LOVE IS A MANY SPLENDOURED THING

“Love is a many splendored thing, love is nature's way of giving a reason to be living, the golden crown that makes a man, a king.”

So run the lyrics of a song, so popular in our youth, sung by Matt Monro. How very true, how spiritual is the thought. Yes, it gives a reason for living, and, fulfilled love crowns the life of the persons who are the ‘lovers’, and the ‘beloved.’

‘Once on a high and windy hill’, so continues the song. But with all due respect to the writer of the lyrics, we need, for record’s sake, re-write, ‘Once, in eternity’, because God, the ‘Lover’ sometime in eternity, decided to share His ‘love’, with someone else, because ‘love’ can never be called ‘love’ if it is not shared.

Three elements are needed to have ‘love’, a lover, a beloved and ‘love’ itself. You need a Romeo, a Juliet and love that binds them together. You can’t have a Romeo, on his own, not passing on, sharing (sic) his love with no one else. Let us apply the same argument with reference to God. According to John “God is love”, the whole Gospel, in his version, shows how God is love. So God is the ‘Lover’ our Romeo, so to say. He passed on, shared His love, on to His Son, our Juliet, so to say. But, between these two there exists ‘love’ which binds the two together.

Some might argue: ‘With or without the Blessed Trinity, I adore God, and love God, just the same’. It is NOT the same, this is a FALSE argument. If you love someone, if you are interested in sharing your life with someone, you must be interested in knowing more about that person. The more you know a person, you will be faced with a choice. You are either more attracted to that person, or you feel put-off by that person. But, if there is love, you will be attracted to him, to her. So, if you really adore and love God, you must be interested in knowing more about Him.

Another point follows this argument, the fact that God the Father passed on His love to His beloved Son, through the Holy Spirit, God’s message is one and simple. The Blessed Trinity is ‘a community’, it is a ‘family of love’. God is not an authoritarian dictator, reigning on his own since eternity, lacking love and interest in humanity.

One must keep in mind another important point, though we say that Creation was the work of the Father, but in actual fact it is the work of the Blessed Trinity. The same goes for the Act of Redemption, yes, Christ was crucified, buried and rose from the dead, but that was the work of the Blessed Trinity. Even when we pray; yes we could address the Father, or the Son or the Holy Spirit, but we will actually be praying to the Blessed Trinity , the Tri-une God.

Now how has God, the Father shown His love towards humanity? By offering His one and only Son not to condemn it, but to save humanity by His suffering, His death and resurrection, for one andall.

The Son expressed His love towards us by offering His life for humanity for there is no greater love than giving up your life for your friends. The Father and the Son have sent the Holy Spirit to sanctify the disciples of Christ and makes us adopted children of God, and, teaches us ‘the truth’.

The teaching about the Blessed Trinity shows us that God gives us a chance to share in His Divinity. God sends His One begotten Son to take human nature so that we share in His Divine nature, He makes us one with Him. Peter declared this in his second Letter: “With His power, the power of God, He made us partake of His nature, thereby we become sons and daughters of God through His eternal Son.” (2 Pet. 1:4)

“Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen”