Commentary
Sunday, 5/27/2018, Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity
Fix Your Heart on the Lord
First Reading Commentary: Deuteronomy 4:32-34, 39-40
Moses told the people to ask if all of the wonders which had been done for them had ever happened to any other people. He wanted the children of Israel to think about how God had led them out of Egypt away from slavery. Moses wanted the people to think about all of the things that God had done to take care of them and how God had even made it possible for them to defeat their enemies even though their enemies were stronger. And, Moses reminded the people that the Lord had even let them see His great fire and hear His mighty voice.
In effect, Moses was telling the people to wake up and pay attention. It was way beyond time for the Israelites to stop their grumbling and complaining because the Lord had done great things for them—things that He had done for no other people. In fact, God had done everything for the Israelites and it was all done out of God’s love for their fathers.
A covenant was made with Abraham because of his faith in and love for the Lord. Everything that had been done by the Lord for the Israelites was because of that covenant. So, the children of Israel had Abraham and his descendants to thank.
Sometimes we seem to forget the sacrifices that our ancestors made for our sake. Sometimes we seem to forget the blessings which have been bestowed on us because of those sacrifices. Moses was telling the people that it was time to remember both the sacrifices and the blessings.
Today, we are no different from the Israelites. We grumble about one thing and complain about the next when all the while, we should be thankful for the sacrifices of our ancestors and we should be giving God His praise and glory with gratitude for our many blessings.
Moses said, “This is why you must now know, and fix in your heart, that the Lord is God…and that there is no other. You must keep his statutes and commandments…that you and your children after you may prosper and…have long life on the land which the Lord, your God, is giving you forever.”
Clearly, Moses is telling the people to obey God but he was really emphasizing the first Commandment. The people had Abraham to thank for making a covenant with the Lord, but it was the Lord who had bestowed all of their blessings on them. The Lord is the only one and true God and He deserves, all praise and glory and honor and that is why His statues and commandments should be kept.
Do Not Live According to the Flesh
Second Reading Commentary: Romans 8:14-17
Today, St. Paul tells us not to live for the world and its pleasures. That does not mean that we should not enjoy the pleasures of the world. If God meant for that to be the case, He would not have given them to us. To the contrary, God wants us to enjoy our life on earth and everything in it. But God does not want us to put the pleasures of the world ahead of Him. Money, material possessions and sexual gratification can and will lead us into serious sin if we do not keep God first in our lives.
Paul wrote, “…you are in the Spirit, if only the Spirit of God dwells in you.” When we make God the most important thing in our lives, the Spirit dwells in us. Paul continued, “…if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is alive because of righteousness…the one who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also…For if you live…by the Spirit you will put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”
Our mortal bodies will die because of sin. But that does not mean that our spirit has to die to sin and if we make God first in our lives, our spirits will not die to sin. Instead, the Holy Spirit will be alive in us, and we will be given a new life in heaven which is eternal.
That is the reason why the crucifixion and Resurrection took place. Christ took our sins to the cross and Resurrected on the third day so that when our bodies die, our spirits could continue to live with Him in His Kingdom of Heaven.
St. Paul put his message together by saying, “For those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God…you received a Spirit of adoption, through whom we cry, ‘Abba, Father!’ we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if only we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.”
Jesus gave us a new beginning and in His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus promised the Kingdom of Heaven. Being raised on the last day and glorified with Christ in heaven is our inheritance but in order to receive it, we must claim it. We do that by living our lives according to His commandments, which will cause us to suffer from time to time here on earth. We each have a cross to bear and Jesus told us to carry our crosses. When we do that, the Spirit will lead us to the Son and the Father and we will gain our inheritance of being glorified in heaven.
I Am with You Always
Gospel Commentary: Matthew 28:16-20
Everything that Jesus said and did was deliberate. Such is the case with His choosing Galilee as the place where He would give His final instructions to the Apostles and Ascend into heaven. Jesus was from Nazareth in Galilee and it is in Galilee that Jesus gave us the New Covenant, which is the promise of the Kingdom of Heaven, the New Jerusalem. With the New Covenant comes a new beginning for us as we continue our journey to the Kingdom. It is also the area from where the first Israelites were exiled and it is for these reasons that Jesus chose Galilee.
Matthew tells us that when the Apostles saw Jesus, they worshipped but they doubted. This might lead us to believe that their faith was shaken. But I believe that their doubt was a result of not knowing what was to come next. Where God is concerned, we never know exactly what will come next and if we are not careful and fail to use the gift of patience from the Holy Spirit, we can slip into doubt. But the faith of the Apostles was not so shaken because they did not fail to worship Jesus.
Jesus said, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” That was another way of saying, “Erase your doubt because, I AM.”
Jesus then gave His final instruction to the Apostles which, is sometimes referred to as the Great Commission. Jesus said, “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 all that I have commanded you.”
If you want to know what the two most important things are to do for anyone who declares themselves to be a Christian, they are; be baptized and obey the Commandments. Again, everything that Jesus said and did was deliberate and it was no accident that these are the two things that Jesus said in His final instructions to the Apostles.
Matthew tells us that the last words from Jesus were words of encouragement with the eternal promise, “And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.” God does not make empty promises and the Son is truly with us in a physical way in the Eucharist.
But consider this question: Did Jesus promise that the Trinity would be with us always? We do not have three gods. We do have three persons in one God therefore, wherever one is; there are all three. We are all made in God’s image and the Holy Spirit works inside of the conscience of each and every one of us every day. All good things come from the Son. Therefore, anytime we come into contact with something around us which is good or anytime something good happens in our lives or anytime a prayer is answered, it is because Jesus (God) is with us.
We live in a troubled world and in troubled times but as Pope St. John Paul II said, “Be not afraid.” When in doubt, remember the promise made by Jesus before His Ascension and remember that God does not make empty promises. We are not alone—Jesus, God, is with us always!
