Dominican Friars
Province of St. Albert the Great, USA

Know Before You Go

Trinity Sunday: The Mystery of the Trinity: Love, Forgiveness, and New Beginnings

Know Before You Go

What does it mean to celebrate God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? In this special reflection for the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, Father Brendan Curran, OP, explores how the Trinity is not just a complex theological concept, but a vibrant, living reality that touches our daily lives.

From the childhood memory of making the Sign of the Cross while passing a church in Chicago to the profound scriptural moments in Exodus, Corinthians, and the Gospel of John, Father Brendan illustrates how each Person of the Trinity invites us into a deeper relationship. Discover a God who is "slow to anger and rich in kindness," a Son who walked our walk to heal and save, and a Spirit that breathes life into our very being.

Join us as we celebrate the creative power of the Father, the redemptive love of the Son, and the transformative fire of the Holy Spirit.

📖 **Today's Reflections Include:**
- **Exodus:** Moses on the mountain and the discovery of a merciful God.
- **2 Corinthians:** St. Paul’s call to mend our ways and live in peace.
- **John 3:16:** The ultimate reminder that God so loved the world.
- **The Trinity in Action:** How we serve as the arms, the mind, and the voice of Christ today.

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### 🕒 Video Timeline
0:00 - Introduction to the Most Holy Trinity
0:25 - A Childhood Memory: The Sign of the Cross
0:55 - Recognizing God’s Invitation in Our Lives
1:15 - Exodus: A God Merciful and Gracious
2:15 - The Struggle of the Israelites and God’s Fidelity
3:20 - 2 Corinthians: Mending Our Ways and Relationships
4:15 - The Essence of the Solemnity: Father, Son, and Spirit
4:45 - John 3:16: Not to Condemn, but to Save
5:15 - God the Father: The Spirit of New Beginnings
5:30 - God the Son: The Infleshed Love of God
7:05 - God the Holy Spirit: The Breath of Creation (Ruah)
7:55 - Paul’s Transformation through the Spirit
8:35 - Living as Temples of the Holy Spirit
9:15 - Conclusion: Living the Power of the Trinity

**Reflection Question:** How do you experience the different "Persons" of the Trinity (Father, Son, or Holy Spirit) in your daily prayer life?

#Catholic #HolyTrinity #TrinitySunday #KnowBeforeYouGo #FatherBrendanCurran #GospelReflection #BibleStudy #HolySpirit #GodIsLove #DailyFaith #ChristianLiving #DominicanPreachers

Know Before You Go

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Know Before You Go is a ministry of the provincial office to help people prepare to hear the readings and preaching of the approaching Sunday's Mass. We welcome any feedback you have at know@opcentral.org . You can see them all below, or you can see other preaching by a particular person by clicking on his name.

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  •

    The Feast of the Transfiguration

    Jesus was Transfigured on the mountain in order to strengthen Peter, James, and John for the his death and the task that lied ahead of them. Fr. Charles Bouchard, OP breaks open the readings for the Feast of the Transfiguration to say that this vision should strengthen us all to face our own death and the death of those we love with realistic hope and faith.
  •

    The Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

    Fr. Brendan Curran, OP breaks open the readings for the Sixteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, where Jesus uses a series of agricultural parables to teach how how to grow into true holiness, helping others to grow into it as well.
  •

    The Fourteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time

    Fr. Scott Steinkerchner, OP unpacks the readings for the Fourteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, with its classic reading, "Come to me all who labor and are burdened, and I shall give you rest." Fr. Scott interprets this using the first reading from the prophet Zechariah, who speaks of a humble saviour, who does not come on a war horse, but on the foal of a donkey, and banishes all of the instruments of war. Embracing this saviour brings peace.
  •

    The Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time

    Br. Joe Trout, OP breaks open the readings for the Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time with a surprising insight into prayer—that God ultimately hears our prayers and vindicates us, but often not right away,. Thus, serving God can be painful and entail suffering, but it is still the path to eternal life and joy, so brace yourself for it if you want to walk this path.
  •

    The Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

    Breaking open the readings for the Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Fr. James Marchionda, OP advises us to remember what God has done for you, specifically, and to and use that as a gauge for what to do for others. What God has forgiven you, you should forgive others. As God has blessed you without cost, you should bless others without cost.
  •

