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SOLEMNITY OF THE MOST HOLY TRINITY (Cycle B)

Readings:
Deuteronomy 4:32-34, 39-40
Psalm 33:4-6, 9, 18-20, 22
Romans 8:14-17
Matthew 28:16-20

Abbreviations: NAB (New American Bible), NJB (New Jerusalem Bible), RSVCE (Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition), IBHE (Interlinear Bible Hebrew-English), IBGE (Interlinear Bible Greek-English), or LXX (Greek Septuagint Old Testament translation). CCC designates a citation from the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The word LORD or GOD rendered in all capital letters is, in the Hebrew text, God's Divine Name YHWH (Yahweh).

God reveals His divine plan for humanity in the two Testaments, and that is why we read and relive the events of salvation history contained in the Old and New Testaments in the Church's Liturgy. The Catechism teaches that our Liturgy reveals the unfolding mystery of God's plan as we read the Old Testament in light of the New and the New Testament in light of the Old (CCC 1094-1095).

The Return to Ordinary Time

Throughout the Easter season, the Church has celebrated the work of the Trinity, and that is why we observe the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity on this first Sunday after Eastertime. The Church returned to the second part of Ordinary Time in the Liturgical Calendar the day after Pentecost and continues in Ordinary Time until the Saturday before the First Sunday of Advent. Ordinary time is not a season; it is a way to describe the weeks between the seasons. The word "ordinary" means regular or plain, but it also means "counted," as in "ordinal numbers that are first, second, third, fourth, and so on, and this is the origin of Ordinary Time. Each week receives a number to help divide the Scriptures into readings and to place these in an orderly book called the Lectionary. We do the same with the Church's prayers at Mass, ordered day by day in a book called the Sacramentary. The priests wear green vestments on most days in Ordinary Time. About thirty-two/thirty-four weeks fall between the Church's five seasons of Advent, Christmas, Lent, the Triduum, and Easter.

The first week in Ordinary Time began right after the feast of the Baptism of the Lord. The thirty-fourth week of Ordinary Time came right before Advent began. If the number of ordinary weeks is thirty-four, the numbered week after Pentecost follows the last week celebrated before Lent. For example, if the week before Lent was Week Six in Ordinary Time, the week in Ordinary time after the Feast of Pentecost is numbered as Week Seven. The Masses of Pentecost Sunday, Trinity Sunday, and the Body and Blood of Christ complete the Easter season and move us forward in the Church's liturgical calendar in Ordinary Time.

The Theme of the Readings: Children of the Triune God
The Catechism of the Catholic Church instructs us: "The mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of Christian faith and life. It is the mystery of God in himself. It is, therefore, the source of all the other mysteries of faith, the light that enlightens them. It is the most fundamental and essential teaching in the 'hierarchy of the truths of faith.' The whole history of salvation is identical with the history of the way and the means by which the one true God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, reveals himself to men 'and reconciles and unites with himself those who turn away from sin'" (CCC 234, quoting from the General Catechetical Directory, 43 and 47).

Three feasts complete the theme of the Easter season: the Solemnities of Pentecost, the Most Holy Trinity, and Corpus Christi (Body and Blood of Christ). These feasts should remind us of how deeply God loves us, and He has called us from before the foundation of the world to be His children (Eph 1:4-5). The readings for the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity illustrate how, from the beginning of Creation, God intended His word and His works to prepare us for the revelation of the mystery of the One God in Three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and the blessings of God's divine grace in God the Son. We inherited the grace of new life in the Sacrament of Baptism, which Christ renews each time we receive Him, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity in the Most Holy Eucharist.

The word "Trinity" does not appear in Sacred Scripture but is a word the Church uses to define the mystery of the Triune nature of the One, mighty, Creator God. The revelation of the mystery of the One God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit was unknown to the covenant people of the Old Testament. It was an ineffable mystery hidden in the Holy Spirit-inspired writings of the Old Testament that Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity, revealed to us.

