The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us, in a time of crisis, to receive the Grace, Love and Communion contained in the Holy Trinity as our strength to participate in transformation of our attitudes toward others.
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In the passage from the Book of Exodus, Moses seeks renewal of the Tablets and that God will take Israel for His inheritance.
* [34:6] Gracious…fidelity: this succinct poetic description of God is an often-repeated statement of belief (see Nm 14:18; Ps 103:8; 145:8; Jl 2:13; Jon 4:2). All the terms describe God’s relationship to the covenant people.1
The Book of Daniel, Chapter 3 declares God praiseworthy and exalted above all forever.
* [3:24–90] These verses are additions to the Aramaic text of Daniel, translated from the Greek form of the book. They were probably first composed in Hebrew or Aramaic, but are no longer extant in the original language. The Roman Catholic Church has always regarded them as part of the canonical Scriptures.2
In the reading from the Second Letter to the Corinthians, Paul offers final greetings and a Trinitarian Benediction.
* [13:11–13] These verses may have originally concluded 2 Cor 10–13, but they have nothing specifically to do with the material of that section. It is also possible to consider them a conclusion to the whole of 2 Corinthians in its present edited form. The exhortations are general, including a final appeal for peace in the community. The letter ends calmly, after its many storms, with the prospect of ecclesial unity and divine blessing. The final verse is one of the clearest trinitarian passages in the New Testament.3
The Gospel of John declares the world is saved through Jesus.
* [3:16] Gave: as a gift in the incarnation, and also “over to death” in the crucifixion; cf. Rom 8:32.4
Jeanne Schuler declares we do not sing “glory and praise forever” to the abyss. The oneness of God stirs with the motion of love. Love gives birth. He who is begotten is cherished. The spirit dwells in the love of God for God. God swells with the fullness of life, and the world bursts forth. This world is not wretched. It does not deserve constant complaints. God so loves this world that he gave his only Son. Jesus shared this earthly life with us. The world is worthy of praise.
Who condemns the world? Some focus on the afterlife as our only home. Others prize indifference and strive not to care. Some confine the world to material entities moving in space and time. Nothing in this universe is good or bad. Values are projected onto the things that give us pleasure or pain. The apple is good because its sweetness pleases me. No beauty exists until humans create it. We condemn the world when we deny the goodness already there in the chains of DNA, tectonic plates, dark matter, sand hill cranes in flight, babies learning to speak.
The spirit bestows gifts. Jesus shows us the way. From the one exalted above all forever comes power. The sign of the cross names us. Like every creature, we belong to God. Born of love, we are here to give ourselves away.5
Don Schwager quotes “The pledge of the Holy Spirit,” by Ambrose of Milan, 339-397 A.D.
"Recall then that you have received the spiritual seal, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of right judgment and courage, the spirit of knowledge and reverence, the spirit of holy fear in God's presence. Guard what you have received. God the Father has marked you with His sign; Christ the Lord has confirmed you and has placed His pledge, the Spirit, in your hearts" (excerpt from De Mysteriis 7, 42).6
The Word Among Us Meditation on Exodus 34:4-6, 8-9 asks why do we have these readings for this feast? Because at the heart of today’s feast is not a solution to a mathematical puzzle of how God could be three in one. Rather, it’s a divine mystery, that our God, who is a Trinity of divine Persons, loves us and longs to reveal himself to us. It’s the promise that his revelation has the power to melt our hearts and heal our souls.
A God of mercy and kindness. A God of constant blessing. A God who saves and doesn’t condemn. These are the Trinitarian truths he wants to reveal to you on this marvelous feast day. These are truths that can become the foundation for every aspect of your life. Let him proclaim his name to you.
“Lord, help me to live every day in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”7
Suzanne Guthrie shares meditations of Teresa of Avila, Augustine (Confessions; Chapter 13:11-12), and Julian of Norwich. She reflects that the collects of the prayerbook guide the devotee to pray to God, through Christ (the Son), in the Holy Spirit. That shaping of prayer imprints early in childhood.
Once trained in the Trinity, it's not a great leap to consider the God of multiple dimensions, multi-universes, string theory, and hyperspace. Opening to new perceptions of God's self-revelation is as natural as contemplating innovations in theoretical physics. As I learn and grow I can open to God's Reality more fully if ever increasingly more humbly. Awe deepens.
And yet. When you pray, it seems Love surfaces from the deep place where the soul touches the universe. Is that right? Does the soul touch the universe? If that love comes not from something outside but something deep within only, then I am simply made for love. Whether God exists or not, Love lies at the heart and meaning of human life; dynamic, relational, intimate, challenging, open Love.8
Friar Jude Winkler discusses the theophany of God to Moses on Mount Sinai. Looking in the past often reveals the Presence of God. Friar Jude cites the parenesis in Paul’s letter and the story of the challenge to Augustine to figure out the Trinity.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, invites us during this time of social unrest, to sit with the powerful and uncomfortable emotions, such as anger or grief... Welcome them in the presence of God. If we do not transform our pain, we will most assuredly transmit it. Tragically, we are witnessing the results of centuries of unresolved racial violence in our collective body today. Leslye Colvin is one of our Living School students and a member of our Daily Meditations team. In our time of ongoing disorder, Leslye asks, “Am I Next”?
Lord, have mercy.George Floyd of Minnesota.Your nation failed you.Rest in God’s peace.Kyrie eleison.
Christ, have mercy.Breonna Taylor of Kentucky.Your nation failed you.Rest in God’s peace.Christe eleison.
Lord, have mercy.Ahmaud Arbery of Georgia.Your nation failed you.Rest in God’s peace.Kyrie eleison.
Christ, have mercy.Tony McDade of Florida.Your nation failed you.Rest in God’s peace.Christe eleison.
Four people whom I never knew have been murdered. It is merely the tip of an iceberg. The details of each heinous act are so horrifically unjust that there is no sense to be made of them. Each of the four was victimized. Each of them was Black, but their race was not the cause of death. Each was murdered because of the systemic structures that endow white people with an unimaginable authority and privilege based on the perpetuation of lies. The onus is not on the victims but on the perpetrators and their oppressive and unjust systems.
There is also a realization that it could have been me. I could be laying cold and lifeless in the morgue because of a distorted perception of me rooted in lies. Maybe it will be me the next time—not because of who I am, but because of how you see me in relation to how you see yourself. What lies about me do you believe? What lies about yourself do you believe?9
The transformation of our anger and fear is the peace that comes with holding to the Grace, Love, and Communion defining the Trinity.
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