Dear Parishioners, I would like to express my gratitude to you; so many of you have spent countless hours and volunteer time helping to put together our parish festival ‘International Feast’ and make it an overwhelming success. I have seen the cooperation of so many of our parishioners who spent many weeks of planning and organizing, and so many details, many have worked really hard to make sure that everything was taken care of and all of you joyfully participated and brought life to the celebration. I especially want to thank Ray Stiles for organizing the liturgy and Sandy Coleman for organizing the international lunch.
As we approach the solemnity of Corpus Christi, I encourage you to make plans to join us for the “Eucharistic Procession”. We will have our parish’s annual Corpus Christi Procession following the 11:00 a.m. Mass on Sunday, June 23. Please plan now to join us!
You know, we have all wrestled with the question: “What is God really like? If you are confused, it is a perfectly normal reaction. It is impossible to fathom our infinite God. The ancient Jews had an idea. Realizing the impossibility of comprehending God, they would not even speak the word “Yahweh,” God. They used a substitute word, “Adonai,” to emphasize their awe before God.
Jesus knew he could not give his disciples an explanation. Instead, he spoke of relationships and reassured them that the Holy Spirit would guide them “into all truth.” in other words, the mystery of God does not preclude that we can grow in our understanding of relationship with god as Abba, Jesus the word made flesh, and the holy spirit.
Our God is revealed in John’s letter as “love” – a unity of three persons in relationship. In very early Christianity, origin of the use of the word “person” came from ancient theater where one actor wore several masks for the different persons he played. So, God could be said to be one, yet somehow three persons. That we are made in his image means that we are rational, relational and loving.
Today’s feast also reminds us that we cannot be rugged individualists; that is against our relational nature. We are children of our father; therefore, we are brothers and sisters to one another, interrelated with our God and our families, friends, church community, and the world.
So, how do we grow in our understanding of God? Doctrines and dogmas can help us to begin to learn about God being a three-person community of love, but it is only in experiencing God, experiencing his love for us as persons that we finally “get it.”
I mean, it is in growing in understanding God’s working in our life. That builds relationship. I thank God in my own words for the wonderful people that are in my life. I see the love, the goodness, the generosity, and the compassion of the Trinity in you. You lead me into closer relationship with our God, and I hope that I am helpful in your growth.
As we grow in experience of God’s love for us, we are moved and enabled to love and care about others. God intends Trinitarian love to flow from God to us, but also to flow out from us to all whose lives we touch. Our God’s credibility is dependent on whether love and unity are seen in us to attract non-believers to god and to our community.
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