The Holy Trinity • Year A

Historical Collect

Almighty and everlasting God, you have given us grace to make the confession of a true faith. We acknowledge your glorious eternal Trinity, and we adore the unity of your majestic work. Defend us by this faith from all adversity and opposition to your way; through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. (Gregorian Sacramentary, 6th Century)

Thematic Collect

Majestic Trinity, mystery of Three-in-One and One-in-Three, we worship you. Before time, your love burst forth, creating the world in which you took delight. Strengthen us in our faith, defend us from all evil and temptation, and bring us into the everlasting presence of your love; through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

The Common Thread

The Holy Trinity is anticipated from the beginning. There, the Spirit is the first person of the Trinity to be named in Scripture, even before the Father. However, the one God (Deut 6:4) is expressed in the Hebrew with the plural elohim. Luke recounts Peter’s sermon, showing that our Lord Jesus Christ is divine. Part of our remembering the triune name of God is recalling with the psalmist that we are created in his image. So, we may “dwell in hope” while we go into all the world in the name of God: the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

First Reading • Genesis 1:1-2:4a

“God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:24). The creating Spirit moved over the face of the void and created all things by his Word (John 1:1-3). Here, in these first words of Scripture, we see the Trinity: fathering God, creating Word, and ordering Spirit. 

Psalm • Psalm 8:1-9

Yahweh is named Lord above the heavens. He is higher than humanity in an even greater sense than humans are above amoebae. One would think he would have better things to do than be concerned with the affairs of such lower lifeforms. Yet, he remembers us; he is so “mindful” of humanity that he even cares for it. More than that, he has crowned us with glory and honor, giving us dominion and care over his creation. In this way too, we have been created in his image.

Beyond this, note who it truly is who cares for us. It is not simply some god; it is the Lord. The term is shown in the English as singular but in the Hebrew, “Lord” is plural. This is the Lord, the One Triune God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—who is mindful of man. 

Second Reading • Acts 2:14a, 22-36

The proofs of Jesus being the long-awaited Messiah are found in Scripture (re: Psa 16:8-11; Psa 110:1), in his “mighty works, wonders, and signs” (Acts 2:22), and in God raising him from the dead. (Acts 2:24, 32) We need more than this evidence if we are to “see and hear” the testimony of the Scriptures and the apostles. Therefore, God has has poured out his Holy Spirit so that we may believe the word that accompanies the evidence.

Gospel • Matthew 28:16-20

God has determined to continue his creative work, making of us a new creation (2 Cor 5:17). Because he has the authority of the Creator of heaven and earth, as well as being the one who overcame the depths of the earth, Jesus charges his apostles to go into all the world that he made (John 1:3) and make more disciples, baptizing them in the name of Yahweh God: the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Through this baptism of word in water, a new order is created in the chaos of human life.