The Pastor's Message

Dear Parishioners,

Today we celebrate the Feast of The Most Holy Trinity.  The teaching and belief in the Trinity is a central teaching of our Catholic faith.  We believe in One God who reveals Himself to us in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  They are all united in the One God and are present from the beginning of time but revealed to the world at three distinct times in history.

The Gospel that we hear today begins with the famous verse of John that appears in many public events; John 3:16, “God, so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life.”  This verse is essential for us as we are connected to the Lord Jesus, and it is this belief that leads us to God the Father and into eternal life.  We are guided by the Holy Spirit through Jesus the Son to God the Father.

It is God’s love for us that we recognize through the birth, life, suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus the Son that leads us to our eternal life.  God is love and He reveals this love to us in Jesus the Son, and then guides us to our eternal life through the Holy Spirit.  It is our belief in the Trinity that leads us to our eternal reward.

The teaching of the Holy Trinity is a mystery that will not be fully understood or appreciated until we are with the Lord in Heaven.  Our ability to understand is finite while God and His mysteries are infinite, but it is the Holy Spirit that will continue to help develop our understanding of this great mystery of One God revealed to us in three persons.

We experience God’s love, grace, and mystery every time we are blessed in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  As we make the sign of the cross, we remind ourselves of God’s love for us.

Fr. George P. Blais

 

Dear Parishioners,

Today we celebrate the Feast of Pentecost, the day that the Church is gifted with the Holy Spirit.  It is this Holy Spirit that has been the source of our longevity as a Church.  As Jesus ascended into Heaven, He promised that He would send an advocate to remain over the Church and to lead and guide us.  This advocate is the Holy Spirit who leads us to God the Father through the Son.

In today’s Gospel, John describes how Jesus came to the disciples even though they had locked themselves in a room because of fear.  He said to them; “Peace be with you.”  When they realized it was Him, they rejoiced, and He repeated Himself saying again; “Peace be with you.  As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”  Then he breathed on them saying; “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

Like the disciples, sometimes we are afraid and hide from the Lord, but He desires to be with us and guide us.  He extends His peace to us and sends us forth into the world to continue His merciful work of love and compassion.  He does not send us alone as He did not send the First Apostles alone into the world.  We are given the gift of the Holy Spirit in the Sacrament of Confirmation and it is this same Holy Spirit that leads us and inspires us to do His will.

We are given authority by the Lord Jesus and guided by the Holy Spirit, to spread the Gospel message to the ends of the world.  This sharing of the message is done not only by our words, but also by our actions as we live our Baptismal call to “Love the Lord with all of our hearts, minds, soul, and strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves.”  On this Feast of Pentecost, we thank and praise God the Father for sending us Jesus His Son to teach us about His love for us and the Holy Spirit to guide us in living and proclaiming this love.

Fr. George P. Blais