"STAY WITH US, LORD" (Luke 24:29)

  1st Reading             Exodus 34:4-6, 8-9 Psalm                        Daniel 3:52, 53, 54, 55, 56 (R. 52b)   R:// "Glory and praise for ever!" 2nd Reading            2 Corinthians 13:11-13 Gospel                       John 3:16-18 TRUE GOD Friends, Pax et Bonum! Today is Holy Trinity Sunday. Today, we celebrate the Divine Community. However, when we open the Scriptures, the first reading, from Exodus 34: 4-6, 8-9, takes us back to Mount Sinai. There is a difficulty because the text of the first reading contains no formal language about the Three Persons in One God. It explicitly speaks about God's oneness. I want to suggest that there is a key to unlocking what is Trinitarian about today's first reading.  The text of the first reading looks relatively short but dense. Let us attempt to unpack...

1st Reading      Acts 2:1-11 Psalm               104:1ab and 24ac, 29bc-30, 31 & 34 (R. cf. 30) R:// "Lord, send forth your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth" 2nd Reading     1 Corinthians 12: 3b-7, 12-13 Gospel               John 20:19-23 CARRY THE FIRE OF THE SPIRIT Dear friends, Peace and Goodness!  Today is 50 days after Easter. This day is called Pentecost, as it is derived from the Greek word "Pentecote", which means "fiftieth". Today also marks the official end of the Season of Easter. Let us look at the readings for today. We shall dwell on two details each from the first reading, Acts 2:1-11, and the Gospel from John 20:19-23.  The first reading from Acts 2:1-11 is the popular event of the descent of the Holy Spirit on the day of PENTECOST . The first detail follows from this and the opening of the reading, thus, "When the day of PENTECOST had come..." (Acts 11:1)...

1st Reading               1:12-14 Psalm                         27: 1, 4, 7-8a (R. 13 R:// "I believe I shall see the Lord's goodness in the land of the living" 2nd Reading           1 Peter 4: 13-16 Gospel                       John 17:1-11a THE HOUR HAS COME Friends, Peace and Goodness! Today is the 7th Sunday of Easter (Year A), the final Sunday before Pentecost, and we find ourselves in that peculiar in-between space of the liturgical calendar. Jesus has departed. The Spirit has not yet come. The community is left waiting. The Ascension is only days behind us and Pentecost is days ahead. This Sunday makes us stand suspended between departure and arrival. Finding ourselves within this space of seeming neglect because of the Ascension and hopeful anticipation of the Pente...

1st Reading                 Acts 8:5-8, 14-17 Psalm                            66:1-3a, 4-5, 6-7a, 16 and 20 (R. 1) R:// "Cry out with joy to God, all the earth" 2nd Reading             1 Peter 3:15-18 Gospel                          John 14:15-21 I WILL NOT LEAVE YOU ORPHANS Friends, Peace and Goodness. Today is the 6th Sunday of Easter (Year A). We are getting closer to the end of the Season of Easter. The Season of Easter ends on Pentecost Sunday. With this in mind, we should be orienting and preparing ourselves towards knowledge about the Holy Spirit. The Gospel of today focuses on the Holy Spirit and we shall focus on the Holy Spirit under the designation, Paraclete. We should also remember that today is Mothers' Day. We wish and pray for them. Today's Gospel passage is from...

1st Reading           Acts 6:1-7 Psalm                      33:1-2, 4-5, 18-19 (R. 22) R://" May your merciful love be upon us, as we hope in you, O Lord " 2nd Reading         1 Peter 2:4-9 Gospel                     John 14:1-12 DO NOT LET YOUR HEARTS BE TROUBLED Friends, Peace and Goodness! Today is the 5th Sunday of Easter (Year A) and the 1st Sunday of May, Mary's Month. We plead her maternal intercession. Let us go straight to the Word of God for this Sunday, focusing on the Gospel passage from John 14:1–12.  John 14:1-12 belongs to what scholars call the Upper Room Discourse. It is the longest recorded farewell speech of Jesus, spanning chapters 14 through 17. It is spoken on the most charged night of his earthly life. Judas has gone out into the dark. Peter has just been warned he will deny his Lord before the cock crows. The r...