BIG C CATHOLICS

Disputation of the Holy Sacrament, Raphael, 1509-1510 Fr. René J. Butler, M.S. La Salette Missionaries of North America Hartford, Connecticut ( Click here for today’s readings ) Do you like jigsaw puzzles? Do friends and family give you “the world’s most difficult” puzzles? Amazon.com has one called “Dalmatians,” with dozens of virtually identical black-and-white dogs filling the entire picture. It’s also two-sided, by the way. Now imagine a futuristic puzzle in which the pieces keep changing shape, and the picture on the box is never the same twice. And let’s make the pieces slippery while we’re at it. We might think the Trinity is like that. If our goal is to understand how one God can exist in three “persons,” when even the word “person” in this context is not at all what we usually think of when we say it, we are doomed to failure. We will never get the pieces to fit. Yet here we are, as always on the Sunday after Pentecost, celebrating the Solemnity of the Most Holy Tr

The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity is May 30th. The Divine Family that is God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit is the central mystery of our Christian faith. The mystery of the Trinity is the life that dwells in us and sustains us. ___________ "God in his deepest mystery is not a solitude but a family, since he has in himself fatherhood, sonship and the essence of the family which is love." — St. John Paul II The Exchange of Persons in the Trinity The three-leaf clover used in religion classes to explain the mystery of three Divine Persons in one God does not begin to penetrate the incomparable majesty, boundless love, and total communion, which the Church in her Tradition and creeds ascribes to the Trinity. To the early Church Fathers the idea of perichoresis (the exchange of Persons in the Trinity), was indispensable to understanding God. This sublime, metaphysical concept is central to John Paul’s Theology of the Body. The inner life of Fa

Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, June 7, 2020 Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, June 14, 2020 By Msgr. Bernard Bourgeois Jesus said to the crowds: “I am the living bread that came down from  heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever…” (John 6:51) The month of June is upon us. Summer is making its way into our lives once again and all are looking forward to long, warm days. Schools are emptying out for summer recess (except for principals!) and the recreation paths that dot our beautiful state are filled with bikers, in-line skaters, walkers and joggers. The liturgical calendar for the month of June brings some beautiful feasts, like Pentecost and the Solemnities of the Most Holy Trinity, the Body and Blood of Christ, the Birth of John the Baptist (June 24) and Saints Peter and Paul (June 29). Through the feasts of June, the Church remembers that which is most important to our faith.  The Solemnities of the Most Holy Trinity and the

Fr. Charles Irvin Senior Priest Diocese of Lansing ( Click here for today’s readings ) There are three paths to knowledge that we frequently walk… thinking using concepts, thinking using pictures or images, and thinking using our experiences. They are all routes to truth even though experience seems to be the favored route these days. This is curious to me because learning through experience gives us some of life’s harshest lessons. We learn the hard way along that route. The other routes are not so harsh. From its earliest days, the Catholic Church has relied on images — pictures found in stained glass windows, statues of saints and holy people, and glorious mosaics found in so many of our churches. Television, movies, and computer images have surrounded us during the last century. As never before in human history our children are learning via images. Today I am going to share some thoughts with you about the Holy Trinity using mental images. It’s better that way.

Fr. Thomas J. Lane S.T.D. Associate Professor of Sacred Scripture Mt. St. Mary's Seminary Emmitsburg, MD ( Click here for today’s readings ) "O Father who sought me O Son who bought me O Holy Spirit who taught me." That beautiful prayer to the Trinity is quoted in a book on Celtic prayer ( The Celtic Way of Prayer: The Recovery of the Religious Imagination page 43 by Esther de Waal). It expresses beautifully the different qualities of the three persons of the Holy Trinity. The Father sought us. That reminds me of Psalm 139, a beautiful Psalm about God seeking us and being present with us at all times. O Lord you search me and you know me, You know my resting and my rising, You discern my purpose from afar. You mark when I walk or lie down, All my ways lie open to you. Before ever a word is on my tongue You know it, O Lord through and through. Behind and before you besiege me, Your hand ever laid upon me. Too wonderful for me, this knowledge, To

June 11th The feast of the Most Holy Trinity may well be regarded as the Church's Te Deum of gratitude over all the blessings of the Christmas and Easter seasons; for this mystery is a synthesis of Christmas, Epiphany, Easter, Ascension and Pentecost. This feast, which falls on the first Sunday after Pentecost, should make us mindful that actually every Sunday is devoted to the honor of the Most Holy Trinity, that every Sunday is sanctified and consecrated to the triune God. Sunday after Sunday we should recall in a spirit of gratitude the gifts which the Blessed Trinity is bestowing upon us. The Father created and predestined us; on the first day of the week He began the work of creation. The Son redeemed us; Sunday is the "Day of the Lord," the day of His resurrection. The Holy Spirit sanctified us, made us His temple; on Sunday the Holy Spirit descended upon the infant Church. Sunday, therefore, is the day of the Most Holy Trinity. From The Church's Year

