THE TRINITARIAN COMMUNION - Archdiocese of Ernakulam ...

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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.
Page 3: the unjust structures of the societ
Page 6 and 7: everything except that which cannot
Page 8 and 9: Triune God’s communion, a relatio
Page 10 and 11: God as father, Wisdom/Word and Spir
Page 12 and 13: ightly says, “The vivid personifi
Page 14 and 15: the experience of the Spirit, the H
Page 16 and 17: Trinity. The development of the Tri
Page 18 and 19: in the same way the Holy Spirit sur
Page 23 and 24: Son Jesus Christ (Jn 3:16-17). God
Page 25 and 26: the principle of perestroika, recon
Page 27 and 28: future one. It is present because o
Page 29 and 30: should constitute a single family,
Page 31 and 32: and the presbyterate for pastoral c
Page 33 and 34: God. Rather, we learn from Matthew
Page 35 and 36: 75. Ibid.76. Nonna Verma Harrison,
Page 37: is currently doing Ph.D in Ecclesio

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