SONS NEWSLETTER Vol 5 No 2

 

SOLEMNITY OF THE HOLY TRINITY

 REFLECTION FOR THE 9TH SUNDAY OF THE ORDINARY TIME (30/05/2021)

Deut. 4:32-34,39-40; Ps 33:4-5,6&9,18-19,20&22(R.12b); Rom 8:14-17; Mt 28:16-20

THE SOLEMNITY OF THE MOST HOLY TRINITY

The solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity which is celebrated today is the central mystery of the Christian faith and life. It has to do with the inner mystery of divine nature and as such, not accessible to human reason but to faith alone. Hence it is the most fundamental teaching in the hierarchy of the truths of faith. Thus, the Catechism of the Catholic Church calls to mind that “the Trinity is a mystery of faith in the strict sense, one of the mysteries that are hidden in God, which can never be known unless they are revealed by God. An attempt to rational scrutiny will prove an exercise in futility. Thus, the church, in trying to define the doctrine of the Blessed Trinity, does not explain the mystery but tries to dispel all forms of contradiction.

From the account of creation, there is evidence of the Trinitarian character. This creation exercise features the Father, the Word (through whom all things were made Jn.1:3) and the Holy Spirit (Gen.1:1-3). During the baptism of Christ, the three persons were also present. In the earthly life of Christ, he explicitly made it known that he was sent by his father, who is eternally Father in relation to his only Son and who is eternally Son in relation to his Father (cf. Mk 9:37; 14:36; Matt. 11:25-26; Lk 22:42). Christ Himself confirms this when he says “no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him” (Matt. 11: 27). The apostles of Jesus Christ profess that Jesus Christ is the Word. It is, therefore, written “in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (cf. John 1:1). This points to unity between the Father and the Son. At the end of Jesus’ mission on earth, he announces the sending of the Holy Spirit (the Advocate), who was at work during the creation (cf. Gen. 1:2; Job 26:13; Isa. 32:15) and spoken of by the prophets (cf. Isa. 11:1-5; Ezek. 36:27).

The sending of the Person of the Holy Spirit reveals the fullness of the mystery of the Holy Trinity. All the three figures and voices in the history of revelation are distinct and they relate intimately to one another, working along with one another and are all taken together, and referred to as ‘the Triune God’.

This does not in any way give room for polytheism (the belief in many gods) because there is only one true God (cf. Ex. 20:1; Deut. 6:4-5; Isa. 44:6-8). 

There are, however, Biblical hints throughout the Old Testament that within this One and Only True God, there exists plurality (cf. Gen. 1:26; 11:6-7; 3:22). Christ Himself revealed this doctrine of the Holy Trinity when he commissioned his disciples; “go, then, to all nations and make them my disciples: baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit...” (Matthew 28:18), as contained in the Gospel of today. Thus, The Father is God, Jesus Christ the Son is God and the Holy Spirit is God. The Trinitarian formula (In the name of the Father....) shows clearly the unity and love which exist in the Triune God. 

Thence, the Church presents us with the unity and love in the Trinity as a paradigm of the Christian life which will eschew strife, dehumanization, racial differences and ethnicity, tribal/cultural affiliations especially in our families, our work places, our Churches, town unions, market places and our country Nigeria. The love we profess as Christians must be fruitful, tangible and altruistic. This communion is possible through the help of the Most Holy Trinity.

HAPPY HOLY TRINITY SUNDAY.

REMAIN IN UNION WITH GOD. It

 Reflection by:

Rev Christopher Ekechukwu,SMMM

BE SPECIFIC

With the outpouring of the Holy Spirit over the face of the Earth and the Spirit's ever readiness to share gifts to whoever begs of it, whoever is ready and whoever is disposed to accept gifts, we see everyday the recreation and renewal of creation.

Consequently, new order rises to reaffirm the old. Polarity appears to accentuate reality and the Spirit of God is ever at work, creating order even in our seeming disorder. Sometimes while we are gropping in the darkness of lack of conception, naking effort to get it right, we find ourselves dabbling on the discovery of a new design which we can align with reality by proper discipline.

However, we are required today to be specific in our quest and desires. There are many things to set out for. But we must take it one at a time to avoid confusion of desires by which we may eventually end up with none. 

In the Gospel pericope of today (cf.Mark 10:46-52) Jesus asked the blind Bartimeus what he wanted and specifically Bartimeus wanted to regain his sight. By the power of the Word which is Spirit, Jesus restored Bartimeus' sight. This reaffirms the Genesis 1 account of creation where God created everything by his Word as the Psalmist also declares (cf. Ps Psalm 32:2-9) and the First Reading of today (Sirach 42:15-26) confirms.

LET US ALWAYS BE SPECIFIC IN OUR DESIRES AND REQUEST.

HAVE A GREAT DAY🌹

FadaNonso

REFLECTION ON THE READINGS OF PENTECOST SUNDAY YEAR B, 23rd May 2021.

 

(1.Acts 2:1-11. Psalm 104:1,24,29-31,34.  2. Gal. 5:16-25. Gospel John 15:26-27,16:12-15.)

Theme: That you may renew the face of the earth

The word Pentecost comes from the Greek pentekoste meaning fiftieth (50^th). It was a feast celebrated on the 50^th day after the Passover feast by Jews, and now celebrated on the 50^th day after the Resurrection of Jesus by the Christians. Originally, Pentecost was a post-harvest thanksgiving feast and one of the major feasts of the Jews alongside Passover and the feast of the Tabernacles. During these three great Jewish festivals, every male Jew living within twenty miles from Jerusalem was legally bound to go to Jerusalem to participate in the feast. For Christians, on the other hand, Pentecost is a memorial of the day the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles and the Virgin Mary in the form of fiery tongues. The feast also commemorates the official inauguration of the Christian Church by the apostolic preaching of St. Peter, which resulted in the conversion of 3000 Jews to the Christian faith.

