ABSTRACT
Humans are created in the image of God. God's life is expressed through the intimate relations of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. As we seek to build a communion of love here on earth, we are enriched and empowered through a sharing in the grace of Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. The notions of Trinity as model and Trinity as empowerment will guide us as we reflect on the way in which two central trinitarian dynamics, namely kenosis and perichoresis, inform the task of building community. Kenosis points to the fact that authentic relational life requires an emptying of the self in order to be receptive to the other. We should not, however, think of kenosis as pertaining only to the Son. It is a Trinitarian dynamic. A perfect spiritual friendship, one that is grounded in the Lord, is one in which two persons unite as one spirit and the 'two form one'.
