Professor Father Alfonso Carrasco Rouco,
Faculty of Theology "San Dámaso", Madrid

The Trinitarian mystery becomes manifest and is communicated to mankind, inviting them and admitting them to the communion of the Trinity (see DV 2), in Jesus Christ, the Son of God made man.

Through His Incarnation, death and Resurrection, He became the only and definite Mediator between God and mankind. His is a substantial mediation (in virtue of the union of the two natures in the one and only Person of the Son) and mediation through the act of redemption. He is the Supreme priest, in all ways similar to His brothers (see Heb 2,17), who did not enter a man made sanctuary but Heaven itself (see Heb 9, 24), in front of the Eternal God, offering Himself as the unique and perfect sacrifice for the sins of mankind (Heb 9,28; 10,12); and, since then, interceding for us as the mediator ensuring the everlasting effusion of the Spirit. In this truthful and definite liturgy, in Jesus Christ, man enters the presence of God

In fact, thanks to the Incarnation of the Son and the perfect unction of the Spirit, human nature, through the real Paschal sacrifice, is introduced to the very communion of God the Trinity. The Christian liturgy, created by Christ Himself and made possible by the gift of the Spirit, will always be presence and participation in this definitive event through which mankind is introduced to the full communion with the Holy Trinity: with the Father, in the Son and through the Spirit.

The Trinitarian structure of the liturgy does not instantly refer to human words or concepts, but rather to the real form of the living unity between God and mankind that becomes definite reality in Christ and in which the Christian believer participates, in a mysterious but real way, thanks to the Spirit’s sanctifying power.

Therefore the apostolic ministry rises on the Trinitarian horizon, and is called upon to remain there, because sent by Jesus Christ to act in His name (in persona Christi), in virtue of the gift of the Holy Spirit, so that mankind shall glorify God with one unanimous voice.

Equally, the liturgical celebration of the sacraments not only announces with words the wonders accomplished by the Trinitarian God but also announces the act of redemption. In Baptism for example, "men are inserted in Christ’s Paschal mystery: having died, been buried and risen with Him, they receive the spirit of adopted children..." (see SC 6). In the same way, within the Eucharist the Paschal sacrifice of Jesus Christ becomes once again present, Christ who thanks to the mysterious work of the Spirit, introduces mankind to a real communion with the Son and with the Father (see 1 John 1,3).

After all, the Christian liturgy is Trinitarian because it signifies the real event of communion with Christ. It is He who, in the Spirit, really acts in the sacramental action of the liturgical Minister. It is He who speaks in proclaiming the Word in the Church. He is with His disciples when, united in His name, two or three people raise their prayers to the Father, sanctifying time and space, and interceding for the world.

In each of these aspects, Jesus Christ associates His Church to His lively and full relationship with the Father, that He Himself lives in His dual nature, both divine and human, within the unique Holy Spirit. Therefore the Christian liturgy is always a human and divine work, made possible by the merciful divine initiative of the Incarnation, the Redemption and the gift of the Spirit; and is therefore always mankind’s living relationship with the eternal Trinitarian God.

The communion of the People of God who celebrate the liturgical mysteries around their own Bishop are the visible manifestation of the reality of Communion in the Trinity, already made possible in history by Jesus Christ the Supreme Priest for His disciples. And in this manner, while we wait for the Saviour, in this Communion that is the pledge for future glory, we anticipate and participate in the liturgy of heavenly Jerusalem, where the Father will be adored in Spirit and in Truth.