Deuteronomy 4:32-34, 39-40; Psalm 33; Romans 8:14-17; Matthew 28:16-20
Today is the first Sunday after the Pentecost celebration. We have been refreshed by the Holy Spirit and so, enlightened by the Spirit of God, the Church wants us to reflect on the mystery of God’s nature, His inner life and relationship – God as three persons.
I don’t want to spend time explaining this central mystery of faith because I know we all know what we mean, even though we cannot fully comprehend what it means. By Trinity, we mean, in summary, that there are three persons but one God and the three persons are co-equal, co-eternal and co-substantial. The Father is not the Son and the Son is not the Holy Spirit; they are three distinct persons but inseparable and undivided. They are united in operation and they exist in a communion of love.
THE READINGS
In the First Reading, Moses reminded the people of Israel that God is one, unequalled and unrivalled.
In the Second Reading, St. Paul tells us that by the power of the Holy Spirit, we are all introduced into the family of the Trinity, we become children of God, Jesus becomes our brother and the Holy Spirit becomes our friend and director.
In the Gospel, Jesus instructs that people are to be welcomed into the family of the Trinity through Baptism in the name of the Trinity.
Having said all this, what are the lessons for us as we reflect on the Trinity?
Actually, the main lesson for us is unity – the Trinity as a model of unity in human relationships. On a day like this, we are reminded that we must be promoters of unity. However, today, I want to look at two different lessons.
- Learning equality from the life of the Trinity:
The Son sometimes talks about obeying the Father, doing the Father’s will. He talks about sending the Holy Spirit. In function, it appears that the Son is subordinate to the Father and the Spirit to the Father and the Son but in essence, they are equal.
Dear friends, you may be a professor and someone is illiterate, you may be black and I am white, coloured and I am uncoloured, you may be rich and I am Lazarus. No matter what you are or have and someone else is not or doesn’t have, our value before God is the same. We are all equal in dignity before God. He loves you lavishly but not more than He loves me. Your essence is the same as mine. We may not be the same in age, gender, ethnicity, status, nationality, colour or denomination etc. but nobody is more human than another. God is not more Fatherly to some than others. All of us came from the same Adam, fashioned from the dust, and our bodies will all end up in the same place (the grave). We are all redeemed by the same Christ, the same ransom was paid for us all, we are called to the same hope. There is no special heaven for a special colour of people. God doesn’t love a category of people more than the other (Deuteronomy 10:17; Proverbs 22:2; Malachi 2:10; Romans 2:11; Acts 10:34-35; Galatians 3:26-29).
This should teach us love, humility, respect and kindness to every human person
- The Trinity exists in a communion.
God intends that His creatures should exist and flourish within a community. We often say that no person is an island. This is true and very important for us to understand – some people cannot live with others, they cannot tolerate another person, they are never at peace with others. In Genesis 2:18, God says it is not God’s plan for the human person to be alone.
Some people are going through really difficult times but they choose to isolate themselves until they make a drastically wrong decision.
Dear friends, we are reminded today that God created us to share, to be interdependent, to support others and to seek support. If you feel like the devil is playing on your mind, that you are fighting a battle in your mind, please open up to those who can hold your hands, clarify your thoughts, pray with you and give you God’s perspective on your situation.
3. Having a spiritual Communion.
The Trinity is a Communion of three Divine Persons, united in operation and existing in an unbreakable bond of love.
Many of us have friends with whom we drink together, sin together, club together, play games together, gossip together, go on vacation together etc. The question is:
Do we have a Spiritual Communion too?
Do we have a friend or two with whom we bond spiritually?
Do we have friends that we form a spiritual routine with – friends together with whom we pray, grow in the Lord, study the Word of God, share our experiences and are accountable to one another?
We all need this spiritual communion to grow in our life in the Spirit which has just been revived at Pentecost.
People are feeling so empty, having dangerous thoughts about life and themselves. Some people’s minds are being manipulated by the evil one, and guess what, the enemy is trying to hold them back from opening up and seeking help. Self-destructive thoughts are nurtured and they grow into full-blown disaster by concealment.
We pray that as we celebrate this mystery of God’s self-revelation, we may grow in our understanding of the Father’s love, find joy, hope and life as we deepen our relationship with the Son and may the Holy Spirit be the director and manager of our lives.
Sermon preached by Rev. Fr Emmanuel Baraka-Gukena Okami on May 26, 2024.