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Home  / News & Publications /  Michigan Catholic News / 2009 /  The mystery of God is a community of life

by Fr. Richard C. Macey special to The Michigan Catholic
Published May 29, 2009

In A.D. 1030, the Sunday after Pentecost was named in honor of the Trinity. Later, in A.D.1334 A.D., it was extended to the universal Church by a decree of Pope John XXII.

First Reading: Deuteronomy 4:32-34, 39-40

The entire Book of Deuteronomy is a closing instruction of Moses to the people of Israel, just before their entry into the Promised Land. Moses reminds the people of their election by God. Jewish midrash declares that the firmest statement of monotheism is contained in these verses: "the Lord is God ... and ... there is no other." Before the clearer understanding of eternal life after the death of the body, a "long life on the land" was considered to be the reward for living a good, moral life. There was a material incentive for obedience. The "statutes and commandments" were intended for future generations, too. Children were a guarantee of prosperity and the extension of the human life of their parents.

In other biblical passages, it is said that no one can see God and live (see Genesis 16:13, 32:31; Judges 6:22-23, 13:22). Here, the author uses the word hear instead of see. Accompanying hearing the voice of God is the idea of salvation from evil and oppression.

The Book of Deuteronomy also emphasized individual responsibility for following the commands of God. Recently, I attended a high school graduation. The principal addressed the graduates and told them that now they are beginning a new phase in life where their parents will no longer be calling in and making excuses for them. They would have to take full responsibility for their actions. They were given the tools they needed to make good decisions, and they would be held accountable.

Those of us who have gone through the graduations through the stages of life have been given the tools and the responsibility to use them. There are many things I have learned in the experiences of my life. Truly, there are many things I wish I had not learned. My "rose-colored glasses" were broken a long time ago! Yet even the unpleasant and dark side of life gives us a deeper responsibility to know and follow the plan of God for us. It does not give us a reason to abandon what we have learned earlier.

Second Reading: Romans 8:14-17

Paul emphasizes the total immersion of the believer in the life of God. The Spirit was the creative power and the life of God. This chapter concentrates Paul's presentation of the Spirit. Paul applies the privileged position of the Israelites to the Christians as "sons of God." Paul preserves the original Aramaic, "Abba," as an address for God. The use of the name brings a connection, a communion, between God and the believer, who calls upon Him. To be an "heir" brings up the image of promise. "Sons of God" and "Spirit of adoption" replace the status of "spirit of slavery." Paul has multiple uses for the word "spirit" throughout this chapter. He plays upon them in expressing the different levels of life.

Gospel: Matthew 28:16-20

These are the closing verses for the Gospel of Matthew. The passage is quoted in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 849, as the "missionary mandate" for the Church. An appeal is made to the Trinity in the following paragraph as a source for the purpose of the Church's mission.

The "eleven disciples" are the Twelve minus Judas. There is a tradition in the four Gospels that indicates that Jesus appeared to His disciples in Galilee. Some suggest that the apostles went back to their former work as fishermen. They needed to be "re-called."

"The mountain" could be a surrogate for Mount Sinai. Some scholars have interpreted the image of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew as the new Moses. But the presence of Jesus on a mountain is prevalent throughout the Gospel of Matthew: the mountain of the third temptation (4:8), the mount of the Beatitudes (5:1, 8:1), place of prayer after feeding the 5,000 (14:23), place of teaching and healing (15:29), the mount of transfiguration (17:1), and proclamation of the final age (24:3, 16). In the Old Testament, it was where a person experienced a revelation by God. In a certain sense, it is like the first reading. Just as the Book of Deuteronomy served as a summary and commissioning of the Israelites just before the departure of their leader, Moses, so this directive comes from Jesus to conclude the Gospel.

The Trinity is a doctrine of faith. It is also a glimpse into the nature of God as a dynamic a living being who is immersed in His creation.

Fr. Richard C. Macey is pastor of Our Lady of the Woods Parish, Woodhaven.