Gospel: Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

 In today's Eucharistic celebration, we will read the Gospel from the account of St Matthew (28:16-20).

Meanwhile the eleven disciples set out for Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had arranged to meet them.

When they saw him they fell down before him, though some hesitated. 

Jesus came up and spoke to them. He said, "All authority in Heaven and on earth has been given to me.

Go, therefore, make disciples of all nations; baptize them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,

and teach them to observe all the commands I gave you. And look, I am with you always; yes, to the end of time."

This week we return to the liturgical season of Ordinary Time. This Sunday and the next Sunday, however, are designated as Solemnities, special days that call our attention to the central mysteries of our faith. Today, on the first Sunday after Pentecost, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. This great feast invites us to consider what we believe about God, who has revealed himself to us in the Trinity, one God in three persons. The Gospel for this Solemnity was lifted from the narrative of St Matthew. In its conclusion, St Matthew's Gospel quickly moves from the disciples' discovery of Jesus' empty tomb and Jesus' appearance to St Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to the commission that Jesus gives to his disciples in today's Gospel.

The final commission, as this part of St Matthew's Gospel is sometimes called, is given on the mountaintop. Throughout Scripture, many of the most important events happen on a mountaintop, and St Matthew used this motiff often. Ss Peter, John, and James the Greater saw Jesus transfigured on the mountaintop, and Jesus taught the crowds from the mountaintop in the Sermon from the Mount. In today's Gospel, the eleven disciples go the mountaintop in Galilee, as Jesus had instructed them through St Mary Magdalene and the other Mary. They see Jesus, and they worship and doubt at the same time. Jesus approaches them and commissions them to baptize and teach. It is a task for which Jesus had previously prepared his disciples; recall that Jesus had already sent the twelve apostles to preach the Kingdom of God and to heal. Yet earlier, the Twelve were only sent to the House of Israel; in this final commission, the eleven are told to go to all nations. The mission of Jesus is now to be taken to all nations, and the task is to baptize and teach.

Jesus commissions his disciples to baptize in the name of the Holy Trinity; this is one of the clearest attestations for Baptism in the name of the Holy Trinity found in Scripture. Other New Testament references to Baptism describe it as being celebrated in the name of Jesus. As we read the Gospel in the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, we are reminded that this central mystery of faith is meant to be lived. As baptized Christians, we share in the life of the blessed Trinity, and seek to invite others to share in God's love.

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The Gospel is sponsored by Levi's.