Jun 12 2022 Reflection
Sunday 12 June 2022
First Reading: Prv 8:22-31
Responsorial Psalm:
O Lord, our God, how wonderful your name in all the earth!
Ps 8:4-5, 6-7, 8-9
Second Reading: Rom 5:1-5
Gospel Reading: Jn 16:12-15
Today’s Note: The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity
Gospel Reading:
Jesus said to his disciples:
“I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now.
But when he comes, the Spirit of truth,
he will guide you to all truth.
He will not speak on his own,
but he will speak what he hears,
and will declare to you the things that are coming.
He will glorify me,
because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you.
Everything that the Father has is mine;
for this reason I told you that he will take from what is mine
and declare it to you.”
Reflection:
How can we know God personally and grow in our understanding of his wisdom, truth, and love for us? Jesus made a claim which only God can make – he knows all things – the present and the past, as well as the future. Jesus not only claims to speak the truth, he calls himself the very source of truth when he proclaims that he is the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6). Now Jesus promises to send his disciples the Spirit of truth who will guide them in understanding all that Jesus came to say and do! Jesus tells his disciples that it is the role of the Holy Spirit to reveal what is true. It is through the gift and working of the Holy Spirit, who enlightens our hearts and minds, that we come to understand that the Godhead is a trinity of persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
One Father, One Son, and One Holy Spirit perfectly united
The Jews understood God as Creator and Father of all that he made (Deuteronomy 32:6) and they understood Israel (the promised son and his heirs) as God’s firstborn son (Exodus 4:22). Jesus reveals the true nature of God the Father in an unheard of sense. He is eternally Father by his relationship to his eternal and only-begotten Son, who, reciprocally, is Son only in relation to his Father (see Matthew 11:27). The Spirit, likewise, is inseparably one with the Father and the Son. Jesus reveals the triune nature of God and the inseparable union of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The mission of Jesus and the Spirit is one
The mission of Jesus and of the Holy Spirit are the same – to reveal the glory of God and to share that glory with us by uniting us in a community of love with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. That is why Jesus tells his disciples that the Spirit will reveal the glory of the Father and the Son and will speak what is true. Before his Passover, Jesus revealed the Holy Spirit as the ‘Paraclete’ and Helper who will be with Jesus’ disciples to teach and guide them “into all the truth” (John 14:17,26; 16:13). The ultimate end, the purpose for which God created us, is the entry of God’s creatures into the perfect unity of the blessed Trinity. In baptism we are called to share in the life of the Holy Trinity here on earth in faith and after death in eternal light.
Clement of Alexandria (150-215 AD), an early church father and teacher at the catechetical school in Alexandria, wrote: “What an astonishing mystery! There is one Father of the universe, one Logos (Word) of the universe, and also one Holy Spirit, everywhere one and the same; there is also one virgin become mother, and I should like to call her ‘Church’.”
Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, unites us with the Father
How can we personally know the Father and his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ? It is the Holy Spirit who reveals the Father and the Son to us and who gives us the gift of faith to know and understand the truth of God’s word. Through the Holy Spirit, we proclaim our ancient faith in the saving death and resurrection of Jesus Christ until he comes again. The Lord gives us his Holy Spirit as our divine Teacher and Helper that we may grow in the knowledge and wisdom of God. Do you seek the wisdom that comes from above and do you eagerly listen to God’s word and obey it?
May the Lord Jesus put his hands on our eyes also, for then we too shall begin to look not at what is seen but at what is not seen. May he open the eyes that are concerned not with the present but with what is yet to come, may he unseal the heart’s vision, that we may gaze on God in the Spirit, through the same Lord, Jesus Christ, whose glory and power will endure throughout the unending succession of ages. (prayer of Origin, 185-254 AD)
