We ask you, humbly: don't scroll away.

Hi readers, it seems you use Catholic Online a lot; that's great! It's a little awkward to ask, but we need your help. If you have already donated, we sincerely thank you. We're not salespeople, but we depend on donations averaging $14.76 and fewer than 1% of readers give. If you donate just $5.00, the price of your coffee, Catholic Online School could keep thriving. Thank you.

Help Now >

Trinity-Sunday Reflection on the Human Person

Free World Class Education
FREE Catholic Classes

"Image of God, Fulfilled In Love"

VATICAN CITY, MAY 23, 2005 (Zenit) - Here is a translation of the address Benedict XVI gave today before praying the Angelus with the crowds gathered in St. Peter's Square.

* * *

Dear Brothers and Sisters:

Today the liturgy celebrates the solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, to emphasize that in the light of the paschal mystery the center of the cosmos and of history is fully revealed: God himself, eternal and infinite Love. This is the word that summarizes the whole of revelation: "God is love" (1 John 4:8,16). And love is always a mystery, a reality that surpasses reason without contradicting it; what is more, it exalts its potentialities.

Jesus has revealed to us the mystery of God. He, the Son, has made us know the Father who is in heaven, and has given us the Holy Spirit, the Love of the Father and of the Son. Christian theology summarizes the truth about God with this expression: only one substance in three persons. God is not solitude but perfect communion. For this reason, the human person, image of God, is fulfilled in love, which is the sincere gift of oneself.

We contemplate the mystery of God's love by participating in a sublime way in the most holy Eucharist, sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ, representation of his redemptive sacrifice. Because of this, I greet with joy today, feast of the Most Holy Trinity, the participants in the Eucharistic congress of the Italian Church, which opened yesterday in Bari. At the heart of this year dedicated to the Eucharist, the Christian people gather around Christ, present in the Most Holy Sacrament, source and summit of their life and mission. In particular, each parish is called to rediscover the beauty of Sunday, day of the Lord, in which Christ's disciples renew, in the Eucharist, communion with the One who gives meaning to their joys and exhaustions of each day. "We cannot live without Sunday," professed the first Christians, even if it cost their lives, and this is what we are called to repeat today.

We Will Pray with You: Light Your Virtual Prayer Candle

In the hope of going personally to Bari next Sunday for the Eucharistic celebration, I now already unite myself spiritually to this important ecclesial event. Together we invoke the intercession of the Virgin Mary so that these days of such intense prayer and adoration of the Eucharistic Christ will kindle in the Italian Church a renewed ardor of faith, hope and charity.

I would also like to entrust to Mary all the children, adolescents and young people who at this time are making their first Communion or receiving the sacrament of confirmation. With this intention, we now pray the Angelus, reliving with Mary the mystery of the Annunciation.