Catechism Links:
CCC 202, 232-260, 684, 732: the mystery of the Trinity
CCC 249, 813, 950, 1077-1109, 2845: the Trinity in the Church and her liturgy
CCC 2655, 2664-2672: the Trinity and prayer
CCC 2205: the family as an image of the Trinity
CCC Cross Reference:
Dt 4:37 218
Ps 33:6 292, 703
Rom 8:14-17 1996; Rom 8:14 259, 693, 1831, 2543; Rom 8:15 257, 693, 1303, 1972, 2777; Rom 8:16 2639; Rom 8:17 1265, 1460, 1831
Mt 28:16-20 857, 1444; Mt 28:16-17 645; Mt 28:17 644; Mt 28:18-20 1120; Mt 28:19-20 2, 767, 849, 1223, 1257, 1276
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Reading 1
Dt 4:32-34, 39-40
Moses said to the people:
"Ask now of the days of old, before your time,
ever since God created man upon the earth;
ask from one end of the sky to the other:
Did anything so great ever happen before?
Was it ever heard of?
Did a people ever hear the voice of God
speaking from the midst of fire, as you did, and live?
Or did any god venture to go and take a nation for himself
from the midst of another nation,
by testings, by signs and wonders, by war,
with strong hand and outstretched arm, and by great terrors,
all of which the LORD, your God,
did for you in Egypt before your very eyes?
This is why you must now know,
and fix in your heart, that the LORD is God
in the heavens above and on earth below,
and that there is no other.
You must keep his statutes and commandments that I enjoin on you today,
that you and your children after you may prosper,
and that you may have long life on the land
which the LORD, your God, is giving you forever."
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 33:4-5, 6, 9, 18-19, 20, 22
R. (12b) Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
Upright is the word of the LORD,
and all his works are trustworthy.
He loves justice and right;
of the kindness of the Lord the earth is full.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
By the word of the LORD the heavens were made;
by the breath of his mouth all their host.
For he spoke, and it was made;
he commanded, and it stood forth.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
See, the eyes of the LORD are upon those who fear him,
upon those who hope for his kindness,
To deliver them from death
and preserve them in spite of famine.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
Our soul waits for the LORD,
who is our help and our shield.
May your kindness, O LORD, be upon us
who have put our hope in you.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
Reading II
Rom 8:14-17
Brothers and sisters:
For those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear,
but you received a Spirit of adoption,
through whom we cry, "Abba, Father!"
The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit
that we are children of God,
and if children, then heirs,
heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ,
if only we suffer with him
so that we may also be glorified with him.
Gospel
Mt 28:16-20
The eleven disciples went to Galilee,
to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them.
When they all saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted.
Then Jesus approached and said to them,
"All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.
And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age."
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
First reading Deuteronomy 4:32-34,39-40
Moses said to the people: ‘Put this question to the ages that are past, that went before you, from the time God created man on earth: Was there ever a word so majestic, from one end of heaven to the other? Was anything ever heard? Did ever a people hear the voice of the living God speaking from the heart of the fire, as you heard it, and remain alive? Has any god ventured to take to himself one nation from the midst of another by ordeals, signs, wonders, war with mighty hand and outstretched arm, by fearsome terrors – all this that the Lord your God did for you before your eyes in Egypt?
‘Understand this today, therefore, and take it to heart: the Lord is God indeed, in heaven above as on earth beneath, he and no other. Keep his laws and commandments as I give them to you today, so that you and your children may prosper and live long in the land that the Lord your God gives you for ever.’
Responsorial Psalm:
Psalm 32(33):4-6,9,18-20,22
Happy the people the Lord has chosen as his own.
For the word of the Lord is faithful
and all his works to be trusted.
The Lord loves justice and right
and fills the earth with his love.
Happy the people the Lord has chosen as his own.
By his word the heavens were made,
by the breath of his mouth all the stars.
He spoke; and it came to be.
He commanded; it sprang into being.
Happy the people the Lord has chosen as his own.
The Lord looks on those who revere him,
on those who hope in his love,
to rescue their souls from death,
to keep them alive in famine.
Happy the people the Lord has chosen as his own.
Our soul is waiting for the Lord.
The Lord is our help and our shield.
May your love be upon us, O Lord,
as we place all our hope in you.
Happy the people the Lord has chosen as his own.
Second reading Romans 8:14-17
Everyone moved by the Spirit is a son of God. The spirit you received is not the spirit of slaves bringing fear into your lives again; it is the spirit of sons, and it makes us cry out, ‘Abba, Father!’ The Spirit himself and our spirit bear united witness that we are children of God. And if we are children we are heirs as well: heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, sharing his sufferings so as to share his glory.
Gospel Matthew 28:16-20
The eleven disciples set out for Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had arranged to meet them. When they saw him they fell down before him, though some hesitated. Jesus came up and spoke to them. He said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, make disciples of all the nations; baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teach them to observe all the commands I gave you. And know that I am with you always; yes, to the end of time.’
