In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit
Solemnity of the Holy Trinity - A
Exodus 34:4b-6,8-9; 2 Corinthians 13:11-13; John 3:16-18
St. Gregory of Nazianzus taught that “the Old Testament proclaimed the Father clearly, but the Son more obscurely. The New Testament revealed the Son and gave us a glimpse of the divinity of the Spirit. Now the Spirit dwells among us and grants us a clearer vision of himself" (CCC, 684). In a similar way, today's liturgy reveals to us the mystery of the Holy Trinity. The book of Exodus reveals God the Father (Ex. 34: 6), the Gospel of John the Son of God (John 3: 16-17), and the writing of the apostle completes the mystery of God with the revelation of the Holy Spirit (2 Cor. 13:13).
"The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness" (Ex. 34: 6). This is one of the most important texts in the Pentateuch and Moses experienced it personally when God forgave the people their sin of idolatry (Ex. 32-33). This passage is referred to by the prophets in their call to conversion (Micah 7:18; Joel 2:13), and by the psalmist in his prayers (Ps. 86:5; 103:8; 145:8). It was the awareness of God's mercy that allowed the nation to survive the hard moments of history, believing that God's anger lasts only for a moment, but his mercy forever (Ps. 30: 6). It was enough for the nation to repent from their sins to experience God's forgiveness. But God's mercy was not limited to the nation of Israel, it extends to the whole world (Jonah 4:10-11).
"God so loved the world that he gave His Only Son" (John 3:16). In the Old Testament, the Father's mercy triumphed over the sin of the chosen people, in the New Testament, it triumphs over the sin of the world (John 1:29). In the Old Testament, Moses was ready to give up his life for the nation (Ex. 32:32), in the New Testament the Son of God by dying on the cross becomes a propitiation for our sins and the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2). Jesus is the incarnation of God's love (1 John 4:8). By revealing the Son of God, the New Testament has revealed how much God loves us. The Father gave us the best he had to give - his beloved Son.
"And the communion of the Holy Spirit" (2 Cor. 13:13). When Moses came to Mount Sinai for the first time, he saw a bush from which a fire was burning and heard the voice of God who spoke to him from the bush (Ex. 3:1-4). Here, the Church Fathers could already see the hidden mystery of the Holy Trinity. The God who speaks is the Father, the word that is spoken is the Son, and the fire symbolizes the Holy Spirit. What about the bush? The bush is a symbol of the Immaculate Virgin Mary. When Luke describes the scene of the Annunciation he tells us about the Holy Spirit, the power of the Most High and the child to be born (Luke 1:35).
"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ" is the grace of salvation that flows from the Cross of Christ. "The love of God" is expressed in God's plan of salvation from Genesis to Revelation, from Adam to Christ. "The fellowship of the Holy Spirit" (2 Cor. 13:13) points to the fact that through the gift of the Holy Spirit all believers in Christ become God's children by adoption.
In our lives, communion with the Holy Trinity becomes the most important. The question that every Christian should ask themselves is how in this world live as a child of the Father (1 John 3:2), a disciple of Christ (Matt. 10:24), and be the ‘voice’ of the Holy Spirit (Matt. 10:20).