Trinity Sunday, June 3, 2012
Matthew 28: 18-20
“I am a sojourner on earth.” (Psalm 118: 19, KJV 119)
These words express our longing to be released from the temporary things of this life and to enter our true home which is heaven. But see how much happier we are than even the saints of the Old Testament, because we possess God not only in the immensity of His divinity. We possess Him as Mary did - in His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity in the Eucharist.
The Eucharist, which causes joy to the just Christian, also causes unhappiness for the sinner. “Adam, where are you?” God asked. Adam said, “I heard thy voice in paradise; and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” “Cain, where is thy brother?” But Cain had fled from God like one in despair. God found him and accused him: “Thy brothers’ blood cries out for vengeance.” King David tells us about God’s providence over us in Psalm 138: “Whither shall I go from thy spirit? If I dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea: Even there also shall thy hand lead me and thy right hand shall hold me.” God no more loses sight of us than a mother loses sight of her child who is beginning to walk. Not only does He hold our hand, He presses us close to his heart, just as we press the people we love close to our hearts.
St. Augustine asks, “Could God have been able to give us anything more precious than what he has given us,” Himself in the Eucharist? What can we do to repay this love? First we can grieve because so many people hold Him in contempt. By our prayers we make reparations for the insults thrown at God and we pray for the conversion of sinners. We can make reparations by being obedient to His Word in everything we do. When we appear before Him at Mass, do it with the greatest reverence and adoration. If we are in a state of grace we can press Him to our hearts in the Eucharist. God offers to spend eternity with us, we should make every effort to spend one hour a week with Him at Mass.
There is much to be learned from today’s reading. “Baptizing them 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 Three Distinct Person Who make up the Trinity in Genesis 1: 26, “Let Us make man to Our image and likeness.” This statement clearly indicates there is more than One Person in the One God, and Christ’s statement names Them – Father, Son and Holy Ghost. It is with the appearance on earth of Jesus, the promised Messiah, that we have the key to understanding this. And where is the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament? Solomon uses grand expressions in speaking of Him who is Eternal Wisdom, and of the divine essence of this Wisdom. Isaias heard the voices of the Seraphim around the throne of God singing, “Holy! Holy! Holy! the Lord God of hosts.” (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 Holy, Holy, Holy. Today the meaning is clear: there is the Father, Holy, there is the Son, Holy, and there is the Holy Ghost – and the name of this Trinity of Persons is “One God.” St. John tells us in 1 John 5: 7 that “There are Three who give testimony in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these Three are One.)
The Lord also tells His Apostles, “Behold I am with you, even unto the consummation of the world,” To be true, these instructions and the powers Christ gave His Apostles must be extended to their lawful successors 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 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 abandoned Him.
There are many heresies seen today and many within the Catholic Church, both in the Vatican II churches and in traditional chapels and societies. In the 4th Century the Arian heresy controlled 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 Modernist heretics.
Christ has abandoned today’s heretics, just 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 remained His Chosen People even though God withdrew His grace from them. Today is the same. Baptized Catholics remain Catholics, even if they abandon the True Faith and follow Modernist heresies.
In the Gospel for the First Sunday after Pentecost, which we also celebrate 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 are urged to forgive them.
With regard to God’s favors, think of people who beg from us. When we pray, we are beggars before God. What does a beggar ask for? Bread, or money for bread. And what do we ask of God but Christ, who is the Living Bread that came down from heaven (John 6: 51), to take up His abode in us. So 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. +++
We Celebrate the Traditional Tridentine Latin Mass: The Mass of the Ages
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