Jesus loves us to the end, to giving his life for us.  To follow him means to give up our bodies and pour out our blood for others.

Jesus does not speak expressly of the Most Holy Trinity.  He only shares with us and shows us his experience of God as a good and loving Father.  This Father, the only one who is good, cannot but pour out his goodness and love on all he has made.

God so loves the world, yes, he gives us his only Son (Jn 3, 16).  He also feeds the birds of the air and clothes the lilies of the fields in bright colors (Mt 6, 25-32).

And if he so cares for the birds and the lilies, how much more aware he is of our needs.  For we are worth more than the birds and the lilies.  In fact, he knows our needs before we ask him (verse 8).

So then, the distinctive trait of God, what is most natural to him, is to flow over, to pour himself out, to be God-with-us.  To find joy in humans and to weep with them too.  To be near, yes, to the broken-hearted (Ps 34, 18), so they boast of their troubles and not be disappointed.  For as God does pour out his love, they catch his love.  Such love makes them winners (Rom 8, 37).

Anointed and sent to bring the Good News to the poor, to help pour out God’s love

All that Jesus shares and shows of his experience of God is part of the Good News of the Kingdom.  This Good News is the why of his anointing with the Holy Spirit and of his mission to those who are poor.

For, no doubt, Jesus is aware of his being the Son of this good and loving Father.  After all, at his baptism, he saw the heaven open and the Holy Spirit come down on him.  He also heard a voice from heaven point him out as the beloved and pleasing Son.  From that experience on, he has let the Holy Spirit lead him.

Hence, Jesus makes the rounds of towns and villages.  He teaches in synagogues, proclaims the Good News of the Kingdom, cures all kinds of diseases and illnesses (Mt 9, 35).  No, he does not tire to pour out God’s love all over the place.

We say we are Christ’s disciples.  But are we really his?  Do we bear his hard teachings?  Have we grasped their reach?  Does the Spirit of truth now lead us to all truth?

Or is it that we still mistake his glory for the strength, the horn, of the golden calf?  That is to say, for the wealth that our greed craves?  Do we not still look for salvation in what the Tempter lays out before us?

We have yet to repent and believe in the Good News if we fail to grasp that salvation comes from the one hanging on the cross.  He saves us from the destruction and ruin to which selfishness, lack of concern, and greed lead.  For he loves us.  With the strength, yes, of his arms outstretched on the cross and the sweat of his bloody brow (see SV.EN XI:32).

Lord Jesus, give us your Spirit and pour out into our hearts the Father’s love.   We shall thus share in your experience of God, in your anointing and mission, in the life of the Most Holy Trinity.

12 June 2022
Most Holy Trinity (C)
Prov 8, 22-31; Rom 5, 1-5; Jn 16, 12-15