HOLY TRINITY: Dt 4:32-34, 39-40; Rom 8:14-17; Mt 28:16-20

The first Sunday after Pentecost is Holy Trinity Sunday. We may not completely understand the doctrine of the Most Holy Trinity, but we believe. The words of the Athanasian Creed says: "the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, and yet there are not three Gods but one God." Jesus knew very well that the disciples and his listeners were not able to understand the meaning of his message. Jesus expressed it in today's Gospel: "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now." Jesus revealed himself to the people gradually and as understandable to them. First He taught them to recognize in Himself the Eternal Son of God. When His ministry was drawing to a close, He promised that the Father would send another Divine Person, the Holy Spirit, in His place. Finally after His resurrection, He revealed the doctrine in explicit terms, bidding them "go and teach all  nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost" (Mt 28:18).

 

With this doctrine, God has revealed to us that he is not infinite loneliness, but infinite love, infinite relationship of self-giving. If God was only one person how would God be infinite love before He created the world? Because, there was nobody else other than the God who exists in one person. This is where we can say the Islamic concept of one God in one person is not sensible. Such a God existing in one person cannot be Love. He had no one to love other than Himself. He would have been infinite loneliness and infinite monoteness. But if He is one God in three persons he would be a community and be infinite love. Richard of St. Victor said: If God is Good he has to be one. (There is only one Good, i.e. God.  Jesus said to the young man who asked Him: Good teacher what shall I do to inherit eternal life. Why do you call me Good. There is only one who is Good).

If God is LOVE he has to be two. Because love has to go out of oneself to another. If God is joy he has to be three. Joy is what originates when two people share love each other. Just like when a loving couple share their love, a new child is born. Father and the Son love so intensely each other that their love becomes a Person, Holy Spirit. They love each other and give each other.

We say that the Son and the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father: We can think of this as light and heat two different things coming from the one source : a flame. But all the three are different things, not one thing. Flame is not heat, heat is not light and vice versa. The same way Father is not the Son, not the Son the Holy Spirit or the Father. God's eternal dynamic happiness flows from that communion of love. The one divine nature exists fully and simultaneously in three divine Persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

 

The Trinitarian doctrine says that the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit are different from each other yet one God. Just think of one molecule of water that is composed of two Hydrogen atoms and one Oxygen atom. Hydrogen is not Oxygen, nor oxygen the same as hydrogen. But when they come together it becomes one molecule of water. Same way Father is not the Son nor the Son the Father or the Holy Spirit. But all the three are one God.

The Trinity is actually the most practical of all divine concepts, because it reveals the meaning of our life. We are created in God's image. God does not exist in isolated individualism but in a community of relationships.  Therefore man can live, grow and find fulfillment only in and through society. St. Paul tells us that God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the indwelling Holy Spirit. The celebration of the mystery of Holy Trinity reminds us that we have to grow in unity like the perfect Unity that exists in Trinity.

 

The importance of this doctrine lies in this:  we are made in the image of God, therefore, the more we understand God the more we can understand ourselves.  

Just as God is God only in a Trinitarian relationship, so we can be fully human only as one member of a relationship of three partners.  The self needs to be in a horizontal relationship with all other people and in a vertical relationship with God.  In that way our life is Trinitarian like that of God. 

We belong to the Family of the Triune God.  The love, unity, and joy in the relationship among the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit should be the supreme model of our relationships within our Christian families.  Our families become truly Christian when we live in a relationship of love with God and with others.

May God, The Father, Son and Holy Spirit shower their blessings on us and help us to strengthen our bond of unity, love and peace.