Jesus began to reveal the mystery of the Triune nature of God to the Apostles in His Last Supper Discourse (Jn Chapters 14-17).  Then, the revelation became clear to them after His Resurrection and before His Ascension when Jesus instructed His disciples to baptize believers using the Trinitarian formula: Jesus came up and spoke to them.  He said, "All authority in Heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Go, therefore, make disciples of all nations; baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teach them to observe all the commands I gave you" (Mt 28:18-19). Jesus's statement in this passage refers to the oneness of God as well as the unique relationship of the triune nature of the Most Holy Trinity. Jesus's command is to baptize in "the name," singular, of the three Persons of the unity that is the Most Holy Trinity.

Belief in the Trinity is the same profession of faith that Christians confess whenever making the Sign of the Cross and using the theological Trinitarian formula: "In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen!" The Sign of the Cross made across our bodies is everything a Christian believes in one profound gesture. It especially takes on that confession of belief when (according to the ancient custom) holding up the first two fingers of the right hand together to convey the humanity and divinity of Christ and placing the last three fingers against the palm to represent the unique three-in-one relationship of the Most Holy Trinity. Then, the motion from forehead to chest and the hand moving from one shoulder to the other symbolizes our belief that God the Son came from Heaven to earth and from suffering to resurrection to accomplish humanity's salvation. Western Rite Catholics make the Sign of the Cross from the left shoulder to the right, while Eastern Rite Catholics cross from the right shoulder to the left.

The dogma of the Trinity is the central mystery of Christian faith and the truth that, above all others, makes the Christian faith unique among world religions (CCC 232, 234, 237, and 261).  In defense of the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, the Universal (Catholic) Church proclaimed at the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215: "We firmly believe and confess without reservation that there is only one true God, eternal, infinite, and unchangeable, incomprehensible, almighty, and ineffable, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, three persons indeed, but one essence, substance or nature entirely simple."  In our attempt to grasp the depth of this sublime mystery, we, like St. Paul, should cry out: Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!  How inscrutable are his judgments and how unsearchable his ways! (Rom 11:33).

The readings for this Solemnity illuminate for us how all God's words and mighty works prepared us for the revelation of the Most Holy Trinity. This revelation includes God's gift of the new, universal, and everlasting covenant in Christ Jesus and the blessings we inherit through our rebirth in the Sacrament of Baptism that we renew whenever we receive the Eucharist. In the First Reading, Moses reminds the children and grandchildren of the Exodus generation of Israel's divine election when Yahweh called their forefathers out of the nations of the earth to become His holy covenant people. In the revelation of God to the Israelites at Mt. Sinai (Ex 19-20), He did not reveal the mystery of His true nature. That revelation came in the Incarnation of Jesus the Messiah/Christ, and yet, there are mysterious hints of God's Triune nature throughout the Old Testament.

In the Responsorial Psalm, the psalmist petitions God: May your kindness [hesed], O LORD, be upon us who have put our hope in you.  Hesed is a Hebrew word referring specifically to God's love for His people and their love for Him in the context of a covenant relationship. Examples are a marital covenant between a man and a woman compared to the context of a covenant between God and an individual or a people in the unity of a covenant relationship with Him. God's hesed binds Him in a love relationship with those in covenant with Him. The Church Fathers saw the hidden revelation of the love of the Most Holy Trinity in Psalm 33 that praises God the Creator Father, whose faithful love (hesed) fills the earth. By the word of Yahweh, the heavens were made, by the breath of his mouth, all their array (Ps 33:5-6, NJB). They interpreted "Word" and the "Breath/Spirit" in verse 6 as references to the other two of the Persons of the Trinity: God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.

In the Second Reading, St. Paul writes that just as God led Israel out of slavery in Egypt, He also freed us from slavery to sin and death. St. Paul defines our relationship with God by pointing out that we are not slaves but heirs of Christ and adopted sons and daughters of God the Father. Just as God adopted Israel, Christians who profess their faith in Christ in the Sacrament of Baptism have also become adopted children in the family of God (Rom 9:4).