Fr. René J. Butler, M.S. Provincial Superior, La Salette Missionaries of North America Hartford, Connecticut ( Click here for today’s readings ) There is a stained-glass window in Blessed Trinity Church in Orlando, Florida, designed by James Piercey. It represents the Trinity, but is not easy to make out the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. With a little effort one can find the head of a dove near the center, and a hand above and behind it. They represent respectively the Spirit and the Father. It’s much harder to find the Son, a man’s face. Eventually you find the eyes, and the nose, mustache, and lips. But when you see the dove, you lose the face; when you see the face, you lose the hand, and none of them is completely delineated. All three are lost when you focus on colorful rays, which represent the one divine essence of all three Persons and fill the whole image. This image may not suit everyone’s taste, but I find it fascinating. I use it to illustrate the fact that

Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, June 11, 2017 Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, June 18, 2017 By Msgr. Bernard Bourgeois Jesus said to the crowds: “I am the living bread that came down from  heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever…” (John 6:51) The month of June is upon us. Summer is making its way into our lives once again and all are looking forward to long, warm days. Schools are emptying out for summer recess (except for principals!) and the recreation paths that dot our beautiful state are filled with bikers, in-line skaters, walkers and joggers. The liturgical calendar for the month of June brings some beautiful feasts, like Pentecost and the Solemnities of the Most Holy Trinity, the Body and Blood of Christ, the Birth of John the Baptist (June 24) and Saints Peter and Paul (June 29). Through the feasts of June, the Church remembers that which is most important to our faith.  The Solemnities of the Most Holy Trinity and th

Fr. Charles Irvin Senior Priest Diocese of Lansing ( Click here for today’s readings ) There are three paths to knowledge that we frequently walk… thinking using concepts, thinking using pictures or images, and thinking using our experiences. They are all routes to truth even though experience seems to be the favored route these days. This is curious to me because learning through experience gives us some of life’s harshest lessons. We learn the hard way along that route. The other routes are not so harsh. From its earliest days, the Catholic Church has relied on images — pictures found in stained glass windows, statues of saints and holy people, and glorious mosaics found in so many of our churches. Television, movies, and computer images have surrounded us during the last century. As never before in human history our children are learning via images. Today I am going to share some thoughts with you about the Holy Trinity using mental images. It’s better that way.

Collect Prayer for Trinity Sunday Heavenly Father, You sent your Word to bring us truth and your Spirit to make us holy. Through them we come to know the mystery of your life. Help us to worship You, one God in three Persons, by proclaiming and living our faith in You. We ask You this, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, one God, true and living, for ever and ever. Amen.

Fr. Thomas J. Lane S.T.D. Associate Professor of Sacred Scripture Mt. St. Mary's Seminary Emmitsburg, MD ( Click here for today’s readings ) "O Father who sought me O Son who bought me O Holy Spirit who taught me." That beautiful prayer to the Trinity is quoted in a book on Celtic prayer ( The Celtic Way of Prayer: The Recovery of the Religious Imagination page 43 by Esther de Waal). It expresses beautifully the different qualities of the three persons of the Holy Trinity. The Father sought us. That reminds me of Psalm 139, a beautiful Psalm about God seeking us and being present with us at all times. O Lord you search me and you know me, You know my resting and my rising, You discern my purpose from afar. You mark when I walk or lie down, All my ways lie open to you. Before ever a word is on my tongue You know it, O Lord through and through. Behind and before you besiege me, Your hand ever laid upon me. Too wonderful for me, this knowledge, To

God in his deepest mystery is not a solitude but a family, since he has in himself fatherhood, sonship and the essence of the family which is love . — St. John Paul II

[ This prayer may be recited individually or as a family .] *** V/ The true God, One in Three and Three in One, come, let us adore. R/ The true God, One in Three and Three in One, come, let us adore. V/ Let us pray. Almighty and everlasting God, Thou hast given to Thy servants grace for professing the true faith and acknowledging the glory of the eternal Trinity and in the power of Thy majesty to worship the Unity; grant that by steadfastness in the same faith we may evermore be defended from all adversities. Through Christ our Lord. R/ Amen. V/ Be with us, O God, one and omnipotent, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. R/ You are our hope, our salvation, our glory, O Blessed Trinity. V/ Blessed are you, O Lord, in the firmament of heaven. R/ Praiseworthy and glorious forever. Amen. V/ Glory be to the Father and to Son and to the Holy Ghost. R/ As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

By Matthew Coffin The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity is May 22nd. The Divine Family that is God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit is the central mystery of Christian faith and life . The mystery of the Trinity is the life that dwells in us and sustains us . ___________ "God in his deepest mystery is not a solitude but a family, since he has in himself fatherhood, sonship and the essence of the family which is love." — St. John Paul II The Exchange of Persons in the Trinity The three-leaf clover used in religion classes to explain the mystery of three Divine Persons in one God does not begin to penetrate the incomparable majesty, boundless love, and total communion, which the Church in her Tradition and creeds ascribes to the Trinity. To the early Church Fathers the idea of perichoresis (the exchange of Persons in the Trinity), was indispensable to understanding God. This sublime, metaphysical concept is central to John Paul’s Theology of the