Sermon, Trinity Sunday, June 19, 2011

Trinity Sunday, June 19, 2011

Matthew 28: 18-20

There is much to be learned from today’s reading, which is taken from the last three verses of Matthew’s Gospel. Christ tells eleven disciples to baptize people “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” This is the clearest statement of the Trinity in Scriptures. We are told in Deuteronomy 6: 4, “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord,” but we begin to see the Trinity in Genesis 1: 26, “Let Us make man to Our image and likeness.” Together these two statements clearly indicate there is more than One Person in One God.  

It is with the appearance on earth of the promised Messiah, Jesus the Christ, that we have the key to understanding these Scriptures. Where is the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament?  Solomon uses grand expressions in speaking of Him who is Eternal Wisdom, and the divine essence of this Wisdom. Isaias heard the voices of the Seraphim around the throne of God singing, “Holy! Holy! Holy! Is the Lord.” (Isaias 6: 3) The world did not understand these passages until the Father sent His Son to teach us Who this Eternal Wisdom is, and why the triple Sanctus, Holy, Holy, Holy. Today the meaning of these Old Testament Scriptures is clear: there is a Father, there is a Son and there is the Holy Ghost – and the name of this Trinity is “One God.”

“All power is given to me in heaven and in earth.” (Matthew 28: 18) All power comes from God through Christ, Who is both man and God. In virtue of His power, Christ commissions His Apostles and their successors, to teach all nations and to baptize them. This is a stumbling block to some Jews, who thought that the Messiah would come for their salvation only. Notice also that our Lord gives his Apostles an order of doing things: first, teach all nations; second, baptize them; and third, teach them all things they must do in obedience to Christ. To teach is to teach the faith. If we say, “I believe in God, the Father Almighty,” that is an act of faith, but if we go to Mass on Sundays, that is what we must do. Attending Mass is an act of obedience to a rule given us by our Lord’s Church.

Some may infer from the words “teach all nations” that faith alone is sufficient. But Christ continues His instructions, telling the Apostles to teach “them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.” This is a command to teach people what they must do to live a holy life. And among all the things we must do to live a holy life is charity, good works, which St. Paul tells us is foremost: “And now there remain faith, hope, and charity, these three: but the greatest of these is charity.” (1 Corinthians 13: 13)

The Lord also tells His Apostles, “Behold I am with you, even unto the consummation of the world,” These instructions must be extended to their lawful successors then until the end of the world. Jesus makes good His promise by always dwelling in the hearts of the faithful, by His presence in the Eucharist and by His care and protection of the Church.

Bishop Bossuet of France (1627 - 1704) wrote that today's reading clearly demonstrates the infallibility and indefectibility of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. These two big words mean pure and lasting and incapable of finding error in faith and morals. If ever a doctrine is changed, if ever holiness of life is not present in the Church, then it can be said that Christ has abandoned those who have abandoned Him.

There are many heresies seen today and many within the Catholic Church, both in the so-called Vatican II churches and in traditional chapels and societies. In the 4^th Century the Arian heresy took control of most of the church dioceses in the East and many in the West, but the true Catholic Church and the True Faith survived the power of the Arians, just as it will survive the fleeting power of today’s so-called Modernist heretics. Pope Pius IX called Modernism the “synthesis of all heresies.”

Christ has abandoned today’s heretics, as He abandoned His Chosen People, to “their own inventions.” (Psalm 80: 12, 13. KJV 81) The Jews referred to in Psalm 80 were disobedient and refused to listen to God’s counsel, but they remained His Chosen People even though God withdrew His grace from them. It is the same today. Baptized Catholics remain Catholics, even if they abandon the True Faith and follow Modernist heresies.

Our Lord's words at the end of Matthew's Gospel tell us that Jesus will live forever and that He will never abandon those who believe in Him and, further, that there will always be those who are worthy of being a fit and holy place where God will take up His abode.

In the Gospel for the First Sunday after Pentecost, which is also today, our Lord says, “Forgive and you shall be forgiven. Give and it shall be given to you.” (Luke 6: 37, 38) St. Augustine says these are the two works of mercy which free us. “Give and it shall be given to you” is the promise of receiving God’s favor. “Forgive, and you shall be forgiven” is the promise of pardon. We have all hurt others and would like to be forgiven for what we did, and we have all been hurt by others, and we gladly forgive that.

With regard to God’s favors, think of people who beg from us. When we pray, we are beggars to God. What does a beggar ask of us?  Bread. And what do we ask of God but that Christ, who is the Living Bread that came down from heaven, to take up His abode in us. If you wish to be forgiven, then forgive. If you wish to be pardoned, then pardon. If you wish to receive, then give and it shall be given unto you. +++

 (Thanks to St. Jerome, St. Augustine, St. Bede, Bp. Bossuet, Dom Guéranger,

Dr. Robert Witham of Douai, Estius, and Rhabanus Maurus for today’s sermon.)

We Celebrate the Traditional Tridentine Latin Mass: The Mass of the Ages