Holy Mass - The Holy Trinity

Holy Mass - The Holy Trinity Celebrated by Fr Carel-Piet van Eeden from the White Robed Monks of St Benedict South Africa at the Chapel of St Luke. The White Robed Monks of St Benedict believe that Jesus never said no to anyone and try to focus on the lessons that the Christ came to teach humanity - that of unconditional love.

This recording was done 30 May 2021

Transcript

A reading from the book of Deuteronomy.

Moses said to the people,

Put this question then to the ages that are past,

That went before you,

From the time God created man on earth.

Was there ever a word so majestic from one end of heaven to the other?

Was anything ever heard?

Did ever a people hear the voice of the Living God speaking from the heart of the fire as you heard it and remain alive?

Has any God ventured to take to himself one nation from the midst of another by ordeals,

Signs,

Wonders,

War with mighty hand and outstretched arm,

By fearsome terrors,

All this that the Lord your God did for you before your eyes in Egypt?

Understand this today.

Therefore,

And take it to heart.

The Lord is God indeed in heaven above as on earth beneath he and no other keep his laws and commandments as I give them to you today so that you and your children may prosper and live long in the land,

The land that the Lord your God gives you forever.

The word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Blessed are the people the Lord has chosen,

Chosen to be his own.

Blessed are the people the Lord has chosen,

Chosen to be his own.

Our pride is the word of the Lord and all his works are trustworthy.

He loves justice and right of the kindness of the Lord the earth is full.

Blessed are the people the Lord has chosen,

Chosen to be his own.

By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,

By the breath of his mouth all their host.

For he spoke and it was made,

He commanded and it stood forth.

Blessed are the people the Lord has chosen,

Chosen to be his own.

See the eyes of the Lord upon those who fear him,

Upon those who hope for his kindness,

To deliver them from death and preserve them in spite of famine.

Blessed are the people the Lord has chosen,

Chosen to be his own.

Our store waits for the Lord who is our help and our shield.

May your kindness of the Lord be upon us who have put our hope in you.

Blessed are the people the Lord has chosen,

Chosen to be his own.

A reading from the letter to the Romans.

Everyone moved by the Spirit is a son of God.

The Spirit you received is not the spirit of slaves bringing fear into your lives again.

It is the spirit of sons and it makes us cry out,

Abba,

Father,

The Spirit himself and our spirit bear united witness that we are children of God.

And if we are children,

We are heirs as well,

Heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ,

Sharing his sufferings so as to share his glory,

The word of the Lord.

Hallelujah hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah hallelujah Hallelujah Glory to the Father,

The Son,

And the Holy Spirit,

To God who is,

Who was,

And who is to come.

Alleluia,

Alleluia,

Alleluia.

The Lord be with you.

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew.

The eleven disciples set out for Galilee,

To the mountain which Jesus had arranged to meet them.

When they saw him,

They fell down before him,

Though some hesitated.

Jesus came up and spoke to them.

He said,

All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

Go therefore,

Make disciples of all the nations.

Baptize them in the name of the Father,

And of the Son,

And of the Holy Spirit.

Teach them to observe all the commands I gave you,

And know that I am with you always,

Yes,

To the end of time.

The Gospel of the Lord is here.

The Lord is with you.

Baptize them in the name of the Father,

And of the Son,

And of the Holy Spirit.

In the name of,

Not in the names.

Jesus is quite clear here that the Trinity is one.

I don't think a scribe made a mistake in changing a plural into singular when this was written down.

So today we celebrate the Trinity.

This mystery that we cannot really understand.

The closest that I have,

When asked in Sunday school many,

Many years ago,

Was that the Trinity can almost be seen like a two-in-one shampoo.

Because all the rage at that time,

You can have your shampoo and conditioner in the same bottle.

But when you squeeze the tube,

The container,

And it came out,

You couldn't see where the one started and the one stopped.

It was one liquid.

Yet each had their own function.

Even the same is true for us today.

We can perceive different expressions of God,

Of the one God.

How many expressions,

Ways that God makes God known to us.

We see the Father,

The Almighty.

We see the Son who was sent from the Father,

Who came down to be with us,

To take on our sins and to die for us.

And we see a Holy Spirit that comes to be with us always.

In that way,

Christ is with us always through the Spirit.

And we can get into many theological explanations and discussions on the roles and what it really means.

I believe there are very specific reasons for God making Himself known to us in these three expressions.

Many times,

I think we compartmentalize God into these three different expressions.

We see God the Father who is up there in the heavens looking down on us.

We see Christ hanging on a cross,

Dying for us.

We experience the Spirit in ourselves.

Maybe sometimes we even experience the Spirit in others.

