“[The Spirit] will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you. Everything that the Father has is mine…” (Jn 16:14-15)
In the political state known as “communism” everything allegedly belongs to “the people” because the people make up the state and the state owns all. In this theory what is considered “mine” is lent me from the state which gets what it has from the people. In effect, communism is a dictatorial trinity of individual, state, and people.
It is certainly not a Holy Trinity. The Holy Trinity is spiritual. Communism on the other hand is thoroughly material; and all that is “mine” through the state and all that the state can give me is material and economic. Even the national “spirit” of a communist state is materialistic and atheistic making it “anti-Trinity”.
According to theoretic communism what belongs to individuals was never theirs to begin with. In order to consolidate all and give everything over to the state, the people first have to take all that is mine and yours – your private property and your freedom. Then once the people have confiscated all and converted all into state property, state authority can regurgitate to its individuals some of what it had earlier swallowed up, keeping most for itself. Communism operates through distribution, but it has no love.
The Holy Trinity is a communion. It is the very opposite of communism. It is a union of divine love. In the Father exists all that there is and he shares this willingly and lovingly with the Son who accepts it thankfully and graciously. Jesus says of the Holy Spirit that the Spirit “will take from what is mine”. The Spirit does this joyfully; and for Jesus it is a joy to give it.
Now one might say that communion is easy for God because unlike the earth with its limited resources God can give all away and still have all. This may be true and it may be what is needed for a perfect communion. However, God showed that he is quite ready to give all from what he has, even his only beloved Son, for the sake of his love. That is real communion.
For this Most Holy Trinity Sunday, we place on our bulletin cover the famous iconic work of the Russian painter Andrei Rublev, entitled The Trinity (1427). It is painted in the tradition of the biblical narrative of the Hospitality of Abraham, yet for the purpose of man’s adoration of God Rublev removes the human actors (Abraham & Sarah) and transforms the three angelic visitors into a symbol of the Most Holy Trinity.
There are many and sundry interpretations of this work. For our purpose we will keep it simple. The angelic figure on the left appears to be the Father to which the other two figures focus all their attentiveness. The cup (certainly representative of the Eucharist) is a symbol of what is shared and what is received; for all that the Father has is Christ’s and all that is in Christ is there for the Holy Spirit to take. What the Spirit takes he distributes to man in grace, word, and sacrament; and always with an abundance of truth and love so that we who receive it may be in full communion with God and with each other.
–Steve Guillotte, Director of Pastoral Services