Readings and Commentary from the Navarre Bible
Solemnity: Trinity Sunday
From: Deuteronomy 4:32-34, 39-40
The Lord's Special Providence Towards His People
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(Moses said to the people,) [32] "For ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether such a great thing as this has ever happened or was ever heard of. [33] Did any people ever hear the voice of a god speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and still live? [34] 0r has any god ever attempted to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, and by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? [39] know therefore this day, and lay it to your heart, that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other. [40] Therefore you shall keep his statutes and his commandments, which I command you this day, that it may go well with you, and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which the LORD your God gives you for ever."
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Commentary:
4:32-40. The end of this first discourse carries an important theological message: the profound notion of one God (monotheism); the election of Israel as God's specific people; his special and kindly providence towards this people; the might of God, as manifested in the prodigious works he does in favor of the chosen people; and the consequence of all this--Israel's duty to be faithful to the one and only God, keeping his commandments and offering due cult only to him; by so doing, Israel will continue to enjoy his protection.
Reading this and other passages in the sacred books shows the efforts the inspired writers made to update the teaching of religious traditions and apply it to the situation and needs of Israelites in later periods; this is perhaps the reason for the frequent calls to fidelity to the Covenant. "In the course of its history, Israel was able to discover that God had only one reason to reveal himself to them, a single motive for choosing them from among alt peoples as his special possession: his sheer gratuitous love (cf. Deut 4:37; 7:8; 10:15). And thanks to the prophets Israel understood that it was again out of love that God never stopped saving them (cf. Is 43:1-7) and pardoning their unfaithfulness and sins (cf. Hos 2)" ("Catechism of the Catholic Church", 218).
The Deuteronomic formula of "the Lord is God ["ha-Elohim", that is, the only God] and there is no other besides him" (v. 35), which occurs often (cf. 4:39; 6:4; 32:39; etc.) is also the essence of the Prophets' message (cf. Jer 2:11-33; Is 41: 2-29; 44:6; 46:9). The Prophets strove to draw Israel towards or maintain it in fidelity to the One and Only God who revealed himself to the patriarchs and to Moses, and helped to develop and deepen an appreciation of monotheism, of the universality of the power of Yahweh, of his moral demands, etc. But the core of all this teaching is to be found expounded, profoundly and very specifically, in the book of Deuteronomy. This teaching builds up the notion of the Lord as a jealous God" (cf. Ex 20:5) who requires his adherents to be totally obedient to him; it is a notion incompatible with worshipping the divinities adored by other peoples (cf. Ex 20:3).
Being good, obeying the commandments of the Law of God, brings life (v. 40), initially understood as longevity; whereas sin often brings with it misfortune or death, as a punishment fro, God (cf. Ezek 18:10-13,19-20; etc.). The fact that God is just in his treatment of man, rewarding him or punishing, sooner or later, for the good or the evil he does, is a message that runs right through the Old and New Testaments. In ancient texts, the accent is on reward or punishment in this present life. In the New Testament more emphasis is put on divine retribution in the future life. It is not surprising that there should be this line of development in the biblical ethic: God takes account of time and grace to lead men to the fullness of truth.
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From: Romans 8:14-17
Life in the Spirit (continued)
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[11] If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit who dwells in you. [12] So then, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh – [13] for if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live.
Christians are children of God
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[14] For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. [15] For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of sonship. When we cry, "Abba! Father!" [16] it is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, [17] and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
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Commentary:
10-11. Once he is justified the Christian lives in the grace of God and confidently hopes in his future resurrection; Christ himself lives in him (cf. Gal 2:20; 1 Cor 15: 20-23). However, he is not spared the experience of death, a consequence of original sin (cf. Rom 5:12; 6:23). Along with suffering, concupiscence and other limitations, death is still a factor after Baptism; it is something which motivates us to struggle and makes us to be like Christ. Almost all commentators interpret the expression "your bodies are dead because of sin" as referring to the fact that, due to sin, the human body is destined to die. So sure is this prospect of death that the Apostle sees the body as "already dead".
St. John Chrysostom makes an acute observation: if Christ is living in the Christian, then the divine Spirit, the third Person of the Trinity, is also present in him. If this divine Spirit is absent, then indeed death reigns supreme, and with it the wrath of God, rejection of his laws, separation from Christ, and expulsion of our Guest. And he adds: "But when one has the Spirit within, what can be lacking? With the Spirit one belongs to Christ, one possesses him, one vies for honor with the angels. With the Spirit, the flesh is crucified, one tastes the delight of an immortal life, one has a pledge of future resurrection and advances rapidly on the path of virtue. This is what Paul calls putting the flesh to death" (Hom. on Rom, 13).
