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| Mosaic of the Three Angels Who Appeared to Abraham at Mamre Often used to depict the Holy Trinity |
Having said that Christ and the Holy Spirit are distinct but inseparable, and so both are received in Holy Communion (see last week's entry HERE), what about God the Father? The Father is also inseparable from the Son and the Holy Spirit, though each of the Divine Persons are still distinct from One another:
"Inseparable in what they are, the divine persons are also inseparable in what they do." (Catechism #267)
We can recall from the Gospel of John: "Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.’" (14:23; emphasis added) So for the sake of fullness, we see that our Communion is with the Holy Triune God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This is called the Indwelling of the Holy Trinity, i.e., the Three Divine Persons, One God, dwell in the soul of the Baptized.
Recall that the entire Eucharist is begun "In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." The conclusion of the Eucharistic Prayer is also a doxology to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. We are finally blessed and dismissed from the Mass in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The entire Eucharist is a work of the Triune God, a mystery and sacrament of the Trinity. As one Orthodox Christian source states:
"Finally, the 'mystery of mysteries,' the Holy Eucharist, is the actual experience of all Christian people led to communion with God the Father by the power of the Holy Spirit through Christ the Son who is present in the Word of the Gospel and in the Passover Meal of His Body and Blood eaten in remembrance of Him. The very movement of the Divine Liturgy—towards the Father through Christ the Word and the Lamb, in the power of the Holy Spirit—is the living sacramental symbol of our eternal movement in and toward God, the Blessed Trinity."
"Finally, the 'mystery of mysteries,' the Holy Eucharist, is the actual experience of all Christian people led to communion with God the Father by the power of the Holy Spirit through Christ the Son who is present in the Word of the Gospel and in the Passover Meal of His Body and Blood eaten in remembrance of Him. The very movement of the Divine Liturgy—towards the Father through Christ the Word and the Lamb, in the power of the Holy Spirit—is the living sacramental symbol of our eternal movement in and toward God, the Blessed Trinity."
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| Angels at Mamre from Church of San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy |
Now we can also add that the very act of Holy Communion in the Mass is also Communion in the Trinity. The Catechism has this to say about the personal Communion of the Triune God:
"But St. John goes even further when he affirms that ‘God is love’: God's very being is love. By sending his only Son and the Spirit of Love in the fullness of time, God has revealed his innermost secret: God himself is an eternal exchange of love, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and he has destined us to share in that exchange." (#221)
This "exchange of love" is another way of saying that God is a "Communion of Love" and the divine love "circulates" between the Three Persons. Moreover, we are destined to be in this Communion of Love shared by the Holy Trinity! If God is a Family, we are called to be part of that Family! We know the Church is born from the Font of Baptism, when we were immersed into the Holy Trinity, into that Communion of Love, in the very Name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Thus the Catechism also teaches that the Church "is the sacrament of the Holy Trinity's communion with men." (#747)
We are also created in the image of God, who is One yet Three in a divine Communion and Community of Love. Anytime that we live in communion and community with others we are living according to the image of God within us, being "like God." The Church teaches us that we have a vocation to be in communion with other persons (See Catechism # 2419 HERE)
The next time you receive Holy Communion, think about how Christ brings the Holy Spirit and God the Father in love to dwell within you. You are receiving Communion and you are to build communion in this world, to the glory of God the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Next week: The Communion Rite Part 5: Communion in the Paschal Mystery of Christ.
