Tuesday, June 06, 2006

BLESSED BE THE HOLY TRINITY AND UNDIVIDED UNITY!

Today is the Feast of the Blessed Trinity. As usual, the Introit sets the tone of the Mass: ”Blessed be the Holy Trinity and undivided Unity. We will give Him glory because He has shown mercy to us.” Every day we offer all of our prayers, Masses and Sacraments: “In the name of the father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Constantly we Catholics invoke and praise the Most Blessed Trinity.
In the Collect of the Mass, confessing the true Faith, we acknowledge the glory of the Trinity. We adore the Triune God beseeching Him to defend us “against all adversity.”
Saint Paul, in his Epistle to the Romans, expresses his wonder and praise: “O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God.” Filled with amazement, Saint Paul searches for words to describe the unfathomable Trinitarian mystery: “Of Him (the Father), and by Him (the Son) and in Him (the Holy Spirit) are all things.”
In the Gospel we read the principal Scripture passage which asserts the Three Divine Persons of the Trinity: “Go...baptize in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them whatsoever I have commanded you.”
For centuries, the Fathers, Doctors and Theologians of the Church have pondered this incomprehensible mystery. In the final analysis, man’s attempt at understanding must yield to faith. We must believe that which Jesus has revealed for He is the Son of God. He can neither deceive nor be deceived.
Trinity Sunday reminds us of God’s splendor and majesty. What are we in comparison to God? Today, when sins of pride abound, we must reflect upon the Blessed Trinity as an antidote to our pride. The pagan culture has its many false gods and their accompanying vices. It worships the false god of pop psychology, which has fed man's pride with inordinate notions of "self-esteem." In days of faith, Catholic schools taught students to know, love and serve God. Now we are immersed in our own ego. "Look at how great I am. I can be anyone or do anything I want. I am number one!" We become our own little gods.
Scripture remind us in the Books of Proverbs and Psalms that God hates pride and hears the humble. "Learn of me," Jesus said, "for I am gentle and humble of heart" (Matthew 11: 29). If we are to be like the Lord, true self-esteem must be grounded in humility and not in pride.
Saint Thomas Aquinas say that a well-ordered self-esteem humbly recalls what God has done for us. The Father, the First Person of the Blessed Trinity, has created us. He destined us for eternal life as His adopted sons. When man strayed from God by sin, the Father sent the Son to be our Redeemer. Jesus Christ, true God and true Man, is the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. After dying on the Cross and rising from the dead, the Son sent the Holy Spirit. He is the Third person of the Blessed Trinity, the Spirit of Truth, who sanctifies us and maintains the Catholic Church in truth and love.
Saint John says: "See what love the Father has bestowed on us in letting us be called children of God! Yes! That is what we are" (1John 3: 1)! Of ourselves, we are nothing. But in God's love, we have the infinite worth of having become sons of God. See how God loves us!
In the Communion Prayer of today’s Mass we humbly pray: “Bless the God of Heaven and before all the living we will praise Him because He has shown His mercy to us.”
On this Trinity Sunday, let us fall on our knees in adoration with Our Blessed Mother, the Angels, Archangels, and the whole heavenly host. Let us worship the One True God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. SANCTUS! SANCTUS! SANCTUS! Lord God of power and might. Heaven and earth are filled with your glory! Amen!

Father Richard J. Rego, S.T.L.

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