Celebración de la palabra

Sunday June 7

TRINITY SUNDAY

1. An Inexhaustibly Great God
2. Love Is God's Name

Greeting

I greet you with the greeting of the second reading:
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
R/ And also with you.

Introduction by the Celebrant

1. An Inexhaustibly Great God
With joy and gratitude, we celebrate today the solemnity of the Blessed Trinity. When we think of the mystery we honor today, the question is not so much: who is God, but, as Scripture itself puts it: who is God for us? And the Bible, both the Old and New Testaments, answers, in a variety of ways: God is a mystery of love. God loves us. With Psalm 8 we say: what are human beings that you spare a thought for them? Thank you, Lord, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. All praise to you through Jesus!

2. Love Is God’s Name
On today’s feast of the Blessed Trinity what can we really say about God? If we try to define God, to say who God really is, we can do no more than stammer and use images. We begin to understand God much more easily if we reflect on what he has done for us and for all God’s people. And then we discover that, above all, God has loved us and keeps loving us as a forgiving, merciful God, a Father who cares and is tender as a mother, as the Son who became one of us and made us free at the cost of his life, as a Spirit of love and unity and strength who keeps guiding and inspiring us and who prays with us and in us here in this Eucharist.

Penitential Act
Let us ask the God of tenderness and of love
to forgive us that we have not responded to his love.
(pause)
Lord Jesus, face of the Father,
in you we see God’s love reflected:
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Jesus Christ, peace from the Father to us,
you bring reconciliation to the whole world:
Christ, have mercy. R/ Christ, have mercy.
Lord Jesus, our life and unity
through the Spirit poured out on us:
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Have mercy on us, Lord,
in your compassion take all sins away from us
and lead us to the joys of everlasting life. R/ Amen.

Opening Prayer

Let us pray to our loving God
and ask that his Spirit may inspire us
to respond to his love
(pause)
Lord our God,
we are too small to understand you,
but we know that you care for us
and have linked our destiny to yours.
Thank you for loving us
and standing by our side in our sorrows and joys.
Thank you for giving us Jesus
to take away our sins and to bring us
life and happiness and trust.
Thank you for letting your Spirit lead us.
Warm our hearts and unite us,
dispose us to accept all your love
and to respond to it by entrusting ourselves to you
with all that you have made us and given us.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.

First Reading: A God of Tenderness and Compassion

God makes himself known to Moses as a God of tenderness and compassion, slow to anger and rich in love and faithfulness. He walks with his people.

Reading 1:: Ex 34:4b-6, 8-9

Early in the morning Moses went up Mount Sinai
as the LORD had commanded him,
taking along the two stone tablets.

Having come down in a cloud, the LORD stood with Moses there
and proclaimed his name, "LORD."
Thus the LORD passed before him and cried out,
"The LORD, the LORD, a merciful and gracious God,
slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity."
Moses at once bowed down to the ground in worship.
Then he said, "If I find favor with you, O Lord,
do come along in our company.
This is indeed a stiff-necked people; yet pardon our wickedness and sins,
and receive us as your own."

Responsorial Psalm Dn 3:52, 53, 54, 55, 56

R. (52b) Glory and praise for ever!
Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of our fathers,
praiseworthy and exalted above all forever;
And blessed is your holy and glorious name,
praiseworthy and exalted above all for all ages.
R. Glory and praise for ever!
Blessed are you in the temple of your holy glory,
praiseworthy and glorious above all forever.
R. Glory and praise for ever!
Blessed are you on the throne of your kingdom,
praiseworthy and exalted above all forever.
R. Glory and praise for ever!
Blessed are you who look into the depths
from your throne upon the cherubim,
praiseworthy and exalted above all forever.
R. Glory and praise for ever!

Second Reading: Blessing from God, A Trinity of Love

The God of love and peace is with us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We often use this greeting of St. Paul at the beginning of the Eucharist.

Reading 2: 2 Cor 13:11-13

Brothers and sisters, rejoice.
Mend your ways, encourage one another,
agree with one another, live in peace,
and the God of love and peace will be with you.
Greet one another with a holy kiss.
All the holy ones greet you.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ
and the love of God
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.

Alleluia Cf. Rv 1:8

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Glory to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit;
to God who is, who was, and who is to come.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel: The Father Sent Us His Son

God is in love with people. The proof is: he sent his own Son into the world, among people, not to condemn us but to save us. What greater proof of God’s love can we have?

