Skip to main content

The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity 2013

By
Our Easter jubilation ended this past Sunday with the celebration of Pentecost, bringing us to Ordinary Time.  But after so many weeks of joyous Easter revelry, the Church isn't quite ready to put away the party favors.  So to ease us through this transition from Easter to Ordinary Time, the calendar gives us two significant celebrations... The solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity (this Sunday), and the solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (next Sunday).  For this week’s solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, each of the three members of the Trinity are represented by the readings.

The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity:
        Proverbs 8:22-31
        Psalm 8:4-5, 6-7, 8-9
        Romans 5:1-5
        John 16:12-15

First, God the Father is represented our first reading from Proverbs.  The imagery would seem to tell us that God knew us before creation itself.  While to Christian ears this reading seems to speak of the Son of Man (and is actually a favorite of early Christians), the author is actually referring to humanity.  This text predates Christ by hundreds of years, with some of it being attributed to Solomon himself.  The New American Bible’s introduction to Proverbs states that “The teaching of the entire book is placed on a firm religious foundation by the principle that "the fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge."  This idea would seem to be supported by establishing the “omniscience” of God.

Second we see God the Son in our reading from Paul’s letter to the Romans.  Here Paul teaches us that it is our faith in Jesus that connects us to God the Father, and through that, a connection with the Holy Spirit.

Finally we see God the Holy Spirit as we read John’s Gospel.  Taken from the farewell discourse (prior to the Passion), Jesus is seen teaching the Apostles about the Holy Spirit.

This trifecta of readings not only lets us see the individual characters of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but also shows us the interdependence of each through the other.

You may also want to check out these supplemental readings:
Scripture from Scratch
Trinity:  To Let the Symbol Sing Again
 
Catholic Update
Celebrating Mary:  Feasts of Our Lady (for May being the month of Mary)
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

26th Sunday of Ordinary Time - Cycle B

By
Who speaks for the Lord?  Do you have to be a prophet?  A priest?  A bishop?  The Pope?  What about you?  The answer, according to our readings this week, is “whomever God calls,” and that could be you. The Word for the 26tth Sunday of Ordinary Time Numbers 11:25-29 Psalm 19:8, 10, 12-13, 14 James 5:1-6 Mark 9:38-43, 45, 47-48 Our first reading comes from the Book of Numbers.  This book is a continuation of the Exodus story, from the point where they leave the Sinai (after receiving the Law) to the point where they are ready to enter the Promised Land.  The book gives us some history of these years interspersed with sections of legal codes.  This Sunday’s passage deals with the commissioning the elders, those 70 individuals chosen by Moses to receive some of the Spirit so that they may prophesy (preach) among the people.  But during this time there were two men, Eldad and Medad, who were not with the group at the tent, but who also recei...
Post a Comment
Read more

3rd Sunday of Advent - Cycle C

By
“Shout for Joy!”  The opening lines of our first reading expresses the feelings we should be having during this third Sunday of Advent.  Also known as Gaudete Sunday (Latin for “rejoice”), we celebrate that we have now past the half-way point of our penitent reflection – the “hump day” of Advent, if you will.  What have we to be so joyful about?  Our readings provide the answer: The Word for the 3rd Sunday of Advent Zephaniah 3:14-18a Psalm 12:2-3, 4, 5-6 Philippians 4:4-7 Luke3:10-18 Our first reading comes from the Book of the Prophet Zephaniah.  Though we don’t hear from Zephaniah very often in our Sunday Liturgies, and though the book itself isn’t that long (only 3 chapters), the importance of his message not only can be seen in his predecessors Jeremiah and Baruch, but may even have had a profound effect on the Judean monarchy itself by moving King Josiah to begin his campaign of religious reform.  Our passage this week, though similar to the passages...
Post a Comment
Read more

28th Sunday of Ordinary Time - Cycle B

By
What is truly valuable?  As a species humanity seems constantly preoccupied with this question, starting from our individual perspective and building up to our families, our parish, our community, all the way up to the entire world view.  Whole industries have grown around this idea of value, from the advertising industry that tries to convince you of the value of what they’re selling, to insurance companies that can set a monetary value on everything, including your own life.  Our faith tradition also has some thoughts on this question, as addressed by our readings this week: The Word for the 28tth Sunday of Ordinary Time Wisdom 7:7-11 Psalm 90:12-13, 14-15, 16-17 Hebrews 4:12-13 Mark 10:17-30 Our first reading is from the Book of Wisdom.  You may recall that we had a passage from this book three weeks ago, but by way of reminder, the Book of Wisdom comes to us from the Jewish community in Alexandria some 50 years before Christ.  Typical of wisdom literature in...
Post a Comment
Read more