THE TEXT BELOW IS THE TRANSCRIPTION OF THE VIDEO COMMENTARY BY FR. FERNANDO ARMELLINI

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Good Sunday to all. 

The feast of the Trinity that we celebrate today was introduced very late in the liturgical calendar, in the 14th century, and does not belong to the Easter season, which ended last Sunday with Pentecost. It was instituted to help us reflect on the central truth of our faith and the profound mystery of the intimate life of the one God, who is not an individual but a loving communion of three persons. 

We could have never imagined such a God; it was Jesus who spoke to us of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit and revealed to us this mystery not to present us with an unexplainable enigma but to give us the good news that the Father so loved us that he gave us his own Spirit and life. If we only had the biological life that comes from this earth, like all biological lives, we would return to dust, but the heavenly Father who had an immense love for us and has given us his life, the life of the Eternal; He has wrapped us up from the dust, and has given us his life, the life of the Eternal for all eternity in the communion of love of the three Divine Persons. This is the great news: the Gospel. 

The first gesture our parents and grandparents taught us was the sign of the cross; they taught us to profess our faith in the God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Greek word by which the fathers of the Church referred to the gesture of the sign of the cross was ‘sfraguís,’ which means secret. This word was also used to indicate a slave’s belonging to his master, a sheep to its shepherd, or a soldier to his commander. He who makes this gesture of the sign of the cross, this ‘sfraguís,’ declares that he belongs to the world of God which has been revealed to us by Christ, the world of the Trinity. 

Where does the word Trinity, which does not appear in the Bible, originate from? The first person to use it was a Church father, Tertullian, who lived between the second and third centuries. The early generations of our fellow believers did not know this term. Tertullian did not aim to invent a new truth; he simply started to reflect on what the Bible, the New Testament, says about God. In the Gospels, when Jesus speaks of God, he always calls him ‘Father.’ The word Father, on the lips of Jesus, appears 184 times. The only other person to use this term to speak about God the Father is Philip. During the Last Supper, he asks Jesus, “Show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” And Jesus replies: “Philip, he who sees me, sees the Father.” Therefore, to see the Son, Jesus, is to see God. Jesus says, “I and the Father are one; no one knows the Father but the Son.” 

To ‘know’ in the Bible indicates a deep, intimate communion of life and love between him and the Father. We, too, are sons, but he is the only begotten Son of God, who in the beginning was with God, says the Gospel of John in the prologue. We remember the letter to the Philippians, where it is said that before he was made one of us, Jesus was in the Divine condition. The Son was God. These statements need to be explained because we all want to better understand the relationship between the Father and the Son, Jesus. Also, the Spirit is continually spoken of in the Gospels. Let us remember the Baptist, who says that the one is coming who will baptise them not in water but in the Spirit. And Jesus often promises this gift of the Spirit, of divine life. On Calvary, with his last breath at the end of the mission that he had carried out in this world, Jesus gave the Spirit. Then, on Easter day, we remember that he gave it to the disciples in the Upper Room. 

The Christians of Tertullian’s time wondered who this Holy Spirit is, this power of the Most High, who, as we are told in the Gospel of Luke, cast his shadow upon Mary, of whom Jesus Christ was born. Who is the Spirit that guided Jesus throughout his life, and what love relationships existed between the Father, the Son, and the Spirit? These are the questions that the Fathers of the Church sought to answer from the end of the second century onwards. They did not claim to add anything new to the word of God. Still, they aimed to help believers understand the truths within the Scriptures and began to articulate these truths of faith using the philosophical language available to them. 

To explain the love relationships between the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, they introduced a term familiar to us because it is in our Creed: “The Trinity… the Person generated, not begotten, consubstantial with the Father….” We wish to understand this love relationship among the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, but how can we hope to grasp the mystery of God? 

Our limited words will always be a babble about this mystery. Today, we are invited to reflect and rejoice in the gift the heavenly Father gave us. He has introduced us to the loving relationship of the Trinity. It is touching what John says in his first letter at the beginning of chapter three: “You see what immense love the Father has given us to be called children of God, and we really are.” We are children of God, but what we shall be has not yet been revealed. However, we know that we shall be like him when it is revealed, for we shall see him as He is. 

