The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity
Lectionary: 165
26 MAY 2024 A.D.


Reading 1
Dt 4:32-34, 39-40

Moses said to the people:
"Ask now of the days of old, before your time,
ever since God created man upon the earth;
ask from one end of the sky to the other:
Did anything so great ever happen before?
Was it ever heard of?
Did a people ever hear the voice of God
speaking from the midst of fire, as you did, and live?
Or did any god venture to go and take a nation for himself
from the midst of another nation,
by testings, by signs and wonders, by war,
with strong hand and outstretched arm, and by great terrors,
all of which the LORD, your God,
did for you in Egypt before your very eyes?
This is why you must now know,
and fix in your heart, that the LORD is God
in the heavens above and on earth below,
and that there is no other.
You must keep his statutes and commandments that I enjoin on you today,
that you and your children after you may prosper,
and that you may have long life on the land
which the LORD, your God, is giving you forever."


Responsorial Psalm
Ps 33:4-5, 6, 9, 18-19, 20, 22

R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.

Upright is the word of the LORD,
and all his works are trustworthy.
He loves justice and right;
of the kindness of the Lord the earth is full.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.

By the word of the LORD the heavens were made;
by the breath of his mouth all their host.
For he spoke, and it was made;
he commanded, and it stood forth.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.

See, the eyes of the LORD are upon those who fear him,
upon those who hope for his kindness,
To deliver them from death
and preserve them in spite of famine.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.

Our soul waits for the LORD,
who is our help and our shield.
May your kindness, O LORD, be upon us
who have put our hope in you.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.


Reading 2
Rom 8:14-17

Brothers and sisters:
For those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear,
but you received a Spirit of adoption,
through whom we cry, "Abba, Father!"
The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit
that we are children of God,
and if children, then heirs,
heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ,
if only we suffer with him
so that we may also be glorified with him.

Alleluia
Rv 1:8

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Glory to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit;
to God who is, who was, and who is to come.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.


Gospel
Mt 28:16-20

The eleven disciples went to Galilee,
to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them.
When they all saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted.
Then Jesus approached and said to them,
"All power 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 behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age."


Overview of the Gospel:

~This Sunday the Church celebrates the one of the great truths of our Faith: the mystery of one God in
three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The revealed truth of the Holy Trinity is at the very root of
the Church's living faith as expressed in the Creed. The mystery of the Trinity in itself is inaccessible to
the human mind and is the object of faith only because it was revealed by Jesus Christ, the divine Son
of the eternal Father (CCC 232, 237, 249, 253-256).

~Looking at the Old Testament with our knowledge of the New, we can see that the Trinity was
foreshadowed, though it was not taught in terms of one God in three Persons. One of the most
commonly cited intimations of the doctrine of the Trinity is that God speaks to himself in Genesis by
using a plural: "Let us make man in our image," and then we read "in the image of God he created him"
(Genesis 1:26–27). The triple cry of the seraphim in Isaiah—"Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts"
(Isaiah 6:3)—is also thought to reflect the Trinity.

~This Sunday’s reading takes place after Jesus’ resurrection appearances of the first week, the last of
which was to Thomas and the other Apostles a week after Easter (John 20:26-29).

~Whereas during his earthly ministry Jesus limited his message to Israel (Matthew 10:5-6), he now
charges his disciples to make disciples of “all nations” thus fulfilling God’s promise to Abraham that “all
nations” would be blessed (Genesis 22:18; Galatians 3:80).

~Note that in directing them to make disciples of all nations, administer the Sacraments, and to teach
(verses 19-20), Jesus instructs them to do so in the “name” (singular) of the Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit. That one name is what we call the Most Holy Trinity.


"This Trinity is one God from Whom, through Whom, and in Whom all things exist." ~St. Augustine

Thanks!

Always great hearing from you, Brother, tortilla-flats!

Exodus_20:4-   Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any LIKENESS OF ANYTHING that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:

Forgive me, BeNotAfraid, for entering your thread in order to address the use of images or icons, but if I'm not mistaken the RCC and EOC share views in this area. Please correct me if I'm out of line.

