Exodus 34:4-6,8-9; Daniel 3:52-56; Corinthians 13:11-13; John 3:16-18.

Reflection:

Today’s readings invite us to meditate on the three persons of the Holy Trinity; God who is Father, Son and Spirit. God who is Lover, Beloved and Love itself. In the Old Testament, God the Father was experienced as the God of the exodus, leading is people out of slavery in Egypt and giving them a new way of life, the ten commandments.

In the New Testament, especially in today’s gospel reading, we are introduced to the Son, the eternally beloved by the Father, who sent as a witness to this great divine love. “God loved the world so much, that he gave his only Son.”

The Holy Spirit, which we celebrated last week, is the life, love and joy of God. The Spirit reveals itself in the love and joy that we share with our sisters and brothers. 

As we meditate the mystery of the Trinity we recognise in the Trinity a life of perfect unity. The term ‘mystery’ does not simply mean something beyond our full understanding, but also that it is something that actuates what it signifies. The Three Divine Persons only exist because they are in perfect union with each other and create us in their own image and likeness. Created in this image of communion, and we are therefore invited to live in communion with our sisters and brothers. 

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Further Readings:

Joseph De Piro understood this connection with God and lived a life of communion:

• with his mother and the other members of his own family in their family life;
• with the ecclesiastical superiors, both locally and in the Vatican, with regards to his life as a priest, his various ministries, and the foundation of his missionary society;
• with other diocesan priests in Malta and in Gozo, especially with regards to his apostolate and the foundation of his society;
• with the Franciscan Sisters of the Heart of Jesus, the Sisters of Jesus of Nazareth, the members of his own society and Maria Assunta Borg, in the ecclesiastical charitable institutions;
• with other priests at St Joseph’s Orphanage in Malta, before being appointed director; 
• with the foundresses three female religious institutes, assisting them in the foundation of their religious congregations;
• with the members of the Maltese National Assembly (1918-1921) and those of its Central Commission, in regards to working out a constitution for Malta;
• with the members of his society, the Society of Christian Doctrine (MUSEUM) and Michael Casolani, for the evangelisation of the children in Mdina, Rabat, Birkirkara and in the ecclesiastical charitable institutes;
• with others in favour of the evangelisation of the Maltese migrants;
• with others for the evangelisation of those who lacked the Good News.