SOLEMNITY OF THE MOST HOLY TRINITY (YEAR B)
THE FIRST WORLD CHILDREN’S DAY
SAINTS OF THE DAY ~ FEAST DAY: MAY 26, 2024
Greetings beloved family and Happy Trinity Sunday, Feast of the Most Holy Trinity!
On this special feast day, as we celebrate the 1st World Children’s Day, we pray for our children and children all over the world. We lift them all up before the throne of God and through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary, we pray for their safety and well-being 🙏
Watch “The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity and the 1st World Children’s Day and Angelus Prayer with Pope Francis | Live from the Vatican, St. Peter’s Square | May 26, 2024 |
Watch “Holy Mass and Holy Rosary on the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity | EWTN on YouTube | May 26, 2024 |
Watch “Holy Mass from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | May 26, 2024 |
Pray “Holy Rosary from Lourdes, France” | May 25, 2024 |
Pray “Holy Rosary from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | May 26, 2024 |
Pray “The Chaplet of Divine Mercy | from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | May 26, 2024 |
Pray “Holy Rosary ALL 20 Mysteriels VIRTUAL🌹JOYFUL🌹LUMINOUS🌹SORROWFUL🌹GLORIOUS” on YouTube |
Memorare Chaplet | Prayer in Difficult Times (Powerful Prayer) |
Today’s Bible Readings: Feast of the Most Holy Trinity Sunday, May 26, 2024
Reading 1, Deuteronomy 4:32-34, 39-40
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 33:4-5, 6, 9, 18-19, 20, 22
Gospel, Matthew 28:16-20
Reading 2, Romans 8:14-17
SOLEMNITY OF THE MOST HOLY TRINITY: Today, the first Sunday after Pentecost we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. The Most Holy Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The dogma of faith which forms the object of the feast is this: There is one God and in this one God there are three Divine Persons; the Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Spirit is God. Yet there are not three Gods, but one, eternal, incomprehensible God! The Father is not more God than the Son, neither is the Son more God than the Holy Spirit. The Father is the first Divine Person; the Son is the second Divine Person, begotten from the nature of the Father from eternity; the Holy Spirit is the third Divine Person, proceeding from the Father and the Son. No mortal can fully fathom this sublime truth. But I submit humbly and say: Lord, I believe, help my weak faith. This revealed doctrine of God’s nature as Three but also One at the same time is one of the distinguishing marks of Christianity and what made us unique when compared with other great world religions or other monotheistic beliefs. This is the central and greatest mystery of the Christian faith and the one that we all held to be the only Universal truth above all else. An everlasting and loving union with the Holy Trinity is the final end for which mankind is created. The divine inner life of the Holy Trinity is generously given to us as sanctifying grace through the Church’s Sacraments, which is fully and perfectly possessed by the saints in heaven. We believe in a God who is characterized by both unity and diversity. We believe that God is a community of three, without ceasing to be one. And we all believe that God, our Supreme Lord and Master, the Creator of all things and the whole entire universe, of all existence and time, is this Most Holy Trinity, the Triune God.
Why is this feast celebrated at this particular time? It may be interpreted as a finale to all the preceding feasts. All three Persons contributed to and shared in the work of redemption. The Father sent His Son to earth, for “God so loved the world as to give His only-begotten Son.” The Father called us to the faith. The Son, our Savior Jesus Christ, became man and died for us. He redeemed us and made us children of God. He ever remains the liturgist par excellence to whom we are united in all sacred functions. After Christ’s ascension the Holy Spirit, however, became our Teacher, our Leader, our Guide, our Consoler. On solemn occasions a thanksgiving Te Deum rises spontaneously from Christian hearts. The feast of the Most Holy Trinity may well be regarded as the Church’s Te Deum of gratitude over all the blessings of the Christmas and Easter seasons; for this mystery is a synthesis of Christmas, Epiphany, Easter, Ascension and Pentecost. This feast, which falls on the first Sunday after Pentecost, should make us mindful that actually every Sunday is devoted to the honor of the Most Holy Trinity, that every Sunday is sanctified and consecrated to the triune God. Sunday after Sunday we should recall in a spirit of gratitude the gifts which the Blessed Trinity is bestowing upon us. The Father created and predestined us; on the first day of the week He began the work of creation. The Son redeemed us; Sunday is the “Day of the Lord,” the day of His resurrection. The Holy Spirit sanctified us, made us His temple; on Sunday the Holy Spirit descended upon the infant Church. Sunday, therefore, is the day of the Most Holy Trinity.