The gospel reading we will hear shortly describes how the revelation concluded with the Passover and the Father’s love delivered to the world through the only begotten Son, Jesus of Nazareth. Let us listen: 

“The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them.” 

‘Eleven disciples’ is how the evangelist Matthew introduces us to the first Christian community. Let us see who comprises it: people shaken by what happened to their Master, Jesus of Nazareth; and it is a wounded community because one of them turned away, made different decisions, and thought that Jesus was a dreamer, a heretic, dangerous for the religious traditions and the life of his people. That’s why he handed him over to the religious authorities. The gospels do not say that Judas betrayed the Master but that he handed him over. The verb ‘prodídomi’ for ‘betray’ is never used, always ‘paradídomi’ for ‘hand over’. Why did he do it? For money? No. The reason is deeper. Judas did not allow himself to be converted by the word of Jesus, by his Gospel, and preferred the tradition of the scribes; he believed in the catechesis of the Pharisees, which presented the lawgiver, the vengeful God; they did not accept the joy of the new face of God presented by Jesus of Nazareth—the God who welcomes everyone, sinner and all, and loves everyone. Judas considered Jesus a subversive and handed him over to the religious authority. 

The group of eleven is wounded and, therefore, humiliated because of their weaknesses, which they are well aware of. Several times throughout his public life, Jesus called them ‘men of little faith,’ ‘hard of heart,’ unable to understand and accept the Gospel. Most recently, when Jesus was arrested, they all fled. Peter, the only one, the bravest one, tried to follow the Master to see how things would end, but when he was cornered, he denied him; he swore that he did not know him. The evangelist Mark uses a very strong verb; he says that at a certain moment, he began to curse, ‘anathematizei,’ to curse Jesus so that those people would understand that he had nothing to do with that man. 

So much for the disciples, and Matthew calls them ‘disciples,’ not ‘apostles’ because he wants to invite us to see in this first group our Church, which is not made up of perfect people but of weak, fragile individuals, full of little faith, inconsistencies, uncertainties, and questions. And this Church Jesus loves as it is. This is how our Church has been: a community of disciples who believe and doubt a little. We are these eleven, and it is to us that Matthew wants us to hear the last words of the Risen One today. 

These disciples go to Galilee because on Passover day, to the Magdalene and the women who had gone to the sepulchre, the Risen One said, ‘Tell my brethren to go to Galilee, and there you will see me.’ Why should they go to Galilee? Luke and John tell us that on Easter day, the disciples met the Risen One; they had seen him, so why should they go to Galilee to see him? Yes, they know he is alive, but they have not yet understood what the resurrection of Jesus means; they have not yet been involved in the paschal experience, and they have not yet realised that everything in their lives is now changing. 

If Jesus had ended up in the tomb, these disciples would have felt immense pain because they would have experienced the loss of the person they loved and admired most, and all their dreams would have vanished; in their hearts, they would have kept a lasting memory; they would have held a beautiful memory of Jesus, but ultimately, they would have found peace and moved on with their lives. If Jesus had risen, and if he, whom people thought a failure, had instead been glorified by God, then he would have been right about all his claims. And then, the disciples’ lives became more complicated because they had to align themselves with his. 

They had followed him because they aspired to succeed, to become great, to become masters, to become rich. They must now admit that he was right when he said that the truly great is he who makes himself small like him, servant of all, poor. They must leave again; they need to go back to Galilee. 

Now Matthew is speaking to us; he is telling us that we must see the risen Christ along with these eleven who knew he was alive, but they had to see him and see what that implied. Like them, we are invited to go to Galilee, where our whole history began, to become aware of the proposal of man that Jesus has made throughout his life. And he invites us to go up to the mountain, together with these eleven, because our eyes can be opened only by going up to the mountain. Not just any mountain, but the mountain that Jesus has indicated. 

What mountain is it? We know that in the Bible, when it speaks of someone going up a mountain, like Moses, for example, it means that he goes to meet God, that he enters God’s world, that he leaves the plain where people follow their criteria, which are those of worldly logic. It is necessary to climb the mountain to see the Risen One. So, on which mountain does Jesus invite us to climb? If we open the Gospel according to Matthew, we will see that Jesus led his disciples to the mountain three times. It is not a material mountain but introduces them to the thought of God. 