In the Gospel Reading, Jesus reveals that the One God is Father, Son, and Spirit, and He desires to make the people of all nations His own. Concerning the mystery of the Trinity, Pope Saint John Paul II wrote: "God in his deepest mystery is not a solitude but a family since he has in himself fatherhood, sonship and the essence of the family which is love."  In his teaching about the Trinity, Saint John Paul II taught the Most Holy Trinity in the unity of the three Persons is not "like a family," He is the Divine Family and the highest mystery of faith. God calls earthly families to image the Divine Family by living in unity like the Trinity, while the Trinity reveals the essence of the family, which is mutual love (John Paul II, Puebla: A Pilgrimage of Faith; Boston; Daughters of Saint Paul, 1979, page 86). The essence of Saint John Paul II's teaching on the mystery of the Trinity as a family is that the Father loves the Son, the Son loves the Father, and the Holy Spirit is He whose love binds them as One!

We are a divinely blessed people called out of the world to belong to the Lord God as the Universal [catholic] Church of His holy covenant people. As we sing in today's Responsorial Psalm: "Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own."

The First Reading Deuteronomy 4:32-34, 39-40 ~ Moses' Appeal for the Israelites to be Obedient to the Commandments
32 Moses said to the people: "Ask now of the days of old, before your time, ever since God created man upon the earth; ask from one end of the sky to the other: Did anything so great ever happen before?  Was it ever heard of?  33 Did a people ever hear the voice of God speaking from the midst of fire, as you did, and live?  34 Or did any god venture to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by testings, by signs and wonders, by war, with his strong hand and outstretched arm, and by great terrors, all of which the LORD, your God, did for you in Egypt before your very eyes?  [...].  39 This is why you must now know, and fix in your heart, that the LORD is God in the heavens above and on earth below, and that there is no other.  40 You must keep his statutes and commandments that I enjoin on you today, that you and your children after you may prosper, and that you may have long life on the land which the LORD, your God, is giving you forever."
The Hebrew word for commandments is mitsvot, and for statutes/decrees, the term is 'hukkim  (The Interlinear Bible: Hebrew-English, page 470-71). LORD in capital letters is the substitute for the Divine Name YHWH (Yahweh).

Forty years after the Israelites' exodus out of Egypt, this passage is the conclusion of Moses' first homily to the new generation of Israelites about to embark on the conquest of the Promised Land. Moses bases his appeal to the children of the Exodus generation to be obedient to God's commands and prohibitions on the fact that Yahweh is the One and only God, and He has chosen to love Israel as His special possession out of all the nations of the earth. Moses tells them that Israel's history demonstrates the truth of monotheism by asking four rhetorical questions (verses 32-34):

  1. Did anything so great ever happen before?
  2. Was it ever heard of?
  3. Did a people ever hear the voice of God speaking from the midst of fire, as you did, and live?
  4. Or did any god venture to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by testings, by signs and wonders, by war, with his strong hand and outstretched arm, and by great terrors, all of which the LORD, your God, did for you in Egypt before your very eyes?

Moses told them the belief in only one God and faith in the Law He spoke to His people makes the religion of the Israelites unique in the entire world.

The basis of Moses' argument is that Yahweh's mighty works in the Exodus experience and at Mt. Sinai are proof of His divinity; these were acts no pagan god could claim. Pagan gods were only man-made objects of wood and stone (Dt 4:28). Israel has witnessed the mighty works of God, and they are therefore able to claim that He is the One, True God who created the heavens, the earth, humanity, and all living creatures. They have knowledge of an event that goes back as far as human memory (verse 32). In the 9th century BC, the prophet Isaiah used a similar argument when Yahweh challenged the pagan gods of Gentile nations to do anything good or bad to prove they exist. The prophet Jeremiah would also deny that there were other gods when he challenged their existence (Is 41:21-25; Jer 2:11 and 16:20).