 

Pentecost Acts 2:1-11; I Cor 12:3b-7, 12-13; Jn 20:19-23

An old beggar lay on his deathbed.  His last words were to his young son who had been his constant companion during his begging trips.  “Dear son,” he said, “I have nothing to give you except a cotton bag and a dirty bronze bowl which I got in my younger days from the junk yard of a rich lady.”  After his father’s death, the boy continued begging, using the bowl his father had given him.  One day a gold merchant dropped a coin in the boy’s bowl and he was surprised to hear a familiar ring.  “Let me check your bowl,” the merchant said.  To his great surprise, he found that the beggar’s bowl was made of pure gold.  “My dear young man,” he said, “why do you waste your time begging?  You are a rich man.  That bowl of yours is worth at least thirty thousand dollars.” —  We Christians are often like this beggar boy who failed to recognize and appreciate the value of his bowl.  We fail to appreciate the infinite worth of the Holy Spirit living within each of us, sharing His gifts and fruits and charisms with us.  On this major feast day, we are invited to experience and appreciate the transforming, sanctifying, strengthening and unifying presence of the Holy Spirit within us.  This is also a day for us to renew the promises made to God during our Baptism and Confirmation, to profess our Faith, and to practice it.

In Genesis we read the story of the Tower of Babel. The people of the earth became skilled in construction and decided to build a city with a tower that would reach to heaven. By building the tower they wanted to make a name for themselves and also prevent their city from being scattered. God came to see their city and the tower they were building.  He perceived their evil intentions, men were proud and they wanted to challenge God.  So God confused their language. They spoke to one another as they used to, but they understood differently.  On the day of Pentecost the spirit of God has re-established unity. People spoke different languages, but everyone understood in his language. Difference in language makes it difficult for people to communicate with one another.  But the early Christians were able to grasp the meaning of each other's message, because they spoke the language of love, the language of   understanding, the language of selflessness, and the language of kindness. It is the Church's mission to reunite the human family that has been torn apart by sin. That's why all the visitors in Jerusalem heard the Apostle's words in their own languages. That's why as soon as the risen Jesus breathes on his Apostles; he instructs them to forgive sins.

 

The feast of Pentecost demands from us that we should get united with God. Edmund Bruke wrote, "Whatever disunites man from God also disunites man from man."  Once we establish our unity with God we can strengthen the unity at home, in the parish, in the place of our work, and in our society; among the members of the family, among our colleagues, among the members of our parish, and among all whom we come across. 

Secondly, the Spirit brought courage. At the trial scene Peter   disowned Jesus and swore that he did not know him. But after receiving the spirit the same Peter proclaimed aloud the message of Jesus and   called the people to repentance. The Spirit blesses us too with courage. When we accept it we too will be able to make our contribution to better the world.

Thirdly, the spirit brought the light of knowledge to the Apostles. When Jesus was speaking to them of his agony and suffering the disciples were contemplating on as who would be on his right and who would be on his left.  They cherished the dreams of the kingdom where Jesus would take over the rule of the Roman Empire. But the descend of the Spirit revealed the meaning of the words of Jesus to them. They knew what their faith would demand of them. They knew what their responsibilities would be. They knew the meaning of Christian love. Their ignorance was wiped out. The Apostles knew their strength and their weakness.  And they accepted the supremacy of the Spirit in their life.

 

The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Blessed Trinity. He is the love between the Father and Son lived so intensely that he is a person himself. When we are baptized, that same Spirit takes up residence within our souls, and he brings Jesus and God the Father along with him - because where one is, all three are.

The influence and action of the Holy Spirit in our lives increases when we are confirmed. This gift surpasses all other gifts. In the Holy Spirit, the prophecy of "Emmanuel" (God-with-us) takes on unimaginable proportions: not merely God among us, as in the Incarnation, but God within us, a guest in our souls, a guide for our life's journey, a personal trainer for our spiritual fitness.

 

The feast of the Pentecost requires from to live in a new relationship with God through His spirit and in a relationship with others where everyone could understand each other everyone could help each other. May the gifts of the Holy Spirit enable us as He did the Apostles to fulfill Jesus’ commission to preach the Gospel to all nations and to live our life in a new dimension always aware that our God is within us.

