May 26, 2024: The Most Holy Trinity Sunday
Catholic Social Teaching: Solidarity
When we step into our roles as citizens, we do not step out of that discipleship. Rather, that discipleship takes on a new intensity. https://thejesuitpost.org/2022/03/catholic-101-catholic-social-teaching/
Readings
First Reading: Deuteronomy 4:32-34, 39-40
Psalm: 33:4-5, 6, 9, 18-19, 20, 22
Second Reading: Romans 8:14-17
Gospel Acclamation Revelation: 1:8
Gospel: Matthew 28:16-20
Catechism of the Catholic Church
St. Gregory of Nazianzus, also called “the Theologian”, entrusts this summary of Trinitarian faith to the catechumens of Constantinople: Above all guard for me this great deposit of faith for which I live and fight, which I want to take with me as a companion, and which makes me bear all evils and despise all pleasures: I mean the profession of faith in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. I entrust it to you today. By it I am soon going to plunge you into water and raise you up from it. I give it to you as the companion and patron of your whole life. I give you but one divinity and power, existing one in three, and containing the three in a distinct way. Divinity without disparity of substance or nature, without superior degree that raises up or inferior degree that casts down. . . the infinite co-naturality of three infinites. Each person considered in himself is entirely God. . . the three considered together. . . I have not even begun to think of unity when the Trinity bathes me in its splendor. I have not even begun to think of the Trinity when unity grasps me…(256) From the Daily Roman Missal, Introduction for The Most Holy Trinity Sunday, Cycle B
Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church:
Matthew 28:19-20
God, in Christ, redeems not only the individual person but also the social relations existing between men. As the Apostle Paul teaches, life in Christ makes the human person’s identity and social sense — with their concrete consequences on the historical and social planes — emerge fully and in a new manner: “For in Christ Jesus you are all children of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ” (Gal 3:26-28). In this perspective, Church communities, brought together by the message of Jesus Christ and gathered in the Holy Spirit round the Risen Lord (cf. Mt 18:20, 28:19-20; Lk 24:46-49), offer themselves as places of communion, witness and mission, and as catalysts for the redemption and transformation of social relationships. (52)
Romans 8:14-17
The new reality that Jesus Christ gives us is not grafted onto human nature nor is it added from outside: it is rather that reality of communion with the Trinitarian God to which men and women have always been oriented in the depths of their being, thanks to their creaturely likeness to God. But this is also a reality that people cannot attain by their own forces alone. Through the Spirit of Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God, in whom this reality of communion has already been brought about in a singular manner, men and women are received as children of God (cf. Rom 8:14-17; Gal 4:4-7). By means of Christ, we share in the nature of God, who gives us infinitely more “than all that we ask or think” (Eph 3:20). What mankind has already received is nothing more than a token or a “guarantee” (2 Cor 1:22; Eph 1:14) of what it will receive in its fullness only in the presence of God, seen “face to face” (1 Cor 13:12), that is, a guarantee of eternal life: “And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (Jn 17:3). (122)
Romans 8:15
The Face of God, progressively revealed in the history of salvation, shines in its fullness in the Face of Jesus Christ crucified and risen from the dead. God is Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; truly distinct and truly one, because God is an infinite communion of love. God’s gratuitous love for humanity is revealed, before anything else, as love springing from the Father, from whom everything draws its source; as the free communication that the Son makes of this love, giving himself anew to the Father and giving himself to mankind; as the ever new fruitfulness of divine love that the Holy Spirit pours forth into the hearts of men (cf. Rom 5:5).
