Folia Theologica et Canonica 4. 26/18 (2015)

SACRA THEOLOGIA - Sebastian Walshe, O.Praem., A sacramental theology of the family: the unity and harmony of the sacramental order

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SEBASTIAN WALSHE, O.PRAEM.

II. The Trinitarian Communion

One reason why the Trinity is the exemplar of family life is because the communion found in family life has its supreme model and source in the communion among the Persons of the Trinity.14 St. lohn tells us that within God there is a communion and that we are called to enter into that communion: "That which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you may have communion with us; and our communion is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.”15 16

On this account, is it correct to call the Trinity a family? Not in the same sense in which a human family is a family. Yet the communion among the Persons in the Trinity has a likeness and proportion to the communion found within a family. Both the Trinity and the family can be called a communion of persons. The fact that God chose to reveal himself as Father and Son also points to the likeness between the communion found in a family and the communion found among the Persons in God. However, within the Trinity we arrive at the supreme communion, of which all others are but pale imitations. But what is this communion, and why are we called by God to enter into it?

To understand the meaning of the tenti communion more precisely, it may help to compare it to a similar concept: community. A community is a multitude of persons all united by a single purpose or good. For example, the city of London is a community but it is not a communion. For many persons in the city of London are not even aware of one another’s existence, so they do not know or love one another. In contrast, both a family and a friendship are communions. The persons in a family or a friendship do not merely have a common goal or good to achieve, they know one another intimately, and care about each other, and live together. So a communion can be defined as a multitude of persons in which each person somehow lives the life of every’ other person. Both within the Trinity and within a family, we find communion.

So communion means sharing or living the life of another. Self-movement and intrinsic activity are what characterize living things.1,1 The activities which most perfectly constitute human life are understanding and loving. This is why we consider them more essential to our life and to our person than even our sense life. No sane person would choose to lose his senses (e.g., to be in a coma) in order to gain the longevity of a redwood. And if we had to choose between losing our eyesight or our mind, no one would choose to lose their mind. We consider the life of our mind to be most truly our life.

14 “God is love, and in himself he lives a mystery of personal, loving communion.’’ Familiáris Consortili, 11.

is I Jn 1:3.

16 Cf., S. Thomae Aquinatis, Summa Theologica, la q. 18 art. 1, c.