Theme

The Feast of the Trinity *18^th May 2008*
Theme :	*“Unity in Communion!”*
1st. Reading:	Exodus 14: 4-6, 8-9
2nd Reading:	2 Corinthians 13: 11-13
Gospel :	John 3:16-18

Dear Friend,

Many people believe that their religion and their faith is a private affair between themselves and their God. Yet, just as no human being can be fully human without interacting and relating with others, so no one can live a committed religious life without living with and for others. To be a Christian is to be ready to live in a community. For many the toughest challenge, the litmus test of Christian faith is living with others. Have a ‘living with and living for others’ God-filled weekend!

Fr. Jude Botelho

The first reading treats of God as he manifests himself to his people. He reveals that his name is Yahweh, which means ‘I am who I am.’ The God of Sinai is not just the fearsome God he too often is made out to be. When Israel had sinned by the worship of idols and broken the covenant, he does not abandon them but shows himself as one who loves and forgives. He is forever the God of Israel and has bound his destiny to them, no what they do, no matter how often they abandon him. He shows himself as the God of tenderness and compassion, slow to anger, rich in kindness and faithfulness. Moses his faithful servant pleads on behalf of the people: “Lord if we have found favour come with us! True, we are a headstrong people but forgive us our faults and our sins and adopt us as your heritage.” God has made us forever his people, members of his household. He reveals himself as the Father-God, our Abba forever.

God, a Mystery to be lived, not a problem to be solved.
A father was driving his little son in a car. Suddenly the son turned to the father and asked him, “Dad! Is God one or many?” The father replied, “One, my son.” “Is the Father God?” His father replied, “Yes.” “Is Jesus God?” “Yes.” “Is the Holy Spirit God?” “Yes.” “Then how can Jesus be his own father?” asked his son. The father thought quickly. He drove the car to the side of the road and stopped it. He turned towards his son and said, “You see the bonnet in the front. Inside the bonnet there is the battery. There is only one battery. Yet I can start the car with it, turn on the lights and also blow the horn. How this happens I don’t know. It is a mystery to me. Likewise God is only one, but three persons –the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. It is a mystery and we cannot understand it completely.”
John Rose in ‘John’s Sunday Reflections’

In the second letter to the Corinthians, Paul exhorts the Corinthians to live in community, accepting and loving one another and treating each other with respect and care. If one lives in a Christian community, God will bestow his love and peace more abundantly. The letter closes with a Trinitarian form of blessing which is common in many of Paul’s letters. The apostle wishes his Christians everything that is for their salvation: that God the Father may grant them his love, that Jesus the Saviour and Lord may grant them his grace and peace, and that the Holy Spirit may always dwell in them. Here is a clear reference to the three persons in the Godhead and an indication of the functions attributed to each of them.

The Ascent of Man
In his brilliant series The Ascent of Man, author Jacob Bronowski devotes an episode to mathematics under the title “The Music of the Spheres”. He shows historically how man’s ascent in civilization was marked by an increasing understanding of mathematical patterns which he saw reflected in the harmonies of music, for example, or in the motion of the spheres around the sun. One of the most fascinating discoveries by the early Greeks was the fact that three fixed points, not all on the same line, determine uniquely one and only one triangle, one and only one plane, one and only one circle. Why this should be we don’t know. All we can do is observe it as a fact and apply it to the real world in art, architecture, engineering and science. Even more mysterious is our belief that there are three persons, yet one and only one God. Why this should be we don’t know. All we can do is accept it as a revealed fact and apply it to our Christian life.
Albert Cylwicki in ‘His Word Resounds’

The short reading of today’s gospel speaks of God’s plan of salvation in and through Jesus Christ. It is the Father who initiates the salvific plan. He is always the creator from whom all good things come. It is the Father who sends his beloved Son Jesus Christ into the world. The Father loves the world because of His Son, whom he sends into the world to reveal himself and his goodness to all humankind. He sends His Son not to condemn but to save the world. The mission of Jesus is to save the world and the one condition that must be fulfilled to be saved is to believe in Jesus Christ. We must believe totally in Jesus, failing which we stand condemned. Eternal life begins here on earth itself when we believe and accept Jesus as our Lord. Thus, in this passage from John we see the Father initiates the plan of salvation out of his love. Because of his great love he sends his Son Jesus Christ who carries out the Father’s will, becoming the instrument of our salvation. Later on in the Gospel John speaks of the Spirit as the Advocate that will remain in man and guarantee God’s presence and power for salvation. Today’s passage shows how God lives as a community united and abiding in love. Out of love the Father creates and shares his love with humankind; this love is concretized and made real, incarnate in His Son Jesus Christ, and the mutual love of the Father and the Son, the bond between them is the Holy Spirit, which is given to us. We live the life of God, the Trinitarian life, when we live in love. We can live with others only if we live for others. If we live for others we constantly desire to be united in communion and share our gifts, our love with others.

