Wednesday, May 30, 2018

THE BEADS AND REPETITION OF THE ROSARY

This is an atricle I read from our friends at Spiritual Direction and thought it was good insight into the Rosary so I have decided to share with you. God Bless and enjoy!

THE BEADS AND REPETITION OF THE ROSARY

MAY 30, 2018 BY   
FILED UNDER BOOKSCHARLIE MCKINNEYFEATURED
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The Beads and Repetition of the Rosary
beads
We should begin with what is most obvious in the Rosary. An aid is used in this prayer: a string or a chain of beads. Some of these beads are larger or are marked apart from the others by a greater distance. Ten smaller beads follow a larger one and form a decade. The whole chain has five such decades. The decades taken together are preceded by a sort of preface, formed by a little crucifix and followed by one large bead and then by three smaller beads.
For the sake of completeness and for those to whom all of this is foreign, we should add that there are some variations of the Rosary that have different divisions, and are only in use in certain places. We should also add that externally the Rosary has taken on manifold and at times beautiful and precious forms, as happens with things that are honored and loved. There can be something very venerable and delicate about an old and nobly designed Rosary that looks as if generations had used it and passed it on.
This string of beads slides through the fingers of the person who prays. At the little cross in the beginning he says the Creed; at every smaller bead, the Hail Mary. At the larger ones that always precede a row of the ordinary beads, he says the Our Father. And after every decade, the doxology: “Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.” And all begins and ends with the Sign of the Cross.
What does all this mean? Is not this praying cord a symptom of inferior piety, as the critics say? Is it not something material which contradicts Jesus’ word of exhortation: “God is spirit, and they who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth”?
Praying means conversation with God. This conversation is life. But all the expressions of life cannot be reduced to the same pattern. There is no prescription for prayer to be taken “as directed.” Revelation tells us who God is and who we are, and in what disposition we should approach Him, but not the precise manner in which to walk and dwell before God. Even words that deal with spirit and truth do not give us that prescription, let alone the fact that they are often misunderstood; for spirit and truth do not contradict outward form and order. Spirit does not mean “thought,” but the Holy Spirit who hovered about Christ, assuming at Pentecost the guidance of Christian history; and truth is not an incorporeal emotion, but rather the living order in which Christ has placed us before the Father. Even in the seemingly most exterior form of prayer, this order can be maintained, this spirit can hold the reins – just as they may become lost in any form of prayer, even the most spiritual and the most interior.
There is a form of prayer in which man expresses a petition or sentiment to God: an appeal, gratitude, or repentance. This he must do sincerely and concisely, and his expression should be in keeping with his innermost impulse. We are reminded here of Christ’s warning against excessive speech. If a person thinks that his request will be more certainly heard if he repeats it ten times, says the Lord, he acts “like the Gentiles.” But if in his anxiety he longs for expression, he may well repeat it ten or a hundred times. Prayer is good when it springs from the heart’s impulse; only otherwise is prayer harmful. We mean here all and everything that basically meets God in a false manner. For the “prattle of the Gentiles” is not evil because of the fifth or tenth repeti­tion, but is evil from the beginning, because it is not an appeal to the Lord of creation but to “a god” whom, regardless of his greatness, one harasses like a man to do one’s bidding.
But there is another kind of prayer in which it is not a matter of simply saying what is in one’s heart, but in which one yearns to dwell in God’s presence. This prayer is inclined to use fewer and fewer words, not because it exhausts itself in the saying, but because it is beyond words. Perhaps what it voices is always the same, over and over again. Just think of St. Francis, who spent whole nights crying out, “My God and my all!” At the end even such words will be dropped, and the soul — so claim the spiritual masters — will enter “nothingness.” Words in this prayer have only the task of supporting the inner emotion, fading away when they have done this service.
Finally, there is still a third form of prayer. It is also centered around a sojourn with God, around a service to Him — in inner self-knowledge and tranquillity, but in a manner that makes a flowing channel out of the words in which it is expressed, a force that keeps the prayer moving. In this type of prayer, new words will not always emerge, but the same words will return. Repetition be­comes the outer form of prayer for the purpose of pacify­ing and fulfilling the inner emotion. The Litany is an example of this type of prayer, with its many related invocations and petitions in which the thought is trans­formed but slowly. It is very old; we find it at the dawn of Christendom. A similar kind of prayer is the use of Psalms, when the antiphon is inserted between the verses — a constantly recurring invocation. The anti­phon, too, is as old as the hills. In this form of prayer we also include the Rosary.
One might object that this repetition leads to an exteriorization of prayer. That may happen, of course; but then one has made a mistake and we are using the Rosary in the wrong way. But exteriorization of prayer does not necessarily happen, for repetition can have a real meaning. Is it not an element of all life? What else is the beating of the heart but a repetition? Always the same contraction and expansion — and yet it makes the blood circulate through the body. What else is breathing but a repetition? Always the same in and out — but by breathing we live. And is not our whole being ordered and sustained by change and repetition? Ever anew the sun rises and sets, night follows day; the round of life begins in the spring, rises, reaches its sum­mit, and sinks. What objection can one raise against these repetitions and so many others? They are the order in which growth progresses, the inner kernel develops, and the form is revealed. All life realizes itself in the rhythm of external conditions and internal accomplishment. If this is so everywhere, why should it not also be so in religious devotion?
The Rosary represents a certain form of religious devotion. The individual may claim that he cannot do anything with it; that is his affair. But he must not call this prayer senseless or un-Christian, for then he would show ignorance.
The string of beads obviously has the purpose of diverting the thoughts from certain external distrac­tions of attention. One bead leads the person praying to the next. Their number keeps the repetition within certain bounds, approved by long usage. Otherwise he who prays would have to keep a watch for the “too little” or else fall into the “too much,” and thus be diverted from the essential. The beads take this trouble off his shoulders; they do the counting for him. Yet is this not something “technical”? Surely; but does not all life con­tain “technicalities”?
It is said of all things, even the spiritual, that they have to be learned. But learning requires practice; and practice is nothing else but a training of technical skill, liberating our strength and attention for what is essential. So long as one is yet unskilled, one has to watch every single act, and the essential comes off badly; but with the acquisition and development of technical skill, the essential is liberated. The string of beads has no other meaning.

