Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

First reading: Deuteronomy 4:32-34, 39-40
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 33
Second reading: Romans 8:14-17
Gospel reading: Matthew 28:16-20

"Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations".

For the solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, the gospel of Matthew,
chapter 28, verses 16-20, will be proclaimed in the Sunday Mass.
This gospel passage is found at the very end of Matthew's gospel.
Since it concludes his gospel, Matthew has Jesus proclaim a very
important mandate: His missionary mandate to His disciples. And
this missionary mandate to go to all peoples and make disciples of
all nations, by baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of
the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, is a command not only His
apostles are to carry out, but we also are to follow and obey. By
doing so, we shall have the knowledge and understanding that the
Lord is with us "always, until the end of the world!"

The doctrine of the Holy Trinity, is a doctrine that has been
fought over for us by the Church Fathers of the early Christian
eras. In the early Christian Church, Christian doctrine was
slowly being formed, as these Church Fathers, in docility to the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit, discerned how to pass on orthodox
teaching to the succeeding generations. What the Church Fathers
have achieved has become an essential part of our Catholic
tradition. Therefore, even if we do not see the word or term
"Trinity" in the Bible, this is because it has become part of our
Catholic tradition - one that involves the life, prayer, and work
of the apostolic community and their successor bishops and
clergy.

We will know how essential the Trinity is in our life because we
begin every prayer and celebration of the Eucharist by invoking
the Blessed Trinity with the sign of the cross. And also, we
realize how essential this doctrine is when we recall how John
Paul II prepared the Jubilee Year 2000, with a year for the Son
(1997), a year for the Holy Spirit (1998), and a year of the
Father (1999). This is how important the Holy Trinity is in our
Christian lives and for the whole Catholic Church. Our task now
is to teach this important doctrine to our children, so that when
they grow up to be fully mature Catholics, they too will pass on
this very important doctrine and teaching of the Church, to their
own children.

Pentecost Sunday

First reading: Acts 2:1-11
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 104
Second reading: Galatians 5:16-25
Gospel reading: John 15:26-27; 16:12-15

"He will guide you to all truth".

This passage from the gospel of John, makes us see Jesus and how
He spoke to His disciples about the coming of the Paraclete - "the
Spirit of truth who comes from the Father". This Paraclete, the
Holy Spirit, will be sent by Christ from the Father, to bear
witness on behalf of Christ's words and deeds. His coming to the
community of the apostles and disciples, will guide them to the
fullness of truth, and about the things that are to come.

Pentecost Sunday is the culmination of the Easter season. The word
"Pentecost", comes from the root word meaning "fifty". It tells
us that between Easter Sunday and Pentecost Sunday, there is a
span of fifty days. And Pentecost is the solemnity of the descent
of the Holy Spirit upon the apostolic community. As the Holy
Spirit overshadowed Mary and conceived in her womb the Word-made-
flesh (Jesus Christ), so the descent of the Holy Spirit upon Mary
and the apostles, gave birth to the Church - to all the followers
of Jesus that will continue the work and ministry of Christ thru
the power of the Holy Spirit.

In our Catholic tradition, we learn more again about the Holy
Spirit when a member of our family is being prepared to receive
the sacrament of Confirmation. Through this sacrament, a person
becomes fully "equipped" by the Holy Spirit, for the Christian
struggle against sin and evil in the world. The person becomes
as it were, a "soldier of Christ" - one who belongs under the
standard and banner of Christ, and through His mighty Spirit,
battles against all the evil that he encounters in his life
journey. The Holy Spirit is therefore a spiritual power for good.
He equips the Christian with gifts and strengths to bear and
produce good works in the world. From the Holy Spirit, we receive
wisdom, understanding, knowledge, counsel, piety, strength, fear
of the Lord, justice, temperance, fortitude, prudence, charity,
joy, peace, fidelity, goodness, kindness, patience, generosity,
chastity, modesty, self-control and gentleness. These gifts and
other countless spiritual gifts to build the Christian community,
are given by the Holy Spirit to us, that we may bear witness to
the truth about our Lord Jesus Christ. The truth that we are to
bear witness to is a Truth that heals, teaches, saves, and
shepherds to genuine prayer, good works, and acts of holiness.

The Lord's Ascension - World Communications Day

First reading: Acts 1:1-11
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 47
Second reading: Ephesians 4:17-24
Gospel reading: Mark 16:15-20

"Jesus was taken up into heaven and took His seat at God's right
hand."

The account of the Lord's ascension in the gospel of Mark is very
brief. It begins with Jesus appearing to His Eleven apostles and
commanding them to undertake a global mission of evangelization
and baptism. Jesus adds, that belief in the Good News will save
all those who accept the Gospel, but the refusal to believe in the
same, will condemn the unbelievers. The sign by which those who
will believe, will know that they are indeed faithful to the
Gospel, and truly follow Christ, are these: they will have the
power to expel demons; to speak new languages; to handle serpents
without them being harmed; to be unharmed also from poison; and to
heal the sick, and bring them to recovery. After saying all these
things to His Eleven apostles, Jesus ascended into heaven and
seated at the right of His Father. The work of Christ now was to
be continued by the Eleven, and the message they will give to all
people, will be accompanied by the power Jesus granted them to
perform in His name.

The Kingdom of God is not a political power or state. It is a
spiritual force by which the Church journeys to God, by her love
and compassion for humanity. Because of the mission entrusted to
the Eleven, they are sent to bring humanity back to Christ, by
their preaching and baptizing. These Eleven apostles will then
receive the full power of the Holy Spirit, when the Spirit
descends upon them at Pentecost, and lead them to all truth - the
truth about Jesus, & the Kingdom Christ was to establish among us.
Jesus had to ascend up into heaven, so that the Father can send
the Holy Spirit, to be with all His apostles and disciples until
the end of time (in which Jesus will come a second time).

In this mystery of Christ's Ascension, we catch a glimpse of the
glory of God, as it is revealed in Jesus sitting at God's right
hand. The Eleven witnessed this, and we believe in this mystery
also by our faith in the gospel and the traditions of the Church.
When Jesus left His earthly ministry to the responsible hands of
the Eleven apostles, these apostles in turn, share their mission
and ministry with us. The glory that the apostles witnessed in
the ascension of Jesus, will be the glory that we will also share
with Christ, if we accept our share of the responsibility, in the
mission and ministry of the Church, to build the Kingdom of God.
Let us therefore thank the Father, give Him praise and honor
forever, for gifting us with His Son Jesus, that we may share too
in their life of glory - a life of grace that we had lost since
the sin of our first parents. With Jesus, there is always hope
again for all of us.