THE TRINITARIAN COMMUNION - Archdiocese of Ernakulam ...

the unjust structures of the society and build a nation in which we all can live in loveand fellowship. It tries to investigate the ways and means of the Church’s newexistence in this multi-ritual and multi- cultural society. This study is divided intothree parts.In the first part we consider the concept of the Trinitarian communion as thesource of our communion in the Church. Communion or koinonia means thatChristians share something in common: our faith, hope and charity, and havecommunion with one another. The Trinitarian communion is the source of ourcommunion both in the Church and the world. It is Jesus who revealed the Trinitariancommunion, foreshadowed in the Old Testament. The Trinity of Persons lives inperfect and eternal communion as a community of love, equals and justice. Throughthe Trinitarian communion we are all drawn to have communion with the Father andthe Son in the Holy Spirit. Having been drawn into this communion we, as Christians,are challenged to live in communion with one another.In the second part, we deal with the biblical understanding of God as Trinityhow the kenotic love, equality; fraternity and justice challenge the present practice ofthe rite divisions in the Church in India. In this section we shall consider how theTrinitarian communion challenges with perfect equality, love, justice and fraternityour rite dominated Churches in India. Raimundo Panikkar says, “Trinity is not onlythe theoretical foundation stone of Christianity but also the practical, concrete andexistential basis of the Christian life.” 4 Therefore the Trinitarian communion which initself is the source of our life and existence here on earth remains also as the sourceand symbol of our communion in our society. Here we shall explore concrete waysand means in which we could experience and bring back the Trinitarian communioninto our daily life. The Church as a sacrament motivates us to establish communionamong dioceses, parishes and Christians themselves i.e., among women and men,clergy and laity, dalits and caste people, Catholics and other denominations andfinally with the persons of other religions.In the third part we discuss that the fundamental Christian experience of Godas communion. The Persons of the Trinity live in a perfect communion. The Godheadestablished a relationship with us by his free will and out of love. The perfect unionthat exists in the Triune God, their openness, despite the reality of distinction existing

in the life of Israel, which reaches to perfection in and through Jesus Christ. TheChurch under the guidance and inspiration of the Holy Spirit continues this task ofJesus in the world. Communion emphasizes that the Church is basically a“communion” or fellowship among human beings and God. 7Hence the need of retrieving the original communion that was practiced in theearly Church, to lead humanity to experience the love of God and love of neighbourhere and now on this earth. The Trinity as persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, livesand communicates a perfect communion to humanity. As Jacob Parapally rightly says,“The revelation of God as Triune with the equality of persons, unity of substance,essence and nature and with the dynamic and self-giving surrender to one anothershould have been the source and model for Christian fellowship…” 8 The relationshipof love that is there in the Triune God remains as a challenge for our discriminatedand oppressed society. In this section we explore the concept of communionecclesiology in the Christian community by drawing its roots both from the Bible andthe Church documents and also the development of the doctrine of Trinity in theChurch and its relevance for us in India today.1.1 Koinonia in TrinityThe Greek word koinonia like its associated verb koinonein takes us back tothe Greek adjective koinon. Koinon is what is shared, as opposed to idion, what isprivate. Hence idion is used of private property or experience, koinon applies toshared, or public, property or experience. Koinonein thus means ‘to share in common’and koinonia (a noun) means ‘sharing’. The Latin word communio is the translation ofthe Greek word koinonia. Koinonia means for Christians to share something incommon: our faith, hope and charity, and have communion with one another.Koinonia is God’s own mode of being. John D.Zizioulas, in his book Being AsCommunion, points out, “The Being of God is a relational being: without the conceptof communion it would not be possible to speak of God... The substance of God,“God”, has no ontological content, no true being, apart from communion.” 9 JacobParappally describes this communion in the following words: “The oneness of thepersons in the Trinity is absolute. There is perfect unity by mutual surrender of

everything except that which cannot be surrendered, i.e., the personhood. There is nodomination or subordination, no superiority or inferiority, no anteriority orposteriority but complete equality. There is only mutual-indwelling, co-existence andinter-penetration which the Greek Fathers called perichoresis.” 10Ernest Skublics describes the basic features of the Trinity which are relevantto its being the source and ultimate model of human community. He writes, “Noperson of the Trinity was ever alone. The three are co-eternal, inconceivable apartfrom each other.” 11 In the Trinity, “each person being defined by the relationships thatperson has with the other two. In fact, it has been said that each is a personifiedrelationship.” 12 He describes the Trinitarian communion as follows: “their communionis so intrinsic to their (shared) being that in fact it is their being, making theminconceivable apart from their communion. And yet, each person is irreduciblyunique, not blended into an impersonal commonality by their one and indivisiblenature.” 131.2. Communion is based on the interpersonal relationshipsSusan K.Wood explains more clearly by saying, “Communion ecclesiologydevelops from the two biblical meanings of koinonia: the ‘common participation inthe gifts of salvation won by Jesus Christ and bestowed by the Holy Spirit’ and ‘thebond of fellowship or the community of Christians that results from our union withGod’.” 14 This communion is also explained in human interpersonal relationships byB.C.Butler, who says, “Communion is a system of personal relations built upon andflowing from common possession or common experience, and in potency to becomeinterpersonal relationship.” 15Based on this common possession and commonexperience he understands communion as “…a relation or relations between persons,established through shared ‘possessions’, shared experiences or shared goals andhopes; and a community arising out of such relations”. 16 Hence communion is basedon the interpersonal relationships in which the community shares in the common

hopes and goals. Proceeding from here to take part in the communion of Godhead weestablish a bond of fellowship with one another in the community.Human life is filled with so many experiences both in the physical andspiritual realms. These experiences mould, motivate and transform the very life ofhuman subject individually, socially, and globally. There is a basic thrust in everyhuman being to seek relationship with the divine. As Thomas Marsh says, “A Godtowardsnessis a basic and essential feature of the human being, of being human.There is in the human being a basic orientation which continually directs it to seek torelate to and exist in relationship with a transcendent Absolute, God.” 17 As Christiansour religious experience is centered on a person of Jesus Christ through whom we aredrawn into the life of God as Trinity. Jesus Christ experienced God as abba and allthose who believe in him are drawn to this innermost experience of God as abba inthe Holy Spirit. The very Christian living itself is a participation in the life andcommunion of the Triune God. 18Catherine Mowry LaCugna says, “The doctrine of the Trinity is ultimately apractical doctrine with radical consequences for Christian life.” 19 This indicates theimportance of the Christian experience of the Triune God in the Christian living. Thelife of the Trinity as communion motivates and inspires the Christian living in thisworld. In our day to day liturgy we profess and practice especially in the Eucharisticcelebration the Trinitarian communion. We worship God the Father through the Sonin the Holy Spirit. George H. Tavard says “The Father is addressed in the preface, andthe trisagion or Sanctus is prayed to him. The Beloved Son is evoked in the accountof the last supper, during which the words of consecration are proclaimed over breadand wine. The Spirit is invoked to transform our gifts, in the prayer which has beencalled the epiclesis by oriental authors.” 20 Therefore the Christian life in its worshipand living is Trinitarian. We take part in the very life of the Triune God. We aspersons enter into the divine life and establish our relationship with Triune God.Catherine Mowry LaCugna says, “Divine life is therefore our life. The heart ofChristian life is to be united with the God of Jesus Christ by means of communionwith one another.” 21 Therefore the very fundamental Christian experience is the

Triune God’s communion, a relationship that explores the mysteries of love,personhood and communion both with God and with one another.1.3 Trinitarian Dimension of the Ecclesial CommunionGod created the human being as a communion – ‘in the image of God hecreated him/her, male and female he created them’ (Gen 1:27). Reflecting thecommunion character of the Trinity itself, the human being is a communion. “Severedfrom communion, as an individual, the human being is destined to die.” 22 Sin isprecisely the failure to live out this communion. “And sin is the tragic prerogative ofthe person alone.” 23 Once being is viewed a essentially communion the reason whysalvation is attained by incorporation into communion, becomes obvious. Skublics hasshown how each of the seven sacraments manifests an aspect of this progressiveincorporation. 24 The Church, then, is the sacramental experience, manifestation andrealization of human community as designed in the image and likeness of the Trinity.The main thrust of the early Christian community is solely based on thepractice of communion, where all are accepted as brothers and sisters despite theirdifferences of race, gender etc. The same thrust is perceived in the Second VaticanCouncil in its documents emphasizing the need of renovating and re-establishing theChurch on the principle of communion which is rooted in the Trinity. Going back tothe development of the doctrine of the Trinity reveals how the Church down thecenturies has set right the belief and faith of the faithful against heretics and theirheresies. The understanding and development of the understanding of the Triune Godboth in the Old Testament and the New Testament reveal the God who entered intohuman history and established a relationship with humans. The Trinity as Persons andtheir perichoresis enable us to draw inspiration from their communion andrelationship to perfect our relationships in our community, thereby bringingcommunion between God and human beings and among human beings themselves.How is the understanding of the Trinity developed both in the Old Testamentand the New Testament? How is the doctrine of the Trinity developed in the life of theChurch? How does a Christian experience the triune God in his/her life? These are thequestions we will be dealing with in the following section.

