We come together today to celebrate our triune God, one God and yet three persons. God the Father created the world and everything and everyone in it. God the Son was born into this world, a part of humankind, and chose to sacrifice his life to save us all. God the Holy Spirit was sent into the world by the Father and the Son to be with us always. In our limited imaginations we cannot hope to truly comprehend this sacred mystery, but we join together in praise and thanks to God—Father, Son, and Spirit.
Introduction to the Liturgy of the Word
“The LORD, the LORD, a merciful and gracious God,” which we hear in the first reading, are not the words of Moses or of any other person, but God’s own words to Moses. From the great and wonderful things God did for the Chosen People to sending the Son to save us all to bestowing the Spirit to be with us always, God has constantly treated us with infinite mercy and grace. Listening to God’s word, let us reflect on how God’s grace and mercy have changed us.
Reflections
When God comes down from the heavens and speaks to Moses, putting words to the divine essence, those words are not words describing unparalleled qualities like “omnipotent,” “all-knowing,” or “almighty,” though any of those words would be correct. But they would be inadequate. Instead, the words God uses are relational: “merciful,” “gracious,” “slow to anger,” “rich in kindness and fidelity” (Exodus 34:6). God is a relational being. Moses would not have realized it at the time, but even then God was not relational only with all creation, but also with the Son and the Holy Spirit. God has always been in relationship, for God has always been three persons in one God.
The mystery of the Trinity is a mystery we cannot hope to truly penetrate with our limited human intelligence and from our limited human perspective. But this makes perfect sense. A God who can be fully explained is a God who is less than our intelligence.
Throughout the Old Testament God forgives the Chosen People for their unfaithfulness, for the many times they turn away from God, for their sinfulness. Jesus personifies that infinite mercy, given by God to us in two ways. The Son was given to us in the Incarnation, sharing in our humanity, and he was also given over to death on the cross, redeeming us from our sinfulness. Our God is a forgiving God. We again see this in the New Testament, in the way that Jesus treats sinners in the Gospels, leading to his willingness to sacrifice his life for sinners. His forgiveness is not distant or impersonal. He gets to know sinners intimately, which leads to him loving them more deeply, which leads to forgiveness that is true and real. We would do well to strive to do the same.
Question of the Week
What concrete actions can I take to be a more forgiving person? Can I overcome my insistence that those whom I forgive be deserving of it?
-from Pastoral Patterns
readings of the mass
LISTEN HEREto the Audio Recordings of the Readings of Sunday, June 4, 2023
SELECT HEREfor the Readings of Sunday, June 4, 2023
Offerings
The Sunday offerings are a portion of our blessings that we give to God (Church) in gratitude to what God has done for us...ONLINE GIVING OPTIONS
