June 15^th 2014. TRINITY SUNDAY

Gospel: John 16:12-15

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

Don Fabio’s reflection follows the Gospel reading ...

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GOSPEL John 16:12-15

Jesus said to Nicodemus,

God loved the world so much

that he gave his only Son,

so that everyone who believes in him

may not be lost but may have eternal life.

For God sent his Son into the world

not to condemn the world,

but so that through him the world might be saved.

No one who believes in him will be condemned;

but whoever refuses to believe is condemned already,

because he has refused to believe

in the name of God’s only Son.

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

Kieran’s summary . . . The doctrine of the Holy Trinity might seem like an abstract theological doctrine. But the readings on Sunday show us a God who is far from abstract! The first reading tells us how God reacts when the people of Israel worship a golden calf. The Lord responds by forgiving them tenderly and revealing his very name to them. The Gospel reading tells us even more about the nature of the Trinity. The Father is someone who loves us so much that he gives us his only Son. Which one of us would give a beloved son over to torture and death for any cause, no matter how worthy? We often think of the passion of Jesus but we should also remember the passion of the Father in giving his son over to suffering of this kind. On this feast day, let us consider who the Holy Trinity is, and who we are for the Trinity. Is God a magnanimous king with a big heart who puts up with us and forgives us? No, God is something more than this! God does not merely overlook our waywardness; he loves us to an extent that defies human categories. Ultimately God wants us to bring us all to life and freedom. We seek to be autonomous masters of our own destiny, but this is a guaranteed recipe for mediocrity! We lock ourselves up in the cages of our own securities! The only way to live lives of complete freedom is to entrust ourselves unconditionally to the God who loves us. And he loves us to this scandalous extent in order to melt our hearts and conquer our trust.

The first reading links the name of God - his very nature - to the act of forgiveness

The first reading tells of the revelation of the name of God following the terrible episode of the golden calf. In the 34^th chapter of Exodus, God proclaims his name, and this signifies that he extends his forgiveness to the people. This scriptural passage is the nucleus of a Hebrew liturgy commemorating the day of Great Pardon, the day when the people of Israel are forgiven and the name of the Lord is proclaimed. Why does proclaiming the name of God bring about forgiveness? To be capable of proclaiming the name of the Lord is to know him, and to know the nature of God is to understand that he is love.

We often think of the passion of the Son who suffered and died for us. But we must never forget the suffering of the Father who sacrificed his only son for us!

The Gospel reading for this Feast of the Holy Trinity is chosen so as to reveal to us the very heart of the Trinity. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son so that whoever believes in him would not be lost but have eternal life.” Here in the western world we tend to focus on Christ, which is a good thing in itself, but sometimes we lose sight of the fuller picture of the Trinity, which must always be seen in a unified manner. The Father sends his only begotten Son. That which Christ does is not simply done on his own initiative but always in union with the Father. Sometimes we tend to remain cold and abstract when we consider the Trinity, but we cannot remain cold if we contemplate this Gospel reading. The fact that Jesus loved us so much as to give his life for us is already extraordinary. This marvellous being, ineffable in his majesty, comes to us who are ungrateful and violent, and he still sacrifices himself on our behalf. It is even more extraordinary, however, to consider what the Father has done in all of this. Which one of us would allow his son to be given over to suffering and death, no matter how worthy the cause? Any one of might have the capacity to sacrifice our lives for others, but how many of us would be capable of sacrificing the life of our dearly beloved son? Who would allow his son to be tortured and massacred in such a hideous way? We must never forget the passion of the Father who gave his son because he loved us so much!

Right from the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry, the Father was revealing the extent of his love for us - a love that was willing to stake his own beloved son

The Son offers himself up out of love for us. And the Father loves us so much that he allows his son to be handed over. We must open our hearts to this kind of love, a love that completely transcends human categories. The human inclination is to protect the lives of our children at all costs. But the kind of love that the Father has for us was proclaimed right from the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry. When Jesus was baptized by John, the voice of the Father was heard saying, “This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.” The Father was announcing what he was willing to wager out of love for us. He was letting us know the extent to which he was willing to go on our behalf.

The Holy Spirit wishes to enter our hearts today and impel us to look at God with complete trust. How can we not trust someone who has loved us in this extreme way?

After the season of Easter and the great feasts of the Ascension and the celebration of the gift of the Holy Spirit, Trinity Sunday challenges us to let our hearts to be melted by this text. How can we not be moved by a God of this sort? How can we not entrust ourselves to one like this who is willing to give us everything? This Gospel passage tell us who we are before the Holy Trinity. Do we think that we stand before a king who, out of his magnanimity, generously forgives a wayward people? No! It is not like that at all! This king loves us to the extent that he, in Christ, prefers our lives to his own. The Father, in order to ransom the slave, sends his own son to death. Let us contemplate this on the feast of the Holy Trinity! Who are we for the Father? Who are we for the Son? Who are we for the Spirit that he wishes to enter into our hearts? And what truth does the Spirit wish to bring into our hearts? He wishes us to look at God with boundless trust, without conditions, without fear. Let us cease looking at God with fear! Our lives are dominated by strategies of self-defence and attempts to be utterly autonomous. We seek to be masters of our own destiny, but this just renders us mediocre. We become trapped inside the securities of our own making. Trust in God is what ultimately sets us free. To conquer our trust he loves us in a way that is scandalous.