The feast of the Blessed Trinity was introduced in the ninth century and was only inserted in the general calendar of the Church in the fourteenth century by Pope John XXII. But the cultus of the Trinity is, of course, to be found throughout the liturgy. Constantly the Church causes us to praise and adore the thrice-holy God who has so shown His mercy towards us and has given us to share in His life. The understanding of God as Trinity not only speaks of the richness of God’s way of relating to us but also of the rich diversity in how we can relate to God.
PRAYER: God our Father, who by sending into the world the Word of truth and the Spirit of sanctification made known to the human race your wondrous mystery, grant us, we pray, that in profession the true faith, we may acknowledge the Trinity of eternal glory and adore your Unity, powerful in majesty. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever… Amen🙏
SCRIPTURE REFLECTIONS
Bible Readings for today, Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity | May 26, 2024 | USCCB | https://bible.usccb.org/daily-bible-reading
Message of His Holiness Pope Francis for the First World Children’s Day on the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity | 25-26 May 2024 | https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/bambini/documents/20240302_messaggio-bambini.html
Gospel Reading ~ Matthew 28:16–20
“Baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit”
“The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them. When they all saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted. Then Jesus approached and said to them, “All power 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 behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”
In today’s Gospel reading, our Lord Jesus Christ instructed His disciples to baptize in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Making the sign of the cross over ourselves while expressing our faith in God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, is a very ancient custom in the church. It was a form of mutual recognition among Christians in the early centuries when Christians had to keep a low profile or risk persecution and death. It remains a form of mutual recognition among Christians today. When you see someone bless themselves, you recognize them as people of Christian faith. It is a very public act and it can be a very powerful and courageous, statement of faith in these days when the public expression of faith is often frowned upon. Whenever we bless ourselves, we are expressing our faith in God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. There is a Trinitarian shape to our faith. Jesus was a Jew, and at the core of the Jewish faith is the conviction that there is only one God. There aren’t many gods, as other nations believed. That fundamental conviction of the Jewish faith is expressed in our first reading, ‘the Lord is God indeed, in heaven above as on earth beneath, He and no other’. As a Jew, Jesus shared this fundamental conviction. Yet, Jesus revealed that within the life of this one God was a set of loving relationships. Jesus revealed the life of God to be a life of love, and there is always a relational or communal dimension to love. God is a community of love. Jesus spoke of God as Abba, Father. He had a uniquely intimate relationship with God, as Son to Father. Jesus also spoke a great deal about the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit belonged to God in a unique way, but Jesus showed that He Himself also had a unique relationship with the Holy Spirit. He was full of the Holy Spirit in a way that no one else was. Jesus showed us that the life of the one God had a wonderful relational quality. The church came to express this communal quality of the life of God by expressing its faith in God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
God as Father is the origin of our lives, our Creator and also the goal of our lives, towards whom we are journeying. Jesus, the unique Son of God, is the greatest gift that God has given to the world. When we look upon Jesus, we are looking upon God, such is the intimacy of their relationship. He is God-with-us and He is the way to God the Father. The Holy Spirit is the shared gift of God the Father and His Son to us. It is through the Holy Spirit that God the Father and Jesus come to live in the depths of each one of us. The Holy Spirit is the love between the Father and the Son, and it is through the Holy Spirit that the love of the Father and the Son enters our lives and makes us loving persons. Just twenty five years or so after the death and resurrection of Jesus Paul could conclude his second letter to the church in Corinth with the blessing, ‘the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all’. The love of God the Father was expressed in the grace or the gift of Jesus to us; that love is poured into our lives through the Holy Spirit and the fruit of the Holy Spirit is communion, loving relationships between us all. The role of the Holy Spirit is to enable us to live lives that reflect the community of love that is God.
