|
Pope Benedict XVI- Angelus |
Angelus Message
On the Holy Trinity
"Inexhaustible Font of Life That Unceasingly Gives Itself"
H.H. Benedict XVI
June 7, 2009
www.zenit.org
Dear Brothers and Sisters!
Following Eastertide, which culminates with the feast of Pentecost,
the liturgy foresees these three solemnities of the Lord: today, the
Most Holy Trinity; on Thursday, that of Corpus Domini, which, in
many countries, Italy among them, is celebrated next Sunday;
finally, on Friday in two weeks, the feast of the Sacred Heart of
Jesus. Each one of these liturgical observances manifests a
perspective from which the whole mystery of the Christian faith is
embraced: respectively, the reality of God one and three, the
sacrament of the Eucharist and the divine-human center of the Person
of Christ. They are in truth aspects of the one mystery of
salvation, which, in a certain sense, summarize the whole path of
the revelation of Jesus, from the incarnation to the death and
resurrection to the ascension and the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Today we contemplate the Most Holy Trinity as it was made know to us
by Jesus. He revealed to us that God is love “not in the unity of a
single person, but in the Trinity of a single substance” (Preface):
the Trinity is Creator and merciful Father; Only Begotten Son,
eternal Wisdom incarnate, dead and risen for us; it is finally the
Holy Spirit, who moves everything, cosmos and history, toward the
final recapitulation. Three Persons who are one God because the
Father is love, the Son is love, the Spirit is love. God is love and
only love, most pure, infinite and eternal love. The Trinity does
not live in a splendid solitude, but is rather inexhaustible font of
life that unceasingly gives itself and communicates itself.
We can in some way intuit this, whether we observe the
macro-universe: our earth, the planets, the stars, the galaxies; or
the micro-universe: cells, atoms, elementary particles. The “name”
of the Most Holy Trinity is in a certain way impressed upon
everything that exists, because everything that exists, down to the
least particle, is a being in relation, and thus God-relation shines
forth, ultimately creative Love shines forth. All comes from love,
tends toward love, and is moved by love, naturally, according to
different grades of consciousness and freedom. “O Lord, our Lord, /
how wondrous is your name over all the earth!” (Psalm 8:2) -- the
Psalmist exclaims. In speaking of the “name” the Bible indicates God
himself, his truest identity; an identity that shines forth in the
whole of creation, where every being, by the very fact of existing
and by the “fabric” of which it is made, refers to a transcendent
Principle, to eternal and infinite Life that gives itself, in a
word: to Love. “In him,” St. Paul says, on the Areopagus in Athens,
“we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). The strongest
proof that we are made in the image of the Trinity is this: only
love makes us happy, because we live in relation, and we live to
love and be loved. Using an analogy suggested by biology, we could
say the human “genome” is profoundly imprinted with the Trinity, of
God-Love.
The Virgin Mary, in her docile humility, made herself the handmaid
of divine Love: she accepted the will of the Father and conceived
the Son by the work of the Holy Spirit. In her omnipotence made a
temple worthy of himself, and made her the model and image of the
Church, mystery and house of communion for all men. May Mary, mirror
of the Most Holy Trinity, help us to grow in the faith of the
Trinitarian mystery.
[Translation by Joseph G. Trabbic]
[After the Angelus the Pope greeted the pilgrims in various
languages. In English he said:]
I extend cordial greetings to all the English-speaking pilgrims here
today on this feast of the Most Holy Trinity, especially the members
of the Holy Trinity Prayer Group from Texas. May the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy
Spirit be with you all, and with your families and loved ones at
home. And may your stay in Rome strengthen your faith, fill you with
hope in God’s promises and inflame your hearts with his love. God
bless all of you!
© Copyright 2009 -- Libreria Editrice Vaticana
Look
at the One they Pierced!
This page is the work of the Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and
Mary
