Texts taken from the Missalette “On Your Word” May-June 2024

Most Holy Trinity (solemnity) (B)
proper

FIRST READING

From the Book of Deuteronomy (Dt 4:32-34, 39-40)
Moses spoke to the people, saying: «Ask now about the days of old, which came before you, from the day when God created man on the earth and from one end of the heavens to the other: Has anything so great ever happened, or has anything like it ever been heard of? Has any people ever heard the voice of God speaking from the fire, as you heard it, and lived? Or has any god ever attempted to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by trials, signs, wonders and battles, with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and great terrors, as the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? Know therefore today and take it to heart that the Lord is God in heaven above and on earth beneath: there is no other. Observe therefore his laws and commandments that I give you today, so that you and your children after you may prosper and so that you may remain long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you forever». – The Word of the Lord.

Commentary on the first reading

To obey the voice of God means believing in him, in the «one and true» God apart from whom «there is no other», who through Moses freed Israel from slavery in Egypt and, on Mount Sinai, made a covenant with it, by virtue of which Israel became his people. The covenant entails, on God’s part, a commitment to help and save Israel, and on Israel’s part, faithfulness in listening to the word of the Lord and not rebelling against him. Israel’s destiny – but this is also true for us – is linked to its faith, that is, to its faithfulness in listening to the voice of the Lord, observing his law, and trusting in his protection, which will not fail. Lack of faith will therefore be Israel’s ruin. For this reason, the prophets will denounce precisely the lack of faith: a lack expressed, above all, in idolatry and in seeking foreign alliances, which is a denial of the trust Israel must place in God, the only one who can save it from its enemies.

SECOND READING

From the Letter of Saint Paul the Apostle to the Romans (Rom 8:14-17)
Brothers and sisters, all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, through whom we cry: «Abba! Father!». The Spirit himself, together with our spirit, bears witness that we are children of God. And if we are children, then we are also heirs: heirs of God, joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings so that we may also share in his glory. – The Word of the Lord. 

Commentary on the second reading

Through the power of the Holy Spirit, the Christian is brought into relationship with God in the same filial relationship that Christ has with the Father: Christ as the only-begotten Son, coeternal with the Father; the Christian as an adopted child and heir. We are at the heart of Trinitarian communion: communion with Christ, whose Spirit conforms us to him and attests to our filial dignity; communion with the Father, who fills us with the Spirit of his love, calling and enabling us to give the same loving response as the Son. The Holy Spirit, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, becomes in us the principle and bond of Trinitarian communion: we truly share in a vital relationship, which is authentic life in communion with the three divine persons in their distinction and unity. Having become children in the Son, we are called to reveal the mystery of the one and triune God with our whole lives. How concretely? By living everyone’s life, but as children loved by the Father, without awaiting conditions of life that God has not promised us at all, but responding here and now to the divine call, living the grace of the present moment. 

GOSPEL OF THE DAY

From the Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 28:16-20)
At that time, the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they prostrated themselves, but some doubted. Jesus came near and said to them: «All power 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 everything that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age». – The Gospel of the Lord. 

Commentary on the Gospel of the day

The whole Church is missionary by its very nature, and the work of evangelization is the fundamental duty of the entire people of God. Each of us is called to take our part in the missionary work, responding, according to our abilities, to Christ’s mandate to proclaim the Gospel to every creature: «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 everything that I have commanded you». The Code of Canon Law, this fine text often neglected, if not reviled, states the following when listing the obligations and rights of all the faithful: «All the faithful have the duty and right to work so that the divine message of salvation may increasingly spread among people in every time and place». No particular form of commissioning beyond the sacrament of Baptism is required, nor is any special delegation or specific competence needed to proclaim the Gospel in ordinary life: the commitment to evangelization is not reserved for a few specialists but belongs to the entire community. The important thing is to believe and not be ashamed of the Gospel.