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This article is adapted from a chapter in The Rosary of Our Ladyby St. Peter Julian Eymard which is available from Sophia Institute Press
Art for this post on the beads and repetition of the Rosary: Cover of The Rosary of Our Lady used with permission; Detail of The Madonna of Carmel and the Souls of Purgatory [Queen of Carmel], Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, 1730s, PD-US author's life plus 100 years or less, Wikimedia Commons.
Read more on the Rosary from Fr. Guardini HERE.

Sacred Heart of Jesus Novena

Time for the Sacred Heart of Jesus Novena and it starts today,. You can follow the link to Pray More Novenas and follow along daily. God Bless!

I have put down Day 1for all of you;

Day 1 - The Sacred Heart of Jesus Novena

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
O my Jesus, you have said: “Truly I say to you, ask and you will receive, seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened to you.”
Behold I knock, I seek and ask for the grace of…
(Mention your Intention Here)
Our Father, Who art in Heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Hail Mary, Full of Grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of our death.

Glory be to the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. 
Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in you.
O my Jesus, you have said: “Truly I say to you, if you ask anything of the Father in my name, he will give it to you.” Behold, in your name, I ask the Father for the grace of…
(Mention your Intention Here)
Our Father...
Hail Mary...
Glory be to the Father...
Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in you.
O my Jesus, you have said: “Truly I say to you, heaven and earth will pass away but my words will not pass away.” Encouraged by your infallible words I now ask for the grace of…
(Mention your Intention Here)
Our Father...
Hail Mary...
Glory be to the Father...
Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in you.
O Sacred Heart of Jesus, for whom it is impossible not to have compassion on the afflicted, have pity on us miserable sinners and grant us the grace which we ask of you, through the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, your tender Mother and ours.
Hail, holy Queen, Mother of mercy, our life, our sweetness and our hope.
To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve: to thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this vale of tears.
Turn then, most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us, and after this our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus, O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary!
Pray for us, O holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
St. Joseph, foster father of Jesus, pray for us.

