Resources, Prayers, Games, and Lesson Plans
More Thoughts and Reflection Questions
Quotes and Social Media Graphics
Mass Readings for Trinity Sunday Year A
- First reading – Exodus 34:4B-6, 8-9: God passes before Moses and proclaims His name, stating that He is compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, and forgiving of iniquity, yet He will not clear the guilty. Moses responds by bowing down and worshiping God.
- Responsorial Psalm – Daniel 3:52, 53, 54, 55, 56: A hymn of praise to God, acknowledging His greatness and glory. The speaker blesses God’s name, recognizes His holiness and glory, and praises Him as exalted above all forever, including His throne and reign over all creation.
- Second reading – 2 Corinthians 13:11-13: In the conclusion of Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians, he encourages them to aim for restoration, unity, and peace. He invokes the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit as he bids them farewell.
- Gospel – John 3:16-18: Jesus speaks to Nicodemus about God’s love and salvation. He tells Nicodemus that God loved the world so much that He gave His only Son, so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life, and that those who do not believe will face consequences, as they are missing out on the opportunity to experience God’s love and salvation.
Themes for Trinity Sunday Year A
Trinity Sunday Year A focuses on God as community. God is the Lover (Father), the Beloved (Son), and the Love which flows between them (Holy Spirit). The love of the Trinity makes God completely one.
- Unity: The doctrine of the Holy Trinity teaches that there is one God who exists eternally in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This unity of the Godhead is a mystery that surpasses human understanding but is essential to the Christian faith.
- Love and Grace: The love and grace that flow from the unity of the Holy Trinity are the very foundation of Christian faith and life. God the Father’s love is demonstrated in sending His Son to redeem us from sin, and the Holy Spirit’s grace is poured out to us as a result of Christ’s sacrifice.
- Implications: The doctrine of the Holy Trinity has important implications for Christian faith and life. It reminds us that God is relational and that we are called to live in loving relationships with Him and with others. It also reminds us that our salvation is a gift of God’s love and grace, not something we can earn or deserve.
- Mystery: While the doctrine of the Holy Trinity is foundational to Christian faith, it is also a mystery that surpasses human understanding. We can only grasp the mystery of the Trinity in part, but we trust in the love and grace of God revealed to us in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
See the Homilies and Reflections section and the More Thoughts section for further expansion on these readings and some reflection questions for Trinity Sunday Year A.
Resources for Trinity Sunday Year A
What Is the Holy Trinity?
The mystery of the Trinity teaches that God is one substance and three persons, which we can only understand through divine revelation. Catholics believe in one God in three persons: the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ), and the Holy Spirit, who are all the same divine substance.
The Trinity represents God’s relationship, and we can think of it as the Lover (Father), the Beloved (Son), and the Love flowing between them (Holy Spirit). It can also be represented by the Formlessness (Father), Form (Son), and Energy flowing between them (Holy Spirit). The Trinity is often depicted as a Triangle or a circle of movement, and it invites us to join in the dance of perfect relationship. Use this as background material for Trinity Sunday Year A.
The Glory Be Prayer
One of the most significant aspects of the Glory Be prayer is its focus on the Holy Trinity. The prayer recognizes that there is only one God, but that God exists in three distinct persons – the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This doctrine of the Holy Trinity is a foundational belief of Christianity and is rooted in the teachings of the Bible. Think about the significance of this simple prayer on Trinity Sunday Year A.
Baptized as Beloved Children Lesson Plan
This reflection focuses on how God expresses His love to us as baptized members of His family. The Trinity, which consists of God the Father as the lover, God the Son as the beloved, and God the Holy Spirit as the love between them, represents God’s perfect relationship. When Jesus was baptized, the Spirit descended like a dove, and God the Father expressed His love for Jesus by saying, “You are my beloved son. In you, I am well pleased.”
Nicodemus: A Journey of Faith
The Gospel reading for Trinity Sunday Year A depicts Nicodemus, a Pharisee who was interested in knowing about eternal life, engaging in a dialogue with Jesus. John 3:16-18 is a section of the passage that narrates how Nicodemus approached Jesus in secrecy to discuss spiritual matters. This encounter served as a starting point for Nicodemus’ spiritual growth, as he gradually developed his faith over time.
Homilies and Reflections for Trinity Sunday Year A
Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity (Jeff Cavins)
The Strange Doctrine of the Trinity
A homily for Trinity Sunday Year A from Bishop Robert Barron. “Today we come to the wonderful Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. The Trinity: the strangest and most distinctive of all of the doctrines of Christianity; the preacher’s nightmare; the ultimate Rubik’s cube of theology. The Trinity has been characterized in a number of ways—some good, some bad—and we invoke it every single time we make the sign of the cross. Yet most of us live our practical spiritual lives as if the Trinity didn’t matter at all. So what are we to make of it? The Church sets this up by giving us some interesting readings for today..”
How God Loves
A reflection for Trinity Sunday Year A from Scott Hahn. “We often begin Mass with the prayer from today’s Epistle: ‘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 praise the God who has revealed Himself as a Trinity, a communion of persons.” Continue reading.
More Thoughts for Trinity Sunday Year A
Mystery and Unity
As a Catholic, the doctrine of the Holy Trinity is one of the foundational teachings that shapes my understanding of God. At the core of this doctrine is the recognition that God exists eternally in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This unity of the Godhead is something that we cannot fully comprehend with our finite human minds, but it is a mystery that we must accept and embrace as essential to our faith.
One of the most striking aspects of the Holy Trinity is the unity that exists between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Despite being distinct persons, they are united in their nature and purpose. This unity is not something that is forced or artificial, but rather it flows naturally from the perfect love that exists within the Godhead.
As Catholics, we are called to reflect this same unity in our own lives. Just as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are united in love, we are called to love one another and to work together in unity for the sake of the Gospel. This means setting aside our own individual interests and desires in order to serve the greater good of the Church and the world.
Living in Communion with the Triune God
The implications of the Trinity for our Christian faith and life are manifold and significant. First and foremost, the Trinity reveals that God is a God of relationship, love, and community. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are distinct persons who share the same divine essence, united in an eternal bond of love and mutual self-giving. This means that God is not a solitary being or a distant deity but a personal and relational God who invites us to enter into a loving communion with Him.
Moreover, the Trinity reveals that we are created in the image and likeness of God, as beings who are meant to live in relationships of love and communion with others. We are called to imitate the triune God by loving one another as He has loved us, by sharing our lives and resources with those in need, by forgiving one another as we have been forgiven, and by building communities of faith, hope, and charity.
The readings for Trinity Sunday Year A also remind us that our salvation is a gift of God’s love and grace, not something we can earn or deserve by our own merits. The Father sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, to redeem us from sin and death and to reconcile us with Him. The Son, by His death and resurrection, made it possible for us to share in His divine life and to become children of God. The Holy Spirit, poured out on us in Baptism and Confirmation, empowers us to live as faithful disciples of Christ and to bear witness to His gospel in the world.
Reflection Questions for Trinity Sunday Year A
- What does the doctrine of the Holy Trinity reveal about the nature and character of God?
- How does the unity within the Trinity challenge and shape our understanding of community and relationships within the Church?
- In what ways can we reflect the unity and love of the Holy Trinity in our personal and communal lives?
- What does it mean to live in communion with the Triune God, and how does this impact our daily lives?
- How does the Triune God’s gift of salvation challenge our human tendency towards self-reliance and merit-based thinking?
- How does the Holy Spirit empower us to live as faithful disciples of Christ and bear witness to His gospel in the world?
Quotes and Social Media Graphics for Trinity Sunday Year A
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.
2 Corinthians 13:13
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