05.31.12~Catholic Matter June 3, 2012

SUNDAY READINGS - Trinity Sunday FIRST READING: Deuteronomy 4:32-34; 39-40. Moses said to the people: "Ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether such a great thing has ever happened or was ever heard of. Did any people ever hear the voice of a god speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and still live? Or has any god ever attempted to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, and by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?" "Know therefore this day, and lay it to your heart, that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other. Therefore you shall keep his statutes and his commandments which I command you this day, that it may go well with you, and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which the Lord your God gives you for ever." EXPLANATION: On the Book of Deuteronomy see the Fourth Sunday of the Year. According to the author of this book, Moses has led the Chosen People from Egypt to the Transjordan and now addresses his last instructions to them before they cross over into the Promised Land. Today's reading is taken from the first of the three long discourses which the author puts into the mouth of Moses. The Chosen People have been privileged beyond all nations that ever were; the true God led them out from slavery by signs and by wonders in order to make them his own people. He is about to give them a homeland of their own. As Lord of the universe, he has every right to demand obedience of them. Yet, if they obey his commandments they and their children after them will be rewarded by being happy in their homeland forever. ask...past: Moses challenges the people to search the history of man on earth to see if they can find anything to compare with the privileged experience they had with God in the Exodus from Egypt and the revelation on Mount Sinai. hear...live: It was the common opinion then that any mortal who saw or heard God would die immediately. The Chosen People had heard God's voice on Mount Sinai and did not die (see Exodus 19: 1-20: 21). any...attempted: God took the Chosen People out of the midst of powerful Egypt. The conviction among the pagans was that the god of one nation had no power in another nation. The God of the Chosen People proved that he was God of all nations by displaying his power in Egypt. signs...terrors: Moses is referring to the great power he used to free the Israelites from the slavery of Egypt. He is referring to all that is described in the book of Exodus (1-14). before your eyes: The Chosen People, or Israelites, were witnesses to this great power and the loving benevolence of Yahweh their God. know...your heart: He warns them never to forget that Yahweh their God is the one supreme God. "There is no other." keep...commandments: These are the moral and liturgical laws God had given them on Mount Sinai, which Moses is now going to repeat once more to them in the following chapters. it may...you: If they keep his commandments God will provide for them in their needs. land...forever: They and their children after them, down through the generations ("forever") will continue to possess the country (Canaan) that he is giving over to them. APPLICATION: The mystery of the Blessed Trinity was not revealed in the Old Testament because God saw that his Chosen People were not yet ready to accept such a mystery. Living, as they were, surrounded by adorers of many gods, any knowledge of the Trinity of persons in the one God, might have weakened their monotheism. It was only when Christ came on earth claiming (and proving his claim) that he was the divine Son of God, and promising to send the Consoler, a third Person in God, to strengthen and guide his disciples that this doctrine was fully revealed. It was accepted without question from the very first days of the Christian Church, first of all because it was Christ who revealed it, and, secondly, because it was felt that the Church had proof of the existence of three distinct Persons in the one God in that each of them played a part in the founding and spreading of Christianity. The Father sent his Son on earth in human form, and raised him from the dead when he had carried out his Father's will. The Father and the Son sent the Holy Spirit to direct and govern the Church founded by the Son. While we admit the fact that there are three distinct Persons in the one God and have valid reasons for doing so, we still do not understand how this is. Of course, if God could be fully understood by our finite minds, he would not be God, but a limited being like ourselves. Let us be content today to say how privileged we are to know of this doctrine and even more so to know that each of the three divine Persons has played a part in giving us a share in their life. When we get to heaven we shall see and understand it all more clearly with the added light of the Beatific Vision, which will be given to our glorified bodies. In today's reading from the book of Deuteronomy we see how privileged the Chosen People of Israel were, how wonderful God had been in his dealings with them, and how all he asked for in return was that they should keep his commandments. These were for their own good. Sad to relate, they did not keep his laws! They quickly forgot all that he had done for them and turned to adore lifeless idols, pagan "gods" who could not help either themselves or anyone else. This was ingratitude and meanness of a high order, but let us remember that everything that God did for the Jews, he did for us too. Through his dealings with them he was preparing the way for the incarnation. Do we return due thanks to God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit for this immensely greater love? Before we criticize or judge the Jews of old, let us see if our own consciences are in order before God. We owe him obedience for far weightier reasons than the Jews had. He set them free from the slavery of Egypt; he has set us free from Satan's power. He gave them Canaan as their homeland; he has prepared heaven, the place of unending life, for us. He made Moses, one of themselves, the mediator between himself and the Israelites; he has given his own Son to be our mediator. In return for it all and as a token repayment, we are asked to keep his commandments! God is surely not asking too much of us. Any generous Christian would not only do this, he would look for further means of showing his gratitude to the Blessed Trinity. All the saints did so and earned the honor of God and the respect of man. We all want to be saints. Let us begin today not merely to keep the commandments but also to do some extra bit each day to show our sincere gratitude to God. God will never be outdone in generosity. