Tag: trinity

June 15, 2025 – Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/061525.cfm)

Being gifted by someone special person in life is usually for us a joyous & meaningful experience. Because as we all know, the gift-received is not only about the importance of the gift-given, but also the giver of the gift, and the thought & ways of giving us itself the gift. And so, not only the gift, but also the giving & the giver matter most in our being gifted.

As we have considered how it is to be gifted by the Holy Spirit last Sunday, this Sunday we reflect on our being gifted by the Holy Trinity.

Today is the Solemnity of the Holy Trinity. We proclaim our faith in God as the Holy Trinity. In our faith in Christ, we believe in God who is the persons & dynamics of Father, Son & Holy Spirit. We fully trust in the God made known to us by our Lord Jesus as community of persons at work together for recreation & renewal of our lives for the better.

And today, as always once again, we joyfully celebrate our being gifted by the Holy Trinity in our Christian faith & life.

To appreciate our being gifted by the Holy Trinity, we must understand that the communal presence & actions of the Holy Trinity are considerably implied in the Holy Scriptures. And somehow this is articulated at its best in the word: “Behold” in the gospels.

We remember here that “Behold” is said during the Annunciation (Mt 1:23) when it was foretold of Mary’s conceiving God’s child, during Jesus’ public ministry (Jn 1:29) when he is recognized as the Lamb of God, also on the cross (Jn 19:26-27) when Jesus endorsed Mary & the disciples to one another, and above all at the ascension when Jesus assured them of His presence forever as He commissioned His disciples to continue in with His mission (Mt 28:20).

In all these instances in the Jesus story, especially when the word: “Behold” is said, we come to recognize the presence & dynamics of the Holy Trinity are at work on-mission (on-the-go), in tandem with one another, & in collaboration with us, believers & followers of Christ for the grace of our salvation & blessings.

And so as our response for such a great gift, what are we to do as being gifted by Holy Trinity? Again, we consider the word “Behold” challenging us to respond to the presence & dynamics of the community of the Holy Trinity in us.

In the gospel when he was saying on the cross: “Woman, behold your son”…”Son, behold your mother” (Jn 19:25-27)*** Jesus is more than just presenting & endorsing  Mary, his mother & the beloved disciple to one another, but rather call each other’s attention to give care to each other’s presence, and give importance to what is happening & about to happen in their lives.

Here, we are reminded that in the scriptures, to behold signifies drawing attention to something significant, often revelations, event or divine message, to happen.

Meaning, “Behold” in the scriptures is a “call to attention”, “a call to order” for us to recognize the significance of the present moment.  To behold then is more than just an expression of being present but more so to acknowledge the significance of the moment happening before us. The challenge for us to “Behold” is thus somehow calling us out that “There is something greater going on and better happening here. So, be aware & conscious of the great importance of the moment.”

For us to behold then is to  be aware & be awed of the presence & dynamics of the Holy Trinity in our very lives. In other words, beholding for us Christians is to look significantly to our trinitarian God in our lives so that we may see, observe, discern & comprehend His presence & actions in our ordinary daily faith-life journey. Behold, then, for God’s salvation is upon us.

As we continue on with our pilgrimage of faith, we pray that we may grow in great appreciation & significance of our being gifted by the Holy Trinity in our faith, as we behold God’s ever-present & dynamic blessings at work happening now in our present moment.

With Mary, our Mother of perpetual Help, through Jesus Christ our Lord, now and always.

Amen.

*** We distinctively used this Gospel today since here in our parish church we are also celebrating the Feast of Our Mother of Perpetual Help, as our parish patroness here in Cebu, Philippines – which happen to come also on the Solemnity of the Holy Trinity this year.