The first mountain is the mountain of the Beatitudes. Jesus wants us to go up to Galilee because he wants us to listen to his Beatitudes but in the light of Easter. They are very different beatitudes from the ones people preach in the plain: where blessed is he that makes himself rich, enjoys life, thinks of himself and not of others. After Easter, the Beatitudes of Jesus are heard differently. He, who lived and embodied the Beatitudes he preached, was glorified by God. Therefore, the victorious Beatitudes are not those of this world but his. God gave him the reason. 

The second mountain that we must climb is that of the Transfiguration; it is the metamorphosis. We know what metamorphosis is; the caterpillar is ugly and unattractive, but it is destined to become a charming butterfly. Jesus presented himself as a slave, and now we see where he has gone: he has become the Lord. His uniform was the servant’s apron, which was not appreciated by the logic of the plain, but at the Passover, we see him clothed in royal attire. Open your eyes and see; if you go up into the mount of transfiguration, you will see where ends which in life become a servant like him; he became a servant and had a right to be glorified. You must go down like him to the last step, that of the slave. 

The third mountain is where Jesus breaks the loaves; it is the most difficult mountain to climb because Jesus teaches that all the earth’s goods are not ours; they are God’s, and therefore cannot be hoarded. God gives his gifts to each of his sons and daughters; no one can hoard them, thinking to keep his life here forever accumulating goods; no, this is madness. When you have what you need, the rest is for your brothers and sisters, because you don’t stay here in this world forever; no, you must leave room for others, and that’s why you can’t accumulate goods that aren’t yours; they belong to God. This is the sharing. The risen Lord wants the disciples to go to Galilee and climb these three mountains, which are not easy to climb, because he wants us to see that those who live according to the proposition that Jesus made are the ones who have a meaningful life. He was right. 

Let’s hear now what these eleven (that’s us) do: 

“When they all saw him, they worshipped, but they doubted.” 

How do we agree on what happens to these eleven? When they see the risen one, they prostrate themselves, but in their hearts. Questions and doubts arise, but if they are seeing him, how can they doubt? The verb that is used here is ‘worshipped’ him. It means they recognised in Jesus the presence of God and worshipped him. It means they recognised that the word of Jesus is the word that comes from God, but worship is not only this; it also means adhering to the life proposals Jesus made. You have proof that the triumphant man is the One before you, Jesus of Nazareth. 

Where do their doubts come from now? They do not doubt that Jesus is risen, that he is alive; the doubt is another; the question comes back to you even when you have chosen to adhere to Christ and his gospel, because it comes back to you afterwards: Will it be true that I am making the right choice in life? It is the experience of the doubt that we also have, not the doubt that God exists or doesn’t exist; the doubt is another one: if I follow Christ, do I gain life or lose it? He asks me to donate it, and everything tells me he is right, but will I not regret it if I do not enjoy it, as those who did not climb the mountain preach? Will I not regret that I did not think of myself and only of myself? Here is the doubt: To remain on the mountain to continue to live as Jesus showed us, or go back to the plain to reason and live a little as everybody does. 

The Risen One is not surprised by our hesitations, doubts, uncertainties, and frailties. On the contrary, he shows that he trusts us completely because he entrusts us with a mission; let us listen: 

“Then Jesus approached and said to them, ‘All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.’” 

“He approached them.” Perhaps we think that Jesus turns away from us when we hesitate to accept his proposal of life, when we have doubts and wonder if it will be worthwhile to follow him to the end. Jesus does not give up if we hesitate; he takes our hesitations into account, and in fact, he does not move away; he comes even closer to those eleven who are us and gives us his power. He says, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” What power is that? When we hear of power, we immediately think of the right to impose, give orders, be obeyed, and be served, don’t we? That is the power that Satan offered to Jesus, the power that Peter would have liked to have, but that Jesus always rejected. God has only one power, the power to love and serve, and that power to serve is the power that Jesus received from his Father in fullness; that power is the Spirit present in him, which moved him and led him to the gift of life. 

