A Letter from Fr. Paul - Sunday, June 4th

This weekend we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, our belief that there are three persons in one God.  Our reading from 2 Corinthians ends with words we hear at the beginning of every Mass: The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you. What are these words saying to us?
 
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ: the grace that Jesus has given us is redemption or salvation.  By His life, death, and resurrection, we have been redeemed.  What a grace that is!  Moreover, by His words and actions He modeled for us how we are to live so as to take advantage of this great gift.  By His Blood we are redeemed; by our following of His example, we claim that redemption!
 
The love of God: God’s love for us is shown by the fact that we exist. He created each of us as a unique expression of His love.  But He also loved us so much that He sent His Son to redeem us when we stray away on our own.  Greater love than this has no one...
 
The fellowship of the Holy Spirit: the final proof of God’s love for us is the gift of the Holy Spirit, who always walks with us (fellowship), helping us stay close to the Father and the Son. Left alone we would not have much of a chance, but with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, all is possible.
 
The many feasts we celebrate during this time of the Church year remind us of all God has done for us: after the suffering and death of Holy Week, we celebrated our redemption with Christ’s rising from the dead on Easter.  Then we celebrated His Ascension, followed by celebrating the gift of the Holy Spirit and the birth of the Church on Pentecost.  This weekend we celebrate the love shown us by the Blessed Trinity and next week we will celebrate the Body and Blood of Christ, the great gift that feeds and sustains us as we move through life. All together we are celebrating one God who creates, redeems, and sanctifies us, all out of love.  Hopefully, our response is to return that love, especially through love and service of others. 
 
May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you, each and every day of your life.  God bless!
 
Church sign of the week: Rule number one: never make God number two.