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(chant) Blessed be God the Father and the only begotten Son of God and also the Holy Spirit for he has shown us his merciful love.
(reading) The Trinity is a fundamental doctrine of Christianity. This sublime teaching arises from the concrete experience of the disciples who were eyewitnesses to the events of Christ’s life: baptism, resurrection, ascension, and the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Starting with Genesis chapter 1, versus 1 and 2, the Old Testament alludes many times to the triune nature of God.
In the first reading for Trinity Sunday, the wisdom of God is personified as God’s “craftsman” who “was brought forth, while as yet the earth and fields were not made.” God’s wisdom at the creation refers to the “Word,” which begins the fourth gospel. God is one, but he is not alone. God is a communion of three persons with one nature.
A reading from the book of Proverbs. Thus says the wisdom of God: The Lord possessed me, the beginning of his ways, the forerunner of his prodigies of long ago. From of old I was poured forth, at the first, before the earth. When there were no depths I was brought forth. When there were no fountains or springs of water; before the mountains were settled into place, before the hills, I was brought forth; while as yet the earth and fields were not made, nor the first clods of the world.
When the Lord established the heavens, I was there. When he marked out the vault over the face of the deep; when he made firm the skies above; when he fixed fast the foundations of the earth; when he set for the sea its limit, so that the waters should not transgress his command. Then was I beside him as his craftsman, and I was his delight day by day, playing before him all the while, playing on the surface of his earth; and I found delight in the human race.
The word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
The responsorial psalm echoes the story of creation, the highpoint being the creation of mankind. Made in the image and likeness of God, men and women reflect the interpersonal and communal nature of God. The union of husband, wife, and children is the clearest reflection of the Trinity we can have this side of heaven.
(chant) O Lord, our God, how wonderful your name in all the earth! When I behold your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and stars which you set in place. What is man that you should be mindful of him? Or the son of man that you should care for him? O Lord, our God, how wonderful your name in all the earth!
You have made him a little less than the angels and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him rule over the works of your hands, putting all things under his feet.
O Lord, our God, how wonderful your name in all the earth!
All sheep and oxen, yes, and the beasts of the field. The birds of the air, the fishes of the sea and whatever swims the paths of the seas. O Lord, our God, how wonderful your name in all the earth!
(reading) The Trinity is implicit in the second reading, a brief but theologically rich summary of the Gospel. God, the author of our redemption, imparts his own divine life through Jesus Christ by means of the Holy Spirit “that has been given to us.”
Although the word “trinity” doesn’t appear in the New Testament, the triune nature of God is clear in many New Testament passages, many of Paul’s letters, and especially in this beautiful passage from Paul’s letter to the Romans.
A reading from the letter of Paul to the Romans.
Brothers and sisters: Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith to this grace in which we stand. And we boast in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we even boast of our afflictions knowing that affliction produces endurance, and endurance, proven character, and proven character, hope. And hope does not disappoint.
Because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
The gospel for Trinity Sunday is from the Last Supper discourse in chapter 16 of the Gospel according to John. Christ, the incarnate Word of God, speaks to his disciples about the spirit who will declare to you the things that are coming.
The Spirit does not speak on his own, the Lord says, but only what he hears from the Father and the Son.
(chant) Allelulia, alleluia. Glory to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; to God who is, who was, and who is to come. Alleluia, alleluia.
The Lord be with you and with your spirit. A reading from the Holy Gospel according to John. Glory to you, oh Lord.
Jesus said to his disciples: “I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide to you all truth. He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming.
He will glorify me because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you. Everything that the Father has is mine; for this reason I told you that he will take from what is mine and declare it to you.”
The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ.
Since you are children of God, God has sent into your hearts the Spirit of his Son, the Spirit who cries out: Abba, Father.
(reading) The doctrine of the most Holy Trinity is an awesome mystery, far above our comprehension. At the same time, it can be summed up in one simple verse: God is love. (First letter of John, chapter 4, verse 8.)
God is a communion of persons. Through all eternity the Father loves the Son and the Son loves the Father. The love that binds them together is the Holy Spirit and here’s the good news. Jesus Christ who is both God and man makes it possible for human beings to participate in that Holy Communion every time we go to Mass.