At the Passover, Jesus gave us, his disciples, this Spirit, this power that enables us to overcome all the forces of evil. And moved by this Spirit, we can carry out the mission he now entrusts to us. Let us listen to what he tells us to do: 

“Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” 

The mission that the Risen One entrusts to us is summarized in four verbs. 

The first verb: ‘Go.’ The disciple must set out; he must not wait for others to come to him; he must set out. In the Old Testament, when it speaks of the salvation to come for all peoples, it says that these people would set out for Jerusalem to hear the word of the Lord. Let us remember this solemn procession of peoples presented in chapter 60 of the prophet Isaiah, where it says, ‘They will come to you, O Jerusalem, the riches of all nations: a host of camels, of dromedaries, of Sheba, of Ephah, of Midian, shall come to you. And they shall bring all their riches; the Isles inhabitants shall come to you to pay their tribute; all the kings of the earth shall serve you.’ Jesus says, ‘You, disciples, must move to meet all these peoples, moved by my very self-passion of love for humanity, you must go and bring to all that word of the Gospel which makes sons and daughters of God.’ 

Second verb: “Make disciples of all nations,” disciples of Christ. Who were the disciples of the rabbis? They lived with their master to learn his doctrine and assimilate his way of life. To obtain salvation, all people must be brought to Christ because it is from him that they must learn. They must be accompanied on those Three Mountains where the thought of God, who communicates himself to them, resembles the thought of God through the word of Jesus of Nazareth. ‘Disciple’ comes from the Latin verb ‘dícere,’ which means to learn. Jesus wants everyone to become his disciples, and the world will be saved when all accept the life proposal he makes through his Gospel. 

Third verb: ‘To baptize.’ The one who accepts the Gospel and adheres to Christ is welcomed into the community of the disciples through the rite of baptism, immersion in the life of God, and in that relationship of love between the Father and the Son and the Spirit. The proof that we are made in the image of this God Trinity and Communion is that we only feel fully happy when we are engaged in a love relationship. 

Fourth verb: “Teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” It is not about teaching a doctrine but letting ourselves be inserted into a new life, that life of the sons and daughters of God, which is the life of Christ that must shine through us; in this life, all people must be inserted. The mission that the Risen One entrusted to us is very demanding; naturally, we feel weak and hesitant to get going. The Risen One is not surprised by our difficulties and perplexity but makes us a promise. Let us listen to it: 

“And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.” 

In the Old Testament, when God entrusts someone with a difficult mission, he tries to shy away, and the Lord says, ‘Do not be afraid, for I will be with you.’ Moses, who is sent to Egypt to free the people and is afraid of Pharaoh, the Lord says to him, ‘I will be with you.’ Joshua, who has to lead the people into the promised land, the Lord says to him, ‘As I was with Moses, I will be with you.’ Also, with the prophets, Jeremiah tries to excuse himself when called and says to the Lord, ‘I am unfit, I cannot speak, I have a stammer, and I am young.’ God says to him, ‘Do not say you are young; I will be with you.’ Also, to Mary, the angel says, ‘Rejoice, O beloved of God; the Lord is with you; you shall perfectly fulfil the mission to which you have been called.’ 

We, too, are called to carry out an important mission: to complete Christ’s work of salvation and change the world. We are to go and proclaim the word of salvation to the whole world, and it is at this point that our doubts, perplexities, and uncertainties begin because we ask ourselves, Will I be able to testify with my life of the Gospel I preach? Also, if I invite people to go up to the mountain to listen to the Beatitudes of Jesus of Nazareth, will not those who seek the other beatitudes mock me? And it is also possible, perhaps even probable, that they will not only not listen to me but that they will mock me; and is not the power of evil in the world too strong? Who am I to carry out this mission? We also hear of many people the parish priests invite to be catechists or helpers in the ministry, and they get scared. They say they are unprepared and that speaking is useless because people do not listen. 

If we were alone, our hesitations and uncertainties would all be justified, but the risen Lord has assured us: ‘I am with you all days until the full realization of God’s plan for humankind. If I am, fear not.’ He is at our side with the word of his Gospel and the bread of the Eucharist. 

I wish you all a good Sunday and a good week.