Balik-Tanaw | The solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity: From afflictions to hope

FR. JOEY GANINO EVANGELISTA, MJ
Los Angeles, California

Proverbs 8:22-31
Psalm 8:4-5. 6-7, 8-9
Romans 5:1-5
John 16:12-15

On both sides of the Pacific Ocean, Filipinos are anxious—at least, those who still believe in justice and truth. The Philippine Senate’s decision on the Vice President’s impeachment case is disheartening, to say the least. In the United States, the President’s obsession with deporting as many immigrants as possible has sparked protests and struck fear in many. Despite the generally peaceful nature of these demonstrations, Washington has presented the protests in Los Angeles as extremely violent, widespread, and out of control, which is far from the truth. The White House has used this narrative to justify sending troops, trained for warfare in foreign countries, to the city to monitor an area of less than two square kilometers in downtown LA. For perspective, the total land area of the City of Los Angeles is 1,214 square kilometers. In the rest of the city, people are still leisurely walking their dogs. Washington’s faulty perception of reality, which it markets through its enablers as fact, has created a chilling effect, especially in immigrant communities. Many are now having second thoughts about coming to church this weekend.

This Sunday, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Holy Trinity. The feast teaches us that coming together as a community, not fear and desperation, will help us face all adversity. Although the events on both sides of the Pacific are demoralizing, the Holy Trinity gives us hope.

The first reading from the Book of Proverbs speaks of God the Father and Son working together at the creation of the universe when everything began. “When he established the heavens I was there… when he fixed fast the foundations of the earth… Then I was beside him as his craftsman… and I found delight in the sons of men.” The Book of Proverbs shows us how the Father and the Son ceaselessly worked together in the creation of everything that exists. This points to the reality that God’s creative work continues into the present and extends into the future. God the Father and Son are present in this divine creativity, of which we are a part. The psalms highlight our role in this creative work: “You have given him rule over the works of your hands, putting all things under his feet.” We are to unite our human participation with this creative work according to how God works—which is life-giving—and not according to our own whims and wants.

St. Paul’s letter to the Romans in the second reading speaks about what Jesus Christ has done for us. The love of God, embodied in Jesus, assures us of salvation because we are justified by faith. We are transformed because even afflictions have no power over us: “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.”

The Gospel tells us that the Spirit Jesus sends speaks for the Son and the Father and will guide the disciples to all truth. More than just helping the disciples make sense of everything that happened to them, the Spirit will transform them into messengers of the kingdom who not only bring a message but become the message themselves. We see how the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit act together as one God; there is no separation and no contradiction.

God the Father, who created the world, continues to work in the world and in us today as we follow Jesus Christ, the Son, guided and inspired by the Holy Spirit. The situation we live in is where God is right now. God calls us to embrace it as His children and as disciples of Jesus Christ. We are called to live in this moment and to take part in transforming it by being harbingers of hope—a hope that springs from the love of God. Let us face the Philippine Senate’s and the American President’s trampling of the rule of law with the hope that comes from God, who created the universe, sent His only begotten Son so that we may be justified by faith, and sent the Holy Spirit to guide us to all truth. Let us not allow fear to get the better of us. The danger and fear we face now are afflictions we can boast of, for God shall transform them into hope. After all, affliction produces endurance, which produces character, which in turn brings forth 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.”

Balik-Tanaw is a group blog of Promotion of Church People’s Response. The Lectionary Gospel reflection is an invitation for meditation, contemplation, and action. As we nurture our faith by committing ourselves to journey with the people, we also wish to nourish the perspective coming from the point of view of hope and struggle of the people. It is our constant longing that even as crisis intensifies, the faithful will continue to strengthen their commitment to love God and our neighbor by being one with the people in their dreams and aspirations. The Title of the Lectionary Reflection would be Balik –Tanaw , isang PAGNINILAY . It is about looking back (balik) or revisiting the narratives and stories from the Biblical text and seeing, reading, and reflecting on these with the current context (tanaw).

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