The Trinity of Love

This Sunday, we celebrate the Principal Feast of the Trinity. It symbolizes the Triune God – the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, all in one. It’s said that Thomas Beckett’s first act, after he was consecrated as Archbishop of Canterbury on the Sunday following Pentecost, was to create the new Festival of Trinity Sunday. Though reverence for the Trinity was an old concept, this was the first formal recognition in the Western church. It’s often portrayed as a triangle in the Western church, and a circle in the Eastern.

It’s said that the Greeks have a word for everything; they do for this. It’s perichoresis, from the Greek words “peri” – around -- and “chorein” ---make room for, go forward, contain. The Trinity contains love all around. The Father’s love is poured into his Son. The Son’s love is poured into his Father. And the Spirit, as we heard and rejoiced in at Pentecost last Sunday, is poured into us. This gift of loving us enables us to give love, for social justice.

In this dark time that we’re living through now, we can and should seek the Holy Spirit within us. We should let this love comfort us. And we should love others while we live in dark times, so that the dark becomes lighter.

The Holy Spirit is always with us. We can pray to bring it closer. And we can pray for it to light the darkness.

​Mary McCue