The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

Solennita’ tat-Trinita’  Qaddisa

Messalin   B 325

Reading 1   --      Deuteronomy 4:32-34, 39-40

Moses said to the people: "Ask now of the days of old, before your time, ever since God created man upon the earth; ask from one end of the sky to the other: Did anything so great ever happen before? Was it ever heard of? Did a people ever hear the voice of God speaking from the midst of fire, as you did, and live? Or did any god venture to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by testings, by signs and wonders, by war, with strong hand and outstretched arm, and by great terrors, all of which the LORD, your God, did for you in Egypt before your very eyes? This is why you must now know, and fix in your heart, that the LORD is God in the heavens above and on earth below, and that there is no other. You must keep his statutes and commandments that I enjoin on you today, that you and your children after you may prosper, and that you may have long life on the land which the LORD, your God, is giving you forever." This is the Word of The Lord.

L-Ewwel Qari   -    mill-Ktieb tad-Dewternomju 4, 32-34, 39-40

Mose' kellem lill-poplu u qal:  "Staqsi liż-żminijiet tal-imgħddi,  iż-żmienijiet ta' qabel, sa minn mindu  Alla ħalaq il-bniedem  fuq l-art, fittex minn tarf għal ieħor tas-sema, u ara kienx hemm  ġrajja hekk kbira bħal din, jew qattx instemgħet oħra bħalha.   Qatt kien hemm poplu li sama' leħen Alla jitkellem minn ġon-nar –  bħalma  smajt int – u baqa' ħaj? Jew qatt xi alla fittex biex jagħżel għalih poplu minn fost poplu ieħor  b'tiġrib, b'sinjali u għeġubijiet, b'taqbid, b'id qawwija u driegħ merfugħ, b'egħmejjel kbr tal-biża, bħalma għamel għalik quddiem għajnejk  fl-Eġittu il-Mulej Alla tiegħek? Mela, kun af illum, u żommha f'moħħok li l-Mulejn hu tassew Alla,  kemm fl-għoli tas-sema kemm hawn isfel fuq l-art, u li ma hawnx  ieħor għajru.    Ħares, għalhekk, l-ordnijiet u l-kmandamenti tiegħu  li se nagħtik illum biex  ikollok riżq, int u  wliedek warajk, ħalli tgħix  żmien twil fuq l-art li l-Mulej, Alla tiegħek, se jagħtik għal dejjem. Il-Kelma tal-Mulej

Responsorial Psalm    Psalm 33:4-5, 6, 9, 18-19, 20, 22

R. (12b) Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.

Upright is the word of the LORD,
and all his works are trustworthy.
He loves justice and right;
of the kindness of the Lord the earth is full.                        R

By the word of the LORD the heavens were made;
by the breath of his mouth all their host.
For he spoke, and it was made;
he commanded, and it stood forth.                                         R.

See, the eyes of the LORD are upon those who fear him,
upon those who hope for his kindness,
To deliver them from death
and preserve them in spite of famine.                                  R.

Our soul waits for the LORD,
who is our help and our shield.
May your kindness, O LORD, be upon us
who have put our hope in you.                                                 R.

Salm Responsorjali                    -              Salm 32(33)

                R/    Ħieni  l-poplu li l-Mulej għażel b'wirtu.

Sewwa hi l-kelma  tal-Mulej,

kollox  bil-fedelta' huwa  għamel.

Hu iħobb id-dritt u s-sewwa;

bit-tjieba tal-Mulej mimlija l-art.            R/

Bil-kelma tal-Mulej saru s-smewwiet,

u b'nifs fommu t-tiżjin kollu tagħhom.

Għax hu tkellem, u kollox sar;

hu ordna u kollox seħħ.                                                R/

Ara, għajnejn il-Mulej fuq dawk li jibgħżu minnu,

fuq dawk li jittamaw fit-tjieba tiegħu,

biex jeħilsilhom mill-mewt ħajjithom,

u jaħjihom  fi żmien il-ġuħ.                         R/

Ruħna tixxennaq għall-Mulej,

hu l-għajnuna u t-tarka tagħna.

Ħa tkun, Mulej, it-tjieba tiegħek fuqna,

kif fik hi t-tama tagħna.                                 R/

Reading 2    -   -       Romans 8:14-17

Brothers and sisters: For those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a Spirit of adoption, through whom we cry, "Abba, Father!" The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if only we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him. This is the Word of The Lord.