The entire Christian life is marked by the Holy Trinity, which is signified every time we make the sign of the cross: In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
As we grow in our faith and love of God we come to understand the three-fold nature of God through worship, prayer, family and friendship.
This has been a ChantWorks production. Please visit us online at chantworks.com
(Credits roll)
CW logo
A CHANTWORKS Production
ChantWorks is an apostolate of lay men and women devoted to renewing Catholic worship through sacred music and the singing of the Mass. Part of renewing Catholic worship is the prayerful reading of Sacred Scripture. These readings and reflections are intended to help readers prepare for their part in the Mass and to help others listen attentively to the proclamation of the Word.
Narrator, lector and gospel chanting Blake Applegate
Cantor Kerry McCarthy
Art curator Linda Graber
Audio mixer Mike Silva
Production Image
Underwriting Rhonda Rossano, Linda and Lee Graber, James Cavanagh
Closing Ave Maris Stella
Voci del Tesoro
Diana Silva, Director
Betty DeOrion, Soprano
Art credits (in order of appearance):
God the Father by Giovanni Francesco Romanelli (1635)
Fresco of Jesus the teacher as the well of life in the church Chiesa San Ferdinando by Nicola Colonna (1862 -1948) (Renata Sedmakova)
Stained glass window depicting the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove (Nancy Bauer)
Holy Trinity among the angels, Herz Jesu Church, early 20th century in Vienna, Austria (Renata Sedmakova)
Stained glass window symbolizing the Holy Trinity (Nancy Bauer)
Jesus and the 12 Apostles (redeeminggod.com)
Jesus heals blind man (bookofmormoncentral.org)
Baptism of Jesus by Vincente Macip, late 15th century, Cathedral-Basilica of the Assumption of Our Lady in Valencia, Spain (Renata Sedmakova)
Resurrection of Christ by Raffaellino del Colle, 16th century in Arezzo, Italy (Claudio Giovanni Columbo)
Painting of the ascension of the Lord in church Chiesa di Santa Maria del Carmine by Bernardino Gandino (1587-1651) in Brescia, Italy (Renata Sedmakova)
Stained glass depicting the Holy Spirit, Church of Antibes in Antibes, France (Jorviso)
Antique Holy Bible (Oliver Le Queninec)
The Holy Triune (artist unknown)
Holy Bible (Baloncici)
Painting of Jesus (Gouache7)
Ely Cathedral, England. Stained glass depicting the 7 days of the Creation (Olan)
Mosaic of Jesus by Franco D’Urso, 1959, Church of St. Anthony in Bari, Italy (Renate Sedmakova)
Stained glass window of glass factory in La Granja de San Ildefonso, Segovia (nuriajudit)
Detail of Holy Trinity on the main altar of baroque Alserkirche church painted by Joseph Ritter von Hempel (1826) (Renata Sedmakova)
Man’s journey of the soul (Bruce Rolff)
Supernova explosion in the center of the galaxy. Elements of image furnished by NASA. (muratart)
Christ the King monument, Swiebodzin, Poland (fotoaway)
Traveling through star fields in space as a super nova bursts into light (A Luna Blue)
Creation of the world by Ivan Aivanovsky, 1864
James Jacques Joseph Tissot, The Creation, 1896, Brooklyn Museum
Panoramic of clouds and mountain (Rafael Trefaniuc)
Supernova explosion in the center of the galaxy, elements provided by NASA (muratart)
Black land dirt (Holiday.Photo.Top)
The Holy Trinity, Luca Rossetti da Orta (1738) at St. Gaudenzio Church at Iverea, Torino
Ancient of Days, William Blake, 1794, The Rosenbach, Philadelphia
Wheat fields with mountains in the background, Vincent Van Gogh, 1889
Powerful ocean waves crushing on a black coast in Iceland (DimaBalanFilms)
Fresco of Holy Trinity, Church of St. Matthew, Stitar, Croatia (Zvonimir Atletic)
God creating Adam, Palermo, Sicily, 12th c. mosaic