Because of God's love for the Patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, He chose to love Israel, separating her from all the nations of the earth to be His possession (see Ex 19:5; Dt 4:37; CCC 218). Moses asked the Israelites to make a commitment from the heart that the LORD is God in the heavens above and on earth below and that there is no other. He asked the new generation of Israelites (the first generation all died in the wilderness except Joshua and Caleb) to love God as He loves them. They can demonstrate that love in two ways: by acknowledging Yahweh as the One True God and by obedience to His Law: 40 You must keep his statutes and commandments that I enjoin on you today, that you and your children after you may prosper, and that you may have long life on the land which the LORD, your God, is giving you forever.  In verse 40, Moses concluded with the same message he began in the second part of this homily: for the Israelites, life itself depends on living in obedience to God's commandments. Moses repeats this warning a significant seven times in Deuteronomy (4:1, 40; 5:1; 6:4; 9:1; 20:3, 27:9), and Jesus would also repeat this necessity (Jn 14:15; 15:10; also see St. John's same emphasis on obedience to Christ's commandments in 1 Jn 2:2-5; 5:2-3).

Through the children of Israel, God revealed to the nations of the world that He alone is Lord over the entire earth, and there is no other. God did not reveal the mystery of His Triune nature to the Israelites at Mt. Sinai when He formed His corporate covenant, calling them out of the other nations of the world to be the one nation of His holy covenant people. However, in this passage, Moses presents a triple aspect to Israel's experience of Yahweh:

  1. God intimately revealed Himself "speaking from the midst of fire" (verse 33).
  2. Moses presented God as He who is both immanent "on earth below" and transcendent "in the heavens above" (verse 39).
  3. God created a unique communion with His covenant people who "fix in your hearts" in believing that there is only One God, and in maintaining the covenant relationship, they "must keep His statutes" (verses 39- 40).

Responsorial Psalm 33:4-6, 9, 18-20, 22 ~ Praise for God our Creator and Provider
The response is: "Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own."

4 Upright is the word of the LORD, and all his works are trustworthy.  5 He loves justice and right; of kindness [hesed] of the LORD the earth is full.
Response:
6 By the word of the LORD the heavens were made; by the breath [ruah] of his mouth all their host. [...] 9 For he spoke, and it was made; he commanded, and it stood forth.
Response:
18 See, the eyes of the LORD are upon those who fear him, upon those who hope for his kindness [hesed], 19 to deliver them from death and preserve them in spite of famine.
Response:
20 Our soul waits for the LORD, who is our help and our shield.  [...] 22 May your kindness [hesed], O LORD, be upon us who have put our hope in you.
Response:
[...] = literal Hebrew word, IBHE, vol. II, pages1412-13. LORD or GOD in capital letters is a substitute for the Divine Name, YHWH (with vowels, Yahweh).

The Hebrew word hesed in verses 4, 18, and 22 refers specifically to love in the context of a covenant, as in a marital covenant between a man and a woman, or in the context of a covenant between God and an individual, or God and a people who have the unity of a covenant relationship with Him. Yahweh told Israel through His prophet Hosea: I will espouse you to me forever: I will espouse you in right and in justice, in love [hesed] and in mercy (Hos 2:21/22). Most English translations render hesed either as love, faithful love, loving kindness, kindness, or mercy. See thedocument "Is Hesed the Same as Agape."

The psalmist expresses his joy in the Lord through a hymn of praise. He announces that Yahweh possesses the attributes of righteousness, trustworthiness, and justice and fills the earth with His faithful covenant love (verses 4-5).  In verse 6, the psalmist recalls God's work of Creation in Genesis chapter 1 by the power of His "word" and "breath/spirit" as in Genesis 1:1-3a: In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless wasteland, and darkness covered the abyss, while a mighty wind [ruah = wind, breath, or spirit] swept over the waters. Then God said, "Let there be light ...." God spoke His "word," and Creation began to take form. Ruah, in verse 6, is a Hebrew word meaning either "wind," "breath," "air," or "spirit." The ruah of God moved over the waters of the earth in the creation event, and He breathed His ruah into Adam to give him life (Gen 1:2 and 2:7).

