Pontifical Council
for the Family

Preparatory Catecheses
for the
Fifth World Meeting
of Families


Archbishop
of Valencia

 

Second Catechesis: God One and Triune

1. Opening hymn.

2. Recitation of the "Our Father".

3. A reading from the Bible:Ef 1, 3-10.

4. A reading from the Teaching of the Church:

1. The Mystery of God One and Triune is at the very center of the Christian family. Parents transmit this central truth of their faith to their children to the extent that they incorporate it into family life.

2. God is "he who is" and "God is love". These two names are so ineffably joined that they manifest the same divine essence, which is above all created intelligence. Therefore, only God can grant us correct and full knowledge about himself and reveal himself to us as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We already share in this divine life through faith in an initial way on earth, and later in fullness and through the vision of God in eternal life.

3. Through Revelation, we can profess that God the Father, throughout all eternity, generates the Son, that the Son is generated, and that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son as their everlasting Love. The three divine Persons are thus eternal and equal to one another. In the same way, God's life and happiness is totally shared by each one of them and, consequently, it is always necessary to venerate the unity in the Trinity and the Trinity in unity.

4. Jesus Christ, the Son of God made man, revealed this Mystery to us in which God's plan is revealed to us: that is, we all share-as children-in the communion of love of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

5. Jesus Christ himself suggests a certain similarity between the divine Persons and the union of God's children in truth and charity when he asks the Father, "May they all be one, just as, Father, you are in me and I am in you" (Jn 17:21-22). This similarity shows that man can only find his fullness in self-giving to others. This similarity with God, through self-giving, unity and love, is the perfection of the family.

6. Marriage, which implies the spouses' total self-giving to one another and the parents' self-giving to their children, is thus a perfect reflection of Trinitarian communion. Therefore, the dynamics of family life must manifest this intimate union between the divine Persons.

7. Any invocation to the Blessed Trinity in the family should lead all its members to renew their bonds of communion and a more generous sharing of their gifts with other families.

5. Reflections of the leader.

6. Dialogue:

  • Jesus Christ is the Son of God and we too are God's children. What are the similarities and the differences in these relationships?
  • Why is the Christian family a reflection of the Trinity?
  • What are the principal traits that a Christian family must make evident in family life in order to be a reflection of Trinitarian life?

7. Commitments.

8. Recitation of the "Hail Mary" and invocation: "Regina familiae. Ora pro nobis".

9. Prayer for the family: God, Almighty Father, you sent the Word of truth and the Spirit of sanctification to the world to reveal your wondrous mystery to men. Grant us to profess the true faith, to know the glory of the everlasting Trinity, and to adore your all-powerful Unity. Through Jesus Christ Our Lord

10. Final hymn.

Index

© Pontifical Council for the Family and Archdiocese of Valencia 2005. Reproduction is authorized for the intended purposes of these catecheses.