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Arch Bishop Micheal Ralph Vendegna S.O.S.M.A.

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  • Posted by Arch Bishop Micheal Ralph Vendegna S.O.S.M.A. June 16, 2019 - #  #Homily  - 278 views

    Liturgical day: Trinity Sunday (C)

    1st Reading (Prov 8:22-31): Thus says the wisdom of God: «The Lord possessed me, the beginning of his ways, the forerunner of his prodigies of long ago; from of old I was poured forth, at the first, before the earth. When there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were no fountains or springs of water; before the mountains were settled into place, before the hills, I was brought forth; while as yet the earth and fields were not made, nor the first clods of the world. When the Lord established the heavens I was there, when he marked out the vault over the face of the deep; when he made firm the skies above, when he fixed fast the foundations of the earth; when he set for the sea its limit, so that the waters should not transgress his command; then was I beside him as his craftsman, and I was his delight day by day, playing before him all the while, playing on the surface of his earth; and I found delight in the human race».
    Responsorial Psalm: 8
    R/. O Lord, our God, how wonderful your name in all the earth!
    When I behold your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you set in place, —What is man that you should be mindful of him, or the son of man that you should care for him?

    You have made him little less than the angels, and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him rule over the works of your hands, putting all things under his feet.

    All sheep and oxen, yes, and the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, the fishes of the sea, and whatever swims the paths of the seas.
    2nd Reading (Rom 5:1-5): Brothers and sisters: Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith to this grace in which we stand, and we boast in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we even boast of our afflictions, knowing that affliction produces endurance, and endurance, proven character, and proven character, hope, and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
    Verscicle before the Gospel (Cf. Rev 1,8): Alleluia. Glory to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; to God who is, who was, and who is to come. Alleluia.

    Gospel text (Jn 16,12-15): Jesus said to his disciples, «I still have many things to tell you, but you cannot bear them now. When He, the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into the whole truth. He has nothing to say of himself, but He will speak of what He hears, and He will tell you of the things to come. He will take what is mine and make it known to you; in doing this, he will glorify me. All that the Father has is mine; because of this I have just told you, that the Spirit will take what is mine and make it known to you».

    «When He, the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into the whole truth»

    + Cardinal Jorge MEJÍA Archivist and Librarian of Holy Roman Church
    (Città del Vaticano, Vatican)

    Today, we celebrate the solemnity of the mystery at the center of our faith, where everything originates from and where everything returns to. The mystery of the unity and of God, and at the same time, his subsistence in three equal and yet, different Persons. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit: unity in communion and communion in unity. In this great day, we must realize that his great mystery is ever present in our lives: from the very Sacrament of our Baptism —which we have received in the name of the Holy Trinity— till our participation in the mystery of the Eucharist, which is made for the glory of the Father, by his Son Jesus Christ, thanks to the Holy Spirit. And it is also the signal by which we Christians recognize one another: the sign of the Cross, in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

    The mission of the Son, Jesus Christ, consists in the revelation of his Father, whom He is the perfect image of, and in the gift of the Spirit, which has also been revealed by the Son. Today, the proclaimed evangelic reading shows it up to us: the Son receives everything from the Father in perfect unity: «All that the Father has is mine», and the Spirit receives all that the Spirit is from the Father and the Son. «Because of this —says Jesus— I have just told you, that the Spirit will take what is mine and make it known to you» (Jn 16:15). And in another part of this same chapter (Jn 15:26): «When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, He will testify about me».

    From all that, let us learn the great and comforting truth: the Holy Trinity, far from being distant and aloof, comes to us, dwells within us and transforms us in its interlocutors. And this, through the Spirit, which guide us into the whole truth (cf. Jn 16:13). The incomparable “Christian dignity”, which, St. Leo the Great, at times, speaks about, is this: to keep God's mystery within us and, thus, revel in our Earth of our own Heavenly “citizenship” (cf. Phil 3:20), that is, into the Holy Trinity's bosom.