11/06/2006 - TRINITY SUNDAY - Year B
First Reading Deuteronomy 4:32-34, 39-40 Psalm 32/33
Second Reading Romans 8:14-17 Gospel Matthew 28:16-20
You shall not kill! By obeying this Word of God, and in reading, in a positive
way, as Jesus meant, we want to replace all thoughts of death with those of
life! We begin by omitting bad thoughts towards others; by distancing suspicions;
by seeking salvation for everyone, even for those who may have caused great
suffering to others and for those who commit injustice and crime. In the depth
of our heart, we repeat, with Jesus: "Father, forgive them for they do
not know what they do"! Let us try to love, not only those who greet us,
but also those who may be contemplating our death. Let us love those who love
us, but also those who deceive us; otherwise, how are we witness to the Father
of love? We love those who speak to us sweetly and those who speak to us with
arrogance: we want to be a sign of God the Father! We love those who are good
to us and those who drag us to the tribunal to take away our home and our freedom:
with God's grace, we will be, for them and for others, witness to the value
of the Word of God and of eternal life! You might say that to be able to see
things this way, and to react accordingly, we need to be saints. But we are
saints! We carry, in our souls and in our body, the sanctity of God! Why, then,
should we not show it?
Moses shows the people of Israel the great privilege he was given: hearing the
voice of God and being certain that he was chosen by Him. The result will be
a son's obedience! The love of God is returned with love, and truer love is
that of a son who obeys with confidence! We could say much more! The love of
God was returned fully by Jesus, who loved Him as a son loves his father, and
to show it, He loved mankind even unto dieing for them. Moreover, thanks to
Jesus, our knowledge of God made giant leaps! Not only, do we know of the existence
of one God, but we also know that He loves us as a mother and a father love
their own children. We know the One whom He sent, and from Him, we receive the
same Spirit! By giving us His Spirit, He made us holy and rendered us like Him!
This assimilation from us to Him began when the Church welcomed us to be baptized.
When the Church baptized us, she obeyed Jesus. And what happened at that moment?
We have been immersed "in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy
Spirit"! The ritual of the water poured on our head is only a sign which
expresses the faith of the Church, which means all what Jesus meant when He
sent the eleven disciples to teach all the nations and to baptize them.
"In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit"! When
these words are spoken over us, we have entered divine dimensions. We have been
covered by the Name, a Name which expresses His life of love. We have been filled
and transformed by Him! This is why, now, we do not know Him because we know
something about Him, but because we live the many aspects of His love. We love
as a father does, by taking initiative of the good and the growth of others;
we love as a son loves, by welcoming proposals made by others and paying attention
to their loving choices; we love as a friend or spouse, by collaborating with
others to spread the love and a culture of love! We can no longer ignore the
"trinity" of our God, otherwise we would need to renounce the love
that springs and grows within us!
We recognize God in the Trinity of the persons, a trinity of love! If He were
one person, as presented to us by the Muslims, the love within could not be
exercised; nor would it be love! In fact, that God does not have a rapport with
man; he does not want one. He can only be a distant, impassable, cold master
who is unknown and not capable of being known. The God that is presented to
us by the oriental religions is not even a person: he does not speak, nor does
he listen! He is a god who is identified with creation; it is only an idea that
there is no one before us: we are an authority unto ourselves, we are god and
ourselves. In both cases, as in many other forms of religions offered by today's
market of religions, man plummets in a black and inconsolable solitude!
It is a great gift to know the only God in three divine Persons and to take
part in their love! It is grace that permits us to savour and enjoy communion
among brothers!
Thanks to faith in Jesus, who obtains, for us, the Holy Spirit from the Father,
we know and live in communion with Him and, consequently, with one another.
And nothing is more beautiful, nothing gives us hope and consolation, as does
communion, the source of happiness, joy and serenity! I cannot ever thank the
Church enough for having baptized me in the name of the Father, of the Son and
the Holy Spirit!