Families are the fundamental unit of our society, and they are the domestic church. When families are whole and healthy, our community will also become healthy. We look for models and examples in our lives as sources of inspiration and motivation to make our families physically, spiritually, emotionally, and psychologically healthy. Christianity provides an excellent role model for family life in the Most Holy Trinity, a divine family of shared love. Catholic Christians celebrate the feast of the Most Holy Trinity. The doctrine of the Most Holy Trinity is very fundamental to the Christian Faith.
It teaches there are three distinct persons in one God, sharing the same Divine Nature, co-equal and co-eternal. It is undoubtedly difficult for a human mind to grasp this doctrine, which teaches that 1+1+1 = 1 and not 3. It is the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity. It is a family of shared love among three persons of the same divine family. All prayers in Catholic churches begin in the Name of the Holy Trinity and end glorifying the Trinity. All Sacraments are administered in the name of the Holy Trinity. Church bells ring thrice daily, reminding us to glorify the Holy Trinity. We bless ourselves, and the priest blesses us in the Name of the Holy Trinity.
Sometimes, we sit on our armchairs and pass judgment, saying, “Our world has gone crazy, or our society is not the same anymore.” We fail to acknowledge that our families had gone crazy long ago, and that is why today, our society/world has become sad, mad, and bad. There is a saying, “Psychopaths are born, but sociopaths are created.” Antisocial persons and sociopaths are created in our own families and our backyards, with or without our knowledge. They come from dysfunctional families around us, and they become significant threats to the world. These people have been a considerable challenge to civilized human society. They are the fruits of families without love, compassion, and mercy, and above all, persons without the proper understanding of themselves, others, and God.
What we are today is the result of the family who raised us. Our nature and the way we nurture define who we are today and what we will become tomorrow. Families are always a source of blessings for each of us. Our parents are our “tangible gods” we can see, touch, feel, talk to, and experience daily. They are our best elementary teachers, and our homes are the best elementary schools. When our elementary education does not begin in the right way, then our complete training and education may go in the wrong direction, and there are greater chances for those of us who experience this situation to become sociopaths in the future.
In this context, the Holy Trinity, a family of divine love, has become relevant to our human families and human society. There is a great need to create our families as families of love, just as the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are united in love and understanding. It would be a great privilege to grow up in such beautiful families. Our conviction of the presence of the Triune God within us should also help us to esteem ourselves as God’s holy dwelling place where we can practice acts of justice and charity.
Our faith in the Triune Presence within us should also encourage us to respect and honor others as “Temples of the Holy Spirit.” The love, unity, and joy in the relationship of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit should be the supreme model of our relationships within our Christian families. Our families become truly Christian only when we live in a relationship of love with God and others around us. Therefore, we need to take the Holy Trinity as the model for our family life and consider God the source of strength in our daily lives. Hence, let us pray to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit daily because we belong to the family of the Triune God.
