| Reading 1 | Response | Reading 2 | Gospel |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prv 8:22-31 | Ps 8:4-5, 6-7, 8-9 | Rom 5:1-5 | Jn 16:12-15 |
| RCL: Prv 8:1-4, 22-31 |
Trinity Sunday: allowing God to be bigger than us
Unlike other liturgical feasts that celebrate events, Trinity Sunday celebrates the mystery that is God’s own inner life: a single being who lives in community. The Trinity is implicit rather than explicit in Hebrew and Christian scriptures. This week’s readings trace how God’s self-revealing words and actions invite us to encounter God in a personal and human way.
First reading (Prv 8:22-31)
The first reading is from Proverbs, an anthology of wisdom sayings, stories, and poems, compiled by an unknown editor after the exiles’ return. Wisdom writing, a widespread Near East literary form, focuses on values, moral behavior, right conduct, and the meaning of life. In today’s pericope, Wisdom, personified as a woman, describes her existence with God before creation (“before the earth”). Wisdom was with God when God created the universe (“When the Lord established the heavens I was there”), serving as God’s “craftsman.” Wisdom delighted God (“[God’s] delight day by day”) and Wisdom too delighted in humanity (“I found delight in the human race”), which can be understood as either the delight that Wisdom conveys to humans, or the delight Wisdom takes in humanity. This cosmic view of Wisdom’s pre-existence provides the basis for John’s Logos poem (“In the beginning was the Word,” Jn 1:1-5). The early ekklesia associated personified Wisdom with the preexisting Christ, and foreshadows Christianity’s later understanding of the Trinity. The Lectionary editors chose this reading to deepen our understanding of Hebrew scriptures’ personified Wisdom woman, and how personified divine Wisdom becomes embodied in Christian thought.
Second reading (Rom 5:1-5)
The second reading is from Paul’s letter to the Rome ekklesia. Paul wrote this letter, his last and longest, in 58 AD to introduce himself and his ideas to Rome’s believing community ahead of his planned visit. Paul reflects systematically on God’s freely offered salvation through Christ as an unearned gift, not achieved by human effort or accomplishment. In today’s pericope, Paul looks forward in hope (“we boast in hope”) to the fullness of salvation (“glory of God”). Recognizing that disciples live in the between-time (already “justified” by Christ’s action but not yet experiencing the fullness of salvation at Christ’s parousia), Paul considers how current “afflictions” (suffering, sickness, death) paradoxically reinforce disciples’ hope (“we boast in our afflictions”). God’s love is the basis for hope. Disciples, who have already seen and experienced God’s love in Christ’s resurrection and in God’s outpouring of the Spirit, know that God is reliable (“hope will not disappoint”). The Lectionary editors chose this reading to deepen our understanding of God’s offer of salvation, accomplished through Christ’s redeeming act, and the Spirit as the continuing outpouring of God’s love.
Gospel (Jn 16:12-15)
In John’s pericope, Jesus explains how the revelation of the Father will continue through the Spirit.
- Guide you into all truth. Although Jesus is about to depart (the hour of his “lifting up” and return to the Father), the disciples’ journey “into all truth” is not complete. The “Spirit of truth” continues Jesus’ work of revealing God (“he will speak what he hears”) in the time between Jesus’ glorification and the end-time. Jesus promises his disciples that the Spirit of truth will guide them as they experience revelation’s steady unfolding during the age of the Spirit-Paraclete.
- The things that are to come. As the revealer and revelation of the Father (“everything the Father has is mine”), Jesus has “much more to tell” the disciples, but they are unable to understand it all at once. The Spirit takes all that is from Jesus (“what is mine”) and declares it to the disciples. The Spirit helps the disciples unpack and expand the meaning of Jesus’ teachings, his transformative death, his continuing presence in the Spirit-filled believing community, and the ongoing revelation of the Father until the end of time.
Summary and reflection
The Trinity Sunday readings ask us to reexamine how we think about and engage with God. Proverbs highlight a different aspect of divine Wisdom, imagining wisdom as an embodied female. Paul focuses on God’s work (or economy) of salvation, emphasizing God’s love experienced in Christ’s glorification and the Spirit’s continuing presence. Jesus describes how the Spirit’s presence continues to reveal the Father in Jesus’ absence.
Human thought and language limit how we think about and talk about God; doctrine and dogma can make God seem far away and small. The idea of God as Trinity challenges us to think big, beyond human ideas and experiences. The Trinity is poetry, not math. “One” speaks to God’s unity and wholeness; “three” suggests God’s community and diversity. Can we imagine God’s love expressed as a mother’s care and nurturing? Can we see God’s love and salvation expressed to every creature in every aspect of the created universe? Are we open to the Spirit’s continuing revelation as growth and change, urging us to keep what is good and discard what no longer serves us?
—Terence Sherlock
The Lectionary In Context 