teaching the child to say "Mommy," teaches him to say "Daddy." If this style was imitated in our families and communities, they would truly become a reflection of the Trinity on earth, places where love is the rule that governs everything.

Italian original published by "Famiglia Cristiana" /[Translation by ZENIT   © Innovative Media Inc.