Today's Gospel in Art - Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

Livres De L'imitation De Jesus-Christ, by Thomas à Kempis © Flamingo Books, California

Source: Christian Art

Gospel of 30th May 2021 - Matthew 28:16-20

The eleven disciples set out for Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had arranged to meet them. When they saw him they fell down before him, though some hesitated. Jesus came up and spoke to them. He said, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, make disciples of all the nations; baptise them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teach them to observe all the commands I gave you. And know that I am with you always; yes, to the end of time.'

Reflection on the Book

Today we celebrate Trinity Sunday. Each time we make the sign of the cross, we pray to the divine persons of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. In our reading, Jesus is telling the disciples to 'baptise in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit'. I recently read an article which made the point that people throughout the world always want to be like the God they worship. People who worshipped Poseidon would in general be fishermen living close to the coast wanting to have Poseidon's qualities; people who were involved in warfare would worship Mars, etc… As God created us in His own image, there is something deep inside us that wants to imitate God… and imitate Christ.

Maybe that is why I often revert back to a small book I always have with me in chapel, Thomas à Kempis's Imitation of Christ. Thomas (1380-1471) was from the 'Kempen', a region in the Southern Netherlands. His De Imitatione Christi was written circa 1420 and is, next to the Bible, still the most widely read Christian devotional work. Its popularity was immediate at the time. Before 1650 it had already been printed more than 745 times. Over 1,000 editions are preserved in the British Museum alone. Apart from the Bible, no book has been translated into more languages than the Imitation of Christ. I share with you an inside photograph of a rather beautiful French edition from 1856.

Saint Augustine already considered the imitation of Christ as the key to the Christian life. Saint Francis of Assisi also saw the physical as well as the spiritual imitation of Christ as the most important aspect of our lives. Thomas à Kempis devoted his book entirely to the uncompromising call to discipleship:... praying to the Holy Trinity.

LINKS

Today's story - https://christian.art/en/daily-gospel-reading/821
Christian Art - www.christian.art