Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time
26th May 2024 (Sunday)
Psalter: Proper
Reading of the Day
First Reading: Deuteronomy 4:32-34, 39-40
Moses spoke to the people, saying “Ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether such a great thing as this has ever happened or was ever heard of. Did any people ever hear the voice of a god speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and still live? Or has any god ever attempted to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, and by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great deeds of terror, all of which the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? Know therefore today, and lay it to your heart, that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other. Therefore you shall keep his statutes and his commandments, which I command you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land that the Lord your God is giving you for all time.”
Psalm 33:4-5, 6 and 9, 18-19, 20 and 22 (R. see 12b)
R/. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen as his heritage.
Second Reading: Romans 8:14-17
Brethren: All who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
Gospel Acclamation
V/. Alleluia
R/. Alleluia
V/. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: to God who is, who was, and who is to come.
R/. Alleluia.
Gospel : Matthew 28:16-20
At that time: The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And 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, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Daily Gospel Reflection
Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time
One God and three persons, but not three Gods: the mystery of the most holy Trinity. The mystery of the Trinity is core to Christianity, and it forms the crux of Jesus’ teaching and mission. Jesus reveals the Father and the Spirit. He reveals the face of the Father as he reflects his love to humanity. He is the perfect icon of the Father. He also reveals that the Spirit is the greatest testimony of his continued presence, guidance, and power.
And his mission of redemption is one that is derived from the Father, and continued and confirmed through the Spirit. The Father sends the Son in the incarnation, to liberate, reconcile and rejuvenate the sin-tainted humanity. The Son redeems them through his life, death and resurrection. The Spirit as Comforter, Helper, Advocate, and Guide continues and fortifies this mission of sanctification through the disciples in the Church.
The Trinity is not a matter to be solved or unraveled or reasoned out or proved. Rather it is a reality to be accepted and lived. Certainly, it is a mystery, in the sense of transcending human comprehension. But the fact that it is beyond sense and reason, does not make it senseless and unreasonable. It only indicates and affirms the infinity, profundity, and immensity of the Trinity on one hand, and the limit, limitation, and superfluity of the human reality on the other hand.
Without attempting to subject Trinity to the logic and reasoning of intellectual categories, we can humbly try to make some sense of it. Any explanation for Trinity is only analogous and not literal. In fact, there is no need at all to break one’s head to make a perfect sense of Trinity. It is enough to know what the Trinity does for us, what Trinity implies for our life, and how we can live the life and mission of the Trinity in our own lives.
Perhaps analogously the Father is like the Spring, the Son is the well or the channel, and the Spirit is the water. The Father is like the Sun, the Son is the rays, and the Holy Spirit is the heat or radiance.
What is essential to Trinity is perfect unity. They are one God. They are one in identity, which is divinity: the Father is divine, the Son is divine and the Holy Spirit is divine. They are equally divine in nature, status, and power. However, equality does not mean full identity in their role and function. Trinity is one in fellowship and love. The one and same love resides in each of them, flows across, and binds them together in communion and concern. Trinity is one in mission. It is one mission of salvation or redemption or re-creation or re-integration of humanity, whatever be the terms used, the Trinity is engaged with, in solidarity and commitment.
Accordingly, there is distinction but not division, comprehension and not a contradiction, coordination and not subordination, collaboration and not a competition, self-donation and not domination, mutual respect and not contempt, self-emptying and not self-filling, generosity and not jealousy. There are no ego-clashes or seeking self- glory.
It is this Trinity that becomes our foundation, animation, and actualization. Trinity is not a mere concept to be understood. Not even a great example and model for inspiration and imitation. Trinity is a life-reality, a concern of experience, relation, living, and commitment. This is our one and unique identity: we are divine images. We belong to God. Trinity constantly invites us to be more and more focused on them, rooted in them, built on them, grow in deep personal communion with them, in love and surrender. Trinity calls us incessantly to live the same unity in fraternity, marked by respect and benevolence. Trinity also challenges us to be selflessly devoted to the one mission of God, in loyalty and commitment.
Alas! How far are we as persons, as families and as communities, from the life and mission of the Trinity? The one identity of the divine likeness and belonging is often dominated and even substituted by secondary and deviated identities and affinities like caste, region, language, culture, power, position, etc. The one bond of love and fellowship is often suffocated and stifled by resentments, hatred, and arrogance. The one mission is often frustrated, ruptured and defeated by ego-projection, ego-promotion, and self-glory. It is high time that we “release” the power of the Trinity to “release” us from our mediocrity and duplicity!
