June 15, 2025, Trinity Sunday - Solemnity (Year C)

Readings: Proverbs 8:22-31; Romans 5:1-5; John 16:12-15

Love is the Essence of the Trinity

Today, we celebrate the feast of the Most Holy Trinity. We worship God, who manifested himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We worship three persons in one God: God the Father, the creator of the world; God the Son, the Savior of the world; and God the Holy Spirit, the sanctifier and the one who leads us to all truth. Today, we also celebrate Father’s Day, a day set aside to pay tribute to the fathers in our lives. They, with our mothers and in cooperation with the Triune God, brought us to birth in this world. Thank you for your love and guidance and for providing for our well-being. May God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit bless, protect, and reward you all abundantly.

The aim of this reflection is not to give a theological exposé on the Trinity but rather to aid us in making the Trinity a part of our lives. We begin every prayer by calling on God the Father, the Son, and the Spirit to dwell in us and help us live good and saintly lives. We were baptized into the Trinity, and on the day of our death, our coffin and grave will be blessed and marked by the sign of the Cross. We begin and end every prayer by calling on the blessed Trinity to be the beginning and end of all we do and say and to guide our steps on the right path. The life of every Christian is marked by the Triune God dwelling in and through us.

The Trinity is a mystery that presents us with a God of closeness, communion, and intimacy. We see God, who desires community, communication, and love within the persons of the Trinity. According to William J. Bausch, “This is an initiating God, an outgoing God, a creative, life-giving God who stamps his communal life on us. We are in a relationship because God is; we are made in his image and likeness.” There is absolute love, respect, and understanding within the persons of the Trinity. The unity of mind and purpose is enjoyed and expressed in the Trinity. God loves the world so much that He gave His Son to redeem it. In giving his Son, God the Father also gave himself because the Father and the Son are in perfect communion. They are one in Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the origin of the mutual relationship and expression of love between the Father and the Son.

The mystery of the Trinity is seen in the intimate relationship between the persons, where each person is perfectly transparent to the other. In this love relationship, there are no hiding places; none of the three keeps anything as his own, and no one takes particular pride in individual achievements. All enjoy the success of one; everything is shared, communicated, given, and welcomed. Nothing and no person of the Trinity is ever taken for granted. The love seen in the Trinity is not jealous, not conceited, and certainly not boastful. It is a reciprocal love where the duty of one is the duty of all. Therefore, in the act attributed to God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are equally present and cooperate in the execution of that task. The love of the Trinity is transformative and redemptive, creative, and generative. It is salvific love that assures humanity’s redemption from decadence and despair. This is agape love.

This is the kind of love that should be experienced in the family, between husband and wife. The children are the expression of that love. Let us pray that we may demonstrate the love of the Trinity in our dealings with one another, in our relationships, and even in our ministries in the Church. We pray that the Trinity may teach the leaders of nations to be civil in their utterances and that there may be mutual respect and tolerance among people and nations of the world. May the Trinity teach us that whatever we do is done not for ourselves but for the love of him who created us. May the Trinity teach us to love as they love themselves so that we may show our love in service to humanity and our Church. Amen.

One way that we can express our union with the Trinity is by taking the time to bless ourselves with the sign of the Cross. Are you proud to make the sign of the Cross openly, or are you ashamed and afraid to identify yourself as a Catholic? Please make sure to teach your children to make the sign of the Cross before and after meals, before they go to bed, and when they awake. Another application of the Trinity in our lives is to pray the basic prayers of the Trinity with devotion and faith. The prayers like Gloria, the Creed, and Glory be to the Father (Doxology). We should be proud of our faith by showing people around us that we are not just Christians but proud Catholic Christians. In the Bible, Jesus says, “Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and the holy angels.” (Lk. 9: 26). May we never be ashamed of Christ and his Gospel. Amen.

Rev. Augustine Etemma Inwang, MSP

June 08, 2025; Pentecost Sunday - Solemnity

Readings: Acts 2:1-11; Romans 8:8-17; John 14:15-16, 23 -26

Fire up!

