Trinity Sunday (B)
“Did anything so great ever happen before?” (Deut. 4:32). Moses asked this question to help his people realize how precious they were in God’s sight. From the beginning of creation, Moses fervently argued, God had showered great favor upon his people. He presented all of Israelite history as a long string of God’s saving interventions in the affairs of his chosen ones. Now, these beloved people must respond properly to God’s goodness by following his commands – not out of fear, but so that they and their descendants might prosper.
God’s immense love for his people is the theme which runs through all our readings this Trinity Sunday. The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity is a somewhat unusual feast. Most celebrations during the Church year involve special events in the life of Our Lord, the Blessed Mother, or the Saints. This feast which Pope John XXII gave to the whole Church in 1334, however, celebrates not a particular event in the history of salvation, but rather a key point of divine revelation. Far from being a dry, idea-centered feast, though, the observance of Trinity Sunday focuses our worship on the Three Persons in One God, the Font and Goal of all salvation history.
Our feast this Sunday gives us a special moment to cherish the continual acts of love by which God reveals himself to us. From the beginning of creation, through Old Testament times, and culminating in the sending of Jesus Christ, God has sought to enter into a loving rapport with humanity. “The whole history of salvation is identical with the history of the way and the means by which the one true God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, reveals himself to men and reconciles and unites with himself those who turn away from sin” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, #234).
All Three Persons of the Trinity play a special role in calling to us; as St. Paul explains in this Sunday’s second reading, “All who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God” (Romans 8:14). The Holy Spirit unites all believers with Jesus. By being united with Jesus, we are then privileged to share in his relationship with the Father – we become God’s much-loved children who reflect the Father’s love by our reverence and obedience. We share in the riches and the responsibilities of Jesus’ Divine Sonship.
This Sunday’s Gospel reading, the conclusion of St. Matthew’s text, clarifies how Jesus wishes us to live out the life of Heavenly grace which enlivens and ennobles us. Promising to be with us always, a promise he will fulfill by the sending of the Holy Spirit, Jesus leaves three final commands. These three commands lay out the duties of all Jesus’ followers during the Age of the Church.
First, Jesus instructs us to “make disciples of all the nations” (Matthew 28:19). No longer will God’s attentions be focused solely upon one particular people. With the coming of the Holy Spirit, God’s loving embrace is intended to reach out to all people of every time and nation. His first followers, and those who will subsequently believe based upon their testimony, are called upon to proclaim the Person and message of Jesus everywhere.
Next, Jesus asks us to “baptize them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19). Jesus entreats his Church not to gain for him just new followers, but rather new family members. By Baptism, a person enters into the very life and love of God himself. Jesus seeks such a relationship with every individual. He reveals that “the ultimate end of the whole divine economy is the entry of God’s creatures into the perfect unity of the Blessed Trinity” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, #260).
Finally, Jesus instructs us to “teach [these new followers] to carry out everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:20). Of course, the best way to accomplish this task is by living out Jesus’ teaching fully in our lives. Jesus empowers every follower to be the instrument by which others are brought into God’s family.
As we celebrate Trinity Sunday, then, our readings inspire us to remember the Triune God’s ongoing, active involvement in our world, to cherish our status as his beloved daughters and sons, and to take up our call of drawing all people into a fellowship of love and peace. For that, may we give thanks by worshiping this God in our prayer and with our lives.
Msgr. Fell is a Scripture scholar and director, diocesan Office for Priest Personnel.