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PRAYER FOR SPIRITUAL COMMUNION
A prayer for those who may wish to, but are unable to receive Communion, for whatever reason.
My Jesus, I believe that You are present in the Most Holy Sacrament.
I love You above all things, and I desire to receive You into my soul.
Since I cannot at this moment receive You sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as if You were already there and unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You.
Amen
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READINGS FOR THE SOLEMNITY OF THE MOST HOLY TRINITY
Find this week's readings here.
June 7, 2020
In today’s first reading from Exodus, this is how the Lord describes himself, “The Lord, the Lord, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity.”- It’s sometimes erroneously said that the Old Testament God is a God of justice and the New Testament God is a God of love. Of course there is only one God – and the Old Testament has many references to God’s goodness, gentleness, and kindness. Where do you think people got the idea that the Old Testament portrays God as a bit of a “curmudgeon?” What is your image of God?
Today’s second reading is the conclusion of the Second Letter to the Corinthians. “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.”- We begin our prayers with the sign of the cross, and the opening greeting of the Mass uses this formula from the Second Letter to the Corinthians. Do you think about the Trinity very often? Sometimes our prayers are so familiar that we don’t even realize that we are invoking the Trinity. If you were to picture the three persons in your mind, how would God the Father look? How about God the Son? More challenging, how would you picture God the Holy Spirit? Do you find yourself sometimes praying to one or another of the persons of the Trinity to the exclusion of the others? Many of our Mass prayers are directed toward God the Father. There are a few that address Jesus directly. Many fewer of our prayers are directed to the Holy Spirit. Why do you think that is the case? Some have tried to call God the Father “the Creator” and God the Son “the Redeemer” and God the Holy Spirit “the Sanctifier”. Does that help you to visualize the persons of the Trinity?
In today’s gospel reading, we are told, “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world...”- Have you ever noticed that some people seem to want their God to be angry? There are people who picture God as someone who is just waiting for one of us to make a mistake, to do something wrong, to “cross the line.” Maybe it’s easier to see God as a strict parent. St. John’s words, however, say that God sent his Son into the world not to condemn but so that people might be saved. How do you picture God? Do you see God as someone who is severe and demanding and unrelenting? Or do you see God in a more gentle light?
Thanks to Fr. John Ludwig for some of the material in these reflections.Children’s Questions:
Have you ever read a story or seen a movie that was the story of solving a mystery? Today we celebrate Trinity Sunday, which reminds us that our God is one God in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.- How can one God be made up of three persons?
This teaching is a different kind of mystery. It is a teaching that we know to be true, but it is so full of wonder, we can never know everything there is to know about it. Our God is a God of wonder – a wonder-full God!- What wonderful things do you know about God? How can you tell other people about how wonderful our God is?