Today is Pentecost, the birthday of the Church. Today, the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles like flames of fire. The first reading reported what happened: “When the day of Pentecost came, all the believers were gathered together in one place. Suddenly, there was a noise from the sky, which sounded like a strong wind blowing, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then, they saw what looked like tongues of fire, which spread out and touched each person there. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to talk in other languages, as the Spirit enabled them to speak” (Acts 2:1-4). Pentecost completes the saving work of Christ and empowers the Apostles to spread the Gospel to the ends of the earth. The Holy Spirit ignited a passion within the Apostles to preach the Gospel boldly, transforming them into martyrs of the faith. Peter’s message on Pentecost was so compelling that those who heard him “Were deeply troubled and asked, "What shall we do?” (Acts 2:37). Many of those who heard him “Believed his message and were baptized, and about three thousand people were added to their group that day.” (Acts 2:41).

The apostles needed the fire of the Holy Spirit to shake them up and transform them into warriors for the faith. Christ is present in his apostles through his Spirit. Like Charles Shultz once said, “The whole trouble with you is, you don’t know what the whole trouble with you is.” This feeling of not knowing our need for the Spirit makes us weak in faith. Our Church does not resemble the Church of the Day of Pentecost. If it did, why is the Church on fire, and we are not consumed? One reason may be that there is too much focus on money. We tend to spend less time discussing spiritual matters and more time on finances and fundraising. This shift certainly detracts from the power of the Spirit within the Church. To the lame beggar, Peter said: “I have no money at all, but I give you what I have: in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, I order you to get up and walk!” (Acts 3:6). Now, we may have an abundance of money but lack the fire of the Spirit that can effect real change in the lives of our people.

We need the Holy Spirit to ignite in our hearts a fire of tolerance, a passion to combat indifference, and a constructive fire to build the community of God’s people. This fire should not represent pettiness, apathy, or jealousy, nor should it burn with bigotry or hatred, or foster destruction and mistrust. Instead, we seek the fire of love that will recreate the face of the earth. Come, Holy Spirit, and fill the hearts of the faithful; renew the face of the earth. Help us to conquer indifference in the world and to address the internal struggles of the flesh, which include immorality, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, rivalry, jealousy, outbursts of fury, acts of selfishness, dissensions, factions, and occasions of envy (Gal 5:19-21).

Send us the fire of the Spirit to plant in our hearts the fruits of the Spirit, such as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal 5:22-23). The fire of the Spirit will give us the seven gifts of wisdom, understanding, counsel, strength, knowledge, fear of the Lord, and the delight in fearing the Lord (Is. 11:2-3). Until we have the Spirit, the Church will be ineffective; the fire within us will be lukewarm without flame, causing it to extinguish. Instead of warmth, we will feel cold; in place of vigor, we will feel weak, empty, miserable, sad, unhappy, lifeless, and dead.

Erma Bombeck told a story about a little boy in Church with his mother. He was a quiet and well-behaved boy who didn’t cause problems. Occasionally, he would stand up in the pew, turn around, and smile at the people behind him. His infectious smile would soon draw smiles back from others. Everything was fine until his mother noticed what he was doing. She took him by the ear, twisted it slightly, told him to sit down, and reminded him that he was in Church. He began to sniffle and cry, to which his mother responded, “That’s better.” This reflects the kind of Church many are comfortable with—a sad and lifeless place where everyone sits withdrawn with solemn faces as if in mourning. It is no wonder our churches feel empty and uninviting.

People no longer attend Church because we fail to offer them anything meaningful; we preach a gospel devoid of good news. Our sermons lack substance and are poorly delivered, leaving everyone uninspired instead of igniting a passion for action. The joy of the Gospel is absent from faces because the fire of love is missing from our hearts. Those who attend Church are no longer burning with zest, zeal, passion, and fervor that characterized the Day of Pentecost.

Filled with the Holy Spirit, the Apostles went out and preached the Word, embodying the life of the Spirit and bearing the fruit of love. They spoke in tongues, the language of love in praise of God. The Church must speak the language of love today; without it, we cannot be on fire with faith. Let us pray that we may be filled with the fire of the Spirit, which will transform us into people of faith, courageous preachers, and lovers of God and His people, making a difference in the world. Indifferent people cannot build a better world. God bless you!

 

Rev. Augustine Etemma Inwang, MSP