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SECOND READING: Romans 8: 14-17. All who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of sonship. When we cry, "Abba! Father!" it is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. EXPLANATION: On the Epistle to the Romans, see the second Sunday of Lent. In today's four verses, St. Paul stresses the change which Christianity has brought to Jew and Gentile. Man is no longer a slave of sin or of the world: he has been made a son of God through Christ's life, death and resurrection and is therefore a freeman. This image of slave and freeman was much more telling when St. Paul wrote, for real slavery was then practiced. If we can---and we can and should---call God our Father, Abba, it is because the Holy Spirit moves us to do so and the Holy Spirit does this because we have indeed been made sons of God by the incarnation of his Son. Because we are adopted into God's household, heaven is our inheritance provided we obey Christ's commands. led...God: Anyone moved by the Spirit of God, anyone, that is, who has received the Holy Spirit in baptism has now a new life in him, a supernatural life. He has been made a son of God. not...but sonship: The Christian is not a slave of God but an adopted son and heir. It is the Spirit that unites men to Christ and thus puts them in a special relationship with the Father. They have now the status of "sons." Abba (my) Father: Christ used this familiar name when calling on Father in his moment of extreme agony (Mk. 14: 36). It became the Christian invocation for the Father among the Jewish Christians. Even among the Gentiles Paul uses it. The Christian, because of his adoption, can speak of God and to God in the very terms used by Christ, his real Son. fellow heirs with Christ: If Christians are children of God then they are heirs and will share heaven with Christ, who made them his brothers. we...him: As Christ suffered in order to enter into his glory in heaven, and as the servant is not above the master, we too must earn our reward by carrying whatever cross God sends us. Only if we do this, can we expect to share his inheritance with Christ in the hereafter. APPLICATION: About the year 57-58 that is to say, less than thirty years after the resurrection, St. Paul wrote this letter to the Christians in Rome. It was a church he was very anxious to visit (he had had nothing to do with the spread of the faith there). The Roman Christian community was made up of Jew and Gentile converts. It is evident from St. Paul's words that they were quite familiar with the doctrine of the three divine Persons in one God. We know, of course, that they had received baptism in the name of the Blessed Trinity. Therefore, they had accepted the fact about the true God before becoming Christians. To do this was not, humanly speaking, easy for a Jew or a Gentile, but we must remember that the early Christians did not rely on human logic or human thinking. The grace and the power of God was with them in generous measure. For a Jew, the very essence of whose religion was strict monotheism, there was one God and one God only. The three Persons must at first mention have sounded like many gods, something abhorrent to his nature. Yet, thousands of Jews accepted this doctrine from the very first days of the Church (all the first Christians were Jewish converts). They were convinced that God, although he was strictly one God, had revealed that there were three Persons in that one divine nature. If God revealed this knowledge of his innermost nature and if it did not contradict the unity, the oneness of God, how could they refuse to accept this revelation? For the Gentiles also, this doctrine must at first sight have seemed a stumbling block. They were sick and tired of their own pagan gods. Was Christianity offering them three instead of many gods? Again, aided by God's grace, they realized that Christianity was not preaching three Gods but three Persons who in some mysterious way are in the one and only God. We Christians of today are no more advanced than the early Jew and Gentile converts were as regards the mysteries of faith. We cannot examine the Godhead scientifically, and prove to ourselves from cold logic that there are three Persons in God. But like them, we too know that we have the word of God for it and God is the God of truth. His word is stronger and more convincing than any human proof or logic can ever be. Like the early Christians, we also have had the experience of the three Persons, each performing a distinct role in the work of our salvation. The Father created us and planned an eternal life for us. He sent the Son to enable us to fill the role his Father had planned for us. After the Son's ascension, both the Father and the Son sent the Holy Spirit to sanctify, give courage and strength to the Apostles and those who would join them. This threefold activity is still going on in the life of each one of us---the three Persons of the Blessed Trinity are cooperating to bring us to heaven. Why? We may well ask. The Blessed Trinity is infinitely perfect, infinitely happy in heaven. God needs nothing from us. Here again is where our small, finite intelligence fails us. We can understand human love and human generosity which at their greatest are but temporary, passing things and of necessity very limited in quality and quantity. But God's love for us is infinite. It is completely and entirely without self-interest. God does not act out of need but out of nature. His very nature is goodness and so he is moved by that nature to share his goodness, his happiness with those who are able to appreciate it, that is, with us men. It has been very clearly and very definitely revealed to us that God loves us with an infinite love. This is the basic message of the New Testament. The three Persons of the Blessed Trinity are still proving this fact to us. In this life we cannot understand why, but we can and we must show our gratitude for this fact of divine generosity and love. Today, on this special feastday of the Blessed Trinity, let us resolve to make ourselves less unworthy of their divine love: by doing what is asked of us, by living our faith in charity, and by keeping ever before our minds the eternal future that awaits us. The day is not far off when, please God, we shall meet the Blessed Trinity face to face. Then we shall understand a lot more about the three divine Persons in God, and the infinite love and mercy shown to us by these three Persons. