United in Love

The Most Holy Trinity

27 May 2018

First reading                                                                      Deuteronomy 4:32-34, 39-40
For ask now about former ages, long before your own, ever since the day that God created human beings on the earth; ask from one end of heaven to the other: has anything so great as this ever happened or has its like ever been heard of? Has any people ever heard the voice of a god speaking out of a fire, as you have heard, and lived? Or has any god ever attempted to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs and wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by terrifying displays of power, as the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes?
So acknowledge today and take to heart that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other. Keep his statutes and his commandments, which I am commanding you today for your own well-being and that of your descendants after you, so that you may long remain in the land that the Lord your God is giving you for all time.

Second reading                                                      Romans 8:14-17

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, “Abba! Father!” it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ-if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.

Gospel                                                                     Matthew 28:16-20

The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Reflection

By Pietro S. Albano

"One for all, all for one", goes an old adage. I remember a colleague used to remind us all about that when we were starting a youth group in the parish many years ago. "Easier said than done", goes another saying. Indeed, there were challenges and barriers to unity. Each of us have our own personal views and ambitions. There were moments when we were engaged in a love-hate relationship. And yet, thank God, we gradually learned how it is to rise up from our follies, so that our group would be firmly established in the community. Thank God too because it is turning 29 come June 2.

Today's feast day celebrates the diversity and unity of God in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Three distinct persons, yet one God. How is that? Looking back at the many celebrations we have as God's People - Christmas, Lent, and Easter - would give us an idea of God's oneness: love. The Father loves the Son who, in turn, loves the Father. From that love comes the Holy Spirit. And that love, as we can see from these three divine persons, is something that has to be shared. As Bishop Michael Curry said during his sermon in the Royal Wedding held on May 19: “When love is the way, we actually treat each other, well like we are actually a family".

Are there any areas in our life that prevent us from being united in love as a family, as a community, as a nation? Perhaps it's high time we seek God's intervention.

Prayer

Most Blessed Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we adore and thank You for Your unity. Help us to break any barriers towards unity so that we may answer Your call to love.  Amen.