Gospel Jn 3:16-18

God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him might not perish
but might have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world,
but that the world might be saved through him.
Whoever believes in him will not be condemned,
but whoever does not believe has already been condemned,
because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

Commentary

The Novelty of Christianity
My bishop asked me to give a pre-ordination talk to the deacons based on the Apostolic Exhortation Pastores dabo vobis (I give you pastors) of St. Pope John Paul II. So I had to read it and I was thrilled by the insights into the Blessed Trinity and the encouragement to meditate what I found there.
"Every Christian identity," it says (#12) "has its source in the Blessed Trinity." "Intimate Communion with the Blessed Trinity, that is, the new life of Grace which makes us children of God, constitutes the 'novelty' of the believer. A novelty which involves his being and his acting. It constitutes the 'mystery' of Christian existence which is under the influence of the Spirit." (46)
The revelation of the Trinity is the "novelty," what is new and special, about being a Christian. The gods of other religions tended to be remote from humankind, entering into their affairs rather capriciously. In the Judeo-Christian tradition God entered into the world very actively. He did so first at Creation when he made all earthly things good and then created man and woman in his own image. Later, he called Abraham to found a people, and he loved and cared for that people even though they were often wayward and unresponsive. Finally, as the Gospel today tells us, "God loved the world so much that he gave his only son." God entered into human history very dramatically through Jesus Christ. This son, the Emmanuel - the God who is with us - was conceived through the power of the Holy Spirit and, after his life, death and resurrection, left the Spirit behind in a very special way. This Spirit dwells in us, he is the center of our being and the source of our doing.
PASTORES DABO VOBIS, which is an exhortation on the formation of priests in the circumstances of the present day, goes on to talk of the friendship with Jesus which is found in praying and meditating the scriptures.
"The first and fundamental manner of responding to the word is prayer. Prayer should lead one to know and have experience of the genuine meaning of Christian prayer as a living and personal meeting with the Father, through the only begotten Son through the action of the Spirit, a dialogue that becomes a sharing in the filial conversation between Jesus and the Father. One aspect of a Priest's mission, and certainly by no means a secondary aspect, is that he is to be a "teacher of prayer." However, the priest will be able to train others in the school of Jesus at prayer only if he himself has been trained in it and continues to receive its formation.
"A necessary training in prayer, in a context of noise and agitation like that of our society, is an education in the deep human and religious value of silence as the spiritual atmosphere vital for perceiving God's presence and for allowing oneself to be won over by it." (#47)
The document says that the first way of knowing this triune God is through his word and the first response to this word is prayer.
It defines prayer "as a living and personal meeting with the Father through the only begotten Son through the action of the Spirit, a dialogue that becomes a sharing in the filial conversation between Jesus and the Father." This echoes St. Paul's words that we do not know how to pray (Rom 8:26) but that the Spirit - the Trinity, is ever praying within us. It also echoes the words of Jesus to the disciples in Gethsemani, "You watch while I pray" (Mk 14:34). It is only God who can pray. Our prayer is just being present to the prayer of the Trinity within us. The first place of prayer is the temple of the heart (I Cor.16). We are, each of us in our hearts, temples of the Holy Spirit. That is why meditation, just being present to the Trinity at prayer, is called pure prayer.
The document goes on to say that the high point of Christian prayer is in the Eucharist which itself must lead to charity.
What the exhortation Pastores dabo vobis tells us about the Trinity can be summed up in the image of a telescope. Through scripture we first see the Word - the eyepiece of the telescope. Then we deepen this in SILENCE. "Silence is the spiritual atmosphere vital for perceiving God's presence and for allowing one’s self to be won over by it" - this is the center piece of the telescope. This leads us to SACRAMENTS, sacred signs and the signs of brotherly and sisterly love - this is the wider part of the telescope looking out into the world. Scripture, Silence, and Sacrament are three places where God reveals himself. But we do not see better by looking at the telescope - we must look through it. Neither do we find God by looking at the different persons of the Blessed Trinity. Rather, we journey through Scripture into Silence into Sacrament. We journey from the Word, through the Spirit into the Father, the three are always one.

Introduction to the Creed

Together with Christians all over the world, we profess our faith in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. It is the faith in which we were baptized.