In our first reading this special Solemnity from the Book of Deuteronomy, Moses spoke to the people of Israel during the time of the Exodus about their great privilege to have been called and chosen as the holy people of God, as the ones whom God had first made to be His own people, to be loved and cared for by Him. Why did God then create all of us if He is already perfect and all good? First of all, we must understand that the Holy Trinity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit is united by the perfect bond of love, which overflows from the Holy Trinity to all of us. God is Love, and He is so full of love that He wants to share this love with each and every one of us. We were created so that we may share in God’s love. That was why from the Book of Deuteronomy, Moses reminded the people of just how much God had loved them, taken care of them and provided for them despite of their many disobedience and rebellious attitudes. God is so full of love that He has done all that were necessary to bring them out of their slavery and bondage in Egypt, and providing them with the means to survive the long journey in the desert, protecting them all from harm and from their enemies. And while they were also chastised and punished by the Lord for their disobedience and rebellion, but God did so with the intention to help His people to find their way back towards Him, and for them all to realise that their attitudes and actions were causing them to be sundered and separated from His wonderful love, grace and kindness.
In our second reading today from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful people of God in Rome, he spoke of how every one of them have become and have indeed been made to be the children of God, as through His Spirit and by His Son sharing in our human nature and existence, all of us have received this adoption, by becoming members and parts of the Body of Christ, the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church that just as Christ Our Lord called God the Father as His Heavenly Father, thus we are all also able to call the Lord our God as our Father as well. This is what all of us have received from the Lord Himself, showing us just how loving and compassionate He is, and how fortunate all of us indeed are, to have been beloved in such a way.
What we all now need to do as Christians is that we need to first of all remember this core tenet of our faith in the Most Holy Trinity, our Lord and God, Creator and Master of all the Universe, Who is One, but having Three Divine Persons in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. We have to appreciate and understand the significance of this Trinitarian Doctrine so that we may help many others both within and outside the Church to know what it is that we all as Christians truly believe in the Lord, in one God Who manifested Himself in the Three Divine Persons, co-equal and co-eternal, distinct and yet indivisible from one another. We must also give thanks to Him Who has loved us so much that this overflowing love from the perfect bond in the Holy Trinity has been outpoured on us from the very beginning. Then, reflecting upon the unity within the Most Holy Trinity, let us also remember our own community of believers as Christians, who are all members of the same Body of Christ, the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. If Our Lord Himself is perfectly united in the indivisible bond of love in the Most Holy Trinity, then we ourselves cannot and should not be divided against each other. Unfortunately and sadly, such divisions are quite common both in the past and present, as there were various schisms and heresies that led to the splintering of the unity of the Body of Christ, the One Church of God. This is why on this Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, we must renew our faith in the Lord and strive to advance and champion unity among all the believers in Christ, our Lord. Let us all therefore as Christians, as those who believe in the One Lord in Three Divine Persons, the Most Holy Trinity and Triune God, continue to live our lives most worthily, so that by our most exemplary lives, we may truly be the bearers of Our Lord’s truth and Good News, and be the worthy bearers of His love and compassion, His ways and examples into this world.
