4 June, Sunday — Live in Peace

Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

Exo 34:4-6,8-9
2 Cor 13:11-13
Jn 3:16-18

…we wish you happiness; try to grow perfect; help one another. Be united; live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you.

As we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, I was surprised to read of this day’s scriptures — being rather simple and concise as well as gently instructive. Frankly, I was expecting a lengthy treatise about the theology of the Holy Trinity — about our Triune God and how He has gifted Himself to us through the flesh of Jesus Christ and the fire of the Holy Spirit.

Instead, the Trinity is revealed to us through a very simple yet powerful way — that of the different persons of God. Yet He is one and the same described as, “God of Tenderness and Compassion” (in Exodus), “Grace of Jesus Christ, Love of God, Fellowship of the Holy Spirit” (in 2 Corinthians). There is no great exposition given by God’s message of His love and peace, except as the call to “try to grow perfect; help one another” and to “be united; live in peace”.

Indeed, it is not easy as we follow the accounts of life amongst the early disciples detailed in the Acts of the Apostles after the death of Christ. Debates, dissent, disagreements, jealousy, and competition were rife. So we cannot expect life in community in our present times to be any different from before. It is in our human nature, in original sin.

That is why the first reading of Exodus shows us Moses interceding on the behalf of the Israelites to God to forgive them: “let my Lord come with us, I beg. True, they are a headstrong people, but forgive us our faults and our sins, and adopt us as your heritage.”

It is not easy to live in community — whether it be as a tribe, a school, organisation, a company, a group of friends, and even most fundamentally, as a family unit. We are bound to experience differences and arguments. What matters most is to work towards peace and unity, and to work towards reconciliation and restoration.

Because, if we call ourselves disciples of Christ, then it is our duty and call from God to live in peace, and work towards peace. Only by our efforts to bring peace, will we truly welcome the peace and grace of God to dwell within our communities. Only then will we truly experience a deepest sense of happiness — just like the joy and delight of the the Holy Trinity — of God the Father, Christ the Son, and Holy Spirit in perfect unity and harmony.

May we “try to grow perfect” and aspire to this perfect life, calling upon the Holy Trinity to help us desire and achieve this eternal happiness.

(Today’s OXYGEN by Debbie Loo)

Prayer: Lord, it is not easy to live with each other. We are constantly trying to communicate, learning from our mistakes in communication, and working towards rebuilding relationships with the people we hurt. We seek the Holy Spirit for wisdom to work and live peaceably with each other, to demonstrate God’s desire for unity and peace in our world today.

Thanksgiving: We thank God for the peace workers in all communities. We thank God for those who continue to bring hope, peace, and healing to wounded communities. Help us to be the Christians whom God desires us to be.