Amen.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Pope’s Morning Homily: Worldly Patterns Promise Everything & Give Nothing

Read this at Zenit it is the Holy Father's Homily from yesterday's mass. Found it a good read so here it is for the rest of you to see and enjoy!

Pope’s Morning Homily: Worldly Patterns Promise Everything & Give Nothing

During Morning Mass, Francis Says to Walk Toward Holiness, We Must ‘Be Free & Feel Free’
Do not remain attached to worldly ways of thinking and behavior. You know better. Hence, claim your freedom by embracing your call to holiness.
According to Vatican News, Pope Francis stressed this during his daily morning Mass at Casa Santa Marta as he reflected on the day’s reading from the First Letter of Peter which urges Christians to be holy in every aspect of their conduct.
In the homily, Francis discussed that call to holiness and the importance of moving away from our worldly way of thinking and behavior that formerly enslaved us.
“The call to holiness, which is the normal call, is our call to live as a Christian, namely living as a Christian is the same as saying ‘living as a saint’. Many times we think of holiness as something extraordinary, like having visions or lofty prayers … or some think that being holy means having a face like that in a cameo … no. Being holy is something else. It is to proceed along this path that the Lord tells us about holiness.”
“And what is it, to proceed along the path of holiness?” the Pope asked. “Peter says it,” he answered, “‘Put all your hope in that grace that will be given to you when Jesus Christ manifests Himself.'”
Walking towards holiness, the Pontiff said, means proceeding towards that grace, that encounter with Jesus Christ. Like walking towards the light, Francis highlighted that many times we don’t see the road well, because the light dazzles us.
“But we are not mistaken, noted the Pope, “because we see the light and we know the way”. When you walk with the light behind you, you can see the road well, but in reality there is shadow, not light, in front of you.”
The Pope urged Christians not to go back to their worldly patterns of behaving.
Stressing so many things enslave us, the Jesuit Pope stressed that for Christians to walk toward holiness, they need “to be free and to feel free.”
Do Not
It is for this reason, he said, that Peter urges us not to conform “to the desires of our former ignorance.” In his First Letter to the Romans, Saint Paul say: “Do not conform,” which means don’t get involved in worldly patterns of behavior.
“This is the correct translation of this advice – do not adopt the worldly patterns, – do not adopt those patterns of behavior, that worldly way of thinking, that way of thinking and judging that the world offers you because this deprives you of freedom.
To proceed towards holiness, the Pope stressed, one must be free: free to go forward, looking at the light, going forward. “When we return, as he says here, to the way of life we had before our encounter with Jesus Christ or when we return to those patterns of worldly behavior, we lose our freedom.”
“In moments of trials and tribulations, we always are tempted to look back, to look at the worldly patterns of behavior, at the patterns that we had before setting out the path towards salvation: without freedom. And without freedom one cannot be holy.”
“Freedom is the condition for moving forward while looking at the light ahead of us. Do not adopt the worldly patterns of behavior, walk forward, looking at the light that is the promise, in hope; this is the promise like the people of God in the desert: when they looked forward everything went fine; when they were nostalgic because they could no longer eat the good things they formerly had, they made mistakes and forgot that they had no freedom back there.”
Called Daily to Holiness
The Lord, the Pope reminded, calls us to holiness every day.
To know if we are on our way to this call, the Pope said there are two parameters. “First of all, if we look towards the light of the Lord in the hope of finding it and, then if when the trials come, we look ahead and do not lose our freedom by taking refuge in worldly patterns of behavior, which promise you everything and give you nothing.”
“You will be holy because I am holy: this is the Lord’s commandment.”
Pope Francis concluded, praying God to grant us the grace to understand correctly what the path of holiness is.

