Entering the life of the Trinity

Fr David Howell• June 15, 2025

“All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that [the Spirit] will take what is mine and declare it to you” (John 16:15).

God is Father, Son and Spirit, and the three Divine Persons communicate with each other and with us.

There are many scriptural passages where Jesus speaks to his Father, but only a few in which the Father speaks to the Son: at his Baptism (“You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” Luke 3:21) and just before his Passion (“I have glorified [your name], and I will glorify it again.” John 12:28).

There is no biblical record of speech between the Father and the Spirit, nor of Jesus addressing the Spirit directly. But there is a case of the Spirit speaking to the Son – “Come,” says the Spirit and the Bride (the Church) to Jesus (Revelation 22:17) – and the Gospel for today implies that he listens to Jesus, since “he will take what is mine and declare it to you” (John 16:15).

All three Divine Persons, not only the Son, spoke to the disciples. The Father, at the Transfiguration, said something similar to his words at Jesus’s Baptism: “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!” (Luke 9:35). The Spirit spoke infallibly to the Church as a whole (Acts 15:28) and to individuals – to the great apostles Peter (Acts 10:19) and Paul (Acts 20:23), and also to the lesser-known Agabus (Acts 11:28; 21:11) and the deacon Philip (Acts 8:29).

The Holy Spirit also empowers us to speak to the Father, calling him “Abba” (Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:6), and to the Son, naming Jesus as Lord (1 Corinthians 12:3). In other words, we are called to join, by grace, the conversation between the Divine Persons. By Baptism, we truly share in the divine life of the Trinity, and so we can speak as children of the Father, in the Body of the Son, by the gift of the Spirit.

It matters that we speak to each Divine Person, since they are real. To have a relationship with each one means we are more deeply connected to reality itself. The Father, Son and Spirit know us personally, and we have the privilege of relating personally with each in return.

In a particular way, we are called to enter into the relationships of the Son, since we are specially forged in his image as fellow children of God. Before the world was made, the Son was receiving his whole self from the Father and giving himself completely, with the Father, to the Spirit. This perfect receiving and giving was then expressed throughout his life on earth, and above all in his death and Resurrection. In his image, we are called to constantly receive from the Trinity and, with God, give ourselves totally to others – which will bring us to the Cross as well as to the Resurrection.