Weekly Missionary Reflection
Sunday, 12 June 2022
Feast of The Most Holy Trinity
Prov. 8:22-31; Ps. 8:4-5,6-7,8-9; Rom. 5:1-5; John 16:12-15
A love triangle normally has a fatal ending. However, it does not happen to God’s love. The love triangle between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit has a vital impact: they give themselves to each other, as well as give life to humans and to the universe. Solemnity of the Holy Spirit is like Valentine’s Day to the believers: the moment for celebrating and giving thanks to God’s love, the source, and the power of our life! Without God’s love, we simply do not exist: our being will be only pseudo and imitation. Our life will not be meaningful as it has no foundation and direction. Unfortunately, the Trinity is often argued because we just see it from our logic and perspective. While this mystery speaks of divine love that is manifestly experienced in our life history as believers. The Trinity is practical teaching, not a theoretical one, as it speaks of God’s relationship and love in history.
The history of our life is the history of God’s love which came from the loving Father. The Father’s love is obviously experienced through His creation, choice, blessing, salvation, and protection. The Father’s gift of the most perfect love happened in Jesus Christ, His Son. In “Jesus’ event”, from His words and deeds to His death and resurrection, Father’s love is really experienced by humans and the universe. As Paul said: through Jesus Christ, we have peace life with God, the source of love (Rom. 5:1, first reading). The Father’s love through Jesus continues and is experienced by humans through the Holy Spirit who comes from the Father and the Son. She is the Spirit of Truth, as She helps us to explore more the mystery of Jesus as Father’s revelation in the context and situation of this diverse and changing life (John 16:13-14). That’s the reason why Paul said that through the Holy Spirit, the Father continues to renew us and strengthen our hope, as She continues to fill and empower us with His love (Rom. 5:5).
This is the love that we are celebrating today. This love is not only proven in history but it had happened before history: in the eternal relation of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The essence of the Holy Trinity is love. It is about giving and receiving love. The Father gives love, the Son receives and gives Father’s love to humans, and the Holy Spirit receives the Father’s love through the Son in the believers so that we can keep on recognizing and experiencing Father’s love through Jesus Christ in the history and the changing world. This is the way that the one and same love animates the relationship of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. That is the essential love triangle that gives life and becomes the core of all and renews all. We believe in the Holy Trinity, not as a dogma or doctrine but as God who has and will always love and reveal Himself to us through His Son and the Holy Spirit.
(Hortensius Mandaru – Indonesia Bible Society)
DAILY DEDICATED PRAYER
Lord, our Father, I present my today prayer, thought, word, work, joy, and sorrow in the unity with Your Son, Jesus Christ, who always presents Himself in the Eucharist for the salvation of the world. May the Holy Spirit animating Jesus, also be my guidance and strength today so that I am ready to be the witness of Your love.
Together with St. Mary, Mother of Jesus, and the Church, in particular, I present my prayer for our Pope and apostle prayer of the Indonesian Church this month:
For Universal Churches: For the love of Christian families
We pray for Christian families throughout the world. May they have and experience unconditional love and prioritize the holiness in their daily lives.
For Indonesian Churches intention: For the critical education
May the education institution and family educate the children to be critical and realistic about any false offers and luxuries from social media.
Amen
Situs Resmi Biro Nasional Karya Kepausan Indonesia 