June 15, 2025
John 16: 12-15
On this eleventh Sunday of Ordinary Time in Year C, the Church, our mother, celebrates the solemnity of the great mystery of the Blessed Trinity.
The Blessed Trinity is an expression which goes beyond our understanding. How can we express three persons in one God? – a triune God in one?
In fact, Jesus from his conception was filled with the Holy Spirit because the Virgin Mary had conceived him by the power of the Holy Spirit. In sending his son into the world, God willed to save us from sin and lead us to the fulness of truth. This truth is Christ whom we know and follow throughout our earthly existence.
The Holy Trinity whom we celebrate expresses the concept that God exists in three distinct persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit – having the same divine substance. In this passage in the Gospel, Saint John invites us to live in communion with these three divine persons, and this is expressed clearly in this word: “The Spirit of truth will guide you to all truth. Everything that the Father has is mine and the Holy Spirit receives what comes from the Son.” Jesus, through his teachings, reveals clearly his union with the Father and the Holy Spirit. This is the complementarity which comprises the strength of the divinity.
The Holy Spirit cannot draw from any other means all that we should know except through Jesus Christ.
Nevertheless, we know that despite their different roles, the three persons in God are inseparable and indivisible. For us, the Holy Trinity is the model for community and family life.
At the beginning of each Eucharistic celebration, we express this indivisible unity by the sign of the cross. The three persons in God are spoken at the same time and cannot be separated.
Saint John, through this Gospel, tells us that there are many realities revealed through Jesus which we are incapable of understanding by ourselves – which we can comprehend only by the grace of the Holy Spirit.
May the Blessed Trinity open our minds to the wisdom of the Scriptures so that we may better understand this truth which goes beyond us, gives us strength and humility on our way and guides us toward the truth. Amen.
John 16: 12-15
Jesus said to his disciples:
“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.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
Meet Sister Godlieve Ziunga, SNDdeN
