“The proper image of the Trinity is not the family, but marriage,” writes Colin Donovan, EWTN vice president of theology, citing Genesis 1:27.

“Man and woman, joined in the indissoluble bond of marriage, reflect the indissoluble communion of the Father and the Son in the love of the Holy Spirit. Their wills create this bond when they exchange vows, and they remain bound to each other until the death of either.

“For this reason, marriage is ‘the natural sacrament’ of the Trinitarian communion, as Pope John Paul II taught. The child, therefore, is more like creation is to the Trinity, than the Holy Spirit is to the Father and the Son. Like creation, a child is external to the union of his parents, the fruit of their love; whereas, the Holy Spirit is the love of the Father and the Son.

“With respect to the dignity of the parents and the child, it comes from the same source, God. In giving each of them a soul, he communicates a reflection of his own personal nature, able to know (intellect) and to love (will). Yes, the child gets its body from his parents, but only God can stamp on him at his conception, as on them, his own spiritual image, making them human persons who will exist forever.”

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