Sunday, May 27, 2018

Prayer and Meditation

May the Lord Jesus put his hands on our eyes also, for then we too shall begin to look not at what is seen but at what is not seen. May he open the eyes that are concerned not with the present but with what is yet to come, may he unseal the heart's vision, that we may gaze on God in the Spirit, through the same Lord, Jesus Christ, whose glory and power will endure throughout the unending succession of ages.

Lord Jesus, I believe in you. I believe you have called me to the faith and to share that faith. I trust that you will fill me with your spirit of courage and truth, so that I might faithfully assimilate and transmit the faith. I love you. I want to love you more with my prayer and with my life, and so grow in the unity of the love you share with your Father and the Holy Spirit.
 
Meditation is from Regnum Christi;


Petition: Lord Jesus, help me to understand better and adore this great mystery of the Holy Trinity.
 
1. Standing Between Heaven and Earth: Jesus Christ stands on the mountain of the Ascension, drawing all creation back to his Heavenly Father. He stands between heaven and earth as our God, our redeemer, our best friend, and as one who will walk with us every step of the way. Together with the disciples, let us adore him. Lord, we worship you, we thank you, we adore you. We thank you for your great goodness, burning love and unfathomable mercy. Heaven and earth are filled with your glory.
 
2. Go Therefore and Make Disciples of All Nations: What does Jesus do with his power over heaven and earth? He uses it to unite sinful men with the all-holy God. How almighty his power must be to transform sinners into children of God and heirs of heaven. And how does Jesus bring about this transformation? He empowers his apostles to teach his truth and transmit a participation in his divine life. Lord Jesus, thank you for the light of truth that dispels the darkness of our minds. Thank you for the life of grace bestowed upon us in baptism. And thank you, Lord, for the bishops and priests who bring us — through your divine power — God’s own truth and a share in the life of the most blessed Trinity. Thank you for St. Peter and all his successors who keep us united in one, holy and universal Church as we journey toward the heavenly kingdom.
 
3. Baptizing Them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit: Without water, we would die of thirst. Without the Redemption, we would die in our sins, forever excluded from our destiny — union with God in the eternal happiness of heaven. How fittingly then, Jesus uses water to give us the fruits of his glorious Redemption. Not water alone, but water blessed in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Let us bow down in adoration before the infinite power of Our Lord. Through the ministry of his priests, Jesus raises the dead to the supernatural life of grace. Thank you, Lord, for the awesome gift of baptism and for adopting me as your child.
 
Conversation with Christ: Dear Heavenly Father, you are now my own Father. I am your beloved child in Christ. Holy Spirit of God, gift of the Father and the Son, make your home in my heart. Direct my every thought, word and deed to glorify the most Holy Trinity.
 
Resolution: I will often repeat with the holy children of Fatima: “O Most Blessed Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore thee profoundly. I offer Thee the most Precious Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of thy dearly beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the world.”

Homily

From The Vatican News;

The Word of God The Word of God 


Reflections for the Trinity Sunday


Fr. Antony Kadavil reflects and comments on the readings at Mass for the Trinity Sunday. He says that the feast invites us to live in the awareness of the presence of the Triune God within us: The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.