The psalmist knows that Yahweh watches over all those who fear to offend Him (verse 18) as He extends His faithful covenant love by helping and protecting those who belong to Him (verse 20). In verse 22, the psalmist petitions the Lord's help, reminding Him of His hesed (covenant love) expressed in God's faithfulness and mercy. God's hesed (covenant love) binds Him in a loving relationship with those in covenant with Him who place their hope in Him.

The Church Fathers, including Saints Athanasius, Augustine, and Gregory, saw the hidden revelation of the Most Holy Trinity in this psalm addressed to God the Creator Father. They saw the "Word" and the "Breath/Spirit" (verse 6) as references to the other two Persons of the Trinity: God the Son and the God the Holy Spirit. The Church interprets the Creation event as the joint work of the Most Holy Trinity" (CCC 292; also, see CCC 703).

The Church bases her Trinitarian understanding of this psalm on the deposit of faith Jesus revealed to His disciples on Resurrection Sunday (Lk 24:27, 44-48) and during the forty days He taught His Church before His Ascension (Acts 1:1-3). For this reason, the Church uses Psalm 33 on the solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity: "The Old Testament suggests, and the New Covenant reveals the creative action of the Son and the Spirit (cf. Ps 33:6); 104:30; Gen 1:2-3), inseparably one with that of the Father. This creative co-operation is clearly affirmed in the Church's rule of faith: 'There exists but one God ... he is the Father, God, the Creator, the author, the giver of order. He made all things by himself, that is, by his Word, and by his Wisdom', 'by the Son and the Spirit' who, so to speak, are 'his hands'" (St. Irenaeus, Adv. Hareres, 2, 30, 9; 4, 20).

The Second Reading Romans 8:14-17 ~ Children of God
Brothers and sisters: 14 Those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.  15 For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a Spirit of adoption, through whom we cry, "Abba, Father!"  16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ, if only we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him

St. Paul uses the example of the difference between a slave and a son in their relation to the master/father of a household. We are related to God, the Master of the household of the Church, not as a slave to his master but as adopted children who are part of God's family through our sacramental baptism into the life of Christ. In the passage, Paul invokes the Trinity in a liturgical formula like Revelation 1:4-5, instead of the theological formula as in Matthew 28:19:

  1. we cry "Abba, Father!" (verse 15)
  2. the Spirit himself bears witness (verse 16)
  3. we are joint-heirs with Christ (verse 17a) 

"Abba, Father" is how Jesus cried out to God the Father in His prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane (Mk 14:36). More than just an internal guide, the Holy Spirit is the principle of divine life in Christ (see Rom 5:5; Gal 5:30; 2 Pt 1:4). Then Paul makes the shocking statement that we are joint-heirs with Christ if only we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him (verse 17b). Paul's point is that Christ suffered before His glorification, and therefore, as His heirs, when we offer up our suffering with His suffering in His Passion, we have the promise that He will also raise us to glory in His name (also see Rom 5:2-5; 2 Cor 1:5, 7; 4:17; Phil 3:10-11; Col 1:24; 1 Pt 1:11; 5:1; Rev 2:17 and CCC 1996).

The Gospel of Matthew 28:16-20 ~ Jesus sends forth the Apostles of the Trinity
16 The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them.  17 When they saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted.  18 Then Jesus approached and said to them, "All power in Heaven and on earth has been given to me.  19 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, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.  And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age."

In Matthew 28:7, when the women disciples discovered the empty tomb, the angel of God told them to go to the disciples and tell them that Jesus had risen from the dead and "now he is going ahead of you to the Galilee; that is where you will see him." Eleven Apostles met Him by the sea in Galilee (Jn 21:1-23), where Jesus continued His instructions to them. He gave Peter and the other Apostles their "marching orders" in establishing His Kingdom of the Church and revealed the nature of the Triune God by telling them to and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit (verse 19).

