The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity
May 27, 2018 – Year B
Readings: Dt 4:32-34, 39-40 / Ps 33 / Rom 8:14-17 / Mt 28:16-20
by Rev. Salvador Añonuevo, Pastor

Starting today, during our Sunday Masses here at Holy Name of Mary, we will miss another member of our Christian family who was born into life eternal last Monday. She absolutely loved this church. I am referring to Mama Champagne, whose funeral was celebrated here in our sanctuary.

I was told by her son, Dave, and her daughter-in-law, Debbie, that even when her memory was failing her, she knew when it was time to go to church. Later, when she could not even remember her favorite prayers, she would do what she was still able to do, make the sign of the cross. Not only once or twice, but a hundred times a day.

If we read the lives of the saints, such as Saint Patrick, we are reminded that Mama Champagne was doing the right thing. The blessing of self with the sign of the cross is not only a powerful prayer, but it is a brief profession of our Christian faith.

Today as we celebrate the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity, our Holy Mother Church has given us the last few verses of the Gospel of Matthew: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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. And lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.”

These passages are so inspiring that we are strongly encouraged to commit them to memory. These verses tell us that since we received the sacrament of baptism we are no longer ordinary mortals. We became sons and daughters of God and temples of the Holy Spirit, but because of our human frailties we sometimes forget our extraordinary power and strength. We forget who we are and Whose we are.

This often happens when we focus too much on the world around us with all its problems instead of putting our faith and trust in God. Even Saint Peter, when he took his eyes off the Lord Jesus during the storm in the sea of Galilee, forgot that he could swim. When a person panics, he or she has to be reminded how to breathe, the very thing that he or she has been doing all their life.

Yes, we all need reminders and sometimes even admonitions. Every time we make the sign of the cross, we remind ourselves of the presence of God in our lives, that He is with us and within us by the power of the Holy Spirit. That with the help of the Lord Jesus, we will be victorious in all the difficulties that may come our way. In Chapter 16 of the Gospel of John, Jesus says: “I have said this to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

All these promises made by our Lord Jesus will come to our minds and become a reality in our lives every time we make the sign of the cross and say “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”