(Dt 4: 32-34, 39-40; Rom 8; 14-17; Mt 28: 16-20)
Homily starter anecdoteThe mystery of man created by a Triune God of mystery: How complex and mind-boggling is our physical construction! Chemically, the body is unequalled for complexity.  Each one of man’s 30 trillion cells is a mini chemical factory that performs about 10,000 chemical functions. With its 206 bones, 639 muscles, 4 million pain sensors in the skin, 750 million air sacs in the lungs, 16 million nerve cells and 30 trillion cells in total, the human body is remarkably designed for life. And the brain!  The human brain with the nervous system is the most complex arrangement of matter anywhere in the universe.  One scientist estimated that our brain, on the average, processes over 10,000 thoughts and concepts each day. Three billion DNA pairs in a fertilized egg control all human activities, 30,000 genes making 90,000 proteins in the body. Bill Bryson in his book, A Short History of Nearly Everything, says it is a miracle that we even exist.  Trillions of atoms come together for approximately 650,000 hours (when 74 years calculated as the average span of human life), and then begin to silently disassemble and go off to other things. There never was something like us before and there never will be something like us again. But for 650,000 hoursthe miracle or mystery that is uniquely us, exists. One could spend years just dealing with the marvelous intricacies and majesty of God's creation. We are, as the Psalmist states "fearfully and wonderfully made." No wonder we cannot understand the mystery of a Triune God who created each one us as an unfathomable mystery.
IntroductionToday’s feast invites us to live in the awareness of the presence of the Triune God within us: The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The mystery of the Holy Trinity, a doctrine enunciated by the ecumenical councils of Nicaea and Constantinople, is one of the fundamental doctrines of Christianity and the greatest mystery of our Faith, namely, that there are Three Divine Persons, sharing the same Divine nature in one God.     “There is one God, who has three Persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Each Person is God, yet there is still only one God” (CCC #234, #253-256). We have the Father Who is the Creator, the Son Who is the Redeemer and the Holy Spirit Who is the Sanctifier and the Counselor – One God. The doctrine of Three Persons in one God, co-equal and co-eternal in Divinity yet distinct in Person, is not explicitly spelt out in the Bible. Even the very word “Trinity” is not found in the Bible. But the doctrine of the Trinity underlies all major Christian feasts, including Christmas, the Epiphany, Good Friday, Easter, the Ascension and Pentecost. All the official prayers of the Church, including the Holy Mass and the Sacraments, begin with an address to the Holy Trinity: “In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” We are baptized, absolved of our sins and anointed in the name of the Blessed Trinity. Throughout the world, church bells ring three times a day inviting Christians to pray to God the Father (the Provider); God the Son (the Savior); and God the Holy Spirit (the Sanctifier), giving glory to the Triune God for the Incarnation of the Son and our Redemption. We bless ourselves with the Sign of the Cross, invoking the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and we conclude our prayers glorifying the Holy Trinity, saying “Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.” Today’s readings convey the fundamental mystery that the Triune God reaches out to people with love, seeking the deepest communion with them.
Frank Sheed’s explanation of the Holy Trinity & Karl Rahner’s advice: The great apologist Frank Sheed used to give a very interesting explanation of the Most Holy Trinity. He started by thinking about our own human nature. Each one of us exists, but since we are spiritual, we also have an idea of ourselves. We can think about ourselves, reflecton ourselves, know ourselves. This is why human beings are the only animals on earth who write diaries. That's similar to what happens in the relationship between God the Fatherand God the Son. God the Father is spiritual, able to know Himself. He has an Idea of himself. But, since His knowledge is limitless, unlike ours, that Idea of Himself is perfect andperfectly complete. But to be perfect, the Idea, or the Word, has to share in God's own existence; the Word has to actually be a Divine Person. And so, God the Father, from all eternity, knowing Himself, engenders the Son, the perfect Image of the Father. And then, of course, since both the Father and the Son are Infinitely Good and Beautiful, as soon as They knowEach Other, They also love Each Other. Even we, when we think about ourselves, love ourselves. We want the best for ourselves. We are glad that we exist. But God's Love, like his Knowledge, is unlimited, and so this Love, too, has to be so intense and so full that it shares fully in the Divine existence; this Love is a Divine Person - the Holy Spirit. This is the mystery we profess each week when we affirm our belief in the Son of God, who is "consubstantial [one in Being] with the Father, God from God, light from light true God from true God" and in the Holy Spirit, who "with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified." (E- Priest). The great 20th-century Catholic Theologian Father Karl Rahner, SJ, was supposedly asked once by a priest friend how he should explain the Holy Trinity when preaching. Father Rahner’s reply was simple: “Don’t!” The mystery we celebrate in today’s feast defies not only explanation but also comprehension (OSV) A teacher’s simple explanation: “Our God is far beyond the grasp of our intellect. All we can say is: God, the Father, our Father, is Omnipresent and so I live in Him because the universe exists in Him. The Son, Jesus is Emmanuel – God with us -- and so He is always with me; I live with Him. The Holy Spirit is the One Who inspires us all, from within us and so The Holy Spirit lives in my heart. There is only one God.  We live in Him; He lives with us and He lives in us. Yahve - “I am Who am” -- He is all (Joe Vempeny)
Scripture lessons: Today’s first and second readings do not give us a clear and elaborate presentation of the doctrine of the Blessed Trinity. The first reading, however, tells us that God is deeply involved in the world from its beginning, showing Fatherly care for His people and setting an example that summons us to imitation. The Responsorial Psalm (Ps 33) reminds us of our Triune God’s great mercy for us as we sing  the Refrain, “Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be His own,” while the verses show us His trustworthiness, His Omnipotence as Creator, His Omniscience and His  attentiveness to us in our need. In the second reading, Paul describes the role of God the Holy Spirit in making us true children of God the Father and brothers and sisters of God the Son, Jesus. Today’s Gospel describes Jesus’ final apparition to his apostles just before his Ascension into Heaven. At that moment, He commissioned them to make disciples of all nations and commanded them to baptize those who came to believe, “in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.“ Here is the Trinitarian  apostolic blessing of St. Paul, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all” (2 Corinthians 13:14).
First reading: Deuteronomy 4:32-34, 39-40 explained: Deuteronomy was written down much later than the time of Moses (ca. 1250 BC), during the Babylonian Captivity (587-539 BC). Internal corruption and external pressures had brought the people to the brink of extinction. Kings, priests, prophets, and Temple had all failed to hold them together. Those who produced the written document responded to this crisis by offering amplified explanations of the Mosaic legal traditions, in the hope of setting the Jews on a viable course for their future. Since the audience for the written presentation of Deuteronomy was having a very hard time holding on to its Faith and identity, the book’s reminder, that their ancestors had had to make the same struggle to achieve and maintain their strict belief in the one, true and invisible God, must have been encouraging. In today's reading, Moses gives the people reasons to be proud of how they differ from their pagan neighbors. He asserts, in effect, "We have a better God Who gave us a better law and we're a better people than any of them There's no other god like ours, nor law like ours, and no other people like us, so shape up!"
Second Reading, Romans 8:14-17 explained: As a response to some who insisted that pagan converts to Christ had to practice the Jewish law, Saint Paul tries to get his audience to let themselves be saved by the grace of God, instead of trying to save themselves through their own unaided efforts by obeying the Mosaic laws. He advises them to lead their life “in the Spirit,” that is, to let God take over. This reading addresses some of the relations among Spirit, Father and Son, as we experience our relationship with God.
Exegetical notes 1) The development of the Trinitarian doctrine in the Church.  The oldest doctrinal formulation of the Church’s belief in the Trinity is found in the Apostles’ Creed which has served both as the basis for the instruction of catechumens and as the Baptismal confession of Faith since the second century.  Later, the Nicene Creed, originating at the Council of Nicaea (AD 325), stated the doctrine more explicitly.  This creed was introduced into our Western liturgy by the regional council of Toledo in AD 589. God has revealed to us three separate functions that are carried out by the Three Persons.  He has told us that it is proper to attribute to God the Father the work of Creation, to God the Son the work of Redemption and to God the Holy Spirit the work of Sanctification.  Our knowledge of God as Trinity is made possible by God, Who has chosen to reveal Himself  as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  As Father, God has brought forth the created universe, including our own being.  As Son, Jesus has made known a God who hears our cries, who cares, who counts the hairs on our head and who loves us so passionately that He became one of us in order to suffer for our sins, and even to die for us. As Spirit, God remains with us and within us.
