A COMMUNION OF LIFE AND LOVE…

This phrase (which I have used in homilies before) was a favorite in my theology classes in seminary to describe both the internal dynamic of the Trinity, and also the destination to which we as believers are invited to enter. On both counts, it’s an amazing insight.

God is a “communion.” There is no possibility of there being a sharing by one person alone, yet in the Creed we proclaim, “I believe in one God…” St. John of the Cross is right in saying our view of God must always expand beyond what we understand, or else risk worshiping a false god of our own making. So here we must face that fact when we declare that somehow God is One, and yet not only “one.” If ever there were a statement that could only lead us to confess, “It’s a mystery,” this is it.

We declare that the eternal divine communion is one of “life and love.” St. Augustine assures us of this in his work On the Trinity, which I referred to in last weekend’s homily. His insight is that of eternal love which exists between Father and Son and which is the Person of the Holy Spirit. In a pale sort of way, we mimic this reality in marriage when a baby is conceived and born. To make a parody of a famous theological saying, “Trinity symbolizes Family symbolizes Trinity.”

The interior reality of the Trinity is also life: life in itself, and life shared in the act(s) of Creation. Jesus says (John 10:10) that He has come to bring life, life in abundance. This implies that the Father’s sending was for the same purpose, as would be the gift of the Spirit. But this brings us to the 2^nd part of the insight—this communion is ours to share.

We profess that God’s sense of communion is one that God chooses on an ongoing basis not to limit to the inner workings of the Godhead—it is an invitation to us as well. Years ago the Chaplain for Notre Dame, Fr. Robert Griffin, published a collection of his essays under the title In the Kingdom of the Lonely God. This does not imply defect or incompleteness within the Trinity, but it does evoke the “motive,” if you will, for the Redemption (and, indeed, for the Creation): God’s desire is to share the communion of life and love, to make it more than the reality of the Trinity. Our destiny as God’s creation is to be united, through Christ, in the Trinitarian life forever: this is what will make us most fully happy. We will be happy with God, and happy with others in God (to paraphrase St. Augustine again).

The Christian song by Mercy Me, “Only Imagine,” says it so well: I have no idea what is in store. St. Paul said it centuries before: “What eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and what has not entered the human heart, what God has prepared for those who love him” (I Corinthians 2:9).

The purpose of Church is to be a community in which life and love can be both a sign and a foretaste of our destiny. The purpose of Church is to be a “sacrament” of the Trinity: life-giving, affirming, healing, forgiving, loving. Twisting a famous line from Hamlet, surely this is “a consummation devoutly to be wished.” Happy Trinity Sunday!