When
I was in graduate school studying theology, I took a course on the
Trinity. It featured a very large scholarly book and lots of Greek
words. I found it fascinating, but understood relatively little. There
is a reason why the Trinity is considered a mystery.
In
“The ‘One Thing’ is Three: How the Most Holy Trinity Explains
Everything,” Fr. Michael Gaitley makes a valiant attempt to simplify the
mystery. “[This book is] meant to bring the Trinity home to our hearts
[and] make difficult theology easy to understand.” The core of the
mystery of the Trinity is the concept of communion – living in communion
with God and others.
Gaitley
focuses on John 17:24-26 as being the greatest passage of Scripture, “a
passage that reveals the mystery at the Heart of the Word made flesh
and the deepest expression of communion.” Jesus’ “burning desire” is
“That we all be one. He wants us all to participate in the communion of
love of the Most Holy Trinity.”
The
book is divided into three sections, or points: Communion with the
Trinity (our final end), Transforming Communion with Christ (our
immediate end), and The Mission of Communion (Our Mission.) If you are
already feeling overwhelmed, there is no need to worry. Gaitley takes
each point step by step and does his utmost to explain them in a simple
and conversational, yet theologically sound, style.
In
“Communion with the Trinity,” salvation is explained as being a
combination of redemption and glorification. “In saving us, God wants to
make us share in his own divine life.” While Satan works to distract us
from the good things God offers us, we are offered a choice between
“communion or alienation, life or death, eternal bliss or eternal hell.
Do we want to serve God or serve ourselves? Will we do God’s will or our
own?. . . The heart of the question really is this: Do we want to be
truly happy?”
“Transforming
Communion with Christ” discusses the incarnation, the great sacrifice
of Christ and the gift of His passion. Gaitley also explains the Mass as
“the source and summit of the Christian life,” in which we offer “our
praise, our sufferings, our worries, and our whole selves.” He focuses
on the sacraments of Baptism and Eucharist and emphasizes that
sacraments do something – they cause an actual change in those that
receive them.
Point Three, “The Mission of Communion” invites
us to “share in the mission of Jesus Christ.” Gaitley describes the
roles of priest, prophet and king as they apply to those in the
hierarchy, laity, and consecrated life. He offers a special emphasis on
the role of the laity – “to make God visible in the world.” The
highlight of this section is an interview with the Culture of Death
which is guaranteed to make one think about the world we live in and our
role in it.
Gaitley
also offers two appendixes. One offers an introduction to Divine Mercy.
The other provides a list of recommended readings.
“The
‘One Thing’ is Three” explains the Trinity in a way most people will be
able to understand. Gaitley has made a concerted attempt to simplify
some very difficult concepts, but it still could not be considered easy
reading. One will not want to rush through this book, but rather spend
some quality time with each section and allow the words and concepts to
sink in. This book would be great in a group study or as a text in a
college religion class.
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