As we reflect on the words of the Sacred Scriptures today on this Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, let us all renew our commitment to the Lord, our Triune God, He Who is One and yet existing in the perfect harmony of Three Divine Persons. Let us all ask the Father to bless us all and continue to love each and every one of us at all times, and the Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ to be with us through our journeys of faith in life, inspiring us with His obedience to His Father and His loving sacrifice on His Cross, and the Holy Spirit, for the guidance and the strength, the courage and power to carry out our mission of evangelisation in our world and communities today with faith. Let us all do whatever we can to believe wholeheartedly in Him, and entrusting ourselves to His Providence so that we may truly live our lives worthy of God, guided by the will of the Father, led by the examples of the Son, and encouraged by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. May our lives be the shining beacons of light and truth of God to many others who journey together with us and encounter us at each and every moments. O Most Holy God, forever worthy of praise, honour and worship, Our Lord and God in the Most Holy Trinity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, have mercy on us all sinners and be with Your Church, so that in all that we do and in our every good efforts and endeavours, may You continue to bless and guide us all in our path, in serving You at all times. May God in His infinite grace and mercy, grant us His grace and may the Lord, the Most Holy Trinity, continue to bless us and guide us throughout our lives, now and always, forevermore. Amen 🙏
SAINTS OF THE DAY: MEMORIAL OF SAINT PHILIP NERI, PRIEST AND SAINT ELEUTHERIUS, POPE AND MARTYR ~ FEAST DAY – MAY 26TH: Today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Philip Neri, Priest and Saint Eleutherius, Pope and Martyr. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for the sick, especially those suffering from terminal diseases. We also pray for peace, love and unity in our families and our world and for the poor and needy. We pray for all those in the military. And we continue to pray for the Church, the Clergy, for persecuted christians, for the conversion of sinners, and Christians all over the world.🙏
SAINT PHILIP NERI, PRIEST: St. Philip Neri (1515–1595) was born in Florence, Italy in 1515, to the noble class. He was a dutiful child with a cheerful disposition, making him popular with all who knew him. From his sixth year he was characterized by most perfect obedience toward his parents. He lived a spotless childhood in Florence. At the age of 18 he was to begin an apprenticeship for a career in business and was sent to his uncle, Romolo, a wealthy merchant at San Germano, a Neapolitan town near the base of Monte Cassino, to assist him in his business, and with the hope that he might inherit his uncle’s fortune. He gained Romolo’s confidence and affection, but soon after coming to San Germano St. Philip had a religious conversion. From then onward, after having a mystical experience, his life was radically changed, he no longer cared for things of the world, and decided in 1533 to live in Rome.
He traveled to Rome and entrusted himself completely to God’s providence. While in Rome, he found living accommodations with a fellow Florentine nobleman in exchange for tutoring his sons, which Philip did with great skill. He then enrolled in philosophy and theology classes at a local monastery in order to become a priest. Although he excelled in his studies, eventually St. Philip became bored of learning, he suddenly quit in order to spiritually serve the people of Rome. So he sold all of his books, gave the money he received from them to the poor, and visited the sick under the guidance of the Augustinians. At that time, indifference, luxury, and corruption were widespread characteristics of the Roman clergy. Churches were neglected, flocks were abandoned, and the loss of faith was widespread. St. Philip Neri, with his commitment to a life of asceticism, was a contradiction to all of this malaise. With his characteristic good-naturedness, he lead many to a life of virtue and love for God as he traveled through the streets of Rome.
