The Scripture Readings of the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity (Exodus 34:4b-6,8-9; 2 Corinthians 13:11-13; John 3:16-18) invite us to reflect and experience the sacred mystery of Triune God, who is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, in the hypostatic unity of homoousis.
In the First Reading (Exodus 34:4b-6,8-9), we see Moses’
encounter with God the Father on Mount Sinai to renew the tablets of the Law after
the Israelites invoking God’s anger by committing idolatry (Exodus 32:1-33:6).
This was because of the mercy of God the Father (Exodus 33:19; 34:6; cf. Luke
6:36). The merciful God the Father ensured the tablets of His Law were with the
Israelites (Exodus 33:1-35), though Moses broke the first set of the tablets out
of his anger at his fellow Israelites for committing idolatry (Exodus 32:19).
Though it seems that those who were present in this
First Reading are God the Father and Moses. However, when the Father descended
to meet Moses, He came with the Holy Spirit, who appeared as the cloud (Exodus
34:5).
The Catechism of the Catholic Church says:
Cloud and light. These two images occur
together in the manifestations of the Holy Spirit. 697
In expressing His mercy, God the Father also
proclaimed to Moses of His enduring love for generations, making it possible
for sinners to be forgiven (Exodus 34:6-7).
Because of love and mercy of God, the Father not only
let these stiff-necked Israelites have a fresh start with the Law but also let
His Son be incarnated in order for him to dwell among us (John 1:1) as “Immanuel”
which means God with us, by the power of the Holy Spirit in the womb of Mary the
Immaculate Conception (Luke 1:28-35) to fulfill Isaiah 7:14 (Luke 2:7). And the
incarnated Son has fulfilled the Law (Matthew 5:17), which God had given through
Moses. The Gospel Reading (John 3:16-18) explains this:
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.
The sending of the Son by the Father as described above reflects these words of God the Father to Moses:
The unity of us with the Triune God through the Son is
why the Father sent His Son for our salvific benefits out of love. And the Son,
who is the Parakletos (1 John 2:1) suffered, died, and was raised from
the dead, so that the Holy Spirit can be sent to us as another Parakletos (John
14:16) upon his return to the Father (John 16:7) so that he is with us in the Holy
Spirit, not leaving us as orphan (John 14:18).
The Second Reading (2 Corinthians 13:11-13) reflects
the unity, peace, and love, in a Christian fellowship, which is the core of the
Church born of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost (Acts 1:3-5, 13-14; 2:1-4). And
this Christian unity reflects Jesus’ Last Supper Prayer conclusion (John 17:13-26).
As Paul, in his benediction, reflects, a Christian community is, indeed, with the
Triune God:
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the
love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you
(2 Corinthians 13:13).
When we gather for Mass, these words of Paul are cited
by presiding priest in his greetings following the sign of the Cross, at the
beginning of the introductory rites. It means that we gather in the name of the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, with the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the Son ,and the love of God the Father, and the followship of the Holy Spirit,
to celebrate Holy Mass, receiving the gift of the Son in the Word (John 1:1)
and in his Body and Blood (Holy Eucharist) transubstantiated from bread and
wine by the power of the Holy Spirit upon epiclesis, as the Father sends His
Son out of love.
When we are with Christ the Son, we are also with the
Father and the Holy Spirit, by virtue of the Trinity. Whenever the Christ the
Son is, the Father is (i.e. John 8:29) because of his consubstantial unity with
Him (John 10:30, 38). And the Son is revealed and concealed by the Holy Spirit
(CCC 707) because they are the Parakletos (1 John 2:1) and another Parakletos
(John 14:16). So he is taken up to the Father at his Ascension in the Holy Spirit
(cloud)(Acts 1:9) but is with us in the Holy Spirit (John 14:18; Matthew 28:20;
cf. John 16:7). At Mass, during the Eucharistic prayer, upon epiclesis, the Holy
Spirit reveal the Son in his living flesh and blood, still in the species of
bread and wine, as the greatest gift, the Holy Eucharist, as we gather in the sanctuary
with the grace of the Son, the love of the Father, and in the fellowship of the
Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 13:13). At this moment of Mass, we shall reflect
these words of the Son to the Father:
I made known to them your name and I will
make it known, that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in
them
(John 17:26).
For centuries, many sages have attempted to grasp what
the Trinity is through analogical images. But such things can never adequately
grasp the mystery of the Holy Trinity. Rather, it is more fitting for us to
reflect the presence of our Triune God in our Christian fellowship, especially at
Mass, both during the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist. The
Scripture Readings of this Solemnity help us reflect and experience how God,
who is love (1 John 4:8, 16) has been drawing us to Him through the Son, who
has been sent to us by His love, revealed and conceived by the Holy Spirit.
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