Feast of the Most Holy Trinity Read more
Feast of the Most Holy Trinity
First Reading
Proverbs 8,22-31
'Yahweh created me, first-fruits of his fashioning, before the oldest of his works. From everlasting, I was firmly set, from the beginning, before the earth came into being. The deep was not, when I was born, nor were the springs with their abounding waters. Before the mountains were settled, before the hills, I came to birth; before he had made the earth, the countryside, and the first elements of the world. When he fixed the heavens firm, I was there, when he drew a circle on the surface of the deep, when he thickened the clouds above, when the sources of the deep began to swell, when he assigned the sea its boundaries -- and the waters will not encroach on the shore -- when he traced the foundations of the earth, I was beside the master craftsman, delighting him day after day, ever at play in his presence, at play everywhere on his earth, delighting to be with the children of men.
Psalmody
Psalm 8
Antiphon
How great is your name, O Lord, in all the earth.
How great is your name, O Lord our God,
through all the earth!
Your majesty is praised above the heavens;
On the lips of children and of babes
you have found praise to foil your enemy,
to silence the foe and the rebel.
When I see the heavens, the work of your hands,
The moon and the stars which you arranged,
what is man that you should keep him in mind,
mortal man that you care for him?
Yet you have made him less than a god;
with glory and honour you crowned him,
give him power over the works of your hand,
put all things under his feet.
All of them, sheep and cattle,
yes, even the savage beasts,
birds of the air, and fish
that make their way through the waters.
How great is your name, O Lord our God,
through all the earth!
Second Reading
Romans 5,1-5
So then, now that we have been justified by faith, we are at peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ; it is through him, by faith, that we have been admitted into God's favour in which we are living, and look forward exultantly to God's glory. Not only that; let us exult, too, in our hardships, understanding that hardship develops perseverance, and perseverance develops a tested character, something that gives us hope, and a hope which will not let us down, because the love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit which has been given to us.
Reading of the Gospel
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Yesterday I was buried with Christ,
today I rise with you who are risen.
With you I was crucified;
remember me, Lord, in your kingdom.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
John 16,12-15
I still have many things to say to you but they would be too much for you to bear now. However, when the Spirit of truth comes he will lead you to the complete truth, since he will not be speaking of his own accord, but will say only what he has been told; and he will reveal to you the things to come. He will glorify me, since all he reveals to you will be taken from what is mine. Everything the Father has is mine; that is why I said: all he reveals to you will be taken from what is mine.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Yesterday I was buried with Christ,
today I rise with you who are risen.
With you I was crucified;
remember me, Lord, in your kingdom.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Homily
The liturgy of this first Sunday after Pentecost celebrates the feast of the Most Holy Trinity, God's mystery at the heart of our faith. The Gospel of John (16:12-15) reports some of the words that Jesus addressed to the disciples during the last supper and with which he indicated the way to reach the Father. The Spirit would guide them: "When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come." The Spirit will pull the disciples to the heart of God, the world of God, the life of God, which is a life of communion of love between the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The God of Jesus is a "family" of three persons, whose unity springs from the love that unites them. We could say: they love each other so much that they are one. This incredible "family" has entered the history of men and women to call everyone to be part of it. All are called to be part of this singular "family of God." At the origin and at the end of history there is this communion of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. The trinitarian horizon envelops all of us, no one excluded.
The Church, every community springs from this mystery. It is not born from "the ground," it is not the fruit of the commitment or the impulse of generous hearts, it is not the sum of individuals who decide to stay together. The community of believers comes from Above, from a God who is the "communion" of the Father and the Son with the Holy Spirit. The Church, therefore, as Vatican II writes, is first and foremost a mystery to be contemplated, welcomed, respected, safeguarded, defended and loved. It is a mystery to be witnessed to the world so that the communion lived in her may be attractive to many. It is a mystery of love that is extrinsic, that brings one out of oneself so that the entire world may discover again the communion that unites all nations. This is the very mystery of God who first went out of himself at creation and then with Noah, Abraham, Moses and, finally, he sent His Son so that he might gather the entire human family into a communion of brothers and sisters.
Prayer is the heart of the life of the Community of Sant'Egidio and is its absolute priority. At the end of the day, every the Community of Sant'Egidio, large or small, gathers around the Lord to listen to his Word. The Word of God and the prayer are, in fact, the very basis of the whole life of the Community. The disciples cannot do other than remain at the feet of Jesus, as did Mary of Bethany, to receive his love and learn his ways (Phil. 2:5).
So every evening, when the Community returns to the feet of the Lord, it repeats the words of the anonymous disciple: " Lord, teach us how to pray". Jesus, Master of prayer, continues to answer: "When you pray, say: Abba, Father". It is not a simple exhortation, it is much more. With these words Jesus lets the disciples participate in his own relationship with the Father. Therefore in prayer, the fact of being children of the Father who is in heaven, comes before the words we may say. So praying is above all a way of being! That is to say we are children who turn with faith to the Father, certain that they will be heard.
Jesus teaches us to call God "Our Father". And not simply "Father" or "My Father". Disciples, even when they pray on their own, are never isolated nor they are orphans; they are always members of the Lord's family.
In praying together, beside the mystery of being children of God, there is also the mystery of brotherhood, as the Father of the Church said: "You cannot have God as father without having the church as mother". When praying together, the Holy Spirit assembles the disciples in the upper room together with Mary, the Lord's mother, so that they may direct their gaze towards the Lord's face and learn from Him the secret of his Heart.
The Communities of Sant'Egidio all over the world gather in the various places of prayer and lay before the Lord the hopes and the sufferings of the tired, exhausted crowds of which the Gospel speaks ( Mat. 9: 3-7 ), In these ancient crowds we can see the huge masses of the modern cities, the millions of refugees who continue to flee their countries, the poor, relegated to the very fringe of life and all those who are waiting for someone to take care of them. Praying together includes the cry, the invocation, the aspiration, the desire for peace, the healing and salvation of the men and women of this world. Prayer is never in vain; it rises ceaselessly to the Lord so that anguish is turned into hope, tears into joy, despair into happiness, and solitude into communion. May the Kingdom of God come soon among people!
For the sick, in memory of the dead, for peace