The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Blessed Trinity whose presence is felt by the actions and the works He does. Some Bible readers assume that the Spirit’s activity in the Scripture is limited to the New Testament but He is actually as active in the Old Testament. At the creation of the world, the Spirit was there with the father and the Son and thus participated in the creation of man: “come let us make man in our own image and likeness” [Gen.1:26]. Again, the book of Genesis records that the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters [Gen. 1:2]. After the creation of man, God endowed him with life by breathing into his nostrils the breath of life, [Gen.7], the word for ‘breath’ is the same word translated elsewhere as ‘Spirit’. The Spirit came upon certain judges, warriors, and prophets in a way that gave them extraordinary power; for example:  Joshua [Num.27:18], Othniel [Judg.3:10], Gideon [6:34], Sampson [13:25; 14:16] and Saul [1 Sam. 10:9, 10]. However, the Spirit later departed from Saul because of his disobedience [1Sam. 16:14]. Ezekiel reported: “the Spirit entered me when He spoke to me” [Ezek 2:2]. The scripture promised that someday God would put His Spirit in His people in a way that would cause them to live according to His statues [Ezek 36:27]. Looking forward to the ministry of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit inspired Isaiah to prophesy: “The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him” [Isaiah 11:12], inspiring God’s chosen one with wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge, fear of the Lord, righteousness and faithfulness, and Christ in the New Testament was proclaimed to be the fulfilment of old prophecy [Is. 61:1, Lk. 4:18, 19]

The author of the First Reading (Acts 2:1-11) presents the account of the descent of the Holy Spirit which appears to differ from the one presented by John. While Luke in the Acts of the Apostles situates the descent of the Holy spirit on the Apostles on the 50th day after Easter which falls on the Pentecost day; John, on the other hand, posits that the Holy Spirit descended on the Apostles on the day of His resurrection [Jn. 20:22] However, a close study on  both narratives reveals that they complement each other and teaches us that the spirit is the New Law which brings about newness of life, the power that enables human beings to do good and  eventually lead to total transformation that changes and renews  the face of the earth.

The feast of Pentecost originated from a very ancient thanksgiving celebration, in gratitude to God for the yearly harvest about to be reaped. Later, another motive was added to this day’s celebration with the remembrance of the promulgation of the law given by God on Mount Sinai. So when Luke says that the Apostles received the Spirit on Pentecost day, Luke is teaching us that the Spirit had substituted the New for the Old Law. With the new heart, Israel would no longer need an external Law; they would do well by following what was in their heart. So this is what the law of the heart is. Thus it is like a new heart; God coming into a person and bringing about a total transformation. So Luke in Acts of the Apostle is not giving us a sequence of historical facts but trying to explain to us that the Spirit is now the Christian law and those who allow themselves to be transformed through it, like the apostles, speak a universal language which everybody hears and understands and that is the language of love.

Furthermore, Paul in the Second Reading while writing to the Galatians maintained that anyone who is led by the Spirit has nothing to fear about the Law because the Spirit strengthens and accompanies one on the journey in the footstep of Jesus who is the fulfilment of the Old law. Paul talks about the Holy Spirit as the Spirit that brings about Love, Joy, Peace etc and warns against self-indulgence which produces bad temper, fighting, jealousy, cruelty, fornication, and other ugly threats that makes life miserable. It is good also to remember that the disciples were initially afraid to speak openly about Christ to the point that they locked up themselves in a room for the fear of the Jews. But immediately after the descent of the Spirit on them as Christ promised in the gospel periscope, they became super human, full of courage and strength, thus the once timid and scared disciples became emboldened and began to speak of their faith fearlessly.

Based on this, I can humbly submit that the major thing that took place on the Pentecost day was a transformation which is the actual work of the Holy Spirit. Hence, the Spirit of God which the disciples experienced or encountered turned them around into new creatures and new persons. However, it is not just external but an internal transformation that brings about newness of life that leads to interior conversion. It is not also the sound of the mighty wind; it is not the tongues of fire but the new creation which took place on this day that forms the core of the Pentecost event. Unfortunately many have reduced the Pentecost event to noise making while paying less attention to its internal manifestation; and have mistaken the gifts of the spirit to some confusion of sounds and eternal display.

So the question now is: why then the violent wind?  This represents the process of change because change does not come so easily. There are always some forms of violence that accompanies any change and this violence means “the force of turning a reluctant self to a direction it was initially unwilling to venture”. In this context, we can understand the statement of Jesus that “it is only the violent that can enter the kingdom of God”. This shows that changing from bad to good is not always easy. If you are not prepared to work on yourself, or even discomfort yourself, nothing good can come out of it. When people talk of the Pentecost experience, it is largely in the noisy aspect and other forms of dramatizations. Little attention is paid to this inner change of the person and this near violence to the self in order to change. However what has not received sufficient attention is this interior transformation of a person. It is precisely because of this lack of internal change that has made some people sceptical of the genuineness of those who claim gifts of the spirit. No doubt, it is the work of the spirit to renew the face of the earth but the change must begin from you; not the external but the internal you.

Finally the Holy Spirit comes to renew us from within. Without this interior renewal, the we are nothing, meaningless and only reducible to empty show. The Holy Spirit is real and his activities and powers are real and He can transform us if we wish. So the questions we shall never forget to ask ourselves are: what are those areas of my life that need an urgent transformation and renewal? Am I so envious that I am capable of doing anything? Do I still have sense of shame concerning evil and sin? Have I grown so used to sin? Am I ruled by passion? Am I so greedy? These and many other questions should occupy our minds in this great feast of the church while we pray for the renewal on the face of the earth by the Holy Spirit.