2. The Biblical understanding of God as TrinityGod speaks to us through the Word of God and relates with us. Therefore it isappropriate to look into the Bible both the Old Testament and New Testament basisand development of God as Trinity and to examine how they are related with oneanother and with us. There is quite a distinction between the doctrine of Trinity andthe reality of the Trinity. The doctrine of Trinity is the effort of human intelligence toformulate and understand the mystery of the Trinity. The reality of the Trinity is thefact that God’s revelation in the Bible as Father, Son and Spirit in human history andGod’s involvement in human endeavours taking our sufferings and struggles in God’scommunion. 25 In the New Testament we have the direct revelation of God as Father,Son and Spirit revealed by Jesus and in the Old Testament we observe theforeshadowing of the revelation of the Trinity.2.1 Foreshadowing of Trinity in the Old TestamentThe understanding of God as Trinity is foreshadowed in the Old Testament.The most common narratives that earlier theologians took into consideration in thisregard are: “Let us make (hu)man in our image, after our likeness;” (Gen 1:26), thehospitality that was shown by Abraham and Sarah to the three angels seated aroundtheir table (Gen 18:1-15) and the Trisagion i.e., Tris means ‘three’, hagion means‘Holy’ that we find in Isaiah (Is 6:3). Based on these scriptural passages the Scholasticmanuals and the Fathers of the Church like Irenaeus, Augustine, and Origen spoke ofthe foreshadowing of the Trinity in the Old Testament. 26 However, today’s exegeteswould not consider them as the foundation of the Trinity.The understanding of God as Trinity i.e., three persons is not a Hebraicunderstanding because the Israelite people experienced God as one God YHWH. Thisfaith developed in the course of many years, also against the belief in many gods ofthe surrounding nations of Israel. J.P.Arendzen says, “Their (Israelites) mind was sofirmly set on the defence of the unity of the Godhead in a polytheistic world, theiropposition to the multitudinous gods of the pagan pantheon was so fierce that the ideaof more than one person in God would naturally be alien to their mentality and theirmind be closed to any suggestion of it.” 27 Therefore Israel could not think of God asTrinity however we can cite in the Old Testament many instances of their addressing

God as father, Wisdom/Word and Spirit of God. Let us now examine how theTrinitarian understanding is foreshadowed in the Old Testament.When we observe the names that are used to call God in the Old Testament,they reveal to us the people’s relationship with God and vice versa. In the Hebraicculture the names of persons are selected very carefully because a name represents thewhole person to whom it is given. 28 Hence the names that we find the Old Testamentmostly represent the person’s essence. Likewise we find many names that are given toGod or by which the Hebrews call God representing the people’s experience with thedivine.Among the many names that are used to address God the most frequently usedname is YHWH and it is used 6800 times in the Old Testament both by itself and incompounds. 29 God is also addressed as ‘Father’ a little more than 20 times in the OldTestament. 30 In the Old Testament “Father” is not a name for God. 31 When God isaddressed, as ‘Father’ this does not mean that the Israelites are born to Him and theyare His real sons and daughters, but it is understood rather as a metaphor. 32 Further“Fatherhood attributed to God refers to God’s exclusive relationship with Israel as thechosen people.” 33 We can also find other texts which really express how God asFather dealt with the people of Israel and their meaning. The oldest text in which Godis addressed in relation to the people as Father is in the Song of Moses. 34 This textrefers to God’s covenantal relationship with the people established by His loving actof delivering Israel from captivity and restoring them as a nation and a free people.Through this God’s miraculous act in the history of Israel, the Israelites are calledGod’s children (Ex 4:22-23; Hos 11:1; Dt 32:18-19; Is 1:2; 30:1). In other words, Godis the one who as a human father protected the Israelites from slavery and distress,and thereby the Israelites experienced God as father. 35In the Old Testament we also find personifications of God as Wisdom, Word,and Spirit. The word that is used for ‘Wisdom’ in Hebrew is hokmah which occurs318 times in the Old Testament. We observe that Wisdom is personified in dignity

and power in the divine work of creation (Wis 6:16; 7:27; 8:1), providence, andsalvation. In the book of Job we witness how wisdom is precious (Job 28:15-19),quite beyond the reach of human beings (Job 28:12-14, 20-21) and accessible only toGod (Job 28:23-27). Therefore we observe Wisdom’s mysterious inaccessibility tohuman being. 36 “Begotten” or “Created” “long ago” as God’s firstborn (Prov 8:22),hokmah not only existed with God before everything else but also cooperated in thedivine work of creation (Prov 8:30-31).” 37The Word as personified (Wis 16:12; 18:15-16) like Wisdom is also with Godfrom the beginning (Gen 1:1-2; 4; Is 55:10-11; Ps 33:6, 8-9, 148:5; Sir 43:26) In theOld Testament Word is set in parallel with Wisdom (Wis 9:1-2) and Spirit (Judith16:14). Therefore as Wisdom is with God in the divine work of creation, providenceand salvation, the Word is also with God. Leonardo Boff says, “On the one hand theWord reveals the sovereignty of God, who creates everything through the Word; onthe other hand God shows himself to men and women as guidance, judgment,salvation, brought about through the power of the Word.” 38 Therefore the Word ofGod is both with God and closely in communion with the human community.The Spirit as ruah in Hebrew (pneuma in Greek) is used nearly 400 times inthe Old Testament. The Spirit also is seen in the creative, revelatory, and redemptiveactivity of God. At the time of Creation it hovered over the surface of the water (Gen1:2). In delivering the Word of God and the message of God the prophets wereempowered and possessed by the Spirit of God. Leonardo Boff says, “This power isseen in creation, in political leaders, in the prophets, and most obviously in theMessiah, the privileged bearer of the spirit (see Is 42:1-3; 61:1-2).” 39 Hence the Spiritof God is closely related to God and to the human community.In the Old Testament we observe Wisdom, Word and Spirit are usedsynonymously as God’s manifestation and powerful action in human historyespecially in the life of Israelites (Ps 33:6; 147:18; 104:29-30; Judith 16:14; Wis 9:17;1:4-5; 7:7; 22, 25; Deut 34:9; Job 32:8-9). Therefore it is clear that Wisdom, Wordand Spirit are involved with the human community in the divine activity not asabstract principles but as vivid personifications, which leads us to establish theunderstanding of God in the Old Testament as a tripersonal God. As Gerald O’Collins

ightly says, “The vivid personifications of Wisdom/Word and Spirit, in as much asthey were both identified with God and the divine activity and distinguished fromGod, opened up the way toward recognizing God to be tripersonal.” 40 Therefore wecan conclude by saying that the existence of and understanding of God as trinity isforeshadowed in the Old Testament. The mystery is foreshadowed but not expresslyrevealed in the Old Testament (Gen 1:26; 3:22; 11:7; Num 6:23-26, Is 6:1-9). It isonly in the New Testament that it is explicitly proclaimed (Mt 3:16; 10:20; 17:5;28:19; Lk 4:18; Jn 3:35; 15:26; 2Cor 13:13; 1Jn 5:7).2.2 The Triune God in the New TestamentThis truth is evident in the life and mission of Jesus Christ starting from thevirginal conception till his death and after his death and during the formation of theChristian community, the reality of the interpersonal relationship of the Trinity Father,Son and Spirit. In the New Testament texts (Jn 1:1-18; Heb 1:1-3) we find apreexistence of Jesus Christ before he was born as a (hu)man, as the One previouslywith God and is now “made flesh.” The virginal conception is the basis for us toacknowledge from our faith point of view the divine origin of Jesus and his identitywithout denying his true humanity. 41 After that at the baptism of Jesus (Mk 1:9-10;Mt 3:13-17; Lk 3:22) we find the clear sign and revelation of the Trinity. In theBaptism of Jesus the Father is the voice, the revealer, the obedient Son is the revealed,and the Spirit is the power which brings liberation. 42 Each synoptic writer views thisexperience of Jesus in the Baptism differently. Mark presents it as Jesus’ ownvisionary experience and personal hearing of a heavenly voice, whereas the other twosynoptic writers namely Mathew and Luke do not bother about Jesus’ innerexperience. In Luke we observe that the whole episode is narrated as a prayerexperience of Jesus. In the baptism Jesus was empowered by the Spirit to begin hisearthly ministry.During the public ministry of Jesus we realize how he was conscious of hissonship of the Father. Jesus always referred to God as his Father and to himself as HisSon. Jesus never said that he is the Son of God but always as ‘the Son’ (Mt.11:25-30;Lk 10:21-22). His consciousness as the Son reveals his unique sonship of God theFather, and thereby this mutual relationship furthermore reveals that Jesus alone

knows God fully and really (Mt 11:27). 43 We have seen in the above subtitle that Godis addressed as Father only 20 times. Whereas in the case of Jesus we find that healways addressed God as his Father/abba in a more filial and familiar manner. “Evenif abba was not merely a child’s address to its male parent, Jesus evidently spoke ofand with God as his Father in a direct, familial way that was unique, or at least highlyunusual, in Palestinian Judaism.” 44 The spontaneous prayer that Jesus taught hisdisciples (Mt 6:9-13; Lk 11:2-4) is obviously from his unique experience of God asAbba. Here in these two and other passages (Mt 11:25-26; 16:17) Jesus’ address toGod as Father stands for the original Abba. “Altogether in the synoptic Gospels(excluding merely parallel cases), Jesus speaks of “Father”, “my (heavenly) Father”,“your (heavenly) Father” or “our Father” 51 times.” 45Another distinct aspect that we observe in the sonship of God is that Jesusmaintained till the end that his sonship of God was unique and not equivalent to oursonship of God despite his acceptance of us as his brothers and sisters. Further, Jesusexplicitly called those who did God’s will his brother and sister and mother, but nothis father (Mk 3:31-35; Mt 12:46-50; Lk 8:19-21). Furthermore Jesus distinguishedour relationship with God the Father by saying ‘my father’ (Jn 10:29) and ‘yourfather’ (Jn 8:42) by which this relationship reflects that Jesus’ sonship and ours ofGod is not identical. 46 Jesus invited everyone: his disciples and his hearers to enterinto this new relationship with God as Father depending on his filial relationship withhis father (Mt 6:7-13; Lk 11: 1-4; 22:29-30).Jesus revealed his unique experience of God as Abba 47 Father and himself asthe Son. Jesus also reveals the Holy Spirit, Leonardo Boff says, “More than in hiswords, it is in Jesus’ actions and his liberating practice that the Holy Spirit is revealed.His own references to the Spirit are few (see Mk 3:28-30; Jn 14:16ff), but this doesnot mean that the reality of the Spirit is not made plain throughout.” 48 This we find inthe very incarnation of the Son (Lk 1:35; Mt 1:20), during the baptism (Mk 1:9-11; Lk3:21-22; Jn 1:32-33), while launching his messianic programme (Lk 4:18), the powerand authority of Jesus in his performing miracles and liberating works (Mk 3:20-30;5:30; Mt 12:28). Besides Jesus’ revelation of God as Father and himself as Son and