 

 

EASTER V [B]: Acts 9:26-31; 1Jn 3:18-24; Jn 15:1-8

Today’s Scripture selections emphasize the need for Christians to abide in Christ as a condition for producing fruits of kindness, mercy, charity and holiness. Jesus assures his disciples, using the parable of the vine and branches, that the life-giving Spirit Whom Jesus will send to them, will be present and active within and among his disciples and their successors.

The vine was part and parcel of Jewish imagery and the very symbol of Israel. The vine was grown all over in Palestine. Therefore it was easy for the listeners to understand what Jesus was speaking about. The vine grows luxuriantly and it requires drastic pruning. A young vine is not allowed to bear fruit for the first three years and each year it is cut drastically back to develop and conserve its life and energy. Two kinds of branches grow on vine. One that bears fruit and one that does not. The branches that do not bear fruit are pruned back so that they will not drain away the plant’s strength. In order to make us useful branches constant pruning is required. This pruning takes the form of suffering.

It may be painful, physical sufferings, like sickness, disease, financial insecurity, or old-age.

It may be hidden, interior sufferings, like losing a loved one or watching a dear relative abandon their Catholic faith.

Whenever God permits these kinds of sufferings - the ones that we don't seem to have any control over - we have to let our faith remind us that they are under his control.

He is the vine-dresser. He knows how much pruning we can handle (and the amount is different for each branch).

And he knows how to use that suffering to unite us more deeply with Christ, who suffered on the cross to redeem the world.

Allowing these prunings will allow us to become more fruitful, even if we don’t understand how. We are not to be bitter or angry about those sufferings. The Lord gives, the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord – as the psalmist says.

In times of pain and hardship, God is begging us to trust in him more and more, to pray in the depths of our hearts that beautiful prayer that he himself taught us through his revelations to St Faustina of the Divine Mercy: "Jesus, I trust in you."

The first and foremost thing that stands as hindrance to our submission to Jesus is our "ego". It will turn us into a useless branch that will never produce any fruit. So, prune it; identify and cut it off.

Accepting the Cross, not rebelling when God tries to prune us, is the secret of all the saints.

As St Ignatius of Loyola put it:

"If God causes you to suffer much, it is a sign that he has great designs for you, and that he certainly intends to make you a saint. And if you wish to become a great saint, entreat him to give you much opportunity for suffering; for there is no wood better to kindle the fire of holy love than the wood of the Cross, which Christ used for his own sacrifice of boundless charity."

 

Prayer, the sacraments, loving obedience, and suffering in union with Christ are what keep the Christian sap flowing in our lives.

Staying united to the vine means constantly growing in our life of prayer. Prayer is how we expose our souls to the divine sunlight. Just as plants need exposure to sunlight for energy, so we need to expose ourselves to God's truth and love through reading and reflecting on the sacred scriptures, and through conversing with him in the quiet of our hearts.

And so, if our prayer life is the same when we are fifty as it was when we were fifteen, it could be a sign that we are stunting our spiritual growth.

For Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, listening to God in prayer was the very first link in the sacred chain of interior peace.

Here's how she put it:

The fruit of silence is prayer;
the fruit of prayer is faith;
the fruit of faith is love;
the fruit of love is service;
the fruit of service is peace...

 

When we lead a life that resounds with meaning and energy, a life that positively impacts others and exudes joy and enthusiasm, a life that changes this world for the better in a profound way as Christ's own life did, we are glorifying the Father.

"By this is my Father glorified,
that you bear much fruit and become my disciples."

Bearing such fruit makes life worth living; without it we are dry, dead branches good for nothing except the fire.

As we continue with this Mass, let's thank God from the depths of our hearts for uniting us to the vine of Christ.

And when we receive our Lord in Holy Communion, let's promise him that this week we will make a decent effort to do our part to protect and strengthen that union.

