The Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Three distinct persons, yet truly one. We begin all of our prayers invoking them.  We baptize in their name  Neither exist without the other, and all exist eternally. 

Perhaps you’ve heard the expression, “God is love”.  The most genuine form of love is a total self-giving for the sake of the other, for their own sake.  And you can’t do this alone.  Now look at the Trinity, the three persons.  The Father perfectly loves the Son, the Son perfectly loves the Father, and the Spirit is the manifestation, or expression, of that perfect love proceeding from them. 

Three persons in one undivided unity.  That is their total and eternal relationship of love.  God is not one who loves, he IS love, it is his nature.  The Trinity proves that to be true.  Christianity alone can make this claim, that God Is love.

It is in the nature of love to express itself, to create and give new life.  It was the work of the entire Trinity that brought forth creation.  And it is the work of the Trinity in baptism that makes us a new creation. 

Now, how does this relate to us?  We are created in the image and likeness of God.  Being made in the image of God, we were not meant for isolation, but for relations.  Relation with each other, and relation with God, the source of love and goodness. 

The three persons of the Trinity are distinct, yet perfectly united as One, an undivided unity.  Each one of us are distinct in our own way, yet in order to be fulfilled, we must be united in relationships.  Human beings make no sense as strict individuals, but only as they relate to others.  It is being involved in loving relationships with one another that fulfills us.  As Christians, we come here to worship as individuals, yet united in one body of faith, one body of Christ.

Love, by its nature, is outward and expanding, it builds and creates.  When we sin, we turn in on ourselves, we weaken and break relationships, which isolates us.  Imperfect or misplaced love makes for weak connections, and sometimes harm for others.  When we give love, but fail to receive it, it hurts us, does it not?  God is in a perfect relationship, yet he still desires our love, for us to share in that perfect relationship. 

Where do we place our love, what do we give ourselves to?  We can give our love to objects, things, ideas, and attach ourselves to them.  The problem, of course, is that such things will not love us back, nor do such things even recognize our love, our self.  It is ultimately empty.

Our love is to be directed toward persons, living persons, who can freely give of themselves and acknowledge us, just as we can freely give to them.  And the greatest of these persons, of course, are the three persons who are united as perfect love, the source of our own love and true desires.  The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Jesus once said to his disciples that they be one, just as He is one with the Father.  Likewise, we must remain as one in truth and charity, reminding ourselves that we are brothers and sisters in Christ.

Take the time today, and throughout your lives, to reflect on this central mystery, God, three persons in an undivided, perfect love.  Reflect on how you can share and participate in that love, the love of the Father who created us, the love of the Son who redeems us, the love of the Spirit who guides us and reveals that love.