Intercessions

God is our creator and Father, made himself visible to us in his Son. Through his Spirit he loves us and wants to make Jesus known and loved. Let us pray:
R/ Lord our God, hear our prayer.

– Father, creator of heaven and earth, help us to respect your creation, to develop this world and to make this earth fruitful for the benefit of all people, we pray:
R/ Lord our God, hear our prayer.
– Father, you have made your love of people visible in your beloved Son Jesus Christ, one of us, human like us, and our Savior. Help us to grow more like him and to continue on earth his task of bringing salvation and freedom to all, we pray:
R/ Lord our God, hear our prayer.
– Father, you pour out your life and love through your Holy Spirit in the hearts of people. Help us through him to heal what is wounded, to soften what is hard and to warm what is cold, we pray:
R/ Lord our God, hear our prayer.
– Father, Son and Holy Spirit, let this community and your whole Church become a living sign to this world of your own community of love, we pray:
R/ Lord our God, hear our prayer.

Lord our God, be the foundation and the meaning of our Christian lives and lead your pilgrim people to the fullness of your life and love in the unity of the Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.

Prayer Over the Gifts

Our God and Father,
we bring this bread and wine before you
as the fruits of your kindness
and of our toil.
Let your Holy Spirit fill them with his power,
to make your Son Jesus Christ present here among us,
that we may share in Jesus’ offering
and that through Christ and with him and in him
we may give you all honor and praise
now and for ever. R/ Amen.

Introduction to the Eucharistic Prayer

We now reach the core of the Eucharistic celebration. We praise and thank the Father; we offer and pray to him with and through Jesus Christ; we ask the Holy Spirit to change bread and wine into Christ and to make us more the living body of Jesus Christ.

Introduction to the Lord’s Prayer

United in the Holy Spirit,
let us pray to God our Father
the prayer of Jesus our Lord. R/ Our Father...

Prayer of Peace and Unity

(The sign of peace is stressed on account of the invitation to the kiss of peace in the second reading.)
Father, you promised us your peace
through your Son Jesus Christ.
Let there be peace in your Church
and peace in the world.
Give peace to us, your community here.
Let the sign of peace
which we are about to give to one another
be expressive of unity and friendship
and commit us more deeply to live in your love
as brothers and sisters in Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.
The peace of the Lord be always with you. R/ And also with you.

(Then follows the sign of peace)
Invitation to Communion
This is Jesus our Lord
whom the Father sent into the world
to bring us eternal life
and to unite us by his Holy Spirit.
Happy are we to believe in him
and to receive him as our bread of life. R/ Lord, I am not worthy...

Prayer to the Blessed Trinity

The following prayer is read slowly by the leader, or by all the people if they have the text. The celebrant concludes with the

Prayer after Communion

Lord God, our Father
you are my God.
Let your wisdom direct me,
your grace keep me,
your love rejoice me,
your truth protect me,
your power guard me.
Jesus Christ, God’s Son,
my brother and my Savior.
That you became man
is my joy.
I want to go your way;
your suffering be my victory,
your disgrace my honor,
your death my life,
your resurrection my comfort.
Holy Spirit, God,
you are my comfort,
convert me,
for I am sinful person.
Bring me back to life,
for I am dead.
Awaken me,
for I am sleeping.
Make me ready
for eternal life.
Give light to my mind,
sanctify my will,
give strength to my weak powers.
Be with me,
live in me,
stay with me,
Trinity worthy of all praise.
(Caspar Neumann, about 1700)

Prayer after Communion

God our Father,
we praise and thank you
through Jesus Christ your Son
whom you have given us in this Eucharist
as our food and drink.
Keep us united in your Holy Spirit
and let the life of each of us
and of the whole Christian community
be a response of love and adoration
to the love you have shown us.
Help each and all of us
to be the reflection and sign to all people
of your tender and faithful love,
that all may praise you for ever and ever. R/ Amen.

Blessing

In this Eucharist we have reflected and prayed
and especially given adoration and thanks to God
for what he is: great, holy, mighty,
so high above our comprehension,
and yet so near to us and tender in his love.
We ask him now to bless us,
that all of our lives may become
an act of thanksgiving and praise.
May almighty God bless you all:
the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. R/ Amen.
Go in peace, to love and serve the Lord. R/ Thanks be to God.