Garden of Eden (netdog_06)
God presenting Eve to Adam in Paradise, Hieronymus Bosch, 1490
Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, Lucas Cranach the Elder, 1531, Picture Gallery of the Old Masters, Berlin
Holy Family icon in private chapel in Bratislava, Slovakia (Jan Van Figel)
The Holy Trinity in Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Jerusalem, Israel (Renate Sedmakova)
Flying in Orion nebula (3D_element)
A man gazing upon Earth and universe moving by (Serdar Yazici)
Jesus prays in the garden of Gethsemane, James Jacques Joseph Tissot, 1896, Brooklyn Museum
The Holy Trinity, Francisco Caro, 1647
Statue of angel (Marek Studzinski)
Holy Mother being crowned in heaven (Levi Meir Clancy)
Cowboy kneeling before his horse to pet his head (Video)StockOrg)
Flyover silhouette of a man standing on top of the mountain and watching beautiful sunset over the peaks (WeFly)
Holy Trinity (cathedralherald.co.uk)
Herd of sheep walking on the field in valley (Banias)
Cattle in the water (Lorenzo Lamonica)
Seagull in flight (Rod Long)
School of fish (Valkyrie Pierce)
Swimming turtle (Jeremy Bishop)
Litany of the Holy Trinity (anonymous)
Holy Trinity symbol (Bibleboxone)
God and Jesus Christ, Saint-Louis Cathedral, France (GoDongphoto)
Holy Spirit, Saint-Charles Church, Monaco (GoDongPhoto)
Medieval illuminated manuscript Bible, Hever Castle, Kent, UK (Ben Latham)
Stained glass window depicting symbol of the Holy Trinity (Nancy Bauer)
Apostle Paul (494-495 AD), ceiling mosaic, Archiepiscopal Chapel of St. Andrew (oratory), Ravenna, Italy
Saint Paul, Sir Peter Paul Rubens, 1598
Veiled woman in church making the sign of the cross (Ami Bornstein)
Close up of a calm sea (Ustyna Shevchuk)
Christ the King, Andrei Nikolayevich Mironov, 1998
Holy Trinity (prayer card artwork)
Christian captives about to be torched in Rome in AD64, Henryk Siemiradzki, 1865
Christian Martyrs Entering the Amphitheatre, Léon-François Benouville, 1855, Musée d’Orsay in Paris
Remnant of cloth blowing in wind from a cross (Frame Stock Footage)
Holy Spirit in the form of fire (yuda wijaya)
Crucifix in a ray of light through a stained glass window (thanasus)
Last Supper, Juan de Juanes, 16th century, Valencia, Spain (Renata Sedmakova)
Symbol of St. John the Evangelist (Maxssyed)
Jesus Christ (theredeemeradd.com)
Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Mark Wilkinson (DeviantArt)
Stained glass window depicting the Holy Spirit (Nancy Bauer)
Angel on stained glass (Thaagoon)
Flying through clouds toward heaven (Bad Designer)
Two angels with Jesus (stainedglass.com
Priest reading in Mass (LPOnline)
St John at Patmos, Pieter Paul Rubens, c. 1611
Bowing in prayer before Christ (wemmons.com)
Jesus taking leave of the apostles, Duccio di Buoninsegna, 1280
Holy Spirit moving toward light (DCPmedia)
Holy Spirit descending from heaven (Olga Levchenko)
Fresco of Mary and the Holy Trinity, Church of San Augustino, San Gimignano, Italy (Jorisvo)
Christ the King, Charles Bosserman Chambers, 1920
The Gospel (digitalmissionaries)
Holy Spirit stained glass window (Mateus Campos Felipe)
Illuminated Bible (icr.org)
Sacred Heart of Jesus (Zvonimir Atletic)
Sacred heart (acatholic.org)
Trinity icon in style of Rublev, 15 c.
Father and son, Danny Hahlbohm, 1978
The Holy Spirit, Danny Hahlbohm, 1978
Jesus giving communion (stainedglassinc.com)
Priest making the sign of the cross during the Eucharist (ArtbeatsEXPRESS)
Young woman making the sign of the cross while praying the Catholic Church (dream_one)
The Trinity, Jusepe de lo Spagnoletto Robera, 1591, Museo del Prado
Priest performing transubstantiation during Mass (ArtbeatsEXPRESS)
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