Our Trinity 
 
How have you defined God as Trinity? 
God for us, we call You Father, 
God alongside us, we call You Jesus, 
God within us, we call You Holy Spirit. 
 
You are the Eternal Mystery that enables, enfolds, and enlivens all things, even us and even me. 
 
Every name falls short of your goodness and greatness. 
We can only see who You are in what is. 
We ask for such perfect seeing. 
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be. 
Amen. 
 
The above prayer comes from author Richard Rohr, Simplicity.
 
Glory be to the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. 
 
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.   (2 Corinthians 13:14)
 
Sometimes less is more.  That is my prayer for each of you as we continue to navigate through these times together.  Now, we begin to see light at the end.  Amen.
 
Whether in person or virtually, I look forward to you joining me for Mass this Trinity Sunday.
 
May God continue to bless each of you and those that you love.
Fr. Greg

This Sunday we celebrate the great Solemnity of Pentecost and our Easter season of 50 days will draw to a close.  “Come Holy Spirit” is the theme of our celebrations and a reminder to each of us that we need to call upon the Holy Spirit every day.  How very true this is.  These gifts that we received at our confirmation are precious.  The question is, do I call upon these gifts?  Really and truly?  Do I call upon the gift of wisdom, and value spiritual things over worldly ones?  Do I contemplate the things of God?  Do I call upon the gift of courage, and stand up for God and His truths?  There is no doubt that this is what the world needs, and it starts in my own home.  Do I pray for the gift of knowledge?  This is the awareness of God’s plan.  This can be a challenge at this time and living through a pandemic.  Yet this is what we must pray for.  Do I pray for the gift of wonder and awe that increases my desire to draw closer to God and depart from sin?  The list goes on.  Here we have yet another challenge, but opportunity too.  When we call upon these gifts it has the power to change – wait – transform our lives, and live a rich and full life in communion with God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
 
Here is a reflection from a lady by the name of Marion who I met on a summer assignment in reflecting on the Holy Spirit…
 
If I look upwards, I will find the Spirit of God waiting to be invited into my heart, soul, spirit, life, to raise me to a new level of love, consciousness and intensity.  To love as Jesus loves makes me realize that I do not have His patience, tolerance, or depth of forgiveness.  This is where His Spirit comes in, and that is why the Spirit is given to us.  If I have the Spirit of Jesus living in my heart, then, surely, I can be a channel of His love, patience, and forgiveness in the lives of others.  Open your heart, invite the Spirit in. 'Come Spirit, breath, and power of God.  Enter my heart, and generate within me the heart of Jesus.  Let His love, forgiveness, and service flow through me to others.’  
 
May we call upon the Holy Spirit, the advocate, to make a home in our hearts, and to be an instrument of peace, love, and hope.
 
Whether in person or virtually, I look forward to you joining me for Mass this Pentecost Sunday.
 
May God continue to bless and keep safe each of you and those that you love.
Fr. Greg

My dear friends in Christ,

Along my journey, God has put a number of wonderful people in my path.  While our paths have taken us in different directions, quite often I will think of them and a smile will come to my face. 

During this most recent lockdown (sidenote, I am ready for this to end so that we can safely return to the things that we love and are life-giving, and being with those that we love), I wrote down a number of names of those people that I have not reached out to for some time.  Like many other things, if I don’t do something first thing in the day, the day gets away from me.  I’ve had the good intention to reach out to a number of people, and literally, not just days but years have passed by.  So, this week I made good on my intention, and reached out to one of my sales reps who I dealt with when I was working in retail, before I heard that gentle whisper and answered that call to a vocation to religious life.  So, I looked up this individual’s email address, and yikes, we had last corresponded in 2013!  So, I used my Fr. Greg email, and off I sent my note with all my contact information at the bottom.

The next day I was delighted to come into the office to have a voicemail message from this individual, and it was an absolutely beautiful message.  That afternoon I reached out again, this time via phone, and we caught up, spoke about the pandemic of course, but other things, life-giving things as well.  At that moment our paths once again merged together, and two people felt comforted, remembered, and in the most beautiful and pure sense - loved.

In our Gospel this weekend from John 15:9-17, Jesus commands his disciples to love one another.  Jesus gives us the greatest example of how to love and to serve one another.  As disciples of Christ, we are called to be the light of Christ to one another, and to love one another.  That love can be, as I learned this past week, something as simple as thinking of someone else, and putting that thinking into action.  When we do this, each in our own little way, we bear the fruit that Jesus speaks of as the branches attached to the true vine, Jesus Christ. 

Here is the opportunity and challenge for us today.  Don’t let this opportunity pass by and let another day get away from you.  Reach out to someone that you have not spoken with for some time, for whatever reason.  It will do you both a world of good.  Don’t just talk about the pandemic.  Allow the Holy Spirit to work through you to bring comfort, strength, peace, and hope to that other person.  Be the light of Christ to that other person, who just may need it at this very moment in time.  The result will be that it will do you both a world of good – and feel cared for, remembered, and loved.

This is putting our faith into action.  I too am a work in progress.  Amen.

May God continue to bless and keep safe each of you and those that you love.
​Fr. Greg