“How does one speak about God and who would be able to understand him? Those great men and women who are versed in prayer are witnesses to the fact that we cannot speak about God until we learn to speak to him. We are only acolytes answering the initiative of God who makes himself known and reveals his name to us in the intimacy of faith. God alone can speak adequately about God. This he has done by becoming man in Jesus Christ. Jesus of Nazareth is the divine love in human form; in him the fullness of the Godhead has dwelt in our flesh and his Spirit murmurs within us the hidden Name: ‘Abba, Father!’. What is revealed of the triune God is still a ‘mystery’, something that eludes our grasp and brings us once again face to face with the reality of an inexpressible God. St. John gives us a glimpse of the mystery of God and his plan for us. Like the three strangers who became Abraham’s guests at the oaks of Mamre, so to God wants us to be his companions in eternity: in order to break bread with him, to share the true food in an intimacy which will know no end. We must go back to the deep life of God if we are to grasp what the love of the Father for mankind brings about – eternal life for those who believe in Jesus Christ.” – Glenstal Bible Missal

God is sufficient
When the great Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov saw misfortune threatening the Jews, it was his custom to go to a certain part of the forest to meditate. Then he would light a fire, say a prayer and the miracle would be accomplished and the misfortune averted. Later, when his disciple, the celebrated Magid of Mezritch, had occasion, for the same reason to say a prayer, he would go to the same place in the forest and say: “Master of the Universe, Listen! I do not know how to light the fire, but I am able to say the prayer” And again the miracle would be accomplished. Still later, Rabbi Moshe-Leib of Sasov, in order to save his people once more, would go into the forest and say: “I do not know how to light the fire, I do not know the prayer, but I know the place, and this must be sufficient.” Once again a miracle! Then it fell to Rabbi Israel of Rizhyn to overcome misfortune. Sitting in his armchair, his head in his hands, he spoke to God: “I am unable to light the light and I do not know the prayer; I cannot even find the place in the forest. All I can do is tell the story, and this must be sufficient.” And it was sufficient, because God is sufficient!
Brian Cavanaugh in ‘The Sower’s Seeds’

Seeing God in his manifestations -Living the Trinity

Frank Sheed, a famous Catholic layman who lived in England, often went to Hyde Park to talk about religion. He used to say that he could hold a crowd for two hours in the rain, talking about the Trinity. Sheed’s remark is interesting. It makes an important point. People are interested in God. They are interested in the Trinity. They want to make the Trinity come alive and make sense in their everyday lives. Unfortunately, few articles are written about the Trinity. Even when you do read an article or hear a homily on the Trinity, it is often tedious. This is understandable because when we talk about the trinity, we are talking about a profound mystery. Frank Sheed, when preaching at Hyde Park, used the falling rain to try to give people an insight into the unity and diversity of the Trinity. He would say something like this: “The water that is falling is water, but it can exist in three different forms: gas, solid, and liquid –that is: in steam, in ice, and in falling rain.” Of course, every analogy falls short of the reality. But I think you see his point. There are not three different kinds of water. There is only one water, but it exists in three different forms. In some similar way we might think of God and experience his different manifestations.

Mark Link in ‘Sunday Homilies’

May we live as members of God’s family living with and for others!

Fr. Jude Botelho
judebotelho@niscort.com

P.S. :The stories, incidents and anecdotes used in the reflections have been collected over the years from books as well as from sources over the net and from e-mails received. Every effort is made to acknowledge authors whenever possible. If you send in stories or illustrations I would be grateful if you could quote the source as well so that they can be acknowledged if used in these reflections. I would be happy if you could link this website to your own parish/diocesan/institutional website. If you wish to receive these reflections by e-mail, or send them to a friend, do send in the e-mail address to <jude@netforlife.plus.com>

Other Sunday Homily Websites

www.opsouth.org

www.meynen.homily-service.net

Daily Reflections

Creighton Daily Reflections

Immaculate Heart Retreat Center

Gospel Commentary from Ireland

Daily Scripture Readings

www.usccb.org/nab/today.htm

Recent Sunday Reflections

The Feast of Pentecost 11-May. 2008

The Ascension of the Lord 04-May. 2008