Commentary
Sunday, 6/11/2017, The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity
The LORD: Merciful and Slow to Anger
First Reading Commentary Exodus 34:4b-6, 8-9
After Moses found the people worshipping the golden calf and Moses had broken the first set of tablets containing the Law, the LORD commanded Moses to return to Mount Sinai with the broken tablets. When Moses did as the LORD had commanded, the LORD came down in a cloud, stood beside Moses and proclaimed His name, “LORD.”
Christ proclaimed the Trinity by proclaiming His divinity and telling us that He was the Son who was sent by the Father and by promising to send His Spirit, the Holy Spirit. There are many events in the Old Testament where we see more than one person of the Trinity at work. This event is one of them as the LORD appears in the form of a cloud which is one of the symbols of the Holy Spirit and it is the voice of the Father that speaks to Moses. The LORD tells Moses that He is a merciful and gracious God who is slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity.
Consider all of the times that the Israelites had doubted and tested God up to this time in their history in spite of the many works that God had performed for them. Consider the Passover when the Israelites were freed from the Egyptians and the parting of the Red Sea when Pharaoh’s army was destroyed which guaranteed the Israelites safe passage.
Then consider how the Israelites grumbled and complained against Moses and the LORD because they were hungry and thirsty. Consider how even with their grumbling, the LORD provided and granted their wishes with quail, manna and water from a rock.
Indeed, the self-proclaimed qualities of the LORD had already been proven over and over again but the Israelites just did not seem to get it. Are we any different? How often do we find ourselves grumbling and complaining? We complain because we do not have enough money or our health is not good or because of something else in life which is not going our way. All of our grumbling as well as the grumbling of the Israelites is because of our earthly wishes and desires. But that is not God’s primary concern. God’s primary interest is that we receive eternal salvation so that we can be with Him in heaven.
After the LORD spoke to Moses, Moses bowed down and worshipped saying, “If I find favor with you, O LORD, do come along in our company.” Notice that Moses did not say, “If the people find favor.” Moses knew that the LORD would be justified in having no more patience with the people so Moses interceded for the people asking the LORD to come along with them on his account.
Moses did not realize, the Israelites did not realize and we often times fail to realize that God is with us at all times. In everywhere that we go and in everything that we do, God is with us. Even in our sinfulness, God is with us. So, the question is: Will we go along with God?
But in asking the LORD for pardon, Moses includes himself. Moses said, “This is indeed a stiff-necked people; yet pardon our wickedness and sins, and receive us as your own.” In his intercession for the Israelites, Moses was declaring that he was no better. He included himself as being wicked and sinful and was therefore repenting for his own shortcomings and brokenness.
None of us are perfect and all of us are sinners and when we pray asking God for a favor, we should follow the example of Moses admitting to our sinfulness. This is one of the reasons why Moses had such a close relationship with the LORD and why he is one of the greatest intercessors of all time.
May the Trinity Be with You
Second Reading Commentary 2 Corinthians 13:11-13
“May the peace of Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you.” This is a greeting which we often hear the celebrant say at the beginning of Mass. It is a prayer of petition asking that the Trinity be with the people and it is this prayer that Paul makes as he concludes his second letter to the Corinthians.
But before Paul makes his prayer, he gives the Corinthians some instructions so that the God of love and peace can be with them. Paul tells the Corinthians to mend their ways, encourage one another, to agree with each other and to live in peace.
These are simple instructions but hard to carry out. It is often times difficult for us to mend our ways because that requires that we make concessions and compromises. When an argument breaks out, we may need to make apologies and that is something which we do not like to do. We may also find ourselves in a position where we need to forgive which is one of the most difficult things for any of us to do.
Oh, we may claim that we have no problem with making apologies and granting forgiveness but deep down inside, doing these things goes against the grain of our human feelings and emotions. Emphasis on the word: human.
But we must keep in mind that Jesus demands of us that we apologize and forgive and through the Spirit, God gives us everything that we need to be able to do these things. If we fail to do them with each other, we will probably fail to even acknowledge our transgressions against God which will result in our not being forgiven by God. When we pray the Our Father asking God to forgive our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, we are asking God to forgive us of our sins which are trespasses against Him.
The instructions from Paul are nothing more than the Second Greatest Commandment. In effect, St. Paul is telling us how to obey the Commandment, “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.” We cannot obey the First Greatest Commandment of Loving God with everything that we have if we do not obey the Second Greatest Commandment and vice-versa. Therefore, Paul is telling us that if we want the Trinity to be with us, we must love each other. There is no reason for Paul to tell us anything different because God is Love!
For God So Loved the World
Gospel Commentary John 3:16-18
In today’s gospel, John tells us that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. “Now that’s love” is a line from a hymn which refers to the Father sending the Son and everything that the Son did for; us. There Is No Greater Love, (the title of another hymn), than being willing to give your life for someone else and God did that for us.
This gospel gives us cause to take the time to examine our faith. How deep is our faith? What are we willing to do for our faith? Would we give up everything for our faith? Are we willing to make as much of a sacrifice for our faith as we are for a material possession or physical desire? Are we willing to loose friendships or relationships with other people including family members because of our faith?
These are tough questions and it is even tougher for us to answer, “Yes” to them. But we are commanded to love the Lord our God with all of our minds, with all of our hearts and with all of our souls. What’s more, God does not ask or command us to do anything which He is not willing to do for us. We should remind ourselves of that every time we look at a crucifix. God has already sacrificed Himself for us and that makes the questions valid and our answer should always be, “Yes and thank you Lord.”
Consider this: Without faith, there can be no love. Likewise, without love, there is no faith. With God, it does not work any other way.
Jesus said that He did not come to condemn but to save. But Jesus also said that whoever does not believe has already been condemned. Simply put, we cannot get to heaven without faith. We must have faith in God the Son, the Father who sent the Son for our salvation and the Holy Spirit who is there to guide us. In short, we must have faith in the Trinity.
