The celebration of Trinity Sunday on Father’s Day (15th June, 2014) at the Church of Divine Mercy began with a video clip showing a father’s love for his son. The lesson the poor father taught his son was that being rich is not how much we have but how much we can give.
Fr. Martin Arlando began his homily with a story of how St. Augustine of Hippo battled with the mystery of the Trinity and got his explanation from a small child on the seashore trying to empty the ocean into a hole on the beach with a small cup. He explained that scripture tells us that 1+1+1=1. We have seen many examples of this in the bible. In the Annunciation where the Father sends the angel Gabriel to Mary and makes Jesus incarnate through the Holy Spirit. At the Baptism and at the Ascension of Jesus the three persons come together. In our own baptism we are baptized in the name of the trinity. It is the Father who creates, the Son who redeems and the Holy Spirit who builds a bridge between the Father and us. Fr Martin explained that there are two ways that the trinity affects our lives and helps us. Firstly, it shows us how personal and loving God is. God is not an isolated person but three persons, a family that reflects mutual love and interaction. He created us out of His love for us and by loving Him we live in loving relationship with Him. At the last supper, the self-giving of His son to us shows us that He is this loving and relational God.
Secondly, the Father sent the son, the son died for us and then he sent the Holy Spirit. This so that the spirit of God is within us. This is apparent in Communion and at Baptism. When we sign ourselves, recite the fundamental prayers we were taught to the Father through His son, Jesus, we are shown that we cannot have one without the other. At communion we received the whole God. He related a story of how a father saved his own meal to give to his son who was late for dinner. This is how God the Father is to us. On this Father’s Day, Fr Martin reminded us that the Father is a loving person, slow to anger and a father to all fathers. He is active through all living fathers we have. We ask for fathers to be like Jesus the loving son to His Father.
At mass, a total of 14 leaders of RCIA read a pledge to the ministry and affirmed their faith. The congregation then prayed over them and they were commissioned and sent by Fr Martin. The first session of RCIA (English) began with a total of 15 candidates. As they were introduced some of them gave a brief testimony of the journey towards wanting to become catholic.
For many the seed of this journey was planted when they were in mission schools where they first learned Christian values and the significance it had on their lives. The RCIA (Bahasa Malaysia) began the following Sunday (22nd June) with a total of 7 candidates.
Written by
Dr. Ivan Filmer
25th June, 2014.