2) The Triune God as seen in the Old Testament: Since Yahweh, the God of Israel, was careful to protect His Chosen People from the pagan practice of worshipping several gods, the Old Testament books give only indirect and passing references to the Trinity, and the rabbis never understood them as references to the Holy Trinity.    Genesis 1:26 presents God speaking to Himself:  "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness."    Genesis 18:2 describes Yahweh visiting Abraham under the appearance of three men, an event that the Russian Orthodox Church celebrates as the “Trinitarian Experience of Abraham.” In Genesis 11:7, before punishing the proud builders of the Tower of Babel, God says, “Come, let Us go down among them and confuse their language. “These passages imply, rather than state, the doctrine of the Trinity.
3) Clear doctrine of the Trinity in the New Testament.
 a) The Annunciation (Luke 1: 26-38), describes how God the Father sent the angel Gabriel to Mary to announce to her that God the Holy Spirit, would "come upon” her, that “the power the Most High will overshadow” her, that the Son would be made flesh in her womb: “Therefore, the Child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.”
b) During the baptism of Jesus (Matthew 3:  16-17), the Holy Spirit was shown descending on Jesus in the form of a Dove, while the Voice of God the Father was heard from the clouds, saying, “You are My Beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased” (Luke 4:22).
 c) John (Chapters 15 through 18), presents the detailed teaching of Jesus on the Persons of the Holy Trinity.  
 d) In the preaching mission given by the risen Lord to the disciples, Jesus commanded them to baptize people “in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” (Confer also Matthew 28:19; John 10:30).
Life messages: 1) We need to respect ourselves and respect others.  Our conviction that the Triune God is present within us always should help us to esteem ourselves as God’s holy dwelling place, to behave well in His holy presence, and to lead purer and holier lives, practicing acts of justice and charity.  This Triune Presence should also encourage us to respect and honor others as "Temples of the Holy Spirit." 
 2) We need to be aware of God as the Source of our strength and courage. The awareness and conviction of the presence of God within us gives us the strength to face the manifold problems of life with Christian courage.  It was such a conviction that prompted the early Christian martyrs being taken to their execution to shout the heroic prayer of Faith from the Psalms: "The Lord of might is with us, our God is within us, and the God of Jacob is our helper" (Psalm 46).  
3) We need to see the Trinity as the model for our Christian families: We are created in love to be a community of loving persons, just as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are united in Love. From the day of our Baptism, we have belonged to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  How privileged we are to grow up in such a beautiful Family! Hence, let us turn to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in prayer every day.  We belong to the Family of the Triune God.  The love, unity and joy in the relationship among the Father, Son and Holy Spirit should be the supreme model of our relationships within our Christian families.  Our families become truly Christian when we live in a relationship of love with God and with others.  
4) We are called to become more like the Triune God through all our relationships.  We are made in God’s image and likeness.  Just as God is God only in a Trinitarian relationship, so we can be fully human only as one member of a relationship of three partners.  The self needs to be in a horizontal relationship with all other people and in a vertical relationship with God.  In that way our life becomes Trinitarian like that of God.  Modern society follows the so-called “I-and-I” principle of unbridled individualism and the resulting consumerism.  But the doctrine of the Blessed Trinity challenges us to adopt an "I-and-God-and-neighbor" principle: “I am a Christian insofar as I live in a relationship of love with God and with other people.”  Like God the Father, we are called upon to be productive and creative persons by contributing to the building up of the fabric of life and love in our family, our Church, our community and our nation.  Like God the Son, we are called upon to reconcile, to be peacemakers, to put back together that which has been broken, to restore what has been shattered.  Like God the Holy Spirit, it is our task to uncover and teach truth and to dispel ignorance. (Trinitarian spirituality: “The doctrine of the Trinity affirms that it belongs to God’s very Nature to be committed to humanity and its history, that God’s Covenant with us is irrevocable, that God’s Face is immutably turned toward us in love, that God’s Presence to us is utterly reliable and constant.... Trinitarian spirituality is one of solidarity between and among persons. It is a way of living the Gospel attentive to the requirements of justice, understood as rightly ordered relationships between and among persons.” Dictionary of Spirituality) 
St. Francis Xavier’s favorite prayer was: “Most Holy Trinity, who live in me, I praise You, I worship You, I adore You and I love You.”  Let the Son lead us to the Father through the Spirit, to live with the Triune God forever and ever. Amen.” (Fr. Antony Kadavil).