Let me begin by reminding you of something Saint Cyprian tells us: The universal Church is a people which derives its unity from the unity of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. It is not out of place therefore to preach about the Church on this feast of the most Blessed Trinity. The Church is rooted in this fundamental mystery of our catholic faith: the mystery of God who is one in essence and three in persons.

The Fathers all see the Church as centred in the Trinity. Look how clearly Saint Augustine puts it: God then dwells in his temple. Not only the Holy Spirit but also the Father and the Son… Therefore, the holy Church is the temple of God, the temple of the entire Trinity.

Next Sunday when we gather again, we will consider another marvellous aspect of the Church. We will fix our attention on the marks of the Church that we will recite in a few moments in the Creed after singing our belief in the Father, in the Son, and in the Holy Spirit: Et in Spiritum Sanctum, we say, and in unam, sanctam, catholicam et apostolicam Ecclesiam. We confess that there is only one Church which is holy, catholic and apostolic.

All those who have truly loved the Church have known how to relate these four marks to the doctrine of the Blessed Trinity, which is the most ineffable mystery of our faith. We believe in the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church of God, in which we receive the faith. In her we know the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and are baptised in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.