the experience of the Spirit, the Holy Spirit himself reveals the Father and the Son.The Holy Spirit leads us to and deepens our experience of the Trinity. 49The ‘triadic formulas’ that we find in the New Testament help us to note howthe early Christian community experienced God as Father, Son and Spirit and also thedevelopment of their faith in the Trinity. Leonardo Boff cites along with the Pauline(Gal 3:11-14; 2Cor 1:21-22; 3:3; Rom 14:17-18; 15:16, 30; Phil 3:3; Eph 2:18; 3:14-17) 50 and other New Testament (Titus 3:4-6; 1 Pet 1:2; Jude 20:21; Rev 1:4-5; Heb6:4) 51 triadic formulas, four triadic formulas as foundational ones which directly makemention of the Trinity. They are: (a) Mt 28:19 52 reveals how a Christian throughbaptism is introduced to live in the Trinitarian communion. 53 (b) 2Cor 13:13 54 hasbeen widely used in the liturgy and the celebrations of the early Church. In this textgrace, love and fellowship that guide our Christian living show how we participate inthe Trinitarian communion. Three distinct persons refer to various aspects of Christianlife. (c) 2 Thess 2:13-14 55 verses show how in Paul’s mind that everything is builtaround the three sources of grace and salvation: the Father, the Son and the HolySpirit. (d) 1Cor 12:4-6 56 explains how the ministries, those undertaken in the Christiancommunity centered on the Trinity.2.3 Development of the Trinitarian Communion in the Church DocumentsThe God who revealed himself in the Old Testament is YHWH. The basicexperience that developed in the Israelite community of YHWH as the Almighty Godwas their deliverance from the Egyptian slavery. The polytheistic understanding ofGod among the surrounding nations is another significant factor that influenced Israelto develop her monotheistic understanding of YHWH. Therefore Israel believed inand worshipped the One Godhead.In the early Christian community Jesus was experienced as the Lord andSaviour (Rom 10:9). The whole Christian community was centered, built upon andlived on the person of Jesus Christ, his message, and life. Jesus Christ wasworshipped by the Christian community on the basis of his resurrection event. Jesus’

faith.” 58 The early Christians were faced with the fact of the Trinity in their lives. Manyunique experience of God as Abba is the generating source for Christians to ventureinto the understanding of and belief in the Old Testament understanding of GodYHWH. Here comes the problem of having two gods.The Trinity is a mystery. As a mystery nobody can fully explore or understandit 57 but rather one can experience it. It has to be recognized that the Trinitariandoctrine arose as the spontaneous expression of the Christian experience. The earlyChristians knew themselves to be reconciled to God the Father, and that thereconciliation was secured for them by the atoning work of the Son, and that it wasmediated to them as an experience by the Holy Spirit. Thus the Trinity was for them afact before it became a doctrine, but in order to preserve it in the creedal faith of theChurch the doctrine had to be formulated. As Walter Kasper rightly sums up withregard to the how of the doctrine of Trinity, “The doctrine of the Trinity seeks,therefore, to reconcile the Trinitarian statements of scripture and tradition, to bring tolight their internal harmony and logic, and thus to make them plausible in the eyes ofChristian intellectuals and Fathers of the Church made attempts to understand it andarticulate it as a doctrine in a more palpable way to the common woman and man butfailed because of its depth in itself and its inexhaustible inaccessibility for humanknowledge. Hence many Christian intellectuals understood the mystery of the Trinityand at the same time misunderstood it as well. Thereby heresies 59 surfaced whichwere refuted by the Fathers of the Church. However through the heresies the need ofthe times the evolution of the understanding of the doctrine of the Trinity has comeinto existence. Based on inspiration and guidance from God, the Church hasformulated the official doctrine 60 which remains as the norm and way for our beliefand faith in the Triune god.The whole question in the patristic period was with regard to ‘the Oneness (inthe West) and the real distinction of the three persons (in the East).’ 61 Many falseinterpretations and concepts emerged in their discussion over these truths; therebyheresies developed and the Church corrected the heretics and set right doctrine of the

Trinity. The development of the Trinitarian doctrine took nearly 150 years from thesecond century until the Council of Constantinople 381. The discussions andconclusions on the triune God delved into the formulation of both the doctrine of theTrinity and the doctrine concerning “Christ as Son of God consubstantial with theFather,” 62 beginning with Pope Dionysius (259-268), who strikes the correct balancebetween ‘the distinction of the divine persons and their unity and equality’ 63 until theCouncil of Constantinople (381).The Council of Nicaea (325) finally decided and spelled out the Christian faithin Triune God. 64 It condemned of Arius’ heresy ‘Subordinationism.’ 65 Based on theCouncil’s declaration Leonardo Boff has drawn four conclusions: faith in the TriuneGod is expressed, the Triune God’s relation is defined, the word hypostasis is used assynonymous with ousia or substance but later it is used as synonymous with prosoponi.e., “person” and “finally the Holy Spirit is mentioned without any objectivedescription”. 66 Therefore much of the formation of the doctrine of the Trinity wasdeveloped by the Council of Nicaea from which the Church later developed alongwith the doctrine of Trinity also Christology. Based on the Nicaean Creed the Councilof Constantinople (381) 67 completed the doctrine of the Trinity, in which the councilfathers stated the unity of substance or nature between the three with equal clarity andprocession of the Holy Spirit from the Father. The clause ‘and the Son’, was added inthe Council of Toledo (589) and Florence (1442) (Filioque). At the Council of Romein the “Tome of Damasus” (382) the divinity of the Son and of the Spirit is explainedand clarified. Later on until Vatican II many heresies evolved and were condemnedwith regard to the understanding of the Trinity the relations, distinction, essence, andpersonhood and they were condemned, leading to the correct way of understandingthe Trinity. Vatican II has not entered into the heresies in particular but declared thatthe unity of the Church (people) derives from the unity of the Father, the Son, and theHoly Spirit (LG 2-4; AG 2-4) and that the Trinitarian life is the model and source of“the interpersonal relations in human society (GS 24). 68 From the above discussionon the formulation of the doctrine of the Trinity we move on to the relations of the

Trinitarian life in a more detailed way to draw the source for communion with Godand among ourselves.2.4 The Triune God’s Relationship as PersonsThe God whom we believe in is a living God (Ps 18:46). S/he is the source oflife (Ps 36:9) and the life giver (Gen 2:7). Our supreme goal is to enter into and sharein the life of God (cf.1 Pet 1:4). The living God enters into human history andestablishes a relationship based on love, peace and justice with humans.The highest revelation in Scripture is that the absolute mystery is acommunion of persons 69 - a radical relativity, an absolute intercommunion. Scripturereveals to us the relationship between Father, Son and the Spirit. It is an absoluteloving relationship; it cannot be understood except in terms of personal relationship.‘We are created in the image and likeness of God, the Trinity. We are images of thecommunity therefore we are persons.’ We are related to one another in society. Weare not individual entities but rather relational. Our existence is possible in ourrelation to others. As Catherine Mowry LaCugna says, “A person is thus not anindividual but an open and ecstatic reality, referred to others for his or herexistence.” 70 Therefore each “person as relation-to-another is the basic given ofexistence, experience, and identity.” 71 Adding to this D.John Zizioulas affirms that thevery notion of being itself is relational. He says, “The notion of ‘being’ itself isrelational, ‘to be and to be in relation becomes identical.” 72 Therefore our very beingis in relation to others and we are related to others. Hence God, who is Triune innature and essence, is the highest form and perfect model of all relationships.The Triune God forms, as persons in their relation to one another, a perfectcommunity. As persons Father, Son and Holy Spirit are not separate but are distinct,in the sense that in the being of God there are not three individuals, but three personalself-distinctions within the one divine essence. The three persons are in eternalcommunion, interrelatedness, oneness. Unity of communion is due to the Father asgiving or surrendering everything to the Son and the Spirit except that which cannotbe surrendered, that is the Fatherhood. And the Son surrendering everything to Fatherand Spirit except which cannot be surrendered is his surrenders everything to theFather and the Spirit except that which cannot be surrendered i.e., his Sonhood. And

