"For ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether such a great thing as this has ever happened or was ever heard of. Did any people ever hear the voice of a god speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and still live? Or has any god ever attempted to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, and by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? Know therefore this day, and lay it to your heart, that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other. Therefore you shall keep his statutes and his commandments, which I command you this day, that it may go well with you, and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which the Lord your God gives you for ever.”
Ps 32:4-6, 9, 18-20, 22 R./ Happy the people the Lord has chosen as his own.
Second Reading: (Rom 8:14-17)
All who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of sonship. When we cry, “Abba! Father!” it is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
Gospel: (Mt 28:16-20)
Tthe eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.”
Reflection:
Today we celebrate the solemnity of the Holy Trinity. The doctrine of the Trinity describes the unique ways that we experience God’s presence in our lives. First and foremost we are baptised into the life of the Trinitarian God. Secondly we encounter Trinity in our experience of huma n relationships. According to St Augustine “Wherever there is love, there is a trinity; a lover, a beloved and a fountain of love.” Love is an experience of the Trinity. Wherever we see love at work, we see the fruit of the Trinitarian God. The Trinitarian Godhead can be seen as a family – the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, a family with relationships between them. Human families, when at their best, show God’s love to the world. They draw strength from their relationships with each other each other in times of joy and sorrow. And as members of God’s family Jesus the Son has given us a mission too. He commands: “to go, to make disciples, to baptize and to teach.” Jesus has entrusted us with the mission of continuing his life and presence in the world. Today we can rejoice that the Church has carried out this command and continues to do so.