The Holy Trinity – Perfect Unity, Perfect Love
We are please to present you with the English translation of the homily given by His Holiness, Pope Francis on Sunday June 15th, at St. Peter’s Square, prior to the recitation of the Angelus:
My dear Brothers and Sisters, Good morning!
[simpleazon-image align=”right” asin=”0829441700″ locale=”us” height=”375″ src=”http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41sZgiGkdSL.jpg” width=”250″]Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Holy Trinity, which leads us to contemplate and praise the divine life of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit: a life of communion and perfect love, origin and purpose of all the universe and of every creature: God. We also acknowledge in the Trinity the model for the Church, in which we are called to love each other as Jesus loves us. And love is the concrete indication that demonstrates faith in God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And love is the badge of the Christian, as Jesus told us: “By this men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (Jn 13:35). It’s a contradiction to think of Christians who hate. It’s a contradiction. And the devil constantly seeks this: to make us hate, due to the fact that he’s forever a troublemaker; he does not know love; God is love!
We are all called to witness and announce the message that “God is love”, that God isn’t really far and insensitive to our human affairs. He is close to us, constantly close to us, walking with us to share our joys and our sorrows, our hopes and our battles. He loves us very much and for that reason he became man, he came into the world not to condemn it, but so the world would be saved through Jesus (cf. Jn 3:16 -17). And this is the love of God in Jesus, this love that is so hard to understand however that we feel when we draw close to Jesus. And he constantly forgives us, he constantly awaits us, he loves us a lot. And we feel the love of Jesus and the love of God.
The Holy Spirit, gift of the Risen Jesus, conveys divine life to us and thus lets us become part of the dynamism of the Trinity, which is a dynamism of love, of communion, of shared service, of sharing. An person who likes others for the very joy of love is a reflection of the Trinity. A household in which each person loves and helps one another is a reflection of the Trinity. A parish where each person loves and shares spiritual and material gifts is a reflection of the Trinity.
Real love is boundless, but it knows how to limit itself, to interact with others, to respect the freedom of others. Every Sunday we go to Mass, we celebrate the Eucharist together and the Eucharist resembles the “burning bush” in which the Trinity humbly lives and interacts; for this reason the Church positioned the feast of Corpus Domini after that of the Trinity. Next Thursday, according to Roman tradition, we’ll celebrate Holy Mass at the Basilica of St John Lateran then, we’ll have the procession with one of the most Holy Sacrament. I welcome all Romans and pilgrims to take part in order to express our desire to be “an persons made one in the unity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit” (St Cyprian). I await everyone next Thursday at 7:00 pm, for the Mass and the Corpus Christi Procession.
May the Virgin Mary, perfect creation of the Trinity, help us to make our whole lives, in small gestures and more crucial selections, an homage to God, who is Love.