in the same way the Holy Spirit surrenders everything to the Son and the Fatherexcept which cannot be surrendered i.e., his Spirithood. Hence they are related as Oneand at the same time they are distinct. 73The Trinity as persons relate to one another in love, fraternity and equality.Though they are distinct from one another yet they live in perfect harmony, fidelity,peace and unity. They live in interpenetration of one another. Their union is expressedas an eternal perichoresis i.e., “each person contains the other two; each onepenetrates the others and is penetrated by them, one lives in the other and viceversa.”74 Theirs is not a static relationship being in one another but a dynamicrelationship i.e., an active interpenetration of one another. 75 Further they are acommunity of equals, a community of love and community for justice. Thefoundation of perichoresic relationship is the mutual surrender of the Father, the Sonand the Holy Spirit. 76 In this way the Father gives everything to the Son except hisFatherhood. In the same way the Son gives everything to the Father except hisSonship. Likewise the Holy Spirit gives everything to the Father and the Son excepthis Spirithood. Therefore we acknowledge in the Triune God’s relationships theperfect equal, love and just community. We will explore further the relationships inthe Triune God.2.4.1. Community of EqualsCommunity always comprises of persons. In human communities we observealways and everywhere inequality based on characters, personality, caste, race,gender, language, economic, social, ethnic dimensions. But within the Godhead thereis perfect equality and the persons are equal in all spheres. The community of theTriune God is a community of equals. They are equal in all ways: “the Father, the Sonand the Holy Spirit have one Godhead, one might, one majesty, one power, one glory,one Lordship, one Kingdom, one will and truth.” 77 The Father is God, the Son is Godand the Holy Spirit is God; they are not three gods but one God. In essence (ousia),nature and dignity as persons they are equal.There is perfect equality in nature and dignity between the Persons.Fatherhood belongs to the very essence of the first Person and it was so from all

eternity. It is a personal property of God “from whom every family in heaven and onearth is named” (Eph 3:15). The Son is called the ‘only-begotten’ may be to suggestuniqueness rather than derivation. Christ always claimed for himself a uniquerelationship to God as Father (Abba), and the Jews who listened to him apparently hadno illusions about his claims. Indeed they sought to kill him because he “called Godhis ‘own Father’, making himself equal with God” (Jn 5:18). The Spirit is revealed asthe One who alone knows the depths of God’s nature: “For the Spirit searcheseverything, even the depths of God…No one comprehends the thoughts of God exceptthe Spirit of God” (1Cor 2:10f). This implies that the Spirit is “just God himself in theinnermost essence of his being’. This puts the seal of the New Testament teachingupon the doctrine of the equality of the three Persons. Adding further to this LeonardoBoff, while discussing the equality that exists in the Trinity and the relationship thatdevelop the Trinitarian community, says “In the three persons, nothing is anterior,superior, greater, lesser or posterior. They are co-eternal, co-almighty. The reasonadduced by the magisterium is that the unity of nature, substance or essence is sharedby all three. Because of this one nature, each of the Persons is wholly in others,penetrates and is penetrated by the others.” 78 Therefore all the three persons in theTrinity are equal in everything and equality exists in them from all eternity. Love isthe foundation for this equality.2.4.2. Community of LoveThe highest revelation in Scripture is that the absolute mystery is acommunion of persons – a radical relativity, an absolute intercommunion. Scripturereveals to us the relationship between Father, Son and the Spirit. “God is a mystery oflove, Trinitarian love. The Father loves the Son in the bond of the Holy Spirit, who istheir reciprocal love.” 79 It is an absolute loving relationship; it cannot be understoodexcept in terms of personal relationship. We are called to enter into this lovingrelationship of and to live in communion with the Trinitarian communion by ourhaving been created in the image and likeness of God. 80Love is possible only among persons. 81 We are persons by birth itself arerelated with one another. A person in a family is related first of all with her/hisparents, then with her/his siblings and with the whole community. This relationship is

mostly built upon love which in a way leads us to commune with the other persons inthe community, and thereby a bond of love among the persons in a communitydevelops. The aspect of love in a person grows out of freedom. Each person is relatedto others in love by her/his free will in a family and community. “A person is one wholoves in freedom,” 82 says Karl Barth. Therefore love is a binding force, the unitingelement which remains at the centre and foundation level of human relationships.Love is an essential principle that we observe in the relationship of the Triune God.God is love (1Jn 4:8, 16). This text of the evangelist John reveals the essenceof the Godhead that is love. Walter Kasper relying on the significance of this text inour communion in love with the Triune God says, “Only because God is love can hereveal and communicate himself to us as love.” 83 Therefore the primordial aspect thatunites and remains in the Godhead is love. The Trinitarian community is based onlove. Love is the very basic characterization of God, a binding relationship and apowerful dimension of God’s nature that unites the Godhead. 84God always expressed his love to humanity beginning with the election of theIsraelites as his own people, by making a covenantal relationship with them and bybeing faithful to his promises to them as their God. God has all the more explicitlyshown his love for us by sending his Son to save us while we were sinners (1Jn 4:9-10). Jesus Christ who experienced the love of God in a unique way on this earthaddressed God as abba. 85 We are all invited to share this unconditional love of God 86through Jesus Christ. Further Jesus suffered and died for the expiation of our sins(1Tim 2:5-6) and has drawn us to enjoy the lost love of God. The Paraclete, whoproceeds from the Father and the Son, is himself a gift of love. He inspires andgenerates love within us so that we can take part in the Trinitarian community of love.In this way the whole of humanity is included in this community of love, the Trinity.This community of love generates standing for justice for the victims of unjustsocietal structures in this world.2.4.3. Community of JusticeThe very nature, essence and character of the Triune God is love. God’s lovefor us was clearly shown in liberating the Israelites and us through Jesus from sinful

unjust structures. This is because God loves us. As Philip Land says, “Lovetransforms justice from within. More fundamentally, the doing of justice stems fromthe fundamental option for God who loves me and wants me to love others as Godloves them, and out of this love to give them full due in the community of socialliving.” 87 Therefore the love of God that is there in the Godhead necessarily motivatesus to be involved in doing justice to the oppressed. As partakers in the love of God weChristians, as persons in the community, need to do the work of justice and lead a justlife. The response and approach of a person towards oppression, is not ‘I think’ but ‘Ido’, and this immediately gets involved us with others in a social life, in a universewhich is structured in terms of relations. 88 Hence, “Justice means, firstly, giving everyhuman what is due to him/her. What we are bound to do or to give in justicesomething that is not our own, but belongs rightly to the other person.” 89 The TriuneGod who is liberator of the oppressed from economic, social, political and religiousunjust structures, is a community for justice.God the Father is the liberator of the oppressed and is against any injusticedone to people. “In the Old Testament God reveals Himself to us as the liberator ofthe oppressed and the defender of the poor, demanding from human faith in Him andjustice towards human’s neighbour. It is only in the observance of the duties of justicethat God is truly recognized as the liberator of the oppressed.” 90 In the Old TestamentGod as Father is seen as the one who frees the people from bondage, and is the refugeand protector of the devout, deserted, and sinners. 91 Jesus Christ, begotten of theFather, who experienced God as abba, preached: 92 the Good News to the poor, thevalues of the Kingdom of God (through parables 93 and miracles). He showedinclusiveness of all in his table fellowship 94 and finally died for our sins to save usfrom the bondage of sin. The Holy Spirit who proceeds from the Father and the Sonhelps us in establishing justice and fellowship in the Church and society. Hence theTriune community which is of justice is related to and involved in the liberativeactivities of the oppressed in the human community.

Son Jesus Christ (Jn 3:16-17). God’s call always expects from us a proper response, acommitment and a dynamic involvement in his plan. For us Christians, fellowshipwith his Son our Lord Jesus Christ is the goal of God’s call. We are called by theFather to participate in or to share in the spiritual blessings and salvation that areavailable in his Son. The communion with the Son implies with immediate effect oursonship of the Father. This sonship of the Father is not hereditary as in the juridicalline but it is the free choice and election of God the Father who adopted us. Paulunderstands Christian filiation in God through Jesus Christ in the same manner (Rom9:4). Our life of sonship is expressed concretely in our life of faith in Christ (Gal3:26). Our communion with the Son has both a present aspect and a future aspect. Inthe present life it begins and grows and reaches its final consummation in the futurei.e., in the Parousia. This communion with the Son leads us to have a communionwith one another as daughters and sons of the same God.2.5.3 Communion in God the Holy Spirit“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion(fellowship) of the Holy Spirit be with all of you” (2Cor 13:13). The call of God theFather to koinonia with the Son can be responded to only on the level on which theSpirit moves and prepares one for such a response. Moreover, the very fact of ourbecoming the children in the Son is to be attributed to the Spirit, as the entire Chapter8 of Romans proves. “Romans 8 is completely dedicated to the radiant description ofthe life in the Spirit, which eradicates from the Christian everything that is carnal,makes of humans loving children of God, heirs of God and co-heirs of Christ, andmakes them hope for the eternal glory and everything that brings them towards it andmakes them more than conquerors in the midst of tribulations.” 98It is in the Spirit that we become partakers of Christ and we become afellowship among ourselves. 99 Perichoresis in the Trinity corresponds to theexperience of the Christian community which the Spirit unites. Moltmann says, “Themore open mindedly people live with one another, for one another and in one anotherin the fellowship of the Spirit, the more they will become one with the Son and theFather, and one in the Son and the Father (Jn 17:21).” 100 Further, our baptism is thedecisive moment of this fellowship, which is effected by the working of the Holy

