The Most Holy Trinity

June 3 - The Most Holy Trinity

The First Reading of this great Feast seems to have little to do with  what is actually being celebrated but in fact the  passage from the Book of Deuteronomy focuses on the desire of God to encounter a People and  take it His own. "Did any people ever hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire as you did?" This is surely a magnificent privilege but it exacts a price:  God has rules we have to obey and in particular the Ten Commandments. Is this a restriction? Not at all.    The Ten Commandments (not "Ten Suggestions" ) are not impositions but in fact are the way all of us would automatically behave if we did not come into the world with a defective minds  and a weakened will. So they make perfect sense. That doesn't make them any easier to obey   but   the Triune God has revealed Himself and now we are part of His life and love.

The Responsorial Psalm reinforces this thought: " Of the kindness of the Lord, the earth is full" - the  Lord's message - to which we respond: "May your kindness, 0 Lord, be upon us who have put our hope in you."

The Second Reading bears a familiar Pauline message: the heritage God intends for His children is His  own kingdom and glory. Here is a thought which only infrequently occurs to us: we are not destined just to be "saved," slinking into heaven by the back door, but to share in the very life of the Almighty God! (1 Thess 2,12 and in many other places). To make sure this happens we have to be "led by the Spirit" which in the case of Institute people is more than just keeping the Commandments (the Christian obligation) but also  observing whatever may advance us faster and lead us up higher: more careful exams, more prayer, more correction of defects, more outreach on behalf of the Institute. Let's not neglect these basics and so find ourselves lower down (so to speak) in Paradise than our dear old great-grandmothers!

There is an interesting line in the Gospel with which we poor banished children of Eve can possibly identify: "When they all saw him, they worshiped . . . but they doubted?" Why? They had seen him - and touched him - on the first Easter Sunday. He had been seen by many others in the meantime. The meaning may be that they believed who he was but doubted what their next move might be. We have already made this point speaking of the beginning of Acts which has them suggesting that he now begin the process of establishing the Kingdom of Israel ( in which, of course, they would have the big jobs!) even as he is on his way to the Ascension! The Gospels all have different endings in this connection but the one this Sunday is clear: "Go," (important word for us who are inclined to stay and wait for vocations to come from who knows where!) "and make disciples of all nations. Not enough for the Church just to preach the word of  God. She must ensure that this word enters into peoples' lives and changes them. A very different challenge. Paulines are inclined to list all the "hits," the"contacts" they have made. Indeed. And did those "hit" reform their lives ?

~ June 2012 Concord