It is typical of our no-nonsense age that we tend to reduce things—and people—to how they function in the world. A housewife, a short-order diner cook and a high-end chef may just be thought of as “the cook,” in spite of distinct differences between their skills, ambitions and imaginations. It’s a form of shorthand that gives no recognition to the person, the multifaceted being who does certain tasks for certain reasons but is not limited to those tasks. Nor does that convenient shorthand have any room for understanding the relationships between and among those who do certain tasks.

We use a similar shorthand to name the persons of the Holy Trinity by function: Father/Creator; Son/Redeemer; Spirit/Comforter/Advocate. Such easy-to-remember catechetical formulae don’t allow much exploration of the relationships between and among the persons of the Trinity. But we worship a Triune God who exists from all eternity in community; and if we don’t explore those relationships, we’re going to come up very short indeed.

Think of the great reading from Genesis that we read for the Easter Vigil every year; think how for each day of creation, the narrator observes: “And God saw that it was good.”

Now think specifically of the Trinity: “And our Triune God saw that it was good.” Jesus and the Holy Spirit weren’t just watching the Father create; they, who existed with the Father from all eternity, were active participants in creation and intimately involved in it.

Our music has to delve deeply into this mystery in all its glory—and its intimacy—remembering that we are all “children of one Father; our brother Jesus Christ has gathered us in the Spirit’s love.”