Basic Ecclesial Community Sunday
First reading: Ex. 34:4b–6,8–9
Early in the morning Moses went up Mount Sinai as the LORD had commanded him, taking along the two stone tablets.
Having come down in a cloud, the LORD stood with Moses there and proclaimed his name, “LORD.” Thus the LORD passed before him and cried out, “The LORD, the LORD, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity.” Moses at once bowed down to the ground in worship. Then he said, “If I find favor with you, O Lord, do come along in our company. This is indeed a stiff-necked people; yet pardon our wickedness and sins, and receive us as your own.”
Second reading: 2 Cor. 13:11–13
Brothers and sisters, rejoice. Mend your ways, encourage one another, agree with one another, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the holy ones greet you.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.
Gospel: Jn. 3:16–18
God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
In other words
Fr. Bernard Espiritu, SVD (New Zealand)
In my more than 40 years in the priesthood, I have helped prepare engaged couples for their wedding day. Among the questions I have asked most of them is, “Why are you marrying your fiancée?” Their responses are varied, but one thing common is they have discovered qualities of their fiancée that complete them in a way. This reality helps me understand the mystery of the Holy Trinity, the feast we celebrate today. The mystery of God is not a puzzle to be solved, but loving that which I can understand. Just like in married life, the person begins to love one’s partner for what one understands of the partner. Indeed, many unknowns exist, but what one grasps allows mutual loving and growing together.
What do I understand regarding the mystery of the Trinity? Reflections and prayers are avenues that lead one to discover the genuine value of these revelations already present in one’s life. Moreover, the testimonies of many other witnesses confirm that the revelations are real and life-giving. The Moses episode in the First Reading and the counsels of Paul in the Second Reading confirm this. Above all, the words of Jesus in the Gospel today are a sincere disclosure from the heart. God has revealed his qualities: merciful, gracious, dedicated, faithful, loving, and non-judgmental. At the heart of God is the desire, the plan, the truth that God brings salvation. And salvation is making the finite human participate in the infinite Divine.
Today, as we celebrate the feast of the Holy Trinity, we likewise rejoice for our communities, i.e., family and Church, that are called to model and live the qualities of God we comprehend. This way, believers, both individuals and groups, become tangible expressions of God’s qualities. This is why Pope Francis defines believers to be not just disciples of Jesus but missionary disciples of Jesus. May God’s grace and our human collaboration with the Divine and our fellow humans together bring alive a Synodal Church.