The Entire Thought

Human Relationships and the Trinity

The following article is a slightly edited version of one which appeared in
The Local: Steamboat Springs’ Alternative Newspaper, March 12-25, 2009 by Fr. Ernest Bayer

Human Relationships and the Trinity

“People who need people are the luckiest people in the world.” When I first heard Barbara Streisand sing these words I cringed at the thought. “What? I don’t need people; that’s a sign of weakness.” But I was too immature for her wisdom, and I had trouble reconciling it with my lifestyle as a seminarian preparing for the Catholic priesthood. Many years and relationships later I have come to appreciate her humble words, and to discover that they are based on a sound theology.

When the ancient Hebrews were freshly fled from Egypt and were getting acquainted with the God whom they believed was leading them through the desert, they were not a tribe of rugged individuals following their own path to the Promised Land. They depended on one another every day for their very survival. If companions are helpful in surviving a month-long desert crossing today, imagine how important companions were on a forty-year desert challenge around 1300 B.C.! God is said to have nourished them occasionally with water from a rock, and manna and quail from heaven; but in-between those times they needed each other. One may take the leap of faith in believing that it was God protecting and leading them, but through the mediation of each other. Eventually they would meet their destruction or salvation as a group.

The Christian scriptures depict Jesus gathering people around him, some of whom became dear friends. His need for the companionship of Peter, James and John in the Garden of Gethsemane did not fit the Jewish understanding of messiah (cf. Mt 26:37-38). Nor did the sight of him weeping along with other Jews at the news of the death of his friend, Lazarus (cf. Jn 11: 33-35). Aside from a certain need for friendship, Jesus also needed people to help fulfill his mission (cf. Mt 28: 19-20).

After his ascension he identified himself with the early Christian church whom Paul was persecuting (cf. Acts 9:4-5). This led Paul to develop the concept of the Church as the Body of Christ (cf. 1 Cor 12:12-31). He emphasized that, as all the parts of a single body depend upon each other, so all the members of the Church, the Body of Christ, need each other. This is a challenging aspect of Christianity for rugged-individual Westerners to embrace. But through the years I have come to appreciate the need for Christian brothers and sisters for my basic survival as well as for my ongoing growth. Christians are called to pray, work and play together, and we do so as the Body of Christ. “Where two or three are gathered together in my name,” Jesus said, “there am I in the midst of them” (Mt 18:20).

One of the most profound revelations of Christianity is that Christ identifies himself with God and with human beings. {“The Father and I are one” (Jn 10:30). “Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me” (Mt 10:40). “Whatever you did for one of these least brothers [or sisters] of mine, you did to me” (Mt 25:40).} How can we reconcile these extreme ideas? The simple answer is: We can’t; it’s a mystery. The complex answer is: God is Trinity. This, however, is also a mystery. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are referred to throughout the Christian Scriptures, but it was not until the 4th century that the doctrine of the Trinity was clearly articulated. Simply put, it declares that there is one God who consists of three persons. St. Augustine described these three Persons as being in an eternal exchange of love: the Father loves the Son, the Son loves the Father, and the Holy Spirit is the love between them.

All of this would be of no import were it not for an insight from the Book of Genesis: “God created human beings in God’s image; in the divine image God created [them]; male and female God created them” (Gen 1:27). What is this image of God in which we were created? “God is love, and those who remain in love remain in God and God remains in them” (1 Jn 4:16). So God is a community of loving persons, and we have been created in God’s image as a community of loving persons. The more we live into this identity, the happier we will be.

In order to love and be loved, we need people. So now I agree with the lyric of Barbara Streisand; but I would prefer to change one word: “People who need people are the [most blessed] people in the world.” Blessedness is the goal of Christianity. This goal consists, not in the annihilation of the individual, but in the transformation of the self into a unique member of the glorified Body of Christ. As unique persons, we are called to share in the Trinitarian exchange of love that endures forever. Along the way, we help each other respond to this grace until, finally, our needs are transformed into blessed love.

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