Peter’s statement and the Lord’s response inspire us to make a daily offering for God. While sacrifice is often challenging, Christ strengthens and guides us with help from heaven.
On this feast of Mary, the Mother of the Church, may the words of Jesus to John inspire us to look to Mary’s example of discipleship and love as Christ invites each of us to “behold, your mother.”
Here are some of the themes in the Mass readings for the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity.
1st Reading – Exodus 34:4b-6,8-9
Moses, holding the stone tablets, encounters the Lord on Mount Sinai.
Moses asks the Lord to accompany the stiff-necked people of Israel and pardon their wickedness and sins.
Psalm – Deuteronomy 3:52-55
“Glory and praise for ever!”
Blessed be the Lord who is holy, glorious, praiseworthy, and exalted above all forever.
2nd Reading – 2nd Corinthians 13:11-13
Paul exhorts the people to mend their ways as they encourage one another to live in peace.
Paul then extends the grace of Jesus, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit to be with them.
Gospel – John 3:16-18
One of the most beloved lines in the entire Bible: “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.”
God sends his Son, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.
The power of the Holy Spirit transforms the hearts and minds of disciples, filling us with God’s grace and sending us forth to offer our lives as we follow the call of Christ.
Paul concludes his farewell to the presbyters of the Church of Ephesus, and the response from the group reveals how one life can make a profound difference in the hearts of many.
Paul offers a heartfelt farewell from Miletus to the presbyters of the Church at Ephesus. His words reveal the depth of friendship that was forged from his passionate proclamation of the faith.
Traveling to Ephesus, Paul encounters disciples who only knew about the baptism of repentance. After teaching and baptizing them in the name of the Lord Jesus, these disciples are filled with the Holy Spirit.