A Reading for St Patrick’s Day

Matthew 28:16-20

16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’

Today is St. Patrick’s Day. One of the things for which Patrick is remembered is his teaching of the Trinity. On the piece of clothing Patrick wore on his chest there was a prayer written, and it opened and closed with these lines, “I arise today through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity, through belief in the threeness, through confession of the oneness of the Creator of creation.”

Each morning Patrick declared his commitment to the Trinity – the threeness and the oneness of the Triune God of grace. The Trinity is woven into the Bible’s telling of God’s connection with human beings.

At Creation – the Spirit (the Holy Spirit) moved over the face of the formless void, then God the Creator (God the Father) spoke, God spoke the Word (Jesus Christ) and the creation began to take shape. John 1:1-8 makes clear what Genesis 1 leaves more vague.

At Jesus’ baptism – Jesus, God the Son, was baptized as God the Father spoke from heaven, and the Holy Spirit descended in the form of a dove.

At the end of time – Jesus the Lamb, will be seated beside the throne of God the Father, while the Holy Spirit points humanity to worship the “One who sits on the throne and the Lamb”.

In the middle of that grand sweep of history is today’s passage – the followers of Jesus, disciples down through the ages, have been/are baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Triune God of grace invites us to not only be baptized in the name of the Trinity – but also to invite others to make the same commitment, to take the same step and be baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This is how we are marked as God’s people.  

PRAYER:

Triune God, One-in-Three and Three-in-One, we rejoice that you have marked us as your own in the waters of baptism, help us to invite others to also share in being marked as people sealed in the sign of baptism in the name of the Triune God. Amen.