The echoless abyss of the Father is the Womb that gives birth to the Word. Understanding Himself in the Holy Spirit who alone can fathom the divine abyss, the Father expresses himself perfectly in the one eternal Word. In this self-understanding He finds Himself, as it were, in his Word. The Word understands Himself in the very self-understanding of the Father, for love and understanding are one in the Holy Spirit. In this Holy Spirit, then, the Son gives himself totally back to the Father, so that God is not only giver, but gift and thanksgiving. John of Damascus called this dynamism the “eternal perichoresis:” that is, the great circle of interpenetration and reciprocity of the Holy Trinity.

(Reprinted in part, w/permission).