The Orthodox Church view of Icons:  
     Many people have been taught that the second of the Ten Commandments prohibits icons.
However, if correct, all artistic representations of anything would be forbidden. The Lord
Himself in the same book of Exodus commanded Moses to make two gold cherubim (angels)
“of hammered work,” and to place them at each end of the mercy seat on the ark of the
covenant (Ex 25:17–21). The Lord also stipulated that the ten curtains of the tabernacle be
woven with images of cherubim on them (Ex 26:1), and likewise the veil (Ex 26:31).
     
     When King Solomon built the temple, the huge basin, or “sea,” was set upon twelve statues
of oxen (3Kg 7:13, 30). And upon the ten bases of the sea were cast or engraved “lions, oxen,
and cherubim” (3Kg 7:16), as well as palm trees (3Kg 7:22). The Lord bestowed His blessing
upon all these artistic representations first by filling the new temple with His Glory (3Kg
8:10, 11), and then by declaring to Solomon, “I have consecrated this house which you have
built to put My name there forever, and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually” (3Kg
9:3).

     Perhaps a most striking example of an image made at God’s command in the Old
Testament is the bronze serpent that God ordered Moses to make and put on a pole in order
to protect the Hebrews bitten by the deadly serpents (Nm 21:4–9; see Jn 3:14, 15). Hundreds
of years later, when the Israelites were offering incense to this same bronze serpent in a kind
of idol-worship, King Hezekiah, who “did what was right in the sight of the Lord,” had the
serpent smashed into pieces (4Kg 18:3, 4).

     So it is not the image itself which is faulty or prohibited, but rather its improper use. The
prohibition in Exodus 20:4 is not against all artistic representations. Rather, it is against
images, whether in human form or not, which would be worshipped as gods and goddesses
—“gods of silver, and gods of gold” (Ex 20:23). For the Lord knew that such images would
tempt the Hebrews to depart from worshipping Him, the One true God (Ex 20:3–5).

     Certainly, before the invisible and limitless Lord God of Israel became incarnate, it was
impossible to make an image of Him. However, after God the Son assumed a visible and
tangible human body, it was natural and beneficial for the Church to create artistic
representations of Him—and of His holy Mother, and of the saints and angels—from the
earliest times. According to tradition, St. Luke the Evangelist made at least three icons of
Christ and His Mother.

     Every image, or icon, of Christ has significant theological content. For it proclaims anew
the Incarnation of God, who “became flesh” for our salvation (Jn 1:14). Recognized icons of
our Savior, prayerfully made, provide us with inspired, trustworthy representations of Him.

     The Seventh Ecumenical Council, held in Nicea in AD 787, condemned the heresy of
iconoclasm (the rejection, and even destruction, of icons). These Holy Fathers articulated the
critical distinction between the worship reserved for God alone, and the veneration/honor/
reverence given to the icons. In addition, this Council declared that “the honor given to the
image passes on to that which the image represents.”

     Through icons, Orthodox Christians are drawn closer to Christ. A hymn sung the first
Sunday of Great Lent, which commemorates the restoration of icons in AD 843, declares:
“the icons that depict Thy flesh lead us to the desire and love of Thee.”

Happy Trinity Sunday!




You are correct, sir.  It seems to me that iconoclasm defies Holy Scripture, Church history, and logic.

Saint Luke the Evangelist painted an icon of the Blessed Virgin while she was still living in Jerusalem, according to legend. When she saw the beautiful image of herself holding the Child Jesus in her arms, she blessed both the artist and his work, proclaiming “My grace will accompany this picture.”

Thank you, Brothers, Anastasios, abnk, and MolonLabeFBHO! I'm with you 100% in agreement.

See:

Veneration of Images

...a simple example: Moses received the 10 Commandments on Sinai Carved by the finger of God. Moses presented this image to the people....Moses hurled them and broke them. God then instructed Moses to hew a second set of stone tables--which God re-wrote the Commandments on again--an IMAGE.