“O Lord, our God, how wonderful your name in all the earth!” — Psalm 8:10
Perhaps the greatest mystery of our faith is that of the Holy Trinity. To explain it in the most basic way, we worship one God in Three Persons without “confounding the Persons, nor dividing the Substance,” as it is stated in the Athanasian Creed.
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| My wife and I with Benedict, the boy whom we support through CARITAS' Uganda child sponsorship programs. Another friend is in back. We brought Benedict stickers when we visted him and he put one on his forehead. |
The Father is God. The Son is God. The Holy Spirit is God. But, the Father is not the Son, the Son is not the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is not the Father.
If that sounds confusing, well, it kind of is. Like all mysteries, we can describe the Trinity with reason and logical language, but ultimately it eludes our complete comprehension.
So, let’s look at what Saint John the Evangelist says about the Holy Trinity to see if that helps. In his first letter he states quite plainly, “God is love” (1 John 4:8).
There is far more depth to this statement than we might initially realize. Saint John is not saying that love is just an attribute of God, or even His most important quality. John is telling us that love unlocks the very mystery of the Trinity.
How so? Well, think about human love. The reality of love is that it exists only within the framework of a relationship, and relationships require persons: There is no love without a Lover, and one cannot be a Lover without a Beloved. Thus, when Saint John says, “God is love,” he is telling us that God’s own life must be characterized by such a relationship – a beautiful interplay between a Lover, the Beloved, and the Love shared between them.
From all eternity the Father has loved the Son, and we know that outpouring of love, which they share, as the Third Person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. The human family is a great analogy for this relationship. When a husband loves his wife, the love they share bears fruit as a third person. Three players participate in the love of one family. That is why marriage is a sacrament. It reveals the triune relational nature of God.
The goal of CARITAS For Children is something quite similar. By partnering with CARITAS, sponsors build relationships with children in poverty. Through these relationships they share in God’s love and reveal the Holy Trinity to world!
Merciful God, grant us deeper knowledge of the mystery of your Love. We ask this in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
