The Lover, The Beloved, and the Shared Love
A Sacred Reflection on the Holy Trinity
Yesterday on many western liturgical calendars, we observed the Feast of the Holy Trinity. This celebration is generally held on the first Sunday following Pentecost. If you are new to the liturgical calendar (either east or west), not to worry! I, myself, was very new to it until just a few years ago. It is not something that I choose to do based on religious performance, but because following the life of Christ throughout the year (as taught by the early church) has been a great blessing to me in my personal spiritual walk! I encourage you to look a little deeper, it may do the same for you. The Feast of the Holy Trinity is a great time for us to stop and behold the mystery that holds all things together: the Most Holy Trinity (and hopefully reminds us to ponder this more often). The Lover, the Beloved, and the Love that is shared between them.
In the Father, we meet the primal Source. Not a cold force, but eternal delight.He is the Lover, the one from whom all love flows. His love is not reactive or conditional. Our repentance, effort, and performance does not purchase His love. It is pure initiative, flowing from His own heart into the world He spoke into being like a river without beginning.
To be loved by the Father is to be drawn into the very current of divine joy!
“The Father is called Father not only because He is Creator, but because from eternity He has begotten the Son. Love is the foundation of His being.”
~ St. Gregory Nazianzen
In the Son, we encounter the Beloved, the One in whom the Father is well pleased. Jesus is the Revelation of that love made visible, touchable, crucified, and risen. In Him, the Father’s delight takes flesh and walks among us. To know Christ is to see how far the Father’s love is willing to go:
“Greater love has no one than this, that He lay down His life for His friends.” ~ John 15:13
The Beloved lays down His life not to change the Father’s heart toward us, but to unveil it. And in the Holy Spirit, we breathe in the very Love shared between Father and Son.
This is no abstract affection. The Spirit is communion in motion, the burning joy of God given to us, drawing us into divine intimacy and empowering us to reflect that same love in the world.
The Spirit teaches us to cry out not in fear but in confidence:
“Abba, Father.” ~ Romans 8:15
He binds us to Christ, and binds us to one another.
“The Spirit is the bond of the Son to the Father and of us to the Son. It is by the Spirit that we are lifted into the life of the Trinity.”
~ St. Athanasius
The Trinity is not a puzzle to be solved, but a communion to be entered.
It is Love as origin, Love as incarnation, and Love as breath.
During this feast and every day, we do not merely contemplate God… we are invited to participate in His life.
The Church is not a club or a movement. She is the household of the Trinity, a living temple where the eternal dance of divine love continues! As we behold this beautiful reality, may we not try to master the mystery, but kneel before it, and may we allow the love that made the universe to remake us from the inside out.
~ R. Alvin
I am filled with joy, you have found the Holy Catholic Apostolic Church teachings . The Orthodox Church is a spritual feast for the senses. When you attend a Divine Liturgy you SEE all in the church service , HEAR the priest, reader, SINGING , CHANTING choir and congregation actively participating singing responses , TASTE the communion body of Christ, SMELL the special incense of Frankincense,myrrh etc . ALL OF THESE helping lift you up as you contemplate Gods love for us as we worship and learn to love one another with our whole heart. The written icons tell of an important event through use of colors, EVERY DETAIL placement each having special meaning. Studying the how and why of written icons in Orthodoxy is a wonderful addition to your spiritual growth. Iconography , It’s a calling at some point in life, not an artist but a spiritual calling to write the visual divine event that is important in living and partaking in the living church calendar .GOD GRANT YOU MANY YEARS.