Or we are reminded,

Or we remember that the same Spirit that dwells in us dwells in other people.

Making us,

As we read in the letter to the Romans,

Co-heirs.

And I think we forget the outside world sometimes.

I think we forget that God is not out there.

God is not just looking down on us.

God is just that.

God is everything.

God is found in our thoughts.

God is found in a piece of paper.

Because every single atom and every single sub-component of these atoms and the spaces in between,

That is what God is.

But if we start thinking about that and we really start seeing that,

It is so overwhelming.

Thinking that I am inside of God just as God is inside of me.

And God is inside of every single wall,

Every single brick,

Every candle.

That is God.

That is here.

God is.

It is easy to lose our heads under that.

Well for me.

And I can only speak from my experience.

And it is so big that it is impossible to think of,

Truly grasp.

And I think that is why,

To make it easier for us,

God broke down expression into the three palatable or digestible concepts.

And more than concepts,

Realities.

So that we can understand that God is out there in the form of the Father,

Loving us so much that the Father sent the Son.

Not to be with us for a while and to experience a part of what we do,

But to experience from life,

From birth to death and a death that was more challenging than any other person ever had to experience.

Because in that moment,

God left His Son.

And then the third is the Holy Spirit,

The voice inside of us.

This Spirit that we forget to listen to.

Because it's so easy to subdue her voice.

To take her and to say,

Hash,

I'm busy.

Hash I'm experiencing life.

So what does that all mean to us today?

A celebration of the most Holy Trinity for me just leaves me so full with wonder that this everythingness that is God chose to make us understand or start to grasp their vastness in a way that maybe we can not go off our rockers when trying to assimilate the idea of God.

That through the Trinity we become aware of tangible concepts,

Tangible realities of the Lord.

And that God loved us so much that we were chosen as His own people and anybody and everybody is chosen.

Contrary to popular belief by many people,

They don't have exclusivity to the Lord.

We are all chosen.

We are all co-heirs.

We are all children of God.

We must just open our hearts and accept that gift with gladness because it is a sad life for those who go through it without the Lord.

And even sadder still for those who cannot see the light to share it with others.

So let us thank God today for this glorious light for the most Holy Trinity.

Amen.

Dear God,

We cannot put into words the feelings that come up sometimes.

Of fear.

Of gratitude.

But because we know that you are inside of us,

You understand.

And you know that we don't always even have to speak a word for you to be there and to help us.

Thank you for the knowledge of the Trinity,

Lord.

Thank you for choosing us as your people.

Lord help us to listen and to act upon your commandments.

The commandment of love unconditional.

The commandment that extends into serving one another.

Living a life of service.

Lord hear us.

Lord graciously hear us.

So we know that there is a world just outside of our vision.

One that is filled with wonder.

Lord lead us to that in the right time and when we are ready for it,

Lord.

And help us to experience the grace that you share with us so that we can share the gifts and the lessons that we came to share and to learn,

Lord.

Lord hear us.

Lord graciously hear us.

We bring to you,

Lord,

Today a world that is blinded by anger,

By fear,

By greed,

By anguish.

Lord help our people,

Help your people,

Every single soul on this planet,

Lord,

To find peace.

Lord hear us.

Lord graciously hear us.

Lord help us to remember the spirit,

The part that we oftentimes neglect to listen to,

To even acknowledge.

Help us to see the way where we can listen fully.

Lord hear us.

Lord graciously hear us.

Father,

We pray for the white-robed monks of Saint Benedict in South Africa,

Across the globe,

In the States.

Lord please be with our leaders and through their actions and decisions help us to spread your message of unconditional love wherever we go.

Lord hear us.

Lord graciously hear us.

We bring to you specifically,

Lord,

Today our community in Frere Fort.

We bring to you,

Reverend Samuel.

Please help him to extend the impact that he is making on especially young people's lives,

Lord,

Where they don't necessarily always see much hope for a future.

Keep your hand of guidance over all of them,

Lord,

And make them aware of your presence and of your plans for them.

Lord hear us.

Lord graciously hear us.

We continue our prayers,

Lord,

For those who are sick,

Those people who are depressed,

Anxious,

Those who are lonely.

We also pray,

Lord,

For those who asked us for prayer and everybody's names that we have written in our prayer box.

We continually keep them in prayer,

Lord,

And we bring them to you.

Lord you know all our fears and our desires,

All our unsaid prayers.

Your mercy,

Lord.

Hear us all through your Son,

Jesus Christ,

With the Holy Spirit,

God forever and ever.

Amen.

Reviews

☮️🙏❤️😁

Very touching -- and funny! And reverent to the God in us all.

God bless you