Growing in the Trinity: Love, Mercy & Grace
Our faith theme celebrates the unique mission and identity of our Catholic school division and offers opportunities to inspire and engage students, families, and staff, animating our ongoing journey of faith with excitement, hope, and joy. It provides a focus for faith learning, spiritual development, community building, and service.
Greater St. Albert Catholic Schools’ three-year faith theme for 2023-2026 is: Growing in the Trinity: Love, Mercy & Grace
“Growing in the Trinity” provides a framework within which we meditate on the mystery of the Trinity, and grow in our understanding of, and relationship with each person of the Holy Trinity. As we focus on the love of the Father, the mercy of the Son, and the action of the Spirit (who pours grace nto our hearts), we see ourselves at the center, growing and thriving.
2023-24 Growing in Love
With the Father, our Creator, who is the origin of love, we are inspired to share that love with one another. God is “Father”, which means I am a child of God; we are ALL called by name to grow in love toward one another (sub-themes: chosen, inclusivity, belonging, universality of God’s love).
“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are.” (1 John 3:1)
2024-25 Growing in Mercy
With the Son, Our Redeemer, as the icon of God’s mercy and forgiveness, we are called to show compassion, mercy and forgiveness to our neighbours. Mercy is when God forgives me. We are called to recognize our imperfections, to seek out God’s mercy, and to show mercy toward others (sub-themes: humility, redemption, forgiveness, gratefulness).
“...be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, as God in Christ has forgiven you.” (Ephesians 4:32)
2025-26 Growing in Grace
With the Holy Spirit, Our Sanctifier, as the bestower of grace, we are called to open ourselves to the Spirit, to recognize the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and to grow in grace. Grace is when God gives me something I have not earned. We need to be open to the spirit, and we respond by sharing our gifts and graces with others (sub-themes: blessed, gifted, Fruit of the Holy Spirit, charisms).
“Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit that is from God, so that we may understand the gifts bestowed on us by God.” (1 Corinthians 2:12)
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Bishop Joseph Espaillet of the Diocese of New York uses the analogy of a rubber band to define the Trinity. In it, the Father is love, the Son is mercy, and the Holy Spirit is the “breath” or “kiss” of God, which surrounds the Father and Son like a rubber band. We stand in the middle of this most Holy Trinity, gifted with the graces of love and mercy, as we lean into the Holy Spirit. However, when we lean into the Spirit (the rubber band), “we fly”; we are sent on mission.
By using the image of growth and “growing” within the sub-themes, each year’s theme can be made tangible, actionable, and animatable for our students.
God’s love, mercy and grace are not abstract notions, but real and living expressions of the Trinity, which develop within us continually. As Christians, we pray for these expressions, accept them with gratitude, and foster their development by sharing them with others. As Bishop Robert Barron says, “this is spiritual physics”. The more we share God’s graces, the more we receive.