Saints + Scripture: Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

Better Late than Never | Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea máxima culpa!

'Tis the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity: Trinity-link & Wikipedia-link Trinity, Feast-link Trinity & Wikipedia-link Trinity Sunday.

Commentary: Wayback Machine. Quoth the Holy Redeemer bulletin:

On the first Sunday after Pentecost, the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. Saint Josemaría [Escrivá, 26 June] speaks about how each soul in grace is a temple of the Trinity. The central mystery of Christian faith & life is the mystery of the Most Blessed Trinity.

Scripture of the Week
Mass Readings—Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity
The Book of Proverbs, chapter eight, verses twenty-two thru thirty-one;
Psalm Eight, verses two(a), four & five, six & seven, & eight & nine;
The Letter to the Romans, chapter five, verses one thru five;
The Gospel according to John, chapter sixteen, verses twelve thru fifteen.

Commentary: Reflection by Bishop Robert Barron (Word on Fire):

Friends, today’s Gospel declares that when the Spirit comes, he will guide us into all truth.

There is a story I’ve heard about Jean-Luc Marion that, if it isn’t true, should be. In the midst of a lively lecture on Descartes, a student asked a pointed question about God. Marion looked at her and said, “Go to Sunday Mass for a year and then return and ask me that question again.”

Marion’s response was not just a clever one-liner. If true knowledge of God depends upon immersion in the Holy Spirit, then that knowledge is a function of an entire form of life, involving prayer, self-denial, the corporal and spiritual works of mercy, and the forgiveness of one’s enemies. We don’t think our way to an understanding of God so much as we live our way to it.

Thomas Aquinas always said that he owed his theology far more to the persistence of his prayer than to the acuity of his mind. His penetration of the divine mystery flowed from his life in the Holy Spirit. And so today we pray, “Come, Holy Spirit, come!”

Video reflection by Father Greg Friedman, O.F.M.: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Video reflection by Father Claude Burns (uCatholic): Weekend Reflection with Father Pontifex.

Video reflection by Father Michael Nixon (uCatholic): Made for Glory.

Audio reflection by Scott Hahn, Ph.D. (St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology): Breaking the Bread.

Mass Journal: Week 29
Reflection by Matthew Kelly, founder of the Dynamic Catholic Institute:

We are called to live holy lives & this is something we should strive for as Christians, but let me be very clear that this holiness is not something that we can attain for ourselves. In truth, holiness is something God does in us & not something we achieve. And yet at the same time, God is the perfect gentleman: He invites us to participate in his life, but never forces Himself upon us. He wants our consent, He wants to be invited into our hearts & lives, but much more than consent & invitation He desires our loving cooperation. God yearns for us to be coworkers with Him in this work of holiness. It is this dynamic collaboration between God & man that brings delight to God. The North Star is the only star in the sky that never moves; it remains constant & unwavering, & therefore is a true guide. In the same way, God's call to live a holy life never changes. In a world of rapid & constant change, it is what is unchanging that allows us to make sense of change. The ideas you encounter may change, your emotions may change, but God's call to live a holy life never changes.

†

Otherwise, 16 June would be the festival of Saint Isfael of Menevia, Bishop (floruit sixth century, incorrectly Anglicized as Ishmael): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: Wayback Machine.

'Twould also be the festival of Saint Aurelianus of Arles, Bishop (died 551, A.K.A. "the Sinner"), Archbishop of Arles, who attended the Fifth Council of Orléans (549): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link; Diocese-link Arles & Wikipedia-link Arles, & Wikipedia-link Council.

'Twould also be the festival of Saint Lutgardis of the Sacred Heart, Abbess, O.Cist. (1182-1246; A.K.A. of Aywières, of Tongeren; also spelt Lutgarde): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link.

'Twould also be the festival of Blessed Thomas Redyng, Religious & Martyr, O.Cart. (died 1537), martyred in the reign of the English king Henry VIII, one of the Carthusian Martyrs of London: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link (List); Martyrs-link Charterhouse & Wikipedia-link Charterhouse.

Papal Quote o' the Day

"Day after day I was able to observe the austere way in which [my father] lived. By profession he was a soldier &, after my mother's death, his life became one of constant prayer. Sometimes I would wake up during the night & find my father on his knees, just as I would always see him kneeling in the parish church. We never spoke about a vocation to the priesthood, but his example was in a way my first seminary, a kind of domestic seminary."
—Pope St. John Paul II the Great (1920-2005, feast day: 22 October)

Little Flower Quote o' the Day

"The nearer one gets to God, the simpler one becomes."
—St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Doctor of the Church (1873-1897, feast day: 1 October)

Saint Quote o' the Day

—St. Bernard of Clairvaux, Doctor of the Church (1090-1153, feast day: 20 August)