The Word today, The Solemnity of the Most Holy TrinityC
- Admin
- Jun 14
- 3 min read
June 16 - June 21, 2025
2 Corinthians 6:1-10 There is a great invitation in this reading: today is the day of salvation. Paul goes on to give a list of hardships endured as an apostle.
Matthew 5:38-42 We are always tempted to meet violence with violence. Jesus’ alternative is radical and different.
2 Corinthians 8:1-9 A great dream of Paul was the collection for the Christians in Judea and Jerusalem. Like any fundraiser, he tries to invite and to provoke the Corinthians Christians by underlining the remarkable generosity of the Macedonian communities, who are poor by comparison.
Matthew 5:43-48 Jesus quotes the usual attitude—love your neighbour, hate your enemy—and then gives a series of penetrating arguments to offer his alternative vision.
2 Corinthians 9:6-11 Why should the Corinthians give to Paul’s collection? Here is gives arguments from faith and, intriguingly, from the nature of God.
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18 These two paragraphs surround the Lord’s Prayer and represent a Jewish devotional triad: alms, prayer and fasting. Any attraction to showiness in religion is resolutely set aside.
St Romuald, abbot
2 Corinthians 11:1-11 A rather human side of Paul is revealed in this reading. He has been replaced in the affection of the Corinthians by other preachers and he minds! But he really does love his Corinthians, as we hear.
Matthew 6:7-15 The introduction to the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew is central and helps us understand the prayer and its brevity. In reality, the Lord’s Prayer is not so much a prayer as a form of words but a method or series of steps in prayer.
The Irish Martyrs
2 Corinthians 11:18, 21-30 Pau is unwilling to put himself forward and so the reading is full of ironic affirmations. This paragraph is valuable for the information about the upbringing and ministry of Paul.
Matthew 6:19-23 The “voice” in these reading is the voice of Jesus, the bearer of wisdom. The first paragraph is clear enough and points us to what is of lasting value. It is easy to be distracted by the immediate and the tangible. The second paragraph speaks metaphorically of the eye as the “window” of the body. What is meant here is that our fundamental way of looking at the world and life affects every thing about ourselves and about our engagement with the world. How we allow the light in determines how much light we enjoy. This raises an essential question: where is my heart?
St Aloysius Gonzaga, religious
2 Corinthians 12:1-10 Some people in Corinth were attracted to leaders with spectacular spiritual experiences. In Paul’s mind, this is a wretched foundation for faith — and risks showing off. Nevertheless, he risks telling the Corinthians of his spiritual experiences, all the while affirming that this cannot be the foundation of the faith! It is a remarkable piece of writing — powerful in allusion and disclaimer.
Matthew 6:24-34 This is a favourite passage from the Sermon on the Mount, prized by people well beyond frontiers of Christianity. The vision is Jesus is not “airy-fairy” detachment, but a costly choice of values and attitudes, grounded in faith in God. We might feel there’s a risk of sheer impracticality but this is overcome by the general statement: “You heavenly father knows you need all these things.”
References
-United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. (2025az, June 15). The solemnity of the most Holy Trinity. USCCB. https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/061525.cfm
-Sunday readings. (n.d.-s). Hearers of the Word. https://www.tarsus.ie/SundayReadings
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