Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

 Praising God for His goodness and provision, on a beautiful Monday morning!

Oh give thanks unto the Lord - His mercy endures forever!

Blessed be the Lord God Almighty; who Was and Is and Is to come!

Yestreday's mass was beautiful, again; but this one filled me so, that I wanted to share a bit. The feast day was the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. As Lutherans, we had a whole season celebrating the Trinity, which roughly corresponds to the Catholic Ordinary Time after Pentecost.

Our celebration yestreday began with an amazing piece done by the choir in at least four parts, full of praise to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit. We then invoked the help of St Michael, and we sang the processional hymn, where the priest, deacon, servers, the Cross, and the Word were brought to the altar. This hymn, which we also sung at our wedding 27 years ago, was Holy, Holy, Holy:

Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty

Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee!

Holy, holy, holy; merciful and mighty

God in three Persons, blessed Trinity.

Oh the majesty in that hymn! My sobbing, which had begun during the rosary before mass, and through the choral prelude, continued.

The first reading was from Proverbs, regarding Wisdom:

“The LORD begot me, the beginning of his works,

the forerunner of his deeds of long ago;

From of old I was formed,

at the first, before the earth.

When there were no deeps I was brought forth,

when there were no fountains or springs of water;

Before the mountains were settled into place,

before the hills, I was brought forth;

When the earth and the fields were not yet made,

nor the first clods of the world.

When he established the heavens, there was I,

when he marked out the vault over the face of the deep;

When he made firm the skies above,

when he fixed fast the springs of the deep;

When he set for the sea its limit,

so that the waters should not transgress his command;

When he fixed the foundations of earth,

then was I beside him as artisan;

I was his delight day by day,

playing before him all the while,

Playing over the whole of his earth,

having my delight with human beings.”

Then from the eighth Psalm:

When I see your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and stars that you set in place—
What is man that you are mindful of him,
and a son of man that you care for him?
 
Yet you have made him little less than a god,
crowned him with glory and honor.
 
You have given him rule over the works of your hands,
put all things at his feet:
 
All sheep and oxen,
even the beasts of the field,
 
The birds of the air, the fish of the sea,
and whatever swims the paths of the seas.
 
O LORD, our Lord,

how awesome is your name through all the earth! 

 Then from the fifth of Romans:

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through Whom we have gained access [by faith] to this grace in which we stand, and we boast in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we even boast of our afflictions, knowing that affliction produces endurance, and endurance, proven character, and proven character, hope, and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the holy Spirit that has been given to us.

And then from the 16th of St John's Gospel:

I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. But when He comes, the Spirit of Truth, He will guide you to all truth. He will not speak on His own, but He will speak what He hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming. He will glorify Me, because He will take from what is mine and declare it to you. Everything that the Father has is mine; for this reason I told you that He will take from what is mine and declare it to you.

 From Loyola Press (https://www.loyolapress.com/catholic-resources/liturgical-year/sunday-connection/most-holy-trinity-cycle-c-sunday-connection/), regarding the Gospel reading:

"Reading this passage on Trinity Sunday reinforces our understanding of the unity shared by the members of the Trinity. Although the idea of one God in three persons remains a mystery, we have the assurance that, as Jesus and the Father share all, Jesus and the Spirit share all.

Truly a mystery, and truly wonderful. Blessed be God forever!