Tuesday of the Sixth Week of Easter
Acts 16:22-34  +  John 16:5-11
May 23, 2017

“‘But if I go, I will send Him to you.’”

What do God the Son and God the Holy Spirit have in common (in addition of course to their divinity)?  Each was sent by God the Father into the world.  Yet they play different roles within the Providence of human history:  within what’s often called “salvation history”.

Whenever we speak about the Most Blessed Trinity, we can speak about God—Father, Son and Holy Spirit—in two ways.  The first is in regard to the “immanent Trinity”.  The “immanent Trinity” refers to God’s “inner life”, in the sense of His divine nature:  what He is essentially, of necessity.

The second way we can speak about the Trinity is in regard to the “economic Trinity”.  This has nothing to do with money!  The word “economic” is used in a sense that hews more closely to its Greek etymology, in the sense reflected in the English phrase “home economics”.  “Economy” in this sense is more or less synonymous with “work”.  And so the phrase the “economic Trinity” refers to the work that God freely chooses to carry out within His “house” (that is, the universe).  This work is not of His essence: He is in no way bound to do this work.  It is, rather, what He chooses to do freely, out of sheer goodness.

On this basis, continue to reflect—during these last days of Easter—on the “missions” that God the Father gave to God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.

Reflections on the Sacred Liturgy has a new feature:  click on the image provided, and you’ll be taken to the USCCB webpage with audio of the day’s Scriptures.  When you get there, click on the down arrow to download the audio.