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.".
L-Ewwel
Qari -
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 minn minn
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.
It-Tieni
Qari -
Ittra 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."
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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God puts Relationship and Community first
A reflection by Fr. Thomas Rosica, CSB
One of the important dimensions of our
Trinitarian God is the community of love and persons modeled for us in the
mystery of the Holy Trinity. For Christians, the Trinity is the primary symbol
of a community that is held together by containing diversity within itself.
If our faith is based in this Trinitarian
mystery that is fundamentally a mystery of community, then all of our earthly
efforts and activities must work toward building up the human community that is
a reflection of God's rich, Trinitarian life.
Sunday's Deuteronomy passage is an excellent
point of departure for probing the depths of the mystery of the Trinity.
Consider for a moment Moses' words encouraging and exhorting the people of Israel Israel ,
linking the uniqueness of Israel 's
special vocation with the uniqueness of Israel
Then in a series of rhetorical questions,
Moses, knowing full well that the Lord alone is God, puts the people of Israel
"on the stand," and asks them about this God of theirs: "For ask
now about former ages, long before your own, ever since the day that God
created human beings on the earth; ask from one end of heaven to the other: has
anything so great as this ever happened or has its like ever been heard of? Has
any people ever heard the voice of a god speaking out of a fire, as you have
heard, and lived? Or has any god ever attempted to go and take a nation for
himself from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs and wonders, by
war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by terrifying displays of
power, as the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes? To you
it was shown so that you would acknowledge that the Lord is God; there is no
other besides him" (4:32-35).
Matthew’s commission
The majestic departure scene at the end of
Matthew’s Gospel [28:16-20] relates to us Jesus' final earthly moments and the
great commission to the Church: "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, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.
And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age" (19-20).
The great apostolic commission implies a
service that is pastoral: "Go therefore and make disciples of all the
nations"; liturgical: "baptizing them"; prophetic:
"teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you"; and
guaranteed by the Lord's closeness, until the end of time. The scene gives a
foretaste of the final glorious coming of the Son of Man [Matthew 26:64]. Then
his triumph will be manifest to all; now it is revealed only to the disciples,
who are commissioned to announce it to all nations and bring them to believe in
Jesus and obey his commandments. Since universal power belongs to the risen
Jesus [Matthew 28:18], he gives the eleven a mission that is truly universal.
They are to make disciples of all nations.
Baptism is the means of entrance into the
community of the risen one, the Church. "In the name of the Father and of
the Son and of the Holy Spirit": this is perhaps the clearest expression
in the New Testament of Trinitarian belief. It may have been the baptismal
formula of Matthew's church, but primarily it designates the effect of baptism,
the union of those baptized with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Trinitarian language
The language of Father and Son is relational
language and reminds us that, for God, as for us, created in God's image,
relationship and community are primary. God can no more be defined by what God
does than we can. God is a Being, not a Doing, just as we are human beings, not
human doings. This is a point of theology but also, with all good theology, a
practical point.
To define God's inner life in the Trinity in
terms of God's activity leads to defining humans, created in God's image, in
the same way. Those who choose to say, "In the name of the Creator, the
Redeemer, and the Sustainer" err in defining God by function and not by
person. God is a living being who exists in intimate relationship with us.
Our God isn’t immovable. God isn’t alone. God
is communication between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This is the
profound mystery that the liturgy for the feast of the Holy Trinity recalls:
both the unspeakable reality of God and the manner in which this mystery has
been given to us. The Trinity celebrates the peace and unity of the divine
persons in whom the circular dance of love -- perichoresis in Greek --
continues. That unity is a dance of life and relationships, encompassing all
aspects of human life.
We must constantly strive for this unity and
peace of God, Jesus, and their life-giving Spirit, a peace that theological
controversy never gives. Though theology is absolutely necessary, we would do
well to pray more and love God more, than trying to figure out our Trinitarian
God! The consolation is this: complete understanding is not necessary for love.
Listen to St. Catherine of Siena
"Eternal God, eternal Trinity, you have
made the blood of Christ so precious through his sharing in your divine nature.
You are a mystery as deep as the sea; the more I search, the more I find, and
the more I find the more I search for you. But I can never be satisfied; what I
receive will ever leave me desiring more. When you fill my soul I have an
ever-greater hunger, and I grow more famished for your light. I desire above
all to see you, the true light, as you really are."
Love can never outgrow its fascination with
the puzzling aspects of the one loved. This is our approach to the Trinitarian
mystery. We must love God more. On this feast, let us pray that we be caught up
in the unifying and reconciling work of the Holy Spirit of God. The increasing
glory of God is this progressive revelation of the Trinity.
Many times during our lives, we experience
this revelation and God's Trinitarian presence through the depth of love,
communication, and relationship with other people. Our God is rich in
relationships, communication and love for all people. This God models to us
what the dynamic Trinitarian life is all about– communication, relationship,
and affection. The quality of our Christian life is based on imitation of the
interior life of the Trinity.
The foundation of our Trinitarian faith is
dialogue, communication, and a "dance of life." Though we may
struggle in understanding the Holy Trinity
Glory to you, Father, Who by the power of your
love, Created the world and formed us in your own image and likeness.
Glory to you, only begotten Son, Who in your
wisdom assumed our human condition To lead us to the Kingdom.
Glory to you, Holy Spirit, Who in your mercy
sanctified us in baptism.
You work to create in us a new beginning each
day.
Glory to you, Holy Trinity, You always have
been, you are and you always will be
Equally great to the end of the ages.
We adore you, we praise you, we give you
thanks
Because you were pleased to reveal the depth
of your mystery
To the humble, to little ones.
Grant that we may walk in faith and joyful
hope until the day
When it will be ours to live in the fullness
of your love
And to contemplate forever what we now believe
here below:
God who is Father, Son, and Spirit! Glory to You!
May God's Holy Trinity -- in unspeakable
goodness and mystery -- teach us and guide us in the life that is ours, and may
we grow in "God's love poured forth into our hearts by the Spirit that has
been given to us" (Romans 5:5).
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