A reading from the Book of Proverbs
(Chapter 8:22-31)
This book is a collection—some authorities prefer “an anthology”—of thoughts meant to guide human behavior. “Wisdom,” personified in this book as a woman, was the first thing God created—that is, before God created the physical world we live in. It was through Wisdom that God created the order we observe in the universe. “When the Lord established the heavens I was there, when he marked out the vault over the face of the deep; when he made firm the skies above, when he fixed fast the foundations of the earth; when he set for the sea its limit, so that the waters should not transgress his command; then was I beside him as his craftsman, …” While this passage does not foreshadow the fundamental tenets of Christian faith, it does reflect pervasive presence of God—that is, one God in three persons, present before the world began, present now and everywhere, present always in an infinite number of ways. This is the mystery we cannot understand but still celebrate today, the Holy Trinity, a mystery revealed to us by Jesus Christ himself.
Responsorial Psalm
(Psalm 8)
“What is man that you should be mindful of him, or the son of man that you should care for him?” The Creator, who loves everything he makes, blesses us in particular by sharing with us his own attributes—a free will, understanding, and a spirit that never dies. God plays a direct part in our lives, caring enough, to use the psalmist’s word, to take on human form, die in expiation of our sins, and rise to new life that he makes available to us, his creatures. No wonder the psalmist sings, “how wonderful your name in all the earth.”
A reading from Saint Paul’s letter to the Romans
(Chapter 5:1-5)
Paul’s references to “affliction” might make us think first of something like rheumatism or diabetes, but he was writing to people who were threatened with persecution for their faith in Jesus Christ, people, including Paul himself, for whom that affliction would eventually include death. We don’t have the Roman Empire threatening us, but spreading the gospel in this place and time—which we all are commissioned to do when we are baptized—can have pitfalls of its own. There is a strong anti-religion vibe in western culture, and it’s no longer unfashionable to express it publicly. Those who exhibit their faith are often subject to indifference, incredulity, ridicule and, at times, even violent attack. Saint Paul’s encouragement to the Christians in Rome can encourage us to persevere in our baptismal mission: “affliction produces endurance, and endurance, proven character, and proven character, hope, and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.”
A reading from the holy Gospel according to John
(Chapter 16:12-15)
In this passage, we hear, from Jesus’ lips, references to the Holy Trinity. Thousands of years of scholarship and speculation have not made this mystery any more clear. The mystery is, after all, about the nature of God, and that is beyond our experience or understanding—at least, in this life. Still, our faith tells us that God is not a remote figure who is “there” while we are “here.” Rather, God, as we experience God in our faith, is always close to us. In fact, even “close to us” does not capture the intimacy in our relationship with the Divine. We exist only because the Creator shares his existence with us. When God appeared on earth in the person of Jesus, he made it possible for us to become one body and one blood with him in the Eucharist. And the Holy Spirit that Jesus promises in this gospel passage comes to us in baptism and lives in us. How is this God one and three at the same time? Saint Paul, looking forward to the Beatific Vision, wrote to the Corinthians, “At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face. At present I know partially; then I shall know fully, as I am fully known.” For now, it is enough to know that God, in the inscrutable divine nature, is always with us.
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Photograph by Sharon Santema on Unsplash.
Excerpts from the English translation of the Lectionary for Mass © 1969, 1981, 1997, International Commission on English in the Liturgy Corporation (ICEL). All rights reserved. The passage from Saint Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians is from the New American Bible, Revised Edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC. All Rights Reserved.
Charles Paolino is managing editor at RENEW International. He is a permanent deacon of the Diocese of Metuchen.
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