POPE FRANCIS ON THE MOST HOLY TRINITY YEAR B
POPE FRANCIS 2021 REFLECTION ON THE MOST HOLY TRINITY.
Angelus,
30 May 2021, Trinity Sunday
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Buongiorno!
On this feast in which we celebrate God: the mystery of the one God. And this God is the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Three persons, but God is one! The Father is God; the Son is God; the Spirit is God. But they are not three gods: it is one God in three Persons. It is a mystery that Jesus Christ revealed to us: the Holy Trinity. Today we stop to celebrate this mystery, because the Persons are not adjectives of God, no. They are real, diverse, different Persons; they are not – as that philosopher used to say – ‘emanations of God’, no, no! They are Persons. There is the Father to whom I pray with the Our Father; there is the Son, who gave me redemption, justification; there is the Holy Spirit who abides in us and inhabits the Church. And this speaks to our heart because we find it encompassed in that expression of Saint John which summarizes all of Revelation: “God is love” (1 Jn 4:8,16). The Father is love; the Son is love; the Holy Spirit is love. And inasmuch as he is love, God, while being one alone, is not solitude but communion, among the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Because love is essentially a gift of self, and in its original and infinite reality it is the Father who gives himself by generating his Son, who in turn gives himself to the Father, and their mutual love is the Holy Spirit, the bond of their unity. It is not easy to understand, but we can live this mystery, all of us, we can live a great deal.
This mystery of the Trinity was revealed to us by Jesus himself. He showed us the face of God as merciful Father; he presented Himself, true man, as the Son of God and Word of the Father, the Saviour who gives his life for us; and he spoke of the Holy Spirit who proceeds from the Father and the Son, Spirit of Truth, Paraclete Spirit – we spoke last Sunday about this word, ‘Paraclete’ – meaning Consoler and Advocate. And when Jesus appeared to the Apostles after the Resurrection, Jesus invited them to evangelize “all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Mt 28:19).
Today’s celebration, therefore, makes us contemplate this marvelous mystery of love and of light from which we come and toward which our earthly journey is guided.
In the message of the Gospel and in every form of the Christian mission, one cannot overlook this unity to which Jesus calls, among us, following the unity of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit: one cannot overlook this unity. The beauty of the Gospel asks to be lived – unity – and proven in the harmony among us, who are so diverse! And this unity I dare say is essential to Christians: it is not an attitude, a manner of speaking, no; it is essential, because it is the unity that is born from love, from the mercy of God, from the justification of Jesus Christ and from the presence of the Holy Spirit in our hearts.
Mary Most Holy, in her simplicity and humility, reflects the Beauty of the Triune God, because she fully welcomed Jesus into her life. May she sustain our faith; may she make us worshipers of God and servants of our brothers and sisters.
After the Angelus the Holy Father continued:
Dear brothers and sisters! Yesterday in Astorga, Spain, María Pilar Gullón Yturriaga, Octavia Iglesias Blanco and Olga Pérez-Monteserín Núñez were beatified. These three courageous lay women, in imitation of the Good Samaritan, were dedicated to taking care of those wounded in war, without abandoning them at the moment of danger; they took risks, and they were killed in hatred of their faith. Let us praise the Lord for their Gospel witness. A round of applause for the new Blesseds.
This coming 1 July I will meet in the Vatican with the principal leaders of the Christian communities present in Lebanon, for a day of reflection on the country’s troubling situation and to pray together for the gift of peace and stability.
I entrust this intention to the intercession of the Mother of God, deeply venerated at the Shrine of Harissa, and from this moment on I ask you to accompany the preparation for this event with supportive prayer, invoking for that beloved country a more peaceful future.
Today World Multiple Sclerosis Day is being celebrated and, in Italy, National Relief Day. I express gratitude for these initiatives; let us remember that closeness “is a precious balm that provides support and consolation to the sick in their suffering” (Message for World Day of the Sick 2021).
This morning I received a small group of faithful who brought me the translation of the entire Bible in their dialect. One man did it: eight years of work! Written, there are eight volumes, entirely in dialect. And he, who was present, told me that he read, prayed and translated. I would like to express my thanks for this gesture and also once again to tell you to read the Word of God, so as to find therein the strength of our life. And also – with this I repeat myself – to always to carry with you the New Testament, a pocket-sized Gospel: in your purse, in your pocket, to be able to read it at any time of day. This way we will find Jesus in Sacred Scripture. Let us learn from the example of this man who worked for eight years to understand this. And he told me: “I did so praying”.
I offer a heartfelt greeting to all of you, those from Rome, from Italy and other countries. I see there is Canada, Colombia…. We have to pray for Colombia!
And there is also Poland, and here other countries…. I greet you all! In particular the confirmands of the parish of the Holy Roman Protomartyrs. I greet the Polish pilgrims and those participating in the great pilgrimage to the Marian Shrine of Piekary Śląskie. And as usual I greet the young people of the Immacolata.
I wish everyone a happy Sunday. And please, do not forget to pray for me. Enjoy your lunch. Arivederci!
© Copyright – Libreria Editrice Vaticana.
SOURCE: https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/angelus/2021/documents/papa-francesco_angelus_20210530.html
EMPHASIS MINE.
ANGELUS
Trinity Sunday, 27 May 2018
Dear Brothers and Sisters, Good morning!