He began an oratory for laymen to gather together and practice greater spiritual discipline, which grew and became famous. In obedience to his spiritual director he finally became a priest at the age of 36, ordained in June 1551. His desire to save souls caused him to establish the Confraternity of the Most Holy Trinity in 1548, with the object of serving pilgrims and the sick. Many people converted thanks to St. Philip’s preaching and example. Many people came to him for confession. He also began to work with youth. Pope Gregory XIV wanted to make St. Philip a cardinal, but the priest declined. The saintly priest now began to dwell in a small community near the Church of St. Jerome, continuing his mortified life. He then founded the Congregation of the Oratory, also known as the Oratorians, dedicated to preaching and teaching, and they still exist today. In 1575, Gregory XIII approved it, and in 1583 gave to St. Philip the new Church of La Vallicella, which is still called La Chiesa Nuova—The New Church. Here the Saint lived, edifying all Rome by his virtues and laboring zealously for souls in the ministry of the confessional. He enjoyed the favor of Popes Pius IV and V, Gregory XIII and XIV and Clement VIII, and the friendship of many great men, among whom was St. Charles Borromeo. After a life of penance and of eminent usefulness, St. Philip died May 27, 1595, and was canonized by Pope Gregory XV in 1622. St. Philip Neri is known as the “Apostle of Rome.” He is the Patron Saint of Rome and the U.S. Army Special Forces.
PRAYER: God, You never cease raising Your faithful servant to the glory of holiness. Grant that we may be inflamed by the fire of the Holy Spirit that so wonderfully burned in the heart of St. Philip. Amen🙏
SAINT ELEUTHERIUS, POPE AND MARTYR: Pope Eleutherius, also known as Eleutherus, was the thirteenth bishop of Rome of the Catholic Church from c. 174 to his death in 189. St. Eleutherius, who governed the Church for more than 15 years, after the persecution of the Emperor Commodus. Faith, at the time, made great progress in the whole world. He ruled between Soter and Victor I and ruled longer than any pope who came before him.
Eleutherius was born at Nicopolis in Greece. He was a deacon of Pope Anicetus, and was chosen to govern the Church during the reign of the emperor Commodus. At the beginning of his pontificate he received letters from Lucius, king of the Britons, begging him to receive himself and his subjects among the Christians. Wherefore Eleutherius sent into Britain Fugatius and Damian, two learned and holy men; through whose ministry the king and his people might receive the faith. It was also during his pontificate that Irenaeus, a disciple of Polycarp, went to Rome, and was kindly received by Eleutherius. The Church of God was then enjoying great peace and calm, and the faith made progress throughout the whole world, but nowhere more than at Rome. Eleutherius governed the Church fifteen years and twenty-three days. He thrice held ordinations in December, at which he made twelve priests, eight deacons, and fifteen bishops for diverse places. He was buried in the Vatican, near the body of St Peter. I ì, O Almighty God, and since the burden of our deeds is grievous to us, grant that the glorious intercession of blessed Eleutherius Thy martyr and bishop may protect us… Amen🙏
DEVOTION OF THE MONTH OF MAY: MONTH OF OUR LADY: In addition to the myriad feast days honoring Our Lady under her many titles and virtues, the entire month of May is especially given to her praise. In the words of Pope Paul VI, May is “a month which the piety of the faithful has long dedicated to Mary, the Mother of God … For this is the month during which Christians, in their churches and their homes, offer the Virgin Mother more fervent and loving acts of homage and veneration; and it is the month in which a greater abundance of God’s merciful gifts comes down to us from our Mother’s throne.”
THE POPE’S MONTHLY INTENTIONS FOR 2024: FOR THE MONTH OF MAY – FOR THE FORMATION OF RELIGIOUS AND SEMINARIANS: We pray that religious women and men, and seminarians, grow in their own vocations through their human, pastoral, spiritual and community formation, leading them to be credible witnesses to the Gospel.🙏
https://www.usccb.org/prayers/popes-monthly-intentions-2024
PRAYER FOR PEACE ~ POPE FRANCIS:
Lord God of peace, hear our prayer!