Spirit himself. 101 Thereby our communion in the Spirit will reflect the perichoresiccommunion of the Triune God.3. Trinity as the God of CommunionThe Trinity as mystery is revealed to us through the Bible. Many theologianswho have explored this mystery come across many concepts, understandings anddefinitions which have deepened the growth of faith in God. Despite rigorous attemptsmade in this regard to understand the Trinitarian mystery, there still remains anambiguity and inadequacy in defining this unfathomable reality. Yet the Triune God isrevealing and communicating to us through the Word of God and the teaching of theChurch, to some extent the mystery of Trinitarian communion.Based on the revelation of God as Father, God as Son, and God as Holy Spiritwe believe in the doctrine of Trinity. We proceed with the ‘Economic Trinity’ i.e., therevelation of God as Triune in human history and realize the existence of the TriuneGod within the Godhead i.e., ‘Immanent Trinity’, which in a way lays the foundationfor our faith in the Triune God. Then the modern understanding of the Trinity asPersons who live in “eternal perichoresis, being one in the others, through the others,with the others and for the others,” 102necessarily leads us to reflect on theinterpenetration of persons with one another in the community. This presentunderstanding of God as Persons distinguishes us from the understanding of theTriune God as three gods and helps us to believe in God the Father, God the Son, andGod the Holy Spirit as persons who are distinct and in communion with one another.This understanding of the Triune God as persons and their eternal perichoresis willmotivate us to commit ourselves for the liberation of the oppressed in our society.3.1 Foundation of Communion EcclesiologyGoing back to the original experience of the Church during the first threecenturies of its life, Joseph Kallarangatt says,The theological slogan ‘going back to the source (ressourcement)’ enablesthe theologians to re-establish the original nature of the Church ascommunion. During the first millennium, the Church was primarilyunderstood as a sacramental and spiritual reality. The one Church of God wasa communion of ‘saints’ realized in the communion of churches…Theexpression ‘church as communion’ concretely materializes this ‘return to thevery ancient, original and primordial character of the Church of God. This is

the principle of perestroika, reconstruction, and re-structuring, that thecouncil has made of. 103Hence the need of going back to the original experience of the Early Church isour task to rebuild the Church of today based on the Triune God’s communion that theApostles experienced.3.2 Significant Factors of CommunionWhile explaining the contents necessary for Catholic communionecclesiology, Dennis M. Doyle combines different views and understanding of someauthors and the theological points of views 104 and draws some conclusions. 105 It isunderstood from his conclusions that the communion builds the relationship betweenGod and human beings and among human beings themselves. The human personwhose dignity and freedom are mostly dependent upon his interpersonal relationshipwith God and with his fellow human persons is important in society. As B.C. Butlerrightly says, “Human personhood grows towards its own perfection in thedevelopment of personal relations and particularly in the development fromrelatedness as a fact to interpersonal relationships in which that relatedness is morefully ‘lived’.” 106 The aspect of interpersonal relationship is emphasized in the biblicalunderstanding of ‘communion’ with God and human beings and among human beingsthemselves. As Joseph Kallarangatt says, “Koinonia is not a mere image or model ofthe Church. It is a theological principle which is indicative of a profound biblicalspirituality, Eucharistic centrality and internal life.” 1073.3 Understanding of Communion in the BibleThe faith of the whole Christian community in God stems both from the Wordof God and teaching of the Church. The Word of God remains the source of ourChristian living. We shall examine how the aspect of communion in the Church isemphasized in the Bible.3.3.1. Communion of the People in the Old TestamentThe Greek word koinonia cognate with the Hebrew word haber refers to therelationship of humans with other humans. G.V. Jourdain observes, “Nowhere in theOld Testament had any mention of a God-human fellowship. In Jewish literature

koinonia took the place of Hebrew haber and like it, was descriptive of the bondwhich existed among worshippers of God. It is noticeable that haber had to do withthe relationship of human to human. But nowhere in the Old Testament does haberand its cognates ever connote the relationship of (hu)man to God.” 108It is also used on occasion to indicate the union among gods and humanbeings, but never with God (Yahweh). This act of union with gods or fellowship withgods is considered adultery against God, and is religiously offensive (Hos 4:17; Is44:11; 1Cor 10:18, 20). Another aspect of Old Testament findings is “…that neitherhaber nor koinon is used for the relation to God, as it is often in the Greek world.Here is expressed the sense of distance which the righteous Israelite feels from God,as distinct from the Greek. The righteous woman/man of the Old Testament regardshimself as haber in a relationship of trust. But s/he never regards himself as the haberof God.” 109 However, in the Israelite sacrifices and the sacrificial meal we find asacral fellowship between God and human being. 110 This is because of the influenceof existing cultic traditions of the other nations living along with the Israelites.Through the righteous Israelites keeps her/his distance from God, the idea offellowship with God is known to the Israelites.3.3.2. Communion of the People in the New TestamentIn the New Testament we find the word group koinon (genitive plural ofkoinos) used in different aspects, and meanings denoting its richness in relation to ourChristian living. The word group koinon is used mainly by Paul to express ourfellowship with God through Jesus in the Holy Spirit, which in turn certainly leads usto fellowship among ourselves. The word koinon is used in Lk 5:10 expressingpartnership in work or also legal partnership. Human nature that is received is underbondage and it needs to be liberated. Christ entered into full communion with humannature to liberate us from the mortality that we shared with our first parents (Heb2:14; 2Pet 1:4).Paul’s usage of the term koinon has a religious content. He employs it for thereligious communion of the believer in Christ and in Christian blessings, and for themutual fellowship of the believers. According to Paul we are called to fellowship withthe Son (1Cor 1:9). This calling is seen in two aspects, both as present reality and as a

future one. It is present because our fellowship with the son begins now and growsand it comes to its complete consummation in the future i.e., in the Parousia. Paulincorporates this fellowship with our participation in the Lord’s Supper (1Cor10:16ff), where we have fellowship with the body and blood of Christ and with ourfellow human beings. Christian fellowship necessarily leads to communion with otherChristians, to the mutual fellowship of members of the community. This gives us agood basis for understanding how God enters into our interpersonal relationshipsthrough Jesus Christ, and perfects our interpersonal relationships.We proceed to the understanding of Communion in Vatican II and other ecclesiasticalpost – conciliar documents. In these documents too we find the Church’s emphasis onhuman beings relationship with God and among human beings’ themselves, and alsoamong the Christian communities themselves.3.3.3 Understanding of Communion in the Church DocumentsCommunion is an essential aspect that we find in Vatican II documents,without which it is difficult to understand Vatican II documents. As K.McDonnellsays, “Koinonia is the central theme of Vatican II and already much has been writtenon this. It is impossible to speak of any ecclesiological theme without connecting itwith the aspect of koinonia. It is an integral, all-pervading and multivalent category inthe documents of Vatican II.” 111There is a clear shift in Vatican II’s understanding of the Church which movesfrom the institutional, juridical and hierarchical aspect to the communion aspect. AsAvery Dulles says, “Instead of a mere universalistic, western, papal, sacral, hierarchic,monolithic, polemic and juridical ecclesiology, Vatican II brings out the revolutionarynotion of the Church as communion.” 112 We find the same understanding in NihalAbeyasingha, who says, “the Church opted to describe herself as ‘a kind of sacramentor sign of intimate union with God and of the unity of all humankind’ (LG 1). Thisoption marked a definite shift from a juridical ecclesiology to an ecclesiology ofcommunion…Thus the institutional and the juridical would be at the service of thevital and contribute towards growth and communion.” 113 He proceeds from this optionof Vatican II to explain the twofold dimensions of the Church envisaged in Vatican IIas vertical and horizontal. He says, “The communion envisaged by Vatican II has

twofold dimension: the one vertical, participation in the life of the Trinity, whichtransforms men into a new creation; the other horizontal, which is a fruit andconsequence of this participation and transformation, constituting men into onepeople, one family, one fellowship.” 114 The dimensions of vertical and horizontalcommunion envisioned by Vatican II highlights the aspect of human interpersonalrelationships. The same aspect of communion is stated in Ecclesia in Asia (24) thatonce a human person has a vertical communion with God that would enhance one’shorizontal communion with the others.3.4. Dimensions of Communion Ecclesiology in the Church DocumentsThe five dimensions of communion ecclesiology, divine, mystical,sacramental, historical and social, are brought out in the documents of the Church. Inthe divine dimension the relationship with the Trinity is expressed. Another word forcommunion is love. Chapter five of Lumen Gentium, on the universal call to holiness,finds love to be at the heart of what the Church is. Love is described in terms of aTrinitarian spirituality that seeks the will of the Father, the path of the Son, and theprompting of the Holy Spirit. In the Mystical dimension the relationship with God andwith fellow humans both living and dead, is expressed. The Church is the Mysticalbody of Christ and a communion of saints (LG chapter 8). The Church’s sacramentaldimension is found in the very first paragraph of Lumen Gentium. Section eight goeson to say that the Church has visible and invisible elements, which unite to form onemysterious reality. The relationship between the local churches (dioceses) and theChurch universal is spelled out sacramentally in the connection with the ongoingpresence of Christ and in connection with the Eucharist (SC 2; LG 23). In thehistorical dimension we find a great shift in the Church’s self-understanding fromexclusive to inclusive. In the image of the People of God along with the Catholics,other denominations, and the whole humanity at large are included in the Church. InUnitatis Redintegratio, the Church is first described historically and organically as acommunion in Christ and the Spirit. In the social dimension we find the Church’srecognition and acceptance of the dignity and freedom of all humanity (DignitatisHumanae 1). In the first chapter of Gaudum et Spes the Church speaks of howChristians and all others share the same joys and hopes, the same sorrows andanxieties. It says “God has a parent’s care for every individual and has willed that all

should constitute a single family, treating one another as brothers and sisters” (GS24). In this document the Council calls first for solidarity with all human beings and acommunion between women and men and a basic human solidarity in Christ (GS 32).This solidarity and communion is more clearly explained in Ecclesia in Asia (24) byquoting both from Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Christifideles Laici and LumenGentium, that ‘at the heart of the mystery of the Church is the bond of communionwhich unites Christ the Bridegroom to all the baptized. Through this living and lifegivingcommunion, “Christians no longer belong to themselves but are the Lord’svery own.” (Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Christifideles Laici [December 301988], 18: AAS 81 91989), 421). United to the Son in the Spirit’s bond of love,Christians are united to the Father, and from this communion flows the communionwhich Christians share with one another through Christ in the Holy Spirit (LG 4, EA24). Therefore the communion that is emphasized in the Church document Ecclesia inAsia is on three levels: Communion within the human person, Communion among theChristians which flows from the communion with the Father, the Son Jesus Christ,and the Holy Spirit, and finally communion with the whole human race (EA 24-25). 115Communion is the main thrust of Vatican II and its aftermath. This we haveconsidered until now and this communion has its roots in the Triune God, who is themodel for our communion both in the Church and Society, with God and humanbeings, and among human beings themselves. Our understanding of the Trinitariancommunion and its inspiration motivates us to enter into this communion toexperience the love of God and the neighbour.ConclusionHuman life in a community or a society grows in relationship with one’sparents, family members, neighbours and other human beings. Human beings do notlive an isolated life but a communitarian life. This is a web of interpersonalrelationships from which each human person accumulates her/his personality andgrows as a person. Therefore each person in the community is related to the otherpersons. Human life grows in the soil of interpersonal relationships whence the life ofcommunion/fellowship develops from it. Thereby a person learns about the other andenters into the other’s life and establishes fellowship with the other. This takes placenot by learning the facts of that person’s past or present life but by “seeing with the

