From the Pastor's Desk- May 31
Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity
Dear parishioners,
Happy Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity!
The most basic mystery of our faith is the Holy Trinity. God is not a lonely deity. God is one God in a
communion of persons. Father, Son and Holy Spirit share the one and only divine nature. St. John
teaches us that God is love. This is not the same as saying the opposite: love is god. It would be a big
mistake to say that love is an absolute without explaining what love is. Today, culture makes love an
emotional and sentimental issue. It makes the idea of love seem absolute and idol-like.
Our faith teaches that love is very specific and different. God is love. If God is love, we can see God
when we truly love others and give to others, because we are then sharing God's nature.
Saint Augustine wrote: “In this is love—in this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that
God sent his only-begotten Son into this world, that we may live through Him.—In this is love, not that
we loved God, but that He loved us:” we did not love Him first: for to this end loved He us, that we may
love Him: “And sent His Son to be the Atoner for our sins (“litatorem,” i.e. one that sacrifices). He
sacrificed for our sins. Where did He find the sacrifice? Where did He find the victim which he would
offer pure? Other He found none; His own self He offered. “Beloved, if God so loved us we ought also
to love one another. Peter,” said He, “Do you love me?” And he said, “I love.” “Feed my sheep.” Homily
VII on the 1 st Letter of St. John.
So love has to do with God making us part of his nature and giving us the ability to love in the same
way, rather than using our own limited strength. Love means wanting the best for the person you love.
Today, we celebrate the Holy Trinity. We pray that we can love like God does, surrender our lives to
Him, and accomplish the mission each one of us has. This is exactly the prayer over the bread and
wine that is said during today's church liturgy:
“Sanctify by the invocation of your name, we pray, O Lord our God, this oblation of our service, and by it
make of us an eternal offering to you. Through Christ our Lord”
In other words, we honor God by letting us be transformed in an eternal offering to Him each time we
receive the Holy Eucharist.
We are grateful to God for the many blessings we have received, especially the many sacraments
given to our parishioners. I picked this picture to show what our life is all about: It is a gift from God that
we can offer back to him. This will make the Lord lift us up and guide us towards the joy of the saints in
heaven.
God bless you!
Fr. Álvaro
