Celebrating Mass

Our Easter season ended last week at Pentecost and so, if we were in church, we would no longer see the Easter Pascal Candle in a prominent position on the altar. We are now in the liturgical season of Ordinary Time, that time in the church’s year that follows the season of Lent and Easter and leads us to the season of Advent and Christmas.

This Sunday and next Sunday however, are both special solemnities which celebrate two of the central mysteries of our faith and belief. Today we celebrate ‘The Most Holy Trinity’ of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. These three divine Persons are one God, because each of them equally possesses the fullness of the one and indivisible divine nature (cf. CCCC n.48). It is distinctive to Christian belief, that God is one in three Persons. It is of course a challenge to be able to understand the mystery of ‘three persons in one God’ by human reason alone, but then so is God’s unfathomable love and mercy for us all, or Jesus’ willingness to be born, suffer and die for our salvation. But we are truly shown the power, the importance, and the oneness of the Trinity in achieving our salvation in the actions, words and teaching of Jesus and God the Father, and the actions of the Holy Spirit.

We know of the Holy Trinity because God has revealed it to us for our salvation and in his desire for us to know him. We hear of the beginnings of God’s revelation of Himself to mankind in our first reading today. God passes before Moses and declares that He is “The Lord, a God of tenderness and compassion, slow to anger rich in kindness and faithfulness.” (Ex 34:6). He calls mankind to know him and his love and mercy for the salvation of all.

The supreme example of God the Father’s love and mercy was shown when he sent his only son, the second person in the Holy Trinity, to live among us as man. This very act was trinitarian from the very beginning. The Holy Trinity is at the centre of our salvation and God’s love. God the Father’s will was for Mary, if she consented, to be the mother of Jesus. When Mary asked the angel how this could be, the response was simple, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, the angel answered, and the power of the Most High will cover you with it’s shadow.” (Lk 1:35). The power of the resurrection to eternal life was won for us by Jesus, through the will of God the Father and with the power of the Holy Spirit.

The power and the presence of the Holy Trinity was also fully present as Jesus started his ministry on earth at His baptism by John in the river Jordan. “As soon as Jesus was baptised, he came up from the water, and suddenly the heavens opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming down on him. And a voice spoke from heaven. ‘This is my Son, the Beloved: my favour rests on him’” (Mt 3:13-17).

Last week at the feast of Pentecost we celebrated the gift of the Holy Spirit that was given to the disciples to help and strengthen them as they start their ministry without Jesus at their side, and at the end of Matthew’s Gospel Jesus instructs the disciples to invoke the power of the Holy Trinity, “Go, therefore, make disciples of all nations; baptise them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Mt 28:19). Therefore, the Holy Trinity is central to our lives as Christians. It is fully present when we are welcomed into the church at our baptism and is central to the nourishing of our faith at Mass (even if attended online currently). The sign of the cross at the start of Mass reminds us that we gather in the name of the Holy Trinity. When we pray the Gloria, and profess our faith in the Creed, we acknowledge and worship Father, Son and Holy Sprit as equal in glory and as one in our salvation. The eucharistic prayer is addressed to the Father, recalling the great love he has for us and continues to show us, through his Son and the Holy Spirit.

We have one God, and this God is three distinct persons joined through a perfect love for each other and for us. Each of these persons is real and truly God, and yet there is only one God, whose perfect love and mercy is shown to us in creation, in the resurrection, in our salvation and in our hearts.

Through this oneness God revealed himself to humanity, offers us the chance of eternal happiness with him, and strengthens us with the grace we need to turn to him, to know and love him and to receive his great love. The Holy Trinity is close to us in so many ways and is a wonderful truth of our Catholic faith.

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

This week let us pray: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, help us to know You and to love You and to make You present in every aspect of our lives. Help us to discover the love shared within the Most Holy Trinity and to make this love a part of our daily life. Amen

God Bless, Deacon Jim

Download Deacon Jim’s reflection here

Gospel

John 3:16-18

Read Here

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