By Father Paul Nord
Sunday Scripture
First Reading: Exodus 34:4b-6, 8-9; Responsorial: Daniel 3:52-56; Second Reading: 2 Corinthians 13:11-13; Gospel: John 3:16-18
In Exodus chapters 3 to 12, the Lord God frees the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. Then the Israelites journey to Mount Sinai, where God forms a covenantal relationship with them (Exodus 19). While Moses is with God on the mountain, God gives Moses two stone tablets on which God wrote the Ten Commandments (Exodus 31:18). Meanwhile, the Israelites are at the base of the mountain rebelling against God. In response, Aaron (brother of Moses) asks the Israelites to give their golden earrings. From these, Aaron fashions a golden calf — an idol.
Moses discovers the Israelites’ sinful idolatry when he comes down from the mountain. Seeing the golden calf, Moses becomes so angry that he throws down the stone tablets, breaking them (Exodus 32:19). Then Moses punishes the Israelites’ rebellion against the Lord.
In Exodus 33:18, Moses begs God: “Do let me see your glory!” In response, God tells Moses: “I will make all my beauty pass before you, and in your presence I will pronounce my name, ‘LORD’… But my face you cannot see, for no man sees me and still lives” (33:19-20).
This promise to Moses is fulfilled by the Lord God in today’s reading (34:5-6): “the LORD stood with Moses there and proclaimed his name, ‘LORD.’ Thus, the LORD passed before him and cried out, “The LORD, the LORD, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity.’”
This happens on Mount Sinai, which Moses ascended at God’s command. First, the Lord commands Moses: “Cut two stone tablets like the former, that I may write on them the commandments which were on the former tablets that you broke” (34:1). Since Moses broke the previous tablets, God gives Moses a kind of penance — he must make new tablets. It is humorous that the Lord reminds Moses that these new tablets will replace “the former tablets that you broke” (34:1).
Then God commands Moses to bring the new tablets up to God on Mount Sinai (34:2). Today’s reading begins at this point, with Moses obeying the Lord God’s command: “Early in the morning Moses went up Mount Sinai … taking along the two stone tablets.” Moses’ ascent up the mountain prompts God to appear to Moses: “Having come down in a cloud, the LORD stood with Moses there.” Moses spends 40 days and 40 nights on the mountain with God (34:28). Then Moses descends the mountain to the Israelites. Moses carries with him the new set of two tablets on which were written the Ten Commandments given by God.
Today’s Responsorial Psalm consists of the opening verses of the “Hymn of the Three Young Men,” which is found in the version of the Book of Daniel preserved in the Greek Septuagint translation. It is likely, but not certain, that this hymn was originally composed in Hebrew. In the hymn, the three young men directly address God and fervently praise him. It is striking that Daniel 3:52 (first stanza) is similar to Tobit 8:5, where Tobiah’s wife Sarah prays: “Blessed are you, O God of our fathers; praised be your name forever and ever.”
“Praiseworthy and exalted above all forever” — four times this phrase describes God in this Responsorial. The Greek translator is creating emphasis by using multiple compound words with the Greek prefix “hyper” (“over, above”). The English equivalents would be: “hyper-praised” and “hyper-exalted.” That is, by our actions, God should “be highly praised” and “be highly exalted.”
The second stanza begins: “Blessed are you in the temple of your holy glory.” Jerusalem’s temple was understood to be a place of God’s dwelling, but this verse likely refers to God’s Heavenly Temple. This is more properly God’s realm because in heaven, God’s will is done. Thus the Lord Jesus taught us to pray: “thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
The second stanza ends: “praiseworthy and glorious above all forever.” Again the Greek prefix “hyper” is used: “hyper-praised” and “hyper-glorious.” On this Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, we contemplate God’s glory, which far surpasses our limited ability to perceive or understand. God is “glorious above all.”
The second reading contains the final verses of St. Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians. Paul concludes his letter with a series of commands: “rejoice … mend your ways … encourage … agree … live in peace.” All these commands are meant to ensure unity and good relations within the Christian community at Corinth. Paul’s final command is: “Greet one another with a holy kiss.” This kiss expresses (in action) the unity and good relations which Paul is seeking to ensure among Corinthian Christians.
The last verse appears to have an early trinitarian structure — naming Jesus (God the Son) and God (the Father) and “the Holy Spirit.” This final verse of Second Corinthians is close to one of the options for the priest to greet the congregation at the beginning of Mass after the sign of the cross. That is: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”
Today’s Gospel is toward the end of a conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus, who calls Jesus “rabbi” and “teacher” in John 3:2. Nicodemus recognizes that Jesus’ signs come from God. Despite this, Nicodemus does not understand Jesus’ teaching: “Amen, amen, I say to you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit” (3:5).
Jesus explains his Incarnation to Nicodemus with these words: “No one has gone up to heaven except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man” (3:13). Jesus then foretells that his Crucifixion will make possible eternal life for those who believe in him.
“God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” This reiterates that Jesus’ mission is to bring eternal life to those who believe. “Whoever believes in him will not be condemned.”