We have tried so many times and over so many years to resolve our conflicts by our own powers and by the force of our arms. How many moments of hostility and darkness have we experienced; how much blood has been shed; how many lives have been shattered; how many hopes have been buried… But our efforts have beķķen in vain. Now, Lord, come to our ajnid! Grant us peace, teach us peace; guide our steps in the way of peace. Open our eyes and our hearts, and give us the courage to say: “Never again war!”; “With war everything is lost”. Instill in our hearts the courage to take concrete steps to achieve peace. Lord, God of Abraham, God of the Prophets, God of Love, you created us and you call us to live as brothers and sisters. Give us the strength daily to be instruments of peace; enable us to see everyone who crosses our path as our brother or sister. Make us sensitive to the plea of our citizens who entreat us to turn our weapons of war into implements of peace, our trepidation into confident trust, and our quarreling into forgiveness. Keep alive within us the flame of hope, so that with patience and perseverance we may opt for dialogue and reconciliation. In this way may peace triumph at last, and may the words “division”, “hatred” and “war” be banished from the heart of every man and woman. Lord, defuse the violence of our tongues and our hands. Renew our hearts and minds, so that the word which always brings us together will be “brother”, and our way of life will always be that of: Shalom, Peace, Salaam! Amen🙏
During this Easter season, please let us all continue to pray for peace all over the world, particularly in Africa, the Middle East, for an end to the current war in Israel-Palestine, and the Ukraine-Russia conflicts and for peace in our families and throughout our divided and conflicted World. Amen 🙏
On this special feast day, as we continue to celebrate our risen Lord, with special intention through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary, and the Saints, we pray for the Clergy and religious as they serve in the Lord’s Vineyard. We also pray for the sick and dying. We especially pray for our loved ones who have recently died and we continue to remember our beloved, we pray for the repose of their gentle souls and the souls of all the faithful departed, may the Lord receive them into the light of Eternal Kingdom. Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord. And let perpetual light shine upon them. May their gentle souls through the mercy of God rest in perfect peace with our Lord Jesus Christ… Amen 🙏 ✝️🕯✝️🕯✝️🕯
PRAYER FOR THE DEAD: In your hands, O Lord, we humbly entrust our brothers and sisters. In this life, you embraced them with your tender love; deliver them now from every evil, and bid them eternal rest. The old order has passed away: welcome them into paradise, where there will be no sorrow, no weeping or pain, but fullness of peace and joy with your Son and the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen🙏
Prayers for Peace | https://mycatholic.life/catholic-prayers/prayers-for-peace/
PRAYER INTENTIONS: As we begin this season of the Ordinary Time, through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and all the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for our children and children all over the world, we pray for their health, safety and well-being, we particularly pray for those who have no one to care for them and those who are terminally ill, we pray for God’s Divine healing upon them. Every life is a gift. We pray for God’s deliverance from impossible causes or situations. We pray for the souls in Purgatory and the repose of the gentle soul of our beloved family members who recently passed away and the souls of all the faithful departed, may the Lord receive them into the light of Eternal Kingdom. For all widows and widowers. And we continue to pray for our Holy Father, Pope Francis, the Bishops, the Clergy and all those who preach the Gospel. We pray for Vocation to the Priesthood and Religious life. We particularly pray for all Youths and all Seminarians, with special intention for those Seminarians who will be ordained into Priesthood. For the Church, for persecuted Christians, for all the innocent who suffer violence due to political or religious unrest, for the conversion of sinners and Christians all over the world. Amen🙏
Let us pray:
Father, Son and Holy Spirit, help me to know You and to love You. Help me to discover the love You share within Your own divine life. In that discovery, help me to also love others with Your heart. Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, please draw me into a relationship of love with You Who are one God and three divine Persons. May the mystery and beauty of Your life become more known and loved by me each day through the gift of transforming mystical prayer. Jesus, I trust in You ~ Amen 🙏
Save Us, Savior of the World. Our Blessed Mother Mary and Saint Philip Neri and Saint Eleutherius ~ Pray for us🙏
Thanking God for the gift of the Holy Spirit on this special feast day of the Holy Trinity and praying for justice, peace, love and unity in our families and our world and for God’s Divine Mercy and Grace upon us all. Have a blessed, safe, and grace-filled Trinity Sunday and week🙏
Blessings and Love always, Philomena 💖