The Trinity is a community of divine love, a communion of Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Father is eternally giving Himself to the Son, the Son is eternally receiving the gift of the Father and returning the love back to the Father, and the Spirit is the bond of Love between the Father and the Son. In other words, the love between the Father and the Son is so strong that the Holy Spirit is eternally begotten.

What does it mean to be made in someone’s likeness? Perhaps you have been told that you look like your mother or father, or maybe you’ve been told that you’re a spitting image of another relative. When someone is in someone else’s likeness, it means that they have some of their characteristics. So when we say that humans are made in the image of God, we mean that we share some of His characteristics.

Being made in the image of God, or the imago Dei, means that we are literally made in the image of Love Himself. God is love, so we are made by Love, in Love, for love, and made to love! We are given an invitation to enter into the community of the Trinity and enter into the Love of God.

Similar to parents who adopt a son or daughter into their family, God adopts us into His “family” and calls us His son/daughter at our Baptism. When a son or daughter is adopted into a family, they start to take on characteristics of that family, while still retaining their own identity. Each day, they are loved by the family and taught how to love in return.

Dear Lord, we thank you so much for revealing Yourself as love. Thank you for showing us what it means to love by sending your Son Jesus to die for us. Help us to love one another in our every day life and recognize the dignity of each human person. Help us to always remember that we belong to you, as daughters and sons of the King. 

Amen