 

 

 

EASTER IV SUNDAY: Acts 4:8-12; I Jn 3:1-2; Jn 10:11-18

There is the story of a particular census taker who went to a poor home in the mountains of West Virginia to gather information. He asked the mother how many children she had. The woman began, "Well, there is Rosie, and Billy, and Susie, Harry, and Jeffrey. There's Johnny, and Harvey, and our dog, Willie. The census taker interrupted her aid said: "No, ma'am, that's not necessary. I only need the humans. "Ah," she said. And began to pronounce the names of the children. Once again, the census taker interrupted her and said, "No, ma'am, I just need the numbers." The old woman replied, "But I don't know them by numbers. I only know them by name." In today's gospel Jesus the good shepherd says that he knows his sheep by name.

 

The fourth Sunday of Easter is known as Good Shepherd Sunday. The scripture lessons are about shepherds. On this Sunday we reflect on the image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd, devotedly taking care of his flock.

 

In the Old Testament, the image of the Shepherd is often applied to God as well as to the leaders of the people.  The book of Exodus several times calls Yahweh a Shepherd.  Likewise, the prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel compare Yahweh’s care and protection of His people to that of a shepherd.   “He is like a shepherd feeding his flock, gathering lambs in his arms, holding them against His breast and leading the mother ewes to their rest” (Is 40:11).  Ezekiel represents God as a loving Shepherd Who searches diligently for his lost sheep.  Psalm 23 is David’s famous picture of God as The Good Shepherd:  “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want; He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters; he restores my sou.”(Ps 23: 1-2). 

Introducing himself as the Good Shepherd of his flock, Jesus makes five claims in today’s Gospel:

1) He knows his sheep and his sheep hear his voice: Just as the Palestinian shepherds knew each sheep of their flock by name, and each sheep knew its shepherd and his voice, so Jesus knows each one of us, our needs, our merits and our faults.  Of course, the knowledge talked of here is not mere intellectual knowing but the knowledge that comes from love and experience, and leads to care and concern for the other. Jesus loves us as we are, with all our limitations, and he expects us to receive and return his love by keeping his word. 

2) He gives eternal life to his sheep by receiving us into his sheepfold through Baptism. Jesus strengthens our Faith by giving us the Holy Spirit in Confirmation.  He supplies food for our souls by the Holy Eucharist and by the Divine words of the Holy Bible. He makes our society holy by the Sacraments of Matrimony and the Priesthood.

3) He protects his sheep by placing them in the loving hands of his Almighty Father.  Without Him to guide us and protect us, we are easy prey for the spiritual wolves of this world: that includes Satan, as well as the seven deadly sins of   pride, avarice, envy, gluttony, anger, lust and sloth.

4) .  He goes in search of his stray lambs and heals his sick ones. In the first part of chapter ten of John’s Gospel, Jesus adds two more roles to the work of the good shepherd. Jesus heals the wounds of our souls by the Sacrament of Reconciliation and strengthens us in illness and old age by the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick.

5) Jesus dies for his sheep:  Just as the shepherds of ancient days protected their sheep from wild animals and thieves by risking their own lives, so Jesus died in expiation for the sins of all people.

Jesus is the innocent lamb of sacrifice as well as priestly shepherd who makes the offering. Jesus offers himself rather than many of his flock. He lays down his life to save them. He came back and offers us forgiveness through his death and eternal life through his resurrection. Jesus’ shepherding unto death shows his complete dedication to his sheep.  ‘When I am raised up I shall draw all people to myself’, Jesus said. He calls all into the one flock through the power of his blood poured out on the cross, through his mercy offered to us by his outstretched arms and open heart.

Jesus’ reference to other sheep and to one flock (v. 16) points to the universality and unity of the community of believers. By “the other sheep” Jesus probably meant the poor, the tax collectors and sinners who were generally ostracized by society.

 

We are called to be receptive and trusting sheep but, whatever our specific vocation, we are also called to be shepherds. We are called to call others to know him who laid down his life for them, called to gather others into the one flock of Christ, in which Christ is recognized and embraced in his goodness so that he can lead us all to the green pastures of divine life.

Let’s pray that we become good shepherds by loving those entrusted to us, praying for them, spending our time and talents for their welfare, and guarding them from physical and spiritual dangers.