14-30. The life of a Christian is sharing in the life of Christ, God's only Son. By becoming, through adoption, true children of God we have, so to speak, a right to share also in Christ's inheritance – eternal life in heaven (vv. 13-18). This divine life in us, begun in Baptism through rebirth in the Holy Spirit, will grow under the guidance of this Spirit, who makes us ever more like Christ (vv. 14, 26-27). So, our adoption as sons is already a fact – we already have the first fruits of the Spirit (v. 23) – but only at the end of time, when our body rises in glory, will our redemption reach its climax (vv. 23-25). Meanwhile we are in a waiting situation – not free from suffering (v. 18), groans (v. 23) and weakness (v. 26) – a situation characterized by a certain tension between what we already possess and are, and what we yearn for. This yearning is something which all creation experiences; by God's will, its destiny is intimately linked to our own, and it too awaits its transformation at the end of the world (vv. 19-22). All this is happening in accordance with a plan which God has, a plan established from all eternity which is unfolding the course of time under the firm guidance of divine providence (vv. 28-30)
14-15 St. Josemaria Escriva taught thousands of people about this awareness of divine filiation which is such an important part of the Christian vocation. Here is what he says, for example, in The Way, 267: "We've got to be convinced that God is always near us. We live as though he were far away, in the heavens high above, and we forget that he is also continually by our side.
"He is there like a loving Father. He loves each of us more than all the mothers in the world can love their children – helping, inspiring us, blessing . . . and forgiving.
"How often we have misbehaved and then cleared the frowns from our parents' brows, telling them: I won't do it any more! – That same day, perhaps, we fall again . . . – And our father, with feigned harshness in his voice and serious face, reprimands us while in his heart he is moved, realizing our weakness and thinking: poor child, how hard he tries to behave well!
"We've go to be filled, to be imbued with the idea that our Father, and very much our Father, is God who is both near us and in heaven."
This awareness of God as Father was something which the first chancellor of the University of Navarre experienced with special intensity one day in 1931: "They were difficult times, from a human point of view, but even so I was quite sure of the impossible – this impossibility which you can now see as an accomplished fact. I felt God acting within me with overriding force, filling my heart and bringing to my lips this tender invocation – Abba! Pater! I was out in the street, in a tram; being out in the street is no hindrance for our contemplative dialogue; for us, the hustle and bustle of the world is a place for prayer" (St. J. Escrivá, quoted in Bernal, p. 214).
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From: Matthew 28:16-20
Appearance in Galilee. The Mission to the World
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[16] Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. [17] And when they saw him they worshipped him; but some doubted. [18] And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. [19] Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, [20] teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age."
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Commentary:
16-20. This short passage, which brings to a close the Gospel of St Matthew, is of great importance. Seeing the risen Christ, the disciples adore him, worshipping him as God. This shows that at last they are fully conscious of what, from much earlier on, they felt in their heart and confessed by their words--that their Master is the Messiah, the Son of God (cf. Mt 16:18; Jn 1:49). They are overcome by amazement and joy at the wonder their eyes behold: it seems almost impossible, were he not before their very eyes. Yet he is completely real, so their fearful amazement gives way to adoration. The Master addresses them with the majesty proper to God: "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me." Omnipotence, an attribute belonging exclusively to God, belongs to him: he is confirming the faith of his worshippers; and he is also telling them that the authority which he is going to give them to equip them to carry out their mission to the whole world, derives from his own divine authority.
On hearing him speak these words, we should bear in mind that the authority of the Church, which is given it for the salvation of mankind, comes directly from Jesus Christ, and that this authority, in the sphere of faith and morals, is above any other authority on earth.
The Apostles present on this occasion, and after them their lawful successors, receive the charge of teaching all nations what Jesus taught by word and work: he is the only path that leads to God. The Church, and in it all Christian faithful, have the duty to proclaim until the end of time, by word and example, the faith that they have received. This mission belongs especially to the successors of the Apostles, for on them devolves the power to teach with authority, "for, before Christ ascended to his Father after his resurrection, he [...] entrusted them with the mission and power to proclaim to mankind what they had heard, what they had seen with their eyes, what they had looked upon and touched with their hands, concerning the Word of Life (1 Jn 1:1). He also entrusted them with the mission and power to explain with authority what he had taught them, his words and actions, his signs and commandments. And he gave them the Spirit to fulfill their mission" (Bl. John Paul II, "Catechesi Tradendae", 1). Therefore, the teachings of the Pope and of the Bishops united to him should always be accepted by everyone with assent and obedience.
Here Christ also passes on to the Apostles and their successors the power to baptize, that is, to receive people into the Church, thereby opening up to them the way to personal salvation.
The mission which the Church is definitively given here at the end of St Matthew's Gospel is one of continuing the work of Christ--teaching men and women the truths concerning God and the duty incumbent on them to identify with these truths, to make them their own by having constant recourse to the grace of the sacraments. This mission will endure until the end of time and, to enable it to do this work, the risen Christ promises to stay with the Church and never leave it. When Sacred Scripture says that God is with someone, this means that that person will be successful in everything he undertakes. Therefore, the Church, helped in this way by the presence of its divine Founder, can be confident of never failing to fulfill its mission down the centuries until the end of time.
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Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and by Scepter Publishers in the United States. We encourage readers to purchase The Navarre Bible for personal study. See Scepter Publishers for details.
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