Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity Cycle A)

The tie in between today’s readings: A God Thing

Daniel 3:52-56, Exodus 34:4-9, 2 Corinthians 13:11-13, John 3:16-18

Let’s start with Daniel 3:52-56. On the surface, this prayer looks like another redundant rundown of “blessed art thou”, “praise you”, “glory be”, with a “forever and ever”, thrown in for good measure. We’ve seen this before in the Bible and, for some, it can be borderline boring. Now, we know that God should be exalted for who He is, but not blindly. The believer must have a deep desire to offer praise and worship or it’s just empty lip service.  Looking at the entire Chapter of Daniel 3, we find that it is the famous story about God’s miraculous rescue of Meshack, Shadrack, and Abednego from the fiery furnace. If they don’t have motivations to pray, I don’t know who does. Examining their prayer in our reading we discover three elements of worship: the holiness of God (vs 53), the rule of God (vs 54), and His omniscience (vs 55). A fourth element, located in other verses of this prayer is the sinfulness of man. There is nothing scarier than a God, with all of the above characteristics, scrutinizing our every idle word on Judgement Day. We are all in big trouble! Fortunately, the Trinity devised a remedy for mankind’s tragic fate. There is cause for praise and jubilation! There is a salvation that is available to all of us and we know that this rescue is real because, just like our friends in the blazing furnace…it’s a God thing!

Things went very badly in Exodus 32. Moses was up Mount Sinai receiving the Law, while the rest of the people below were worshipping the Golden Calf. Coming upon the scene, he was so enraged that he smashed the Ten Commandments on the ground. Having dealt with the idolators, our reading today in Exodus 34:4-9 picks up with Moses, and two brand new tablets of stone, going back up the mountain for another chance. The Lord met with him and proclaimed one of the more puzzling principles we associate with God: the generational curse. In verse 6-7a, we see the Father proclaim His compassion for thousands of generations. Then in verse 7b, we get the punishing of iniquities to the third and fourth generation. There are many different interpretations of these verses. One is the proverbial,” The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”. For our purposes today, let’s look at it another way. You inherited a fallen nature from Adam. The curse represents our lifespan as we see sin’s effects in us and this bad behavior influencing our descendants. If nothing changes, God will not let us, the guilty, go unpunished. But there is mercy and forgiveness offered by the Lord to a thousand of generations, literally forever, for those of us who want it. In response, Moses does the smart thing for Israel: falls on his face, intercedes for their sins, and begs for forgiveness.

In today’s gospel, John 3:16-18, the Pharisee Nicodemus is having a conversation concerning salvation with God the Son. You should read the whole chapter because there are important principles at work on either side of these verses. Jesus, warns that you are under judgement already.  There are two ways to go. Believe in Him and become born again to eternal life or perish because you love your sin more than God. What, then, does it mean to believe? Let’s start at vs. 5 “…unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” Most of us were baptized when we were infants and that makes us born again; well…yes and no. As a baby, the “faith” needed to make the sacrament valid was not your own. The Church’s faith (Godparent) stood in for you until you had a better understanding of things (CCC 1253-1255). The church has a responsibility to foster a saving faith in you, but faith is not just agreeing with the Magisterium’s teachings, or participating in sacraments, as important as they are. To cooperate with your baptism your faith needs to go deeper.  Although hard to describe, A Personal Relationship with Jesus and the Catholic Church, from Catholic Missionary Disciples gives a good explanation. Please click on and read the entire article. Here is a quote taken from it:

“Christian faith is not only a matter of believing that certain things are true, but above all a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.” -Pope Benedict XVI

Now, where are you in all of this? In 2 Corinthians 13:5-6, St Paul cautions us to exam ourselves to make sure that we are truly in the faith and responded to the gospel:

JOHN 3:16

For God – THE GREATEST LOVER
so loved – THE GREATEST DEGREE
the world – THE GREATEST COMPANY
that he gave – THE GREATEST ACT
his only begotten Son – THE GREATEST GIFT
that whoever – THE GREATEST OPPORTUNITY
believes – THE GREATEST SIMPLICITY
in Him – THE GREATEST ATTRACTION
should not perish – THE GREATEST PROMISE
but – THE GREATEST DIFFERENCE
have – THE GREATEST CERTAINTY
everlasting life – THE GREATEST POSSESSION

In our final reading, 2 Corinthians 13:11-13, Paul tells us who have passed our internal examination to rejoice, be comforted, and live in the love and peace of God. No wonder he says this! The Lord pulled you out of the furnace of hell! He walks with you through the fiery trials of life! He will never leave or forsake you. This is where you find the kind of excitement and adoration that we get in our Daniel chapter 3 prayer!

So, ask yourself, is your worship stale, boring, and punctuated with dry redundant prayers? It could be that you need to take that deeper and necessary step of faith into an intimate relationship with Christ. Don’t keep Jesus at arm’s length. Put yourself into the equation. By faith, unite with Him and His sufferings on the cross. Die with Him and be born again in His Resurrection. Let this new God life fuse with yours so that you may love your Lord with all your heart and neighbor as yourself. Fulfill your Baptismal calling! Break the curse and give Him all the praise, glory, and honor for such a great salvation! After all, when everything is said and done…it is a God thing.