God is ‘Love that rescues man from infidelity,’ Pope says in Trinity Sunday reflection

June 12, 2017

In his Trinity Sunday Angelus address, Pope Francis reflected on how the readings at the Mass of the day shed light on the mystery of the Blessed Trinity.

St. Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 13 show how “the Christian community, despite all its human limitations, can become a reflection of the communion of the Trinity, of its goodness and beauty,” the Pope told pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square on June 11. “However this—as Paul himself attests—passes necessarily through the experience of God’s mercy, of His forgiveness.”

The revelation of God as merciful and gracious in Exodus 34 “expresses that God is not far away and closed in Himself, but He is Life that wills to communicate itself, He is openness, He is Love that rescues man from infidelity,” the Pope continued. “He offers Himself to us to fill our limitations and our failings, to forgive our errors, to bring us back to the way of justice and of truth.”

Turning to John 3:16-18, Pope Francis said:

What is this eternal life? It is the unbounded and free love of the Father that Jesus gave on the cross, offering His life for our salvation. And, with the action of the Holy Spirit, this love has radiated a new light on earth and in every human heart that receives it—a light that reveals the dark corners, the hardness that impedes bearing the good fruits of charity and of mercy.

“May the Virgin Mary help us to enter ever more, with all our being, in the Trinitarian Communion, to live and witness the love that gives meaning to our existence,” the Pope concluded.

 

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Further information:

• 2017.06.11 Angelus Domini (YouTube Vatican)
• Le parole del Papa alla recita dell’Angelus, 11.06.2017 (Holy See Press Office)
• Angelus Address: On the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity (Zenit)