The Church calls Jesus's words in Matthew 28:19-20 "The Great Commission." The mission Jesus gave is universal for the emissaries of the One who has universal power over all the earth.  From the time of Jesus' Resurrection, the mission of God the Son became the mission of the Church, as Jesus told the Apostles in John 20:19b ~ As the Father has sent me, so I send you (see CCC 730).

The command to baptize with the theological Trinitarian formula: "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit" defines the communion between God and the baptized (see Jn 3:3-5 and CCC 1257, 1272-3). Rebirth through water and the spirit in Christian baptism is the means Jesus commands for entrance into the community of the New Covenant Kingdom and for eternal salvation: Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved (Mk 16:16a). In the Sacrament of Baptism, the baptized person's life configures to the risen Savior, and that person becomes incorporated into the Body of Christ that is His Church. The formula Jesus gave for the Sacrament of Baptism defines the Trinity and designates baptism as the union of the one baptized with the life of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This union is the central mystery of faith for all who call themselves Christians and rests on their belief in the rebirth that forms the union of the believer with the life of the Most Holy Trinity (CCC 232-34, 237).

20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.  And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age."
Do not miss that Jesus links baptism to teaching the newly baptized to observe "all that I have commanded you" in verse 20. Simply acknowledging Christ is not enough, and the old Law no longer defines righteousness. The Gospel of salvation preached in the New Law of love of God and love of neighbor establishes the path of salvation for Christians.

Jesus' promise in 28:20b that God the Son will be with His people always: And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age, fulfills Isaiah's prophecy in 7:14 (quoted in Mt 1:23). Isaiah foretold "the virgin" who would bear a son who shall be called "Emmanuel," which means "God with us." Isaiah's prophecy is also the promise of God the Son's Real (but invisible) Presence in the Eucharist from the time of His Ascension until His return at the end of the Age (see CCC 1374-77 and 1 Cor 11:26-28).

Jesus taught the Church forty days from His Resurrection to His Ascension to the Father in Heaven (Acts 1:3), appearing and disappearing at will. During the time between His Resurrection and Ascension, He continually visited with His Apostles and disciples:

In His death and resurrection, Jesus ushered in a new and everlasting covenant; it is the eighth covenant that fulfills and surpasses all previous covenants (also, see the chart "Yahweh's Eight Covenants."

Old Covenants Fulfilled in Christ
1. The covenant with Adam Jesus is the "new Adam" who has atoned for the sin of the first Adam.  Christ conquered sin and death and brought forth His Bride, the Church, from His pierced side just as Eve was born from the side of Adam (Rom 5:14-21; 1 Cor 15:20-45; CCC 359, 411, 504, 766).
2. The covenant with Noah Jesus' gift of the Sacrament of Baptism has restored man, through water and the Spirit, to renewed life (Jn 3:3, 5; 1 Pt 3:21, CCC 628, 1094).
3. The three-fold Abrahamic covenant:
  1. a kingdom
  2. numerous descendants
  3. a worldwide blessing.
Jesus fulfilled the three promises made to Abraham (CCC 59, 706, 762-66):
1. He established a kingdom in the Church that is the Kingdom of Heaven on earth (Mt 4:17; Acts 1:3).
2. He filled His kingdom with men and women of every age who have accepted His gift of eternal salvation and who are the spiritual children of Abraham (Rom 9:6-8; Gal 3:29).
3. As Abraham's descendant, Jesus brought a worldwide blessing through His universal covenant that is open to men and women of all nations (Gal 3:8).
4. The Sinai Covenant Jesus fulfilled all the blood rituals and purification rituals of the old Law in His one perfect sacrifice on the altar of the Cross. He made atonement for the sins of man and offers continual purification through the Eucharist and the other Sacraments of His Church (Heb 9:15-28; CCC 577-582).  In His self-sacrifice and fulfillment of the Sinai Covenant, Jesus freed God's people from the curse of failing to keep the old Law (Dt 28:15; Rom 3:21-26; Gal 3:13-14).
5. The Aaronic Covenant of a ministerial priesthood Jesus established the New Covenant priesthood: A universal priesthood of all believers and a ministerial priesthood that is no longer based on heredity but on the call of the Holy Spirit (Mt 28:19-20; CCC 1141-43).
6. The Perpetual Priesthood of Phinehas Jesus Christ is the eternal High Priest of the New and Everlasting Covenant (Heb 4:14-15; 8:1-3; CCC 1137).
7. The Davidic Covenant Jesus fulfills God's promise to David that his throne would endure forever.  Jesus is the heir of David and the King of the Universal Kingdom (Lk 1:32-33; Heb 1:1-4; CCC 786, 2105).
Michal E. Hunt Copyright © 2012

