Homily
Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity Year B: Fr. Michael Ufok Udoekpo
·
Deut
4:32-34, 39-40;
·
Ps 33:4-9, 18-20, 22;
·
Rom
8:14-17
·
Matt
28:16-20
God's Mystery and Consequences of Living in His Spirit
In
today’s responsorial Psalm we heard, “Blessed are those (or those people) whom
the Lord has chosen as his own.” Or “Happy are the nations whose God is the
Lord, the people chosen as his very own’” (NAB). Depending on your translation.
Whatever translation you have, today’s responsorial Psalm, in a sense, captures
the essence of what we celebrate today, namely, Israel in the presence of God;
the Church, everywhere, every nations, our communities in the presence of God
the Father, Son and Holy Spirit!.
As Moses and Paul would note in the 1st and 2nd readings, Deuteronomy 4 and Romans
8:14-17, we celebrate today, the consequences of faithfulness, of hope (Duet 4:32-34, 39-40). The Consequences
of living in the presence of the Lord, hoping in him, relying on his love and
kindness (Rom 8:14-1), include reception of the gifts of adoption, oneness with
Jesus, God’s Son, enabling them to call God, Abba, Father (Matt 28:16-20).
This enabling mysterious working of the spirit
of the Lord in each of us, who trust in him, surpasses our human understanding, questioning, rationalization and philosophizing. It takes those who live in the Spirit of the Lord to
appreciate the fact and truth of the three persons in One God; the mystery of
the Most Holy Trinity; a Triune God who loves and cares for us; the mystery of
all that God has done for us in our lives, which has always been the subject of faith
and reflection for many saints, including Augustine.
Scripturally,
today’s readings highlight this mystery of our faith. An important one for that
matter. In the 1st reading, Deuteronomy 4, Moses, Israel’s early and
greatest prophet exhorts the community of the need to abide with the Lord, keep
the faith, and stick with God. He rhetorically reminds them all that God has
done for them- the mysteries of creation and wonders in the past including their
difficult years in eh wilderness of life and the mystery of freedom and liberation
God brought them. For those who live in the spirit of the Lord, God can do for
them, what humanly seems impossible.
I am sure as you reflect on this text, you may
have your personal testimonies. Recall God’s wonders including the miracle of
the air or oxygen we breathe, the wars he defeated the enemies, the 10 plagues,
the miracle of the red sea- all these should strengthen our faith and enable us
believe more and more in God- keeping his statues and his basic commandments,
namely love of neighbor and God!
He
is a miracle working God who out of love journeyed in his son to save us- a son
who left us with the Spirit at Pentecost. Each of us become adopted sons and
daughters of God when we aloud this spirit of God to lead us. We want not only
to read the fruit of this spirit but we want this spirit to lead us always,
even as we bring others to catholic faith by our words and deeds.
Like Moses,
Paul though originally addressing the Romans, in the 2nd reading,
says, “brothers a sisters, those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons (and
daughters) of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back
into fear, but you receive the spirit of adoption, through whom we cry, Abba,
Father… ” (Rom 8:14-17). What Moses did for his community, exhorting and strengthening their faith and hope, Paul has done for his in Romans 8. For Paul, this Spirit of God which makes us
adopted sons and daughters has eschatological consequence because as heirs and co-heirs
(synklēromenoi) we can hope for an inheritance. It allows us to suffer with him
(sympaschomen). It allows us to glorify with him (syndaxaschōmen) at the
resurrection.
This
is the mystery, the faith, the spirit, we celebrate today. It goes back even to
the days and times of our baptism as noted in the Gospel. We were all baptized
not only with water, but in the name of God the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit
(Matt 28:16-20).
As
commissioned disciples in the Gospel, by the new Moses, Christ, our redeemer,
we are not just only to live always according to the spirit of God, of peace,
unity, faith, prayer, love, obedience and complete self-surrendering, but also we are to go forth, baptize and bring
people to Christ and Christ to people.
This
is also what Pope Francis has always stand for, since the beginning of his
papacy. He notes in his Evangelii Gaudium that, each of us with the
spirit in dwelt in us, we must be a church, a community of faith that is
willing to reach out, even to the margins. Reason and personal human will
should not only be sources of our holiness and reliability in God’s mysteries
or trusting in him, but importantly faith, openness to God’s spirit that is
also modeled by the gospel beatitudes (Matt 25, Gaudete et exsultate) must
be on the top of the list of our spiritual agenda.
If
there is anything we want to take home today on this Solemnity of the Most Holy
Trinity, it is faith not doubt, unity not division, hope not despair, openness
to God’s Spirit, trust rather than distrust, and total acceptance of the
will God, the consequences of living according to his spirit, especially in moments of temptations and lack of intelligible
explanations to certain circumstances of our lives. “May your love
and kindness be upon us, as we place all our hope in you’ (ps 33:22).
Reflection
Questions:
- 1. What have we learned from today’s solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity?
- 2. What does today’s scriptures say to us in light of the mystery we celebrate?
- 3. How does today's lessons impact or change the way we introduce our neighbors to Christ or Christ to our neighbors?