‘eyes of the heart’ who that person is, grasping through love and ongoing relationshiphis or her ineffable and inexhaustible mystery. The more intimate our knowledge ofanother, the more we are drawn to that person’s unique mystery, and the deeper thatmystery becomes.” 116 The Christian experience understands the mystery of humanrelationships as based on our experience of God as communion of the three PersonsFather, Son and Holy Spirit.Our experience in the world and in the Church necessarily impels us to explorethe mystery of God to find meaning for our lives and the goal of our lives. When wereflect on our understanding of the Trinitarian communion we realize that there is ameaningful way out. Our life as a reflection of the Trinitarian perichoresis reflects ourinterpenetration in our lives with others, and the whole created universe, and itremains as a model for our affected interpersonal relationships in our society. Fromthis basic understanding of Trinity as persons we move on to see how this Trinitariancommunion as source and model to unite us in our interpersonal relationships withone another, with others, and with the universe. It is from here that an egalitariansociety is established for including everyone as persons with equal dignity and equalright to love and to be loved as human persons. While professing faith in the Trinitywe are one but in practicing our faith we are divided. Therefore “…mutual love,humility and self-offering, which has God the Father as its foundation with the Son,and the Spirit, is what provides the model for human community,” 117 which willenlighten, inspire and lead us into an egalitarian society where equality, justice andlove are practiced.Notes:1. Daniel W. Hardy, “Church,” The Oxford Companion to Christian Thought, ed., AdrianHastings, (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000), 118.2. Ibid.3. The terms ‘Local Church’ and ‘Individual Church’ are also often used to refer to a diocese.One observes much ambiguity in the use and understanding of terms: Particular, Local andIndividual Church in the conciliar documents. Vatican II almost always identifies ecclesiaparticularis with a diocese that includes a portion of the people of God entrusted to a bishop

and the presbyterate for pastoral care. The Revised Code of Canon Law invariably uses‘Particular Church’ to denote a diocese (cf.CCL.368-374).4. Raimundo Panikkar, The Trinity and the Religious Experience of Man: Icon-Person-Mystery(New York: Orbis Books, 1973), 42.5. J.M.R.Tillard, Flesh of the Church, Flesh of Christ, At the Source of Ecclesiology ofCommunion (Minnesota: The Liturgical Press, 1992), 1.6. John D.Zizioulas, Being as Communion (New York: St.Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1985), 17.7. J.M.R.Tillard, Flesh of the Church, Flesh of Christ, At the Source of Ecclesiology ofCommunion, 1-12.8. Jacob Parappally, “Communion Among Individual Churches: A Theological Reflection”Vidyajyoti Vol. 59, No.11 (November 1995), 755.9. John D. Zizioulas, Being as Communion (New York: St.Vladimir’s Seminary Press 1985), 17.10. Jacob Parappally, “Communion Among The Individual Churches: A Theological Reflection”,753.11. Ernest Skublics, “Communion Ecclesiology: The Church As Sacramentum Mundi,” in One inChrist Vol. 34, No. 2, (1988), 129.12. Ernest Skublics, “Communion Ecclesiology: The Church As Sacramentum Mundi,” 129-130.13. Ibid., also cf. R.Gilsdorf, “Koinonia: Communion or Fellowship.” Gilsdorf writes about thedivine communion as follows; “The relational acts…constitute the essence of this divinecommunion, which thereby constitutes a community of three persons: this is the Trinity, acommunity of three co-equal, co-eternal Persons, possessing one undivided, limitless life, oneEssence, one Existence, related together in the bonds of infinite Truth and Love.” pp. 25-32.14. Susan K.Wood, “The Church as Communion,” The Gift of the Church: A Textbook onEcclesiology, ed., Peter C.Phan (Minnesota: The Liturgical Press, 2000), 160.15. B.C.Butler, The Church and Unity (London: Geoffrey Chapman, 1979) 38.16. Ibid., 36-37.17. Thomas Marsh, The Triune God: A Biblical, Historical, and Theological Study (Connecticut:Twenty-Third Publications, 1994), 9.18. Walter Kasper, The God of Jesus Christ (London: SCM Press, 1984), 223.19. Catherine Mowry LaCugna, God For Us. The Trinity and Christian Life (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1991), 1.20. George H.Tavard, The Vision of the Trinity (Washington: University Press of America, 1981),93.21. Catherine Mowry LaCugna, God For Us: The Trinity and Christian Life, 1.22. Ernest Skublics, “Communion Ecclesiology: The Church As Sacramentum Mundi,” 129.23. Ibid., 128.24. Ibid., 129. He writes, “Baptism constitutes the individual as person and member of the Body,the communion. Chrismation/confirmation fills out a number of meanings in thisincorporation, and the Eucharist completes it. Penance/reconciliation restores that communionof it should be lost or broken, and the anointing of the sick brings healing (whole-making) toit. Holy orders of course assign a place and function to a person in and for the sake of theBody, while matrimony images and sacramentalizes the very reality of the Church for aspecific couple and family. Each and every sacrament is a particular moment of bestowing,restoring or enhancing communion, and thereby being, life and salvation.”25. Leonardo Boff, Trinity and Society, Trans. Paul Burns, (New York: Orbis Books, 1986), 25-26.26. J.P.Arendzen, The Holy Trinity: A Theological Treatise for Modern Layman (London: Seed &Ward, 1937), 38.27. J.P. Arendzen, The Holy Trinity: A Theological Treatise for Modern Layman (London: Seed& Ward, 1937), 33.28. “In other words the name represented the person. To know the name meant to know theperson, to know his very essence…Thus the name was not only a picture of the (hu)man whoowned it; it was in sense a representation of that (hu)man, a reflexion of him/her, his/her alterego, separable from him/her, yet of meaningless without the (hu)man to whom the namebelonged (Deut 7:24, 9:14; Ps 109:13; Prov 10:7; Is 56:5).” G.A.F. Knight, A BiblicalApproach to the Doctrine of the Trinity (London: Oliver and Boyd, 1957), 12.29. “In the Old Testament scriptures, God is known through many names, above all through thepersonal name of YHWH (e.g.,Ex 3:14; 6:6-8), the most sacred of names that is used about6800 times in the Old Testament, both by itself or in compounds like YHWH Malak (“King”:e.g., Ps 93:1). God is also generically known as El (“divinity”), as in El Shaddai (“God, the

