Trinity Sunday May 31: Deut 4:32-34, 39-40. Rom 8:14-17. Mt 28:16-20.
- The Gospel this weekend is this: Mt 28:16-20. The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted. 18 Then Jesus approached and said to them, "All power 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 behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age." - The first reading is this: Deut 4:32-34, 39-40 "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? 33 Did a people ever hear the voice of God speaking from the midst of fire, as you did, and live? 34 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 his 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?... 39 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. 40 You must keep his statutes and commandments which 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." - The second reading is this: Rom 8:14-17 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. 15 For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a spirit of adoption, through which we cry, "Abba, Father!" 16 The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 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. - MEDITATION: This Sunday we celebrate the fact that our God is not an individual, but three. God is family! And they are calling us to get together with them. We have learnt from our youth to bless ourselves 'in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit', but today we reflect on the wonder that it is to have a God who is not an individual, but a family. That is beautiful because Love, by nature, is communitarian. They are calling us to get together with them. Jesus spoke of his father, but he taught us to pray the ‘our father’. We are just little brothers and sisters, but our three divine leaders strive to make us decent mature members of the family also. It is significant that the Gospel this Sunday begins: ‘when Jesus appeared to the eleven Apostles, they adored him but they also hesitated’. We can all identify with that! Overcoming doubts is a normal part of the challenging path to Eternal Life. Our faith does not come from any obvious miraculous apparitions. We should be permanent seekers. The best Saints were looking for and found something, and that made them want to find more and more. Jesus clarifies today that he will always be with us until the end. Therefore the Good News is not a Gospel that is all finished, but a journey that God wants to continue. Will you let the Trinity transform you into a living Gospel? The best way to praise them is to imitate them. That’s calling us all to become a loving family. Then we’ll help one another. Christians of the 3rd and 4th centuries included some 'hermits', but the Church did not fully approve of that, and soon recommended that everyone have some involvement in community. Then began the time of Christian monks living in community. One of the big differences between the Bible and ancient fables and myths is that the Bible unites people. From Adam and Eve on, God is uniting people. It does not say "I am going to create man in my image", but "Let us create man in our image". Note that that’s plural (as is the Trinity). We are called to participate in Christ — in his mystical body, and that means participating in the entire divine family. It may seem strange to some that my community has three branches (males, females and married couples). Remember the prayer of Jesus to the father in John 17: "May they all be one - as you and I are one". It’s talking of the whole human family and the entire Church and we are all called to help make it come true. When Jesus was calling Peter (Simon-Peter) who was fishing to earn a living and overcome the difficulty of taxes, he also called Matthew 'the tax collector'! They became teammates following Christ. That teaches us that the call to Christian community does not exclude anyone and begets a surprising friendship. If we are Christian but not doing what we can to build up community, then we aren't really following Christ. Remember the symbolism of what happened at Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came upon the community, the people from different countries began to understand one another in spite of different languages! But that needs the support of us all. According to the writings about for the people of Greece and Rome in centuries 1 to 5, what really caught the attention of people about this strange bunch called ‘Christians’ was this: "Look at how they love one another!". The letter of the 3rd century called Epistle of Diognetius says this: ' ‘The Christians live in their own countries, but live as visitors... And every foreign land is a homeland for them… They have a common table, although it is not common '. One year on Trinity Sunday, as an Irishman in Spain, I was at our community mass sitting beside an Englishman, a Jamaican and an ex-soldier from Singapore, and the homily was preached by a Pole with a translator from Spain! We can all go together! The Christian community is formed of different individuals, and it respects the individuality of each one knowing that it is the same Lord who acts in each member of his body. I know that there are many things that I don't know and many that I can't do, and that's a good realization that we need as a community and as a church. St. Paul wrote this: 'my joy is to see you united in heart and mind, not motivated by self-interest or boasts but humbly considering the other as more important than yourself, not working for one’s own interests, but for those of others.' (Phil 2: 2b-4). Since God is our origin, our origin is a family. Many artists have imagined God as an individual 'in the sky' but that's just art. God is 'the Trinity'. God is community. And we’re called to be with Mary forming 'the family'. The man who decides that he will not participate in 'Community' is denying his own identity as a son of God. The modern world teaches all to ‘be themselves’ but what a pity if we do not understand what being ourselves means... that we are all part of one family! When one refuses the call to build up the community, he is denying his own self. "I have the right to be me" - but do we know who we are? As Psalm 16 says: 'God has put into my heart a wonderful love for all the faithful who dwell in his land'. The love of the Trinity inspires us to love all people - even to the most unfaithful! The first letter of John in the Bible puts it clearly: 'If one is not in communion with his brothers, one can’t be in communion with God'. Of course, that doesn't mean that we don’t ‘correct’ one another. Correction isn’t the same as 'criticism' and far from dividing us, it increases our communion. This Sunday we praise the most Holy Trinity and give thanks because they want to give a role also to our poor humanity in their family. We also give thanks to our leader in this: Mary! ............ Dara. - - En ESPAÑOL: - Domingo de la Trinidad (Solmnedad Mayo 31º): Deut 4:32-34, 39-40 Rom 8:14-17 Mt 28:16-20 Este domingo celebramos el hecho de que nuestro Dios no es un individuo, sino tres. ¡Dios es familia! Y nos están llamando a juntarnos con ellos. Hemos aprendido desde nuestra juventud a bendecirnos 'en el nombre del Padre, del Hijo y del Espíritu Santo', pero reflexionemos hoy en la maravilla que es tener un Dios que no es un individuo, sino una familia. Aquello es bello porque el Amor, por naturaleza, es comunitario. Nos están llamando a juntarnos con ellos. Jesús habló de su Padre, pero nos enseñó a rezar el Padre nuestro. No somos más que hermanitos y hermanitas, pero nuestros tres líderes divinos se esfuerzan mucho para hacer de nosotros buenos miembros maduros de la familia. Es significativo como empieza el Evangelio este domingo: ‘Cuando Jesús se apareció a los once apóstoles, le adoraban pero también vacilaban.’ ¡Podemos todos identificarnos con aquello! Superar dudas es una parte normal del camino desafiante hacia la Vida Eterna. Nuestra fe no viene de alguna aparición milagrosa acabada. Deberíamos ser buscadores permanentes. Los mejores santos buscaban y hallaban algo, y aquello les hacía querer buscar más y más. Jesús clarifica hoy que él estará siempre con nosotros hasta el fin. Significa que la Buena Nueva no es un Evangelio ya terminado, sino un viaje que Dios quiere continuar. ¿Le dejarás transformarte a ti en un Evangelio vivo? La mejor forma de alabarles es en imitarles. Aquello significa vivir todos como familia amorosa, entonces nos ayudaremos uno al otro. Los cristianos de los siglos 3 y 4 incluían algunos 'ermitaños', pero la Iglesia no oprobió esto plenamente, y dentro de poco recomendó que todos tengan alguna participación en comunidad. Entonces empezaron las comunidades de monjes cristianos que vivían en comunidad. Una de las diferencias grandes entre la Biblia y fábulas ancianas y mitos, es como la Biblia se une a las personas. Desde Adán y Eva, Dios está uniendo a la gente. No dice que "Voy a crear al hombre en mi imagen", sino “Creemos al hombre en nuestra imagen”. Nota que es plural (como es la Trinidad). Estamos llamados a participar en Cristo - en su Cuerpo Místico, y eso significa participar en la familia divina entera. Puede parecer extraño a algunos que mi comunidad tiene tres ramas (los varones misioneros, misioneras y matrimonios) formando una comunidad religiosa, pero piensa en la oración de Jesús a su Padre en Juan 17: “Que sean uno - como tú y yo somos uno”. Está hablando de la familia humana entera y la Iglesia entera pero somos todos llamaron a ayudarle a hacerlo realidad. Cuando Jesús estaba llamando a Pedro (Simón-Pedro) quién pescaba para ganarse la vida y superar la dificultad de impuestos, ¡también llamó a Mateo 'el cobrador de impuestos'! Ellos llegaron a ser compañeros siguiendo a Cristo. Eso nos enseña que la llamada a ser comunidad Cristiana no excluye a nadie y engendra un compañerismo sorprendente. Si somos cristianos pero no haciendo lo que podemos para formar la comunidad, entonces realmente no estamos siguiendole a Cristo. ¡Recuerde el simbolismo de lo a que pasó en Pentecostés, cuando el Espíritu santo se apoderó de la comunidad, las personas de países diferentes empezaron a comprenderse uno al otro a pesar de las distintas idiomas. Pero eso necesita la ayuda de nosotros todos. Según las escrituras de las personas de Grecia y Roma en los siglos 1 al 5, lo que realmente llamó la atención de la gente acerca de ese manojo extraño llamados Cristianos era “Mira como se aman uno al otro”. La carta del siglo 3 llamado Epístola a Diognetio dice esto: 'Los Cristianos viven en sus propios países, pero viven como visitantes… Para ellos cada tierra extranjera es una patria, y cada patria es extranjera… Tienen una mesa común, aunque no es común'. ¡En el domingo de la Trinidad un año, como irlandés en España, estaba yo a la misa sentado al lado de un inglés, un jamaicano y un ex-soldado de Singapur, y la homilía fue dada por una polaca con un traductor de España! ¡Podemos todos ir juntos! La comunidad cristiana se forma de individuos distintos, y se respeta la individualidad de cada uno sabiendo que es el mismo Señor que actúa en cada miembro de su cuerpo. Sé que hay muchas cosas yo no sé y mucho que no puedo hacer, y eso es una realización buena que nos hace necesitarnos como una comunidad y como una Iglesia. San Pablo escribió esto: 'Mi alegría es veros unidos de corazón y mente, no movidos por egoísmo o vanagloria sino humildemente considerando a otros más importantes que vosotros mismos, cada uno no trabajando para sus propios intereses, sino para los de otros.' (Fil 2:2b-4). Dado que nuestro origen es Dios, entonces nuestro origen es una familia. Muchos artistas se han imaginado Dios como un individuo 'en el cielo' pero eso es arte. Dios es 'la Trinidad'. Es comunidad. Y estamos llamados todos a estar con María y dentro de 'la familia'. El hombre que decide que no va a participar en 'la comunidad' está negando a su propia identidad como hijo de Dios. ¡El mundo moderno enseña a todos a 'ser si mismo' pero qué lástima si no comprendemos qué somos nosotros mismos… que formamos todos parte de todos! Cuando uno se niega a la llamada a formar la comunidad, está negando a su propio ego. “Tengo el derecho a ser mi mismo” - pero ¿sabemos quienes somos? Como dice salmo 16: 'Dios ha puesto en mi corazón un amor maravilloso por todos los fieles que moran en su tierra'. El amor de la Trinidad nos inspira a amar a todas las personas - ¡incluso al más infiel!. La primera carta de Juan en la Biblia lo pone claramente: 'Si uno no está en comunión con sus hermanos, no puede estar en comunión con Dios'. Claro, eso no significa que nunca nos corregimos y aportamos. La corrección no es igual que 'la crítica' y lejos de dividirnos, aumenta nuestra comunión. Este domingo alabamos a la Trinidad Santísima y damos gracias porque han querido dar papel también a nuestra pobre humanidad en su familia. Entonces también demos gracias a nuestra líder en esto: ¡María! Comments are closed.
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