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Sunday, June 4, 2023

A Homily - The Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) The Most Holy Trinity

First Reading – Exodus 34:4-6, 8-9 ©

Responsorial – Daniel 3:52-56 ©

Second Reading – 2 Corinthians 13:11-13 ©

Gospel Acclamation – Revelation 1:8

The Gospel According to John 3:16 - 18 ©

 

(NJB)

 

 Listen!

 God, the creator of the universe, God is a loving God.

 The creator of the universe loves the divine creation, and each of us along with it. God has promised our salvation, which simply means: to be made well, God has promised our salvation and the salvation of the entire created order, the whole that includes each and every part, each and every person.

 Be mindful.

 The salvation that God has promised is not of this world.

 God does not intervene in human affairs, or in the movement of the planets and stars.

 God did not travel with the Israelites, God did not speak with Moses, accept in his heart where God speaks to all of us.

 Know this!

 God does not require, or even desire our praise and exaltations, except insofar as those praises take the form of mercy, humility and compassion expressed toward one another.

 God does not dwell in a temple; God is present in all places, in everyone…and to everyone.

 Remember, God is not a king.

 Serve the divine will through the love and kindness you show one another., do it with a generous spirit, and without a thought of reward for yourself.

Be mindful.

 The eyes of God are on all people, the just and the unjust alike. God hears everything and feels everything. Though God is not sensate in the way that we are, nevertheless, God knows our thoughts and understands our experiences, even as we understand them ourselves.

 It is true that God desires that we be perfect, though God does not expect it, and God understands all of our failures.

 The spiritual path is a movement toward perfection, it is like reaching for the sun.

 Know this!

 We did not originate in perfection, perfection is not a thing that we ever possessed there fore we did not lose it. The story of The Fall, its material conditions and its final cause is a myth, it is a poor myth that misconstrues reality, the misconstrual is tantamount to a lie, to perpetuate it is to violates our obligation to the spirit of truth.

 Listen!

 We are born in the evolutionary muck, with the innate desire to discover the divine. Our perfection is intimately bound up with the perfection of others, because the other—every other person is a part of who we are.

 Know this.

 Jesus is not a king or a ruler, he is not a priest but a prophet; Jesus is a friend, a comforter and healer. He came to show us the way.

 Consider the gospel for today.

 The gift of life is not transactional.

 It is free.

 We do not have to ask for it, just as we did not ask to be born; like true love, eternal life comes to us without conditions.

 God spoke to us in the person of Jesus. If you trust in his teachings you will find peace in the world; this is the essence of Christian hope. You will understand that the things we endure here: pain, suffering, alienation, uncertainty, hunger, disease and death are all temporary.

 You will see the world of light and life beyond the funeral shroud that is our common inheritance

 Know this!

 There is no condemnation in God, and you will not find it in Jesus’ ministry. There is hope and love, and mercy; there is justice.

 No one is condemned because they refuse to believe in the scriptures, in Christian doctrine, or the dogma of the church. God continuously pours out the divine love on all creation. We are often too poor to receive it, or even see it flowing through us, but God is patient.  

 There is no magic power in a name or an article of belief, not even in the name of Jesus or belief in him, whatever that might mean.

 Rather, if you do not trust in the way of Jesus, and trust is the meaning of faith, if you are not able to have faith in the way, if you are selfish instead of giving, malicious instead of loving, harmful instead of healing, then you will suffer in this world…you will suffer  from broken relationships, social resentments and alienation.

 Faith in Jesus means liberation in the here and now, liberation in the present reality, which is a blessing to everyone who finds it, and to all whom they encounter.

 

First Reading – Exodus 34:4-6, 8-9 ©

'Lord, Lord, a God of Tenderness and Compassion'

With the two tablets of stone in his hands, Moses went up the mountain of Sinai in the early morning as the Lord had commanded him. And the Lord descended in the form of a cloud, and Moses stood with him there.

He called on the name of the Lord. The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, ‘The Lord, a God of tenderness and compassion, slow to anger, rich in kindness and faithfulness.’ And Moses bowed down to the ground at once and worshipped. ‘If I have indeed won your favour, Lord,’ he said ‘let my Lord come with us, I beg. True, they are a headstrong people, but forgive us our faults and our sins, and adopt us as your heritage.’

 

Responsorial – Daniel 3:52-56 ©

To you glory and praise for evermore.

You are blest, Lord God of our fathers.

To you glory and praise for evermore.

Blest your glorious holy name.

To you glory and praise for evermore.

You are blest in the temple of your glory.

To you glory and praise for evermore.

You are blest on the throne of your kingdom.

To you glory and praise for evermore.

You are blest who gaze into the depths.

To you glory and praise for evermore.

You are blest in the firmament of heaven.

To you glory and praise for evermore.

 

Second Reading – 2 Corinthians 13:11-13 ©

The Grace of Jesus Christ, the Love of God, and the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit

Brothers, we wish you happiness; try to grow perfect; help one another. Be united; live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you.

Greet one another with the holy kiss. All the saints send you greetings.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

 

Gospel Acclamation – Revelation 1:8

Alleluia, alleluia!

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

Alleluia!

 

The Gospel According to John 3:16 - 18 ©

Jesus said to Nicodemus:

‘God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not be lost but may have eternal life. For God sent his Son into the world

not to condemn the world, but so that through him the world might be saved. No one who believes in him will be condemned; but whoever refuses to believe is condemned already, because he has refused to believe in the name of God’s only Son.’

 

The Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) The Most Holy Trinity




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