By his words and deeds, and fully and definitively by his death and resurrection, Jesus reveals to humanity that God is Father and that we are all called by grace to become his children in the Spirit (cf. Rom 8:15; Gal 4:6), and therefore brothers and sisters among ourselves. It is for this reason that the Church firmly believes that “the key, the centre and the purpose of the whole of man’s history is to be found in her Lord and Master”. (31)
For complete text visit: http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/justpeace/documents/rc_pc_justpeace_doc_20060526_compendio-dott-soc_en.html
Reflection
Podcast Link: https://peaceonjustice.substack.com/p/peace-on-justice-700
Because of the women’s credible witness to the resurrection, the disciples went to Galilee. A mountaintop meeting with Jesus, in prefigurement of the new Moses. Eleven numbered, but seventy-three times in Matthew, when disciples are mentioned, it suggests a larger entourage, including Galilean women supporting the ministry. A gathering emblematic of a partial fulfillment of Daniel’s vision of the Son of Man, with enthronement and commissioning going beyond appearance of the Risen One to words creating tensions between faith and doubt. In Greek, not a clear interpretation if that was the experience of all gathered or just some doubted in the challenge. A test of their personal resolve and capacity to fulfill the commissioning or possibly doubt in hearing the mission while still reeling from the pangs of demise with the crucifixion. Stepping beyond outreach to the lost sheep of the House of Israel to go and make disciples of all nations, encompassing all cultures, ethnicities, for a message of universality in previously what had been demarkations signifying the other. Tensions we see historically overcome, as faith percolated globally, should give us hope to live as disciples today. Globally on a planetary sphere, but also globally in the diversity of our local communities. To transition beyond our silos, to not chastise or fear engaging with others, but dialogue respecting their intellect grounded in the foundational past of God’s triune unity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. A mission to continue teaching by awakening the Divine intellect to awe of the Creator, hope of the Son and vibrancy of the Holy Spirit, all One pursuing the same infinite resolve. Not a puppeteer and puppet relationship with imposition via apologetics, where if one doesn’t believe each nuance immediately, the strings will be disconnected severing the relationship and dispelling any analogy of faith as a journey. For the Spirit animates us as children of God, not slaves. Freedom, not bondage by our Divine adoption. Use of a Hellenistic legal term injecting a new concept into Hebrew thought, since adoption was rarely practiced. Making believers heirs to the Father’s divine estate, as co-heirs with Christ. Spirit not so much spiritual ecstasy , but consequences of human experiences. Where we share with Christ in the challenges of life, as we wait in trust to be glorified with Him for all eternity. A time now to experience the first fruits of what is to come. What is in store for us, as Paul talks about “we”, “our”, the collective sequences of our transpiring journey comforted by the I Am, the Divine presence always with us until the fulfillment of the parousia. Each of us with a unique vocation honed in the historical and personal history, exodus and occupation. A lineage illuminated and consumed by fire offering a reminder each time we peer into the flame of a candle. A spark to our soul to welcome the mission of discipleship to the all seeing God not of whoa and judgment, but infusing kindness and compassion to preserve our Divine relationship with the Trinity. The powerful Word expressing cosmic dynamism to birth the heavens and causes our soul to wait for the Lord who is our only help and shield, so we don’t trust in military might, power or material idols. A faith with hope that we honor and give praise to by keeping Divine statutes and commandments rooted in the primacy of love and share with generations to come in all nations the grace of baptism in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. For blessed are the people the Lord has chosen to be His own, not some, a few, but the universality of all to be consumed by the Trinity’s love.
Individual Reflection: Matthew 28:16-20
Invite someone who is not baptized to participate in RCIA / OCIA and receive the grace of the sacraments.
Family Reflection: Deuteronomy 4:32-34, 39-40
May 31st is the feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary to Elizabeth reflecting Mary’s humility, willingness to serve and charity. How can your family reflect those virtues by visiting someone?
Prayer: Glory Be prayer in the Greek Orthodox tradition
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. From my bed and sleep Thou hast raised me; O Lord, enlighten my mind and my heart, and open my lips that I may praise Thee, O Holy Trinity: Holy, holy, holy art Thou, O God. Through the Theotokos have mercy on us. Both now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen
Blogs to Visit:
As we reflect upon Mary’s presence in the mysteries of the Rosary, we are blessed to know her. For her journey, a timeless trek, calls us to surrender, continuing conversion, humbleness and justice now.
https://peaceonjustice.wordpress.com/
Weekly lectionary reflections, for faith sharing groups, parish bulletins, newsletters or personal prayer, from the synergy of the Word we hear and the rich tradition of Catholic Social Teaching.
https://cst74life.wordpress.com/
Catholic Social Teaching offers seven principles for upholding life in our thoughts, decisions and actions.
How we do Catholic Social Teaching.
https://csmresources.wordpress.com/
Creation sustainability ministry resources in the spirit of the St Francis Pledge.
Social Ministry Resources Engaging Parishes: Monthly and liturgical seasons resources for use with parish websites, bulletins and newsletters
Involvement Opportunities
List one or two upcoming events, legislative action alerts or social justice websites
By Barb Born May 25, 2024 St Bede Pray for us ! The reflection maybe used in parish bulletins, newsletters or for faith sharing groups without copyright concern.