One of the Mountain(s)”: e.g., Ex 6:3; Nm 24:4,16), the intensified plural Elohim (“divineGod”; e.g., Gn 1:1), and El Elyon (“God Most High”).” Gerald O’Collins, The Personal God:Understanding and Interpreting the Trinity (New York: Paulist Press, 1999), 13.30. Thomas Marsh, The Triune God: A Biblical, Historical, and Theological Stud, (Connecticut:Twenty-Third Publications, 1994), 29.31. Rather “in Jewish revelation Fatherhood appeared as a quality or attribute of God.” JeanGalot, Abba Father, We Long to See Your Face: Theological Insights into the First Person ofthe Trinity (Mumbai: Pauline Publications, 1998), 69.32. Metaphor extends the use of language beyond its “ordinary” meaning(s) to generate newperspectives on reality by asserting an identity between two subjects (and not merely bycomparing two aspects). Gerald O’Collins, The Personal God: Understanding andInterpreting the Trinity, 13.33. Thomas Marsh, The Triune God: A Biblical, Historical, and Theological Study, 30.34. “Do you thus repay the Lord, O foolish and senseless people? Is he not your Father, whoformed you, who made you and established you?” (Deut 32:6).35. “…naming God Father expressed his deep involvement in the story of Israel, its kinglyleaders, and its righteous ones… The use of the Father metaphor centered on God’s free andcreative choice of the people. This name conveyed the steadfast commitment andcompassionate love of God in protecting, cherishing, and nourishing a people whose infidelitycould also call for discipline.” Gerald O’Collins, The Personal God: Understanding andInterpreting the Trinity, (New York: Paulist Press, 1999), 23.36. Where as in the book of Proverbs, Sirach, and Wisdom that wisdom is available andaccessible to those who are invited to her banquet (Prov 9:1-6), those who love her yet theinitiative remains hers. Wisdoms pre-existence before the creation and its close relation withGod are seen in the book of Proverbs. In the book of Sirach we find that Wisdom, comingfrom the “mouth of God” as a word, dwells with God, enthroned in the highest place like God,all pervasive and omnipotent (Sir 24: 3-7).37. Gerald O’Collins, The Personal God: Understanding and Interpreting the Trinity, 25.38. Leonardo Boff, Trinity and Society, Trans. Paul Burns, (New York: Orbis Books, 1986), 41.39. Leonardo Boff, Trinity and Society, 41.40. Gerald O’Collins, The Personal God: Understanding and Interpreting the Trinity, 34.41. We observe the intervention of the Holy Spirit and not human sexuality in conceiving Jesus inthe womb of mother Mary. “Thus the event of the virginal conception plays its revealing andclarifying a central truth: from the beginning to the end, there is a Trinitarian face to the storyof Jesus.” Leonardo Boff, Trinity and Society, 38.42. Walter Kasper, The God of Jesus Christ (London: SCM Press, 1984), 245.43. Apart from Jesus’ consciousness of his sonship, the synoptic Gospel writers present othersrealizing Jesus’ divine sonship (Mt 5:9, 44-45; Lk 6:3; 20:36). Jesus’ frequently addressingGod ‘abba’ ‘Father’ is a rare phenomenon that we observe in a Jew.44. Walter Kasper, The God of Jesus Christ, 44.45. Ibid.46. Thomas Marsh, The Triune God: A Biblical, Historical, and Theological Study, 32.47. “The title, Abba, expresses, in the Aramaic of the times, the close relationship of a child tohis/her father in an endearing way similar to the English usage of the word, dad or daddy.”George H.Tavard, The Vision of the Trinity, (Washington: University Press of America, 1981),2. The Church Fathers Chrysostom, Theodor of Mopsuestia, and Theodoret of Cyrrhus whooriginated from Antioch (where the populace spoke the west Syrian dialect of Aramaic) andwho probably had Aramaic speaking nurses, testify unanimously that "Abba" was the addressof the small child to his father. And the Talmud confirms this when it says, "When a childexperiences the taste of wheat (i.e. when it is weaned) it learns to say "abba" and "imma"("Daddy" and "Mommy").” Abba" and "Imma" are thus the first sounds which the childstammers. But these terms were not limited to small children; grown-up sons and daughtersalso used them to address their parents. "Abba" was an everyday word, a homely, family word,a secular word, the tender, filial address to a father: "Dear Father." No Jew would have daredto address God in this manner. Jesus did it always, in all His prayers which are handed downto us, with one single exception, the cry from the cross, "My God, My God, why hast thouforsaken me?" (Mark 15:34; Matthew 27:46); here the term of address for God was prescribedby the fact that Jesus was quoting Psalm 22:1. Jesus thus spoke with God as a son would withhis father, simply, intimately, securely, filial in manner. But His invocation of God as "Abba"is not to be understood merely psychologically, as a step toward growing apprehension of

God. Rather, we learn from Matthew 11:27 that Jesus Himself viewed this form of address forGod as the heart of that revelation which had been granted Him by the Father. In this term"Abba" the ultimate mystery of His mission and His authority is expressed. He, to whom theFather had granted full knowledge of God, had the messianic prerogative of addressing himwith the familiar address of a Son. This term "Abba" is a manner of speaking unique to Jesusand contains in a nutshell His message and His claim to have been sent from the Father. Thefinal point, and the most astonishing of all, however, has yet to be mentioned; in the Lord'sPrayer the Lord Jesus authorizes His disciples to repeat the word "Abba" after Him. He givesthem a share in His Sonship and empowers them, as His disciples, to speak with theirheavenly Father in just such a familiar, trusting way as a child would with his father. Yet Hegoes so far as to say that it is this new childlike relationship which first opens the doors toGod's reign: "Truly, I say to you, unless you become like children again, you will not findentrance into the kingdom of God" (Matthew 18:3). Children can say "Abba"! Only he who,through Jesus, lets himself be given the childlike trust which resides in the word "abba" findshis way into the kingdom of God. This the apostle Paul also understood; he says twice thatthere is no surer sign or guarantee of the possession of the Holy Spirit and of the gift ofsonship than this, that a man makes bold to repeat this one word, "Abba, dear Father"(Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:6). Perhaps at this point we get some inkling why the Lord's Prayerwas not a commonplace in the early church and why it was spoken with such reverence andawe. "Make us worthy, O Lord, that we joyously and without presumption may make bold toinvoke Thee, the heavenly God, as Father, and to say, Our Father."48. Leonardo Boff, Trinity and Society, 32-33.49. Leonardo Boff, Trinity and Society, 34-35.50. These texts are not directly Trinitarian in themselves but deal with the Trinitarian thought andthey are significant in developing the doctrine of Trinity later by the Fathers of the Church andothers.51. These texts deal slightly with the understanding of God as Trinity. But they are useful to knowfor the development of Trinitarian understanding.52. “Go, therefore, make disciples of all the nations; baptize them in the name of the Father and ofthe Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Mt 28:19).53. Walter Kasper, The God of Jesus Christ, 245.54. “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit bewith you all.” (2 Cor 13:13).55. “But we feel that we must be continually thanking God for you, brothers whom the Lordloves, because God chose you from the beginning to be saved by the sanctifying Spirit and byfaith in the truth. Through the Good News that we brought he called you to this so that weshould share the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Thess 2:13-14).56. “There is a variety of gifts but always the same Spirit; there are all sorts of services to be done,but always to the same Lord; working in all sorts of different ways in different people, it is thesame God who is working in all of them.” (1 Cor 12:4-6).57. “The dogma of the Trinity is an absolute mystery which we do not understand even after it hasbeen revealed.” Raimundo Panikkar, The Trinity and the Religious Experience of Man: Icon-Person-Mystery (New York: Orbis Books, 1973), 50.58. Walter Kasper, The God of Jesus Christ, 251.59. “Heresies are doctrines which do not allow faith to find itself in them or devotion to recognizeitself in them, or formulations which contradict the normative data of the scriptures. Theyconstitute a grave danger to faith; nevertheless, they also enable theology to move forward,since their refutation requires careful study and a more precise deepening of faith itself.”Leonardo Boff, Trinity and Society, 46.60. ‘Doctrine’ as a noun means ‘a belief or set of beliefs held and taught by a Church, politicalparty, or other group.’61. From the early times Trinitarian theology developed two different approaches. In the patristictheology of the East the idea prevailed that the one God is God of the Father, and that the Sonand the Spirit share with Him His divine life. This conception had the merit of being based onScripture, but it could lend itself to misinterpretations. It could lead to subordinationist ideaswhich, in fact, did spring up in the east and came to a climax with the heresy of Arius. Theother conception, prominent in the West, conceived God as the one divine substance,comprising of Father, Son and Spirit. In this view, the unity of God and the equality of theFather, Son and Spirit were easily safeguarded; but, the basic truth of the oneness of the divinenature could be misunderstood in such a way as to lead to the denial of the real distinction of

the three persons.” J.Neuner and J.Dupuis, The Christian Faith, In the Doctrinal Documents ofthe Catholic Church (Bangalore: Theological Publications in India, 2001), 103-104.62. Leonardo Boff, Trinity and Society, 65.63. “The Word of God must necessarily be united with the God of all, and the Holy Spirit mustabide and dwell in God; it is also necessary that the divine Trinity be recapitulated and ledback to One, as to a supreme point, that is to the almighty God all things.” J.Neuner andJ.Dupuis, The Christian Faith, 106.64. We believe in one God the Father almighty, creator of all things visible and invisible. And inour one Lord Jesus Christ the Son of God, the only begotten born of the Father, that is of thesubstance of the Father, God of God, light of light, true God of true God, born, not made, ofone substance with the Father (which they call in Greek “homoousion”), by whom all thingswere made, which are in heaven and on earth, who for our salvation came down, and becameincarnate and was made man, and suffered, and arose again on the third day, and ascended intoheaven, and will come to judge the living and the dead. And in the Holy Spirit. But those whosay: “There was [a time] when he was not”, and, “Before he was born, he was not”, and“Because he was made from nonexisting matter, he is either of another substance or essence”,and those who call “God the Son of God changeable and mutable”, these the Catholic Churchanathematizes. (DS 54).65. “Problem: We can venerate Jesus Christ, but not to the point of equating him with God, sincesuch an excess would destroy the true meaning of God. He can be like God (homoiousios), butnever equal to God (homoousios). He is the first creature, the prototype of all creatures, butnot God …Arius and his disciples stressed the fact that Jesus a most perfect human being,since in him the Word had pitched tent, and he was filled with the Holy Spirit. He reached thepinnacle of human perfection, to the point where he deserved a divine name. The Fatheradopted him as his Son, but compared to the abyss of mystery that is the Father, the Sonremains subordinate (subordinationism, because he was created and generated by the Father,or adoptionist subordinationism, since he deserved to be adopted by the Father)”. LeonardoBoff, Trinity and Society, 48.66. Leonardo Boff, Trinity and Society, 66.67. We believe in one God, Father omnipotent, maker of heaven and earth, and of all thingsvisible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, born of theFather before all ages, light of light, true God of true God, begotten not made consubstantialwith the Father, by whom all things were made, who for us men and for our salvation camefrom heaven and was made flesh by the Holy Spirit and of the Virgin Mary, and became man,and was crucified for us by Pontius Pilate, suffered, and was buried and arose again the thirdday, according to the Scripture, and ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of theFather, and is coming again with glory to judge the living and the dead; of whose kingdomthere shall be no end. And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds fromthe Father, who together with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified, who spokethrough the prophets. We believe in one holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. We confessone baptism for the remission of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life ofeternity to come. Amen (DS 86).68. J.Neuner and J.Dupuis, The Christian Faith, 121.69. “Community is the deepest and most foundational reality that exists. It is because ofcommunity that love, friendship, benevolence, and giving exist between human and divinepersons.” Leonardo Boff, Holy Trinity, Perfect Community, 3.70. Catherine Mowry LaCugna, God For Us: The Trinity and Christian Life, (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1991), 260.71. Ibid., 266.72. D.John Zizioulas, Being As Communion (New York: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1985),88.73. Paul S.Fiddes summarizes the central idea of the otherness of the Father, the Son and the HolySpirit by Athanasius, “He (Athanasius) was more captivated by the relations of the Father, Sonand the Holy Spirit. To the skeptical Arian question as what the difference could be betweenthe persons if they are one in divine essence (ousia), he gave a different kind of answer: theFather is ‘other’ (heteros) in that he alone begets the Son, the Son is ‘other’ in that he alone isbegotten, and the Spirit is ‘other’ in that he alone proceeds from the Father. They are differentin the way that they are related to each other.” Paul S.Fiddes, Participating in God: A PastoralDoctrine of the Trinity (London: Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd., 2000), 20.74. Leonardo Boff, Trinity and Society, 5.

