Trinity Sunday and Father’s Day

My Dear Parishioners,

This weekend we have a double celebration of Trinity Sunday and Father’s Day.

St. Patrick famously used a shamrock to teach about the Blessed Trinity. The shamrock has one stem and three leaves symbolizing the One Divine Nature and the Three Divine Persons, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

Lesson III of the Baltimore Catechism On the Unity and Trinity of God gives us a nice summary of our understanding of the Blessed Trinity:

24.  Is there only one God?

Yes, there is only one God.

I am the Lord, and there is none else: there is no God besides me. (Isaiah 45:5)

25.  How many Persons are there in God?

In God there are three Divine Persons – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Going, therefore, teach ye all nations; baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 28:19)

26.  Is the Father God?

The Father is God and the first Person of the Blessed Trinity.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. (I Corinthians 1:3)

27.  Is the Son God?

The Son is God and the second Person of the Blessed Trinity.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1)

28.  Is the Holy Spirit God?

The Holy Spirit is God and the third Person of the Blessed Trinity.

Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? (I Corinthians 3:16)

29.  What do we mean by the Blessed Trinity?

By the Blessed Trinity we mean, one and the same God in three Divine Persons.

Going, therefore, teach ye all nations; baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 28:19)

30.  Are the three Divine Persons really distinct from one another?

The three Divine Persons are really distinct from one another.

And the Holy Spirit descended in a bodily shape, as a dove, upon him. And a voice came from heaven: “Thou art my beloved Son. In thee I am well pleased.” (Luke 3:22)

31. Are the three Divine Persons perfectly equal to one another?

The three Divine Persons are perfectly equal to one another, because all are one and the same God. I and the Father are one. (John 10:30)

32. How are the three Divine Persons, though really distinct from one another, one and the same God?

The three Divine Persons, though really distinct from one another, are one and the same God because all have one and the same Divine nature.

33.  Can we fully understand how the three Divine Persons, though really distinct from one another, are one and the same God?

We cannot fully understand how the three Divine Persons, though really distinct from one another, are one and the same God because this is a supernatural mystery.

34.  What is a supernatural mystery?

A supernatural mystery is a truth which we cannot fully understand, but which we firmly believe because we have God’s word for it.

Divine Revelation also teachers that God is love.

This truth is again symbolized by the shamrock. The leaves of the shamrock are usually drawn as three hearts connected by the one stem. So, the shamrock drawn this way nicely symbolizes the fact that God the Father is love, God the Son is love, and God the Holy Spirit is love. Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God. Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love. In this way the love of God was revealed to us: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might have life through him. In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins. (1John 4: 7-10)

We are created by a God who is love with the capacity to love. Moreover, when God created us with this capacity, He was thinking big. Think of the greatest Saints in the history of the Church and what they did.

Then please remember that God created each of us with the same capacity. He created us with the capacity to love with the same love that He loves us. Beloved, if God so

loved us, we also must love one another. (1John 4: 11)        

We as a parish family will keep this weekend in love. We keep this weekend in love of God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We keep this weekend in love for neighbor as we love ourselves.

This weekend we will also show special love for our fathers. Fathers are not just important providers for the family nor just the fix-it man nor just the one who teaches us sports nor just the one who “mans” the grill. No, fathers are important and indispensable role models in many areas of our lives, especially in our Faith lives. The statistics are real and startling.

A recent study by the Baptist Church has confirmed earlier studies and reported that “if a father does not go to church, even if his wife does, only one child in fifty will become a regular worshipper. If a father attends church regularly, regardless of what the mother does, between two-thirds and three-quarters of their children will attend church as adults (Life Way Research).”

This phenomenon has to do with the psychological development of children. As children age, they generally seek to imitate their fathers. So, what is of high priority for dad becomes a high priority for them, and what is of a low priority for dad becomes a low priority for them. It is that simple

So, this week we show special love for all of our fathers, and most especially those fathers who have been the best of roll models: those fathers who have set a high priority for religion and who have helped us to stay close to Jesus.

We will have a blessing for fathers at all Masses this weekend. Let us also entrust them to the care of our Patron, St. Joseph: St. Joseph, guardian of Jesus and chaste husband of Mary, you passed your life in loving fulfillment of duty. You supported the holy family of Nazareth with the work of your hands. Kindly protect all the fathers who trustingly come to you.

You know their aspirations, their hardships, their hopes. They look to you because they know you will understand and protect them. You too knew trial, labor and weariness.

But amid the worries of material life your soul was full of deep peace and sang out in true joy through intimacy with God’s Son entrusted to you and with Mary, his tender Mother.

Assure those you protect that they do not labor alone. Teach them to find Jesus near them and to watch over him faithfully as you have done. -St. John XXIII

St. Joseph, Patron of the Church, and our Patron, pray for us!

Fr. Michael J Pawelko, Pastor