Learning how to dance

Abstract

In this reflective piece published on the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, Fr Carlo Calleja explores the challenge of defining and pursuing "the good" in a pluralistic society where individual concepts of goodness often conflict. Drawing on Aristotle’s insight that personal good is inseparable from the good of the polis—the web of human relationships that forms community—Calleja argues that true consensus on the good requires inclusive participation. The doctrine of the Trinity, far from being a remote or "useless" mystery (as Kant claimed), is presented as a practical model for human relationships through the concept of perichoresis—a divine "dance" of mutual indwelling and self-giving love. Referencing Scripture, Rublev’s icon, and Pope Francis’s Amoris Laetitia, the author proposes that family life and political engagement should mirror Trinitarian communion, fostering love amid differences and shaping a politics rooted in relational unity. The essay concludes with a call to "learn the steps of this dance of love" as the foundation for both personal and communal flourishing.