Today, the Sunday after Pentecost, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, a celebration for contemplating and lauding the mystery of the God of Jesus Christ, who is one in the communion of three Persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. To celebrate with ever new wonder God-Love, who freely offers us his life and asks us to spread it throughout the world.
Today’s Bible readings help us understand that God wishes to show us not so much that he exists but rather that he is the ‘God with us’, close to us, who loves us, who walks with us, is interested in our personal life story and takes care of each one, beginning with the least and the neediest. He “is God in heaven above” but also “on the earth beneath” (cf. Dt 4:39). Therefore, we do not believe in a distant entity, no! In an indifferent entity, no! But, on the contrary, in the Love who created the universe and who engendered a people, became flesh, died and rose for us and, as the Holy Spirit, transforms and leads everything to fulfilment.
Saint Paul (cf. Rom 8:14-17), who experienced first hand this transformation brought about by God-Love, tells us of God’s desire to be called Father, indeed, ‘Dad’ — God is ‘Our Father’ —, with the total confidence of a child who abandons himself in the arms of the one who gave him life. Acting in us — the Apostle again recalls — the Holy Spirit ensures that Jesus Christ is not reduced to a character of the past, no, but that we feel he is near, our contemporary, and feel the joy of being children loved by God. Lastly, in the Gospel, the Risen Lord promises to remain with us forever. And thanks precisely to his presence and to the power of his Spirit we can serenely carry out the mission that he entrusts to us. What is the mission? To proclaim to all and witness to his Gospel and thereby expand our communion with him and the joy that comes from it. God, walking with us, fills us with joy and in a way, joy is a Christian’s first language.
Thus, the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity leads us to contemplate the mystery of God who unceasingly creates, redeems and sanctifies, always with love and through love, and enables every creature that welcomes him to reflect a ray of his beauty, goodness and truth. He has always chosen to walk with mankind and forms a people who may be a blessing for all nations and for each person, excluding none. A Christian is not an isolated person; he or she belongs to a people: this people that God forms. One cannot be Christian without this membership and communion. We are a people: the People of God. May the Virgin Mary help us to joyfully fulfil the mission of witnessing to the world, thirsty for love, that the meaning of life is precisely the infinite love, the tangible love of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
SOURCE: https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/angelus/2018/documents/papa-francesco_angelus_20180527.html
EMPHASIS MINE.
IMAGE SOURCE: https://www.bellasartes.co.cu/sites/default/files/public/galerias/joseph-paez-mexico-la-coronacion-de-la-virgen-1770.jpg
ANGELUS
Sunday, 31 May 2015
Dear Brothers and Sisters, Good morning and happy Sunday!
Today we are celebrating the feast of the Most Holy Trinity, which reminds us of the mystery of one God in three Persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The Trinity is the communion of Divine Persons who are one with the others, one for the others, one in the others: this communion is the life of God, the mystery of the love of the Living God. Jesus revealed this mystery to us. He spoke to us of God as the Father; He spoke to us of the Spirit; and He spoke to us of Himself as the Son of God. Thus He revealed this mystery to us. After He rose, He sent the disciples to evangelize to the peoples, He told them to baptize them “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Mt 28:19). This command is entrusted by Christ in all ages to the Church, which has inherited the missionary mandate from the Apostles. He also directs it to each one of us who, through the power of Baptism, are part of his Community.
Therefore, today’s liturgical solemnity, while making us contemplate the amazing mystery from which we come and toward which we are going, renews for us the mission of living in communion with God and living in communion among ourselves on the model of the divine communion. We are called to live not as one without the others, above or against the others, but one with the others, for the others, and in the others. This means to accept and witness in harmony the beauty of the Gospel; experiencing love for one another and for all, sharing joy and suffering, learning to ask and grant forgiveness, appreciating various charisms under the guidance of Pastors. In a word, we have been entrusted with the task of edifying ecclesial communities which increasingly become families, capable of reflecting the splendour of the Trinity and evangelizing not only with the words but with the power of the love of God that lives within us.
The Trinity, as I said, is also the ultimate goal toward which our earthly pilgrimage is directed. The journey of Christian life is indeed essentially a “Trinitarian” journey: the Holy Spirit guides us to full knowledge of Christ’s teachings, and also reminds us what Jesus taught us. Jesus, in turn, came into the world to make the Father known to us, to guide us to Him, to reconcile us with Him. Everything in Christian life revolves around the Mystery of the Trinity and is fulfilled according to this infinite mystery. Therefore, we seek to always hold high the “tone” of our life, remembering what goal, what glory we exist for, work for, struggle for, suffer for; and what immense reward we are called to. This mystery embraces our entire life and our entire Christian being. We remember it, for example, each time we make the sign of the Cross: in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And now I invite you, all together, and out loud, to make this sign of the Cross: “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit!”.
On this last day of the month of May, the Marian month, let us entrust ourselves to the Virgin Mary. May she who, more than any other being, knew, worshiped, loved the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity, lead us by the hand; help us to grasp in the world’s events the signs of the presence of God, the Father and Son and Holy Spirit; enable us to love the Lord Jesus with all our heart, to walk toward the vision of the Trinity, the marvelous destination toward which our life is drawn. Let us also ask her to help the Church to be the mystery of communion and hospitable community, where all persons, especially the poor and the marginalized, may find welcome and feel themselves the wanted and beloved children of God.
SOURCE: https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/angelus/2015/documents/papa-francesco_angelus_20150531.html
EMPHASIS MINE.
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