    Corpus Christi

    Fr. Donald Goergen, OP breaks open the readings for the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, the Body and Blood of Christ, explaining how the Holy Spirit transforms the bread and wine on the altar into the body and blood of Christ, in order to transform us, as we receive it, so that we can leave Mass being more Christ-like than when we came.
  •

    The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

    Fr. Brendan Curran, OP breaks open the readings for this Solemnity, showing how the readings don't explain the Trinity so much as they point to a way to live out our faith in a God who is One in Three, Three in One, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
  •

    Pentecost Sunday

    Fr. Brian Walker, OP recalls the great events of Pentecost, when the Spirit united believers from different lands and of different languages so that they could come together and understand each other. Yet in the church today, we see many divisions, Catholics against Protestants against Orthodox, liberals against conservatives. We need to reopen our hearts to the Spirit that can unite.
  •

    The Ascension of the Lord

    Fr. Scott Steinkerchner, OP unpacks the readings for the celebration of the Ascension of the Lord, explaining why it was necessary for Jesus to leave in his physical form so that he could return in an even better way through the Church, the new body of Christ.
  •

    The Sixth Sunday of Easter

    Fr. Donald Goergen, OP breaks open the readings for the Sixth Sunday of Easter, which let us know that the reason for our hope is the gift of the Holy Spirit that lives within. Since this Spirit is the Spirit of Truth, let us not despair that we can live the truth, and rededicate ourselves to be people of truth.
  •

    The Fifth Sunday of Easter

    Fr. James Marchionda, OP breaks open the readings for the Fifth Sunday of Easter, which are both reassuring and challenging. Jesus reassures us that he is going ahead of us to prepare a place for us in heaven, but then he challenges us that we could do even greater works than his own. Will we?
  •

    The Fourth Sunday of Easter

    Br. Joe Trout, OP breaks open the readings for Good Shepherd Sunday, explaining how God protects us and frees us from sin so that we can join in the salvific work of God and have life more abundantly. Also, we enter into this state through Jesus, who is the gate, though the Sacraments.
  •

    The Third Sunday of Easter

    Fr. Andrew Carl Wisdom, OP asks us to let the Resurrection of Jesus rewrite our understanding of our own journey, putting all of the struggles in our own lives into a new context of God's ongoing work in the world in letting us become Eucharist for others.
  •

    The Second Sunday of Easter

    Fr. Brendan Curran, OP reminds us that each of us, at some time in life, has the doubts of Thomas the Apostle. Let us acknowledge these doubts so that we ca confront them and get to a deeper faith, as did Thomas.
  •

    Easter Sunday

    Fr. Scott Steinkerchner, OP explains how the many readings for the Easter vigil outline the history of God's slow, saving work, which culminates in Jesus. At the same time, however, the Gospel reflects that first moment of people learning about the resurrection, when many struggle to believe and most don't understand. At this moment in time, society seems to be in the same place, where we have heard about the Resurrection, but we still live under the oppression of death and the fear of death.
  •

    Palm Sunday

    Fr. Brian Walker, OP unpacks the celebration of Palm Sunday, pointing out that we need a whole week, Holy Week, to unpack the meanings contained in the Lord's death, and his welcoming us into his salvific work even now.
  •

    The Fifth Sunday of Lent

    Fr. Donald Goergen, OP unpacks the readings for the Fifth Sunday of Lent, pulling out several quotes on resurrection, speaking of it as communal, personal, and universal. Though we cannot say precisely what the resurrection will be like, we are challenged to understand that there is more to life than this life we are living now, something beyond our imagining. God does not abandon us at death.
  •

    The Fourth Sunday of Lent

    Fr. James Marchionda, OP reminds us that there is no darkness in God, even though they called Jesus evil for healing a man born blind on the sabbath. In the same way, the Apostle Paul reminds us that once we are baptized, we are children of light, and the darkness can no longer overshadow us.
  •

    The Third Sunday of Lent

    Fr. Scott Steinkerchner, OP provides background information about the Gospel Reading for the Third Sunday of Lent, the story of Jesus' encounter with the woman at the well, explaining the relationship between the Samaritans and the Jews and the sorts of encounters that happen between men and women around wells in the Bible.
  •

    The Second Sunday of Lent

    Br. Joe Trout, OP breaks open the readings for the Second Sunday of Lent, including the Transfiguration, pointing out the many ways God speaks to us and wondering if we will listen and experience the fullness of the Resurrection come Easter.
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