Reflection on the Gospel – Sunday, June 15, 2025

The Spirit of Truth will guide you to the whole truth

Dear brothers and sisters, peace and all good.

Father Fernando Armellini, an Italian missionary and biblical scholar, begins his reflection this Sunday with a presentation I find very timely to share here:

What is the true identity card of Christians? What sets them apart from believers of other religions?

Not love for neighbor—many other religions, as we know, also do good for others. Not prayer—Muslims pray too. Not faith in God—even pagans believe in God. Believing in God isn’t enough. What matters is: what kind of God do we believe in? Is God just a force or is He someone real? Is He a Father who wants to share His life, or a ruler who wants more subjects?

Muslims say: God is the Absolute. He is the Creator who lives far above, who governs from on high and never comes down; He is a judge waiting for the time to ask for an account. The Jews, on the other hand, say that God walks with His people, shows Himself in history, and seeks a covenant with humanity. Christians, today, celebrate the most unique part of their faith: they believe in a Triune God. They believe that God is the Father who created the universe and leads it with wisdom and love; that He didn’t stay in heaven, but that His Son—His very image—came to become one of us; and that He carries out His plan of love through His power, through His Spirit.

Every idea or image we have of God immediately shapes our idea of humanity. In the face of every Christian, we should see the face of God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Church itself should be the visible image of the Trinity, receiving everything from God and giving it all freely, living totally for others like Jesus did. In the Church, differences are not erased in the name of unity—they’re celebrated as richness.

We should be able to see the mark of the Trinity in families where real love is lived out—where people listen, understand each other, and are open to loving those who most need to feel loved.

It’s clear: depending on the image of God we carry in our hearts, our way of living the faith will look very different. We might live in fear before a punishing God, or without boundaries if we see God only as merciful… That image shapes how we live our faith—personally, as families, and in community.

All our celebrations, all our prayers, begin and end “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” That’s also how our lives unfold.

We are born because a Father chose to give us life. We didn’t create ourselves. This Father gives us a purpose and a direction—He shows us the meaning of life: to become like Him, who shared His life with us through His Son, Jesus Christ. And like Adam, we are given His Breath—His very Spirit. That divine breath within us makes it possible to become not just creatures, but children who are perfect like our Heavenly Father, creative like Him, free before Him, full of love and self-giving, joyful and eternal.

That’s why Christians choose baptism and dedicate their lives to this amazing God.

And when we die, we receive God’s final blessing. The Father welcomes us as His children and tells us there’s a home prepared for us in His house. The Son blesses us too, reminding us that He faced death Himself and placed His life in the Father’s hands. He conquered death—He was the first among many brothers and sisters—and promised to come back for us once our place in the Father’s house is ready. And the Holy Spirit, who lived within us, intercedes for us and longs to dwell in us again. Saint Paul reminds us: we are temples of the Holy Spirit.

That’s why Christians often make the Sign of the Cross—it’s the mark that identifies us as part of the flock of the Good Shepherd, the ID that lets us walk freely in the City of God, the New Jerusalem.

When we trace the Cross on our forehead, lips, chest, and whole body, we are already praying. We’re offering ourselves and renewing our dedication to God. We’re telling God He is the meaning of our life, that we thirst for Him, and that nothing on earth can fully satisfy us. We’re saying that our hearts long for Him and love Him—even if we don’t always realize it. When we try to live sincerely, without masks or excuses, and offer the best of ourselves, we are answering His call and living our mission. We make that sign with our own hand—hands meant for blessing and dedication, not for harm or destruction.

At the start of today’s celebration, we recognized ourselves as sinners. What does that mean? It means that on our journey through life, we haven’t always lived as people set apart for God. We haven’t been creative. We’ve cheapened our freedom. We’ve held back parts of ourselves that were meant to be shared. Our love and generosity have barely been used… But through forgiveness, we are renewed. And then we’ll receive the “Wonderful Food” that gives us the strength for eternal life. We’ll experience the deep brotherhood that reminds us that every human being is our sibling—despite all differences. And the Spirit will transform us into what we’ve received: the Body of Christ.

Before the Gospel was proclaimed, we traced another Sign of the Cross. That gesture expressed our desire to welcome God’s Word into our mind (to guide our actions), on our lips (to speak words of love), and into our heart and our whole being (to live the message of Jesus each day).

But how do we know all this? How can we say such things about our great God—the God of peace and love? Because He has revealed Himself, step by step, from Abraham and Moses to Jesus. In the first reading, we see how God “shows” Himself to Moses: a God who comes down to meet people, full of mercy, compassion, slow to anger, rich in kindness and faithfulness. Before Him, Moses—and we—bow down and worship.

Saint Paul, after saying, “May the God of love and peace be with you,” draws a conclusion: “Greet one another with a holy kiss.” In other words, when we share a holy kiss or an embrace of brotherhood, we are actually worshiping the Trinity. A hug or a kiss can be a beautiful prayer that pleases God.

That’s why we are here—not to argue or fight, not to ignore or distance ourselves from each other, but to look at one another with kindness, to draw close and welcome one another sincerely, to communicate and unite. Because that’s what God is like.

Whoever believes in the Christian God has this mission: to be His image and likeness. That means reflecting a God who is love, communication, self-giving—a God who is a person, a family-community, who comes to help humanity, even giving His only Son so that no one who believes in Him will be lost.

That means saying:

• No to selfishness and living only for ourselves
• No to locking ourselves into our own little worlds
• No to silence and indifference toward others
• No to ignoring those in need
• No to anger, resentment, a hard heart, betrayal, or unfaithfulness

If we live the opposite of God’s way, we’re choosing destruction and unhappiness. We don’t need God to tell us—we’ll destroy ourselves on our own.

So let’s do everything in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Your brother in faith,