It-Tieni Qari     -     mill-Ittra ta' San Pawl Appostlu lir-Rumani  8, 14-17

 Ħuti, dawk kollha li jmexxihom l-Ispirtu ta' Alla huma  wlied Alla. Għax intom ma rċejetux  l-ispirtu li njwassalkom għall-jasar biex  terġgħu taqgħu fil-biża', imma  rċevejtu  l-Ispirtu li jagħmel minnkom  ulied adottivi; u li  bih  aħna nistgħu ngħajtu:  "Abba! Missier!" Dan l-Ispirtu jixhed  flimkien mal-ispirtu tagħna, li aħna wlied Alla.     Jekk aħna wlied,  aħna wkoll werrieta, werrieta ta' Alla, werrieta ma'  Kristu:  ladarba aħna nbatu miegħu, biex miegħu nkunu gglorifikati.  Il-Kelma tal-Mulej

Gospel           -            Matthew 28:16-20

The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them. When they all saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted. Then Jesus approached and said to them, "All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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."   This is the Word of The Lord.

L-Evanġelju   -   skont San Mattew 28 16-20

F'dak iż-żmien,  il-ħdax-il dixxiplu telqu lejn il-Galilija u marru  fuq il-muntanja fejn kien ordnalhom Ġesu'.   Kif rawh,inxteħtu quddienu; għalkemm xi wħud iddubitaw. Ġesu' resaq ikellimhom u qalilhom:  "Lili ngħatat kull setgħa fis-sema u fl-art.      Morru, mela, agħmlu dixxipli mill-ġnus kollha, u għammduhom fl-isem tal-Missier  u tal-Iben u  tal-Ispirtu s-Santu, u għallmuhom iħarsru  dak kollu li ordnajtilkom jien.    U ara,  jiena magħkom dejjem, sa l-aħħar taż-żmien."  Il-Kelma tal-Mulej

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Father Cantalamessa on Trinity Sunday

A Close Mystery

Christian life develops completely in the sign and presence of the Trinity. At the dawn of life, we were baptized "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit," and at the end, at our bedside, the words are recited: "Go forth from this world, O Christian soul, in the name of God, the Almighty Father who created you, in the name of Jesus Christ who redeemed you, and in the name of the Holy Spirit who sanctifies you."

Between these two extreme moments, there are others called of "transition" that, for a Christian, are marked by the invocation of the Trinity. In the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, spouses are united in marriage and priests are consecrated by a bishop. In the past, contracts, sentences and all important acts of civil and religious life began in the name of the Trinity.

It is not true, therefore, that the Trinity is a remote mystery, irrelevant to everyday life. On the contrary, they are the three most "intimate" persons in life: They are not outside of us, as a wife or husband is, but within us. "They make their home in us" (John 14:23); we are their "temple."

But, why do Christians believe in the Trinity? Isn't it already difficult enough to believe that God exists, and then we add that he is "one and triune"? Christians believe that God is one and triune because they believe that God is love! The revelation of God as love, made by Jesus, has "obliged" one to admit the Trinity. It is not a human invention.

If God is love, he has to love someone. There is no love "in the void," without an object. But, whom does God love to be defined love. Men? But men have existed only for thousands of years, no more. The cosmos? The universe? The universe has existed only for billions of years. Before, whom did God love, to be able to define himself love? We cannot say that he loved himself, because this would not be love but egoism and narcissism.

This is the answer of Christian revelation: God is love because from eternity he has "in his bosom" a son, the Word, the one he loves with an infinite love, that is, with the Holy Spirit. In every love there are always three realities or subjects: one who loves, one who is loved, and the love that unites them.

The Christian God is one and triune because he is communion of love. In love, unity and plurality are reconciled; love creates unity in diversity: unity of intentions, of thought, of will; diversity of subjects, of characteristics and, in the human realm, of sex. In this connection, the family is the least imperfect image of the Trinity. It was no accident that when creating the first human couple God said: "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness" (Genesis 1:26-27).

According to modern atheists, God is no more than a projection that man makes of himself, as one who confuses with another person his own image reflected in a stream. This might be true in regard to any other idea of God, but not in regard to the Christian God. What need would man have to divide himself in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, if God is really no more than the projection that man makes of his own image? The doctrine of the Trinity is, on its own, the best antidote to modern atheism.  Do you find all this too difficult? Have you understood little? I will tell you not to worry. When one is on the shore of a lake or a sea, and wishes to know what is on the other side, what is most important is not to sharpen one's sight and try to scan the horizon, but to get into the boat that takes one to that shore.

With the Trinity, what is most important is not to ruminate on the mystery, but to remain in the faith of the Church, which is the boat that takes one to the Trinity.

[Translation and adaptation from the Italian by ZENIT]

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