75. Ibid.76. Nonna Verma Harrison, “An Orthodox Approach to the Mystery of the Trinity: Questions forthe Twenty-First Century”, Concilium, Vol.1, (2001), 62.77. J.Neuner and J.Dupuis, The Christian Faith, 109.78. Leonardo Boff, Trinity and Society, 75.79. Robert R.Barr, God, the Father of Mercy: Prepared by the Theological-HistoricalCommission for the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000 (Mumbai: Pauline Publications, 1998), 20.80. Jacob Parappally, Communion Among Individual Churches, 755.81. Antony Kelly, The Trinity of Love: A Theology of the Christian God (Delaware: MichaelGlazier, 1989), 185.82. Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics II/I, 301-5; Cf. IV/I 186-8.83. Walter Kasper, The God of Jesus Christ, 248.84. Millard J.Erickson, Making Sense of the Trinity: Three Crucial Questions (Michigan: BakerBooks, 2000), 58.85. Jacob Kavunkal, The “Abba” Experience of Jesus, (Indore: Satpakashan Sanchar Kendra,1995), 14.86. George M. Soares-Prabhu., A Biblical Theology For India, ed., Francis X.D’Sa Vol.4 (Pune:Jnana-Deepa Vidyapeeth, 1999), 281.87. Philip Land, “Justice”, The New Dictionary of Theology, ed., Joseph A. Komonchak, MaryCollins & Dermot A. Lane, (Bangalore: Theological Publications in India, 1994), 552.88. John Mac Murray, Persons in Relation (London: Faber & Faber, 1961), 64-76.89. The Work of Justice, Irish Bishops’ Pastoral, (Dublin: Veritas Publications, 1977), 20.90. Justice in the World, Synod of Bishops 01-11-1971.91. Leonardo Boff, Trinity and Society,177.92. “In His preaching He proclaimed the fatherhood of God towards all human beings and theintervention of God’s justice on behalf of the needy and the oppressed (Lk 6:21-23). In thisway He identified Himself with His “least brethren”, as He stated: “As you did it to one of theleast of these my brethren, you did it to me” (Mt 25:40). Justice in the World, Synod ofBishops, 01-11-1971.93. Jesus used the parables to reveal the truths and values of the Kingdom of God, which can beunderstood by all. These stimulated and motivated the listeners of his time. They couldexperience Jesus’ authority and power in what he said. Jesus presents the Kingdom of God inthe parables as eschatological and at the same time present now i.e., ‘already’ begun and it isin process leading to the final fulfillment. In Mathew the instruction on the Christian life (Chs5-7; 18) and mission (Ch 10) is given to wait for the Parousia (Mt 24:45-51; 25:1-30).Therefore it has already started but is not yet fulfilled. The dynamic understanding of theKingdom of God as present stressing the present life is seen throughout the New Testament. Itis also seen as a gift as it comes (Mk 1:15; Lk 11:2), from God and draws near all (Lk 10:9;Mt 10:7), it grows like a mustard seed (Mk 4:30-32); it spreads like the leaven (Lk 13:21; Mt13:33); it is found like a treasure (Mt 13:44); and it is seen and received with simplicity of achild (Mk 9:1,10;15). It is also spoken of as a task to be achieved by specific attitudes oractions (Mt 5:3-12, 5:20).94. George M. Soares- Prabhu, A Biblical Theology for India, ed., Isaac Padinjarekuttu, Vol.1,(Pune: Jnana- Deepa Vidyapeeth, 1999), 223-240.95. Catherine Mowry LaCugna, God For Us: The Trinity and Christian Life, 174-177.96. George Panikulam, Koinonia in the New Testament, A Dynamic Expression of Christian Life(Rome: Biblical Institute Press, 1979), 134.97. George Panikulam, Koinonia in the New Testament, A Dynamic Expression of Christian Life,135.98. George Panikulam, Koinonia in the New Testament, A Dynamic Expression of Christian Life,78.99. “Holy Spirit is related in and through the Christian life and plays a greater role in generatingand strengthening the bonds of love and communion with God the Father, Son Jesus Christand among ourselves. The Spirit is fully involved in our communion with God and fellowhumans. (Rom 8:23)” J.M.R.Tillard, Flesh of the Church, Flesh of Christ, At the Source ofEcclesiology of Communion, 4.100. Juergen Moltmann, The Trinity and the Kingdom of God. Trans. Margaret Kohl, (London:SCM Press, 1981), 158.101. “The growth in this fellowship that is caused by the response to the call to koinonia in itsdifferent levels is also attributed to the Spirit because the Spirit makes with the sons of God a

fellowship alive to Christ and to the brethren. This community then is brought to a growthtowards God which in our context is again attributed to the working of the Spirit. Thus theSpirit becomes the dynamic force behind the whole koinonia process. In its God-ward andbrother-ward dimensions the Spirit becomes the activating and dynamic principle making theconcept of koinonia itself a dynamic reality.” George Panikulam, Koinonia in the NewTestament, A Dynamic Expression of Christian Life, 78.102. Leonardo Boff, Trinity and Society, 234-235.103. Joseph Kallarangatt, “Koinonia/Communion as the Ecclesiological Perestroika in Vatican II,”Christian Orient, Vol.XIV, No.1 (March 1993), 3.104. 1. A CDF version, notable for its emphasis on the priority of the Church universal and theimportance of certain visible church structures, 2. A Rahnerian version, notable for itsemphasis on the sacramentality of the world and on the communion with God that existswithin all of human kind. 3. A Balthasarian version, notable for its emphasis on theuniqueness of Christian revelation and its aesthetic character. 4. A liberation version, notablefor its emphasis on gender, ethnicity, and social location as the context for appreciatingrelationality. 6. A reforming version, notable for its emphasis on the need for RomanCatholics to challenge radically their own ecclesiological presuppositions in the interest ofecumenical progress. Dennis M.Doyle, Communion Ecclesiology, Vision and Versions (NewYork: Orbis Books, 2000), 19.105. They are: 1. Amidst various divisions among the Christians ‘communion ecclesiology’involves the retrieval of a vision of the Church presupposed by Christians of the firstmillennium. 2. Communion ecclesiology emphasizes the spiritual fellowship or thecommunion between God and human beings and human beings among themselves. 3.Communion ecclesiology looks for a visible unity among the Christians as symbolically seenin the sharing experience of the Eucharist. 4. Communion ecclesiology promotes a dynamicand healthy interplay between unity and diversity in the Church. Dennis M.Doyle,Communion Ecclesiology, Vision and Versions, 13.106. B.C.Butler, The Church and Unity (London: Geoffrey Chapman1979), 39.107. Joseph Kallarangatt, “Koinonia/Communion as the Ecclesiological Perestroika in Vatican II,”Christian Orient, 4.108. George Panikulam, Koinonia in the New Testament, A Dynamic Expression of Christian Life,4.109. Gerhard Kittel, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Trans. & ed., Geoffrey W.Bromiley, Vol. III, (Michigan: B.Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1965), 801.110. “The entry of God into sacral fellowship is herein expressed by the sprinkling of blood on thealter. Only to the serious detriment of the one responsible can the fellowship be thus broken.Yet in respect of the close sharing and fellowship actualized in the sacrificial meal the wordgroup koinon is avoided.” Gerhard Kittel, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, 802.111. Mc Donnell, “Vatican II (1962-1964); Pueblo (1979); Synod (1985); Koinonia/ Communionas an Integral Ecclesiology: Journal of Ecumenical Studies 25 (1988), 400.112. A. Dulles, “Catholic Ecclesiology since Vatican II: Synod 1985 An Evaluation,” Concilium(1986), 11-12.113. Nihal Abeyasingha, “What has the Ecclesiology of Communion of Vatican II Meant forIndia?” Jeevadhara, Vol.IX, No.52 (July-August 1979), 286-287.114. Nihal Abeyasingha, What has the Ecclesiology of Communion of Vatican II Meant for India?,286-287.115. The Church’s first purpose then is to be the sacrament of the inner union of the human personwith God, and, because people’s communion with one another is rooted in that union withGod, the Church is also the sacrament of the unity of the human race. In her this unity hasalready begun; and at the same time she is the “sign and instrument” of the full realization ofthe unity yet to come (EA 24).116. Catherine Mowry LaCugna, God For Us: The Trinity and Christian Life, 324.117. Nonna Verma Harrison, “An Orthdox Approach to the Mystery of the Trinity: Questions forthe Twenty-First Century,” Concilium (2001/1), 61.=========================================================(Fr.Tharian Njaliath, belongs to the Archdiocese of Ernakulam-Angamaly,

is currently doing Ph.D in Ecclesiology at Papal Athenaeum [Jnana-Deepa Vidyapeeth], Pune.)