The Trinity of Love

Today’s second reading from St Paul, contains his last sentence in his correspondence with the Church of Corinth. His relationship with his community at Corinth had at times been a fractious one, encompassing a whole set of different emotions and experiences. It ranged from a deep and personal concern and love for his flock, to a sense of shame and anger for what he felt was their failure to grasp the immensity and importance of what he was preaching to them about Jesus Christ. Here though in this last sentence of what became his second letter to the Corinthians, we find a truly trinitarian grasp of the reality of God, present in the heart of all that he preached to them.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. It is a beautiful sentence with which to conclude his whole understanding of the message he offered. A three-fold summation of what God is and of how God is made manifest. If we look at the words in bold type and examine them, we too can appreciate and deepen our own understanding of what the Trinity actually means.

In speaking about Jesus, Paul uses the word karis which has been translated as grace or charity. Instinctively we know what it conveys. Someone who is charitable is generous, considerate and doesn’t count the cost. Applying it to the person of Jesus expresses his nature as the one who offers himself totally and in obedience to the needs of others. In describing God’s love, Paul uses the word agape, a word which carries within it the image of an oblative outpouring of goodness. God is total love. A love that is to be given away to allow more love to be generated. Finally, the Holy Spirit is categorised as the one who creates koinonia, fellowship or as we call it community. The Spirit is the binding force that forges together all that is generous and loving within a framework of abundant and total giving. What Paul is doing is urging his fellow disciples in Corinth to be configured as Father, Son and Spirit are, and to live out their discipleship accordingly.

Are we able to accept a similar ideal? If we are, then the Trinity is no longer a mystical enigma that remains beyond our understanding, but instead a tangible reality that through our encounter with grace of Jesus Christ, enables us to embrace the love of the Father in the fellowship of the Spirit. This is our active participation in the life of the Trinity through our relationships, in our families and within our parishes and workplaces. It is a wonderful witness of faith alive in our world. It is the Trinity of love.