So Moses cut two tablets of stone like the first; and he rose early in the morning and went up on Mount Sinai, as the LORD had commanded him, and took in his hand two tablets of stone. And the LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. The LORD passed before him, and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, And Moses made haste to bow his head toward the earth, and worshiped. And he said, "If now I have found favor in thy sight, O Lord, let the Lord, I pray thee, go in the midst of us, although it is a stiff-necked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for thy inheritance."
Today's Song of Praise is taken from the Third Chapter of The Book of Daniel (Dn 3:52, 53, 54, 55, 56):
R. Glory and praise for ever!
Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of our fathers,
praiseworthy and exalted above all forever;
And blessed is your holy and glorious name,
praiseworthy and exalted above all for all ages.
R. Glory and praise for ever!
Blessed are you in the temple of your holy glory,
praiseworthy and glorious above all forever.
R. Glory and praise for ever!
Blessed are you on the throne of your kingdom,
praiseworthy and exalted above all forever.
R. Glory and praise for ever!
Blessed are you who look into the depths
from your throne upon the cherubim,
praiseworthy and exalted above all forever.
R. Glory and praise for ever!
Today's Epistle is from the 2nd Letter of Pault to the Corinthians, beginning at the 13th Chapter, and the 11th Verse (2 Cor 13:11-13):
Finally, brethren, farewell. Mend your ways, heed my appeal, agree with one another, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the saints greet you. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you.
+ A Reading from the Gospel of John, beginning at the 3rd Chapter, and the 16th Verse (John 3:16-18):
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. He who believes in him is not condemned; he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
This is the ancient cry of Israel, witnessing to their passionate devotion to the One God (and often the last cry a a Jew who went to his death in Christian persecutions over the years). How then can we (as we must) join in this cry, when we see three Persons in the One God?
We get this question not only from Jews, but from Mohanmmedans and those pseudo-Christians who think Jesus was just God masquerading as a man. How are we to answer?
First, we say that Jesus said so himself: In John 8:58, Jesus said to them, "Amen, amen, I say unto you, before Abraham was, I am.", which reflects Exodus 3:14: ' God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And he said, "Say this to the people of Israel, `I AM (Hebrew: HaYaH -- very close to YHVH -- YaHWeH, God's formal name) has sent me to you.'"'. The Scribes and that Pharisees knew very well what he was claiming -- and that is why they prepared to stone him for blasphemy.
Secondly, because the word "Lord" by which Paul and the Evangelists use to refer to Him (Greek: "Kyrios") is the same word the Septuagint (Greek version of the Old Testament) uses to speak of the Lord (the conventional translation of "Adonai", as against the conventional rendering of "Yahweh" as "LORD"). They constantly repeat: "the Lord Jesus"; "Jesus is Lord", etc. They knew He was god, and they said so.
And the Holy Spirit? in John16:7 Jesus speaks of Him as a person: "Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you." In Matt 3:16, we see Him at the same time as Jesus: "And when Jesus was baptized, he went up immediately from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and alighting on him" In Matt 12:4 Jesus speaks of Him as a separate person: "And whoever says a word against the Son of man will be forgiven; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come. " And Matt 28:19: "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, " -- which is the whole Trinity in Jesus' own words.
So we have the Father, whom Moses meets on the mountain in today's First Reading, beseeching him to take Israel under His protection; Jesus, who is Lord and God -- and the Word. And Jesus says, in John 10:30 "I and the Father are one." And the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus says He will send. The different Persons, yet only One God.
How are we to explain that there are three Persons, and yet only One God? We can not -- it is Mystery -- but it is a revealed Mystery, one that Jesus gave to us as part of the true and Catholic Faith. It was taught to the Apostles and Disciples, who recorded it in the New Testament, and by them to their disciples, and thence through every generation of the faithful, until it was given to us.
Why all this hugger-mugger and mystery? Because, as St. John reminds us in today's Gosple, because He loves us, loves His creation, and wants it to return to Him of its own free will. The Father sent the Son into the world , that it be saved through him.
Let us continue in the Holy Faith, ever more praising god, as Daniel does in todays Song of Praise . . .
In the Name of the Father + And of the Son + And of the Holy Spirit + Amen.