Trinity Sunday

                                Trinity Sunday 2022

The Collect

Almighty and everlasting God, you have given to us your servants grace, by the confession of a true faith, to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity, and in the power of your divine Majesty to worship the Unity: Keep us steadfast in this faith and worship, and bring us at last to see you in your one and eternal glory, O Father; who with the Son and the Holy Spirit live and reign, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. 

Old Testament Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31 

Does not wisdom call, and does not understanding raise her voice? On the heights, beside the way, at the crossroads she takes her stand; beside the gates in front of the town, at the entrance of the portals she cries out: "To you, O people, I call, and my cry is to all that live. The LORD created me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of long ago. Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth. When there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were no springs abounding with water. Before the mountains had been shaped, before the hills, I was brought forth-- when he had not yet made earth and fields, or the world's first bits of soil. When he established the heavens, I was there, when he drew a circle on the face of the deep, when he made firm the skies above, when he established the fountains of the deep, when 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, then I was beside him, like a master worker; and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always, rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the human race." 

Psalm 8  

1 O LORD our Governor, * 

how exalted is your Name 

in all the world! 

2 Out of the mouths 

of infants and children * 

your majesty is praised 

above the heavens. 

3 You have set up a stronghold 

against your adversaries, * 

to quell the enemy and the avenger. 

4 When I consider your heavens, 

the work of your fingers, * 

the moon and the stars you 

have set in their courses, 

5 What is man that you should

be mindful of him? * 

the son of man that you 

should seek him out? 

6 You have made him 

but little lower than the angels; *

you adorn him with glory and honor; 

7 You give him mastery over

 the works of your hands; * 

you put all things under his feet: 

8 All sheep and oxen, * 

even the wild beasts of the field, 

9 The birds of the air, the fish of the sea, * 

and whatsoever walks in the paths of the sea. 

10 O LORD our Governor, * 

how exalted is your Name in all the world! 

Romans 5:1-5 

Since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and 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. 

The Gospel John 16:12-15 

Jesus said to the disciples, "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When 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. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you."

Trinity Sunday is often a challenge for preachers. To understand the three in one and to explain it well is hard work. A dear friend and Bishop Charles Vache, was rector of Trinity Church, Portsmouth, Va. He decided to invite the Bishop every year on their feast day, partially to avoid preaching on the Trinity. Then, he was elected Bishop, and returned annually to his former parish to preach and celebrate. Science has taught us, through understanding DNA, just how interrelated and intertwined we all are. The Trinity, God in three persons, remind us how intertwined and interdependent we all are.

Wondrous God, who expresses yourself three persons

help us to recognize our difference and diversity

as gifts of your presence and your love for all.

Blessed Trinity, one God, be with us this day.

You walked the earth as we do, waking and sleeping

you breathe new life and vision into everyone of us

you call us to reverence and worship you as one.

Blessed Trinity, one God, be with us this day.

We see differences as fears and great challenges

you invite us to know you in all our diversity

making friends with those who we don't truly understand.

Blessed Trinity, one God, be with us this day.

Holy God, in perfect spirit, flesh and holy mystery

you are every with each of us and renewing the earth

let us walk humbly knowing you in every breath we take.

Blessed Trinity, one God, be with us this day. Amen.