The New Covenant in Christ Jesus is now the 8th final and eternal covenant between God and His people. Its climax will take place in Jesus' Second Advent at the end of time.

Concerning the mystery of the Trinity, Pope Saint John Paul II wrote: "God in his deepest mystery is not a solitude but a family since he has in himself fatherhood, sonship and the essence of the family which is love."  In his teaching about the mystery of the Trinity, Saint John Paul II taught: (1) God is a family; He is not "like a family"; (2) the highest mystery of faith is the Trinity: the Divine Family; (3) earthly families are to image the Trinity/live in unity like the Trinity; and (4) the Trinity reveals the essence of the family which is love (John Paul II, Puebla: A Pilgrimage of Faith; Boston; Daughters of Saint Paul, 1979, page 86). The essence of St. John Paul II's teaching on the mystery of the Trinity as a family is that the Father loves the Son, the Son loves the Father, and the Holy Spirit is He whose love binds them as One.

O Lord God of ordinary days and extraordinary graces, you have created time itself that humanity might better grasp the mystery of Your plan of salvation and its gradual unfolding through ordained events which point to the mercy and majesty of the Most Holy Trinity. 

For more information on the mystery of the Trinity, see the document: "Monotheism and the Mystery of the Triune God."

Catechism References (*indicates Scripture quoted or paraphrased in the citation):
Psalm 33:6 (CCC 292*, 703*)

Romans 8:14-17 (CCC 1996*); 8:14 (CCC 259*, 693, 1831, 2543*); 8:15 (CCC 257, 693, 1303, 1972*, 2777); 8:16 (CCC 2639*); 8:17 (CCC 1265, 1460, 1831)

Matthew 28:16-20 (CCC 857*, 1444*); 28:16-17 (CCC 645*); 28:17 (CCC 644); 28:18-20 (CCC 1120*); 28:19-20 (CCC 2, 767*, 849, 1223, 1257*, 1276); 28:19 (CCC 189, 232, 543*, 691*, 730*, 831*, 1122, 2156); 28:20 (CCC 80, 788*, 860*, 2743)

The mystery of the Trinity (CCC 202*, 231*, 232*, 233-237, 238*, 239*. 240*, 241*, 242, 243*, 244*, 245*, 246-248, 249*, 250-256, 257*, 258, 259*, 260*, 684*, 732)

The Trinity in the Church and her liturgy (CCC 249*, 813, 950, 1077*, 1078, 1079-1082, 1083*, 1084*, 1085*, 1086-1087, 1088*, 1089-1092, 1094*, 1095-1098, 1099*, 1100-1104, 1105*, 1106, 1107*, 1108*, 1109*, 2845*)

The Trinity and prayer (CCC 2655*, 2664-2665, 2666*, 2667*, 2668-2669, 2670*, 2671*, 2672)

The family as an image of the Trinity (CCC 2205)

Michal E Hunt, Copyright © 2015; revised 2021 Agape Bible Study. Permissions All Rights Reserved.