Word for the week

Sunday, June 16 – Holy Trinity

Introduction

“O Lord our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!” Today we celebrate the name of God: holy blessed Trinity. There is no other day quite like this one in the church’s year. There is no other god like ours. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Spirit!

Prayer of the Day

God of heaven and earth, before the foundation of the universe and the beginning of time you are the triune God: Author of creation, eternal Word of salvation, life-giving Spirit of wisdom. Guide us to all truth by your Spirit, that we may proclaim all that Christ has revealed and rejoice in the glory he shares with us. Glory and praise to you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen.

First Reading: Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31

In the Bible, wisdom has many faces. It is portrayed in terms sometimes human and sometimes divine. Often, it is personified as feminine. In this passage, Woman Wisdom is depicted not only as the first creation of God but also as God’s helper, rejoicing in God’s creation, especially in human beings. 1Does not wisdom call, and does not understanding raise her voice? 2On the heights, beside the way, at the crossroads she takes her stand; 3beside the gates in front of the town, at the entrance of the portals she cries out: 4“To you, O people, I call, and my cry is to all that live. 

22The Lord created me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of long ago. 23Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth. 24When there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were no springs abounding with water. 25Before the mountains had been shaped,   before the hills, I was brought forth— 26when he had not yet made earth and fields, or the world’s first bits of soil. 27When he established the heavens, I was there, when he drew a circle on the face  of the deep, 28when he made firm the skies above, when he established the fountains of the deep, 29when he assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters might not transgress his command, when he marked out the foundations of the earth, 30then I was beside him, like a master worker; and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always, 31rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the human race.”

Psalm: Psalm 8

Your glory is chanted above the heavens. (Ps. 8:2) 

1O Lord our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! — 2you whose glory is chanted above the heavens out of the mouths of infants and children; you have set up a fortress against your enemies, to silence the foe and avenger. 3When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars you have set in their courses, 4what are mere mortals that you should be mindful of them, human beings that you should care for them? 5Yet you have made them little less than divine; with glory and honor you crown them. 6You have made them rule over the works of your hands; you have put all things under their feet: 7all flocks and cattle, even the wild beasts of the  field, 8the birds of the air, the fish of the sea, and whatever passes along the paths of the sea. 9O Lord our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! 

Second Reading: Romans 5:1-5

Paul describes the life of faith with reference to God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. Even now, we have peace with God through Jesus, and our hope for the future is grounded in the love of God that we experience through Christ’s Holy Spirit. 

1Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. 3And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

Gospel: John 16:12-15

Jesus’ ongoing presence with the disciples will be borne by the coming Spirit, who will guide them and communicate to them Jesus’ will and glory.

[Jesus said,] 12“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. 15All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”