The creation of the cosmos, and the human person as the apex of this creation, was a completely gratuitous act of the Holy Trinity. Why did they do it? Pope Francis put it succinctly in the first months of his papacy: “Creation is a love story.” We were created by Love itself to participate in the Love of the Divine Creator. How do we do this? Scripture states that “God is love” (1 Jn 4:8). Our loving God is both one and also three distinct persons. So we might say that the c