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- GOSPEL: Matthew 28:16-20. The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to him, "All authority 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 lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age." EXPLANATION: Omitting the other appearances of the risen Savior to the Apostles, and others which are described in Mark, Luke, John and St. Paul (1 Cor. 15), St. Matthew mentions only the appearance to the women in Jerusalem and this last appearance to the eleven Apostles somewhere in Galilee. On this occasion, Christ commissions his Apostles to bring his gospel, "to make disciples of" all men. He adds that they were to be made disciples of Jesus by being baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. They were to keep his commandments and he promised to be with them always, to the close of the age. went to Galilee: After a week of appearances by the risen Savior in Jerusalem (Jn. 20: 19-21 and 21: 1), the Apostles went to Galilee, as Christ had told them to do (Mt. 28: 10). to the mountain: Evidently he had specified the place where they were to meet him. some doubted: In all of the resurrection stories there is the candid admission that some did not recognize him. The fact is that the risen Christ, in his glorified body, could not be visible to human eyes on earth, so he assumed a visible human form on each occasion. Twice in the supper room (Jn. 20: 19-28), he evidently had a body similar to the body he had on earth together with the marks of the nails and the spear on it. But on the other occasions it was a different type of body. This doubting on the part of some, as well as the fact that not one of them expected the resurrection, is a greater proof of its reality. All did eventually recognize him as the risen Christ. all authority...earth: The Father has given Christ, the God-man, power over all creation and all created beings, in heaven and on earth. Go therefore: With this power he commissions them to preach his gospel, his good news, to all people. baptizing them: This was to be the sacrament of introduction of the new Chosen People into the kingdom of God on earth. in the name of...Spirit: Those who accepted the Apostles' preaching of Christ, were to be given the possession of the Blessed Trinity. They were to be dedicated, given to the service and honor of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. to observe all: If the initiated, by baptism, are to honor the Blessed Trinity they must do so by obeying all that Christ had laid down, during his public life, as necessary to salvation. with you always: His final word is one of encouragement and strength. In all their doings he will be with them with his power, and not only with them but with their successors until the end of this world. APPLICATION: The reason why these five verses, that conclude the final chapter of St. Matthew's gospel, were chosen for today's Mass is evident. The three Persons of the Blessed Trinity are mentioned by name in this Gospel. All those who would enter the new kingdom of God, the Church, were to be dedicated in the ceremony of baptism to the Blessed Trinity; they were to enter into a fellowship with the three divine Persons. Whether Christ himself gave the exact words for the form of baptism does not concern us here, but from 2 Cor. 2: 21, it would appear that this form was in use from the earliest days of the Church. We are aware that we ourselves were dedicated to God in our baptism and destined to have an eternal fellowship with the Trinity in heaven. We are aware, too, of the part played by the three divine Persons in making that eternal happiness and friendship with the Trinity available to us. While the essence of the Trinity, or the way in which there can be three Persons in the one God, is a mystery which our limited minds cannot even begin to solve, we have no hesitation in accepting the existence of this deepest mystery of our religion. It was no less an authority than Jesus Christ himself who revealed it to us. With his guarantee for its truth, we are left in no doubt as to the existence of this mystery. We can safely wait for a greater, if not a complete understanding in heaven. Today, as we honor the Blessed Trinity, our predominant thought must be one of gratitude to each of the three Persons for all they have done and are still doing for us. First, to God the Father, who in his love planned not only our creation as intelligent human beings, the highest and noblest of his creatures on earth, but planned to give us adopted sonship as well. Secondly, let us show our deepest gratitude to the all-obedient, all-loving Son of God, who carried out to the letter the divine Father's plan for our adoption, by sharing with us our humanity so that we could share in his divinity. Thirdly, let us be eternally grateful to the Holy Spirit---the fruit of the love of Father and Son---who has come to dwell in the Church and in each member of the Church, in order to fill our hearts with a true love of God, and to direct our faltering steps toward the everlasting happiness which awaits us beyond the grave. We know only too well how unworthy we are of this love of the Blessed Trinity which has been poured out on us. The greatest saints were unworthy of this infinite love. Our unworthiness should not, and must not, stop us from availing ourselves of this divine love and from doing what we can to prove how we value and sincerely appreciate the love and goodness of the Blessed Trinity for us. In return for this love, Christ asked us, his followers, to keep his commandments. This is the one genuine proof we can give of our gratitude for all that these three Persons have done for us. We are so weak that we often let the passing things of this world turn our thoughts and actions away from God and from our own eternal interests. We forget Christ and his commandments at times and let the world rule our hearts and minds. However, even for sinners like us there is hope and encouragement in the infinity of God's love. Let us not forget it: the Father, Son and Holy Spirit know all our weaknesses, they knew them before they arranged to make us sharers in their own eternal happiness. They know, also, that those of us who try and try again to rise above our human weakness will finally share with them their heaven. This possibility is open to all of us. The Blessed Trinity will exclude nobody from heaven. If some fail, the fault will be entirely and completely their own. May God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit grant us the courage and strength to overcome our human weaknesses! May they give us the grace to live and die in their love so that we may share their eternal kingdom of happiness!b225 Click to return to our Home page