May 30, 2010 The Most Holy Trinity

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1 May 30, 2010 The Most Holy Trinity SATURDAY, May 29 4:00 PM Stanley Treloar, Jr. by his wife and family SUNDAY, May 30 8:00 AM Debora Patterson by her family (1st anniversary) Joey Gonsalves, III by his Mom and Dad James Hodkinson by his family (2nd anniversary) Maria Azevedo by her daughter and grandchildren 9:30 AM Annette and Fernand Lizotte, by their family 11:00 AM John Carvalho by his wife and family MONDAY, May 31 Memorial Day 9:00 AM For all veterans TUESDAY, June 1 9:00 AM Mr. & Mrs. Dominic Troy by their family WEDNESDAY, June 2 9:00 AM John and Mary Almeida by their daughter THURSDAY, June 3 9:00 AM Mrs. Michael Hopkins by her daughter SATURDAY, June 5 4:00 PM Aline Borges by Don & Elizabeth Roussel (1st anniv) SUNDAY, June 6 8:00 AM Irene and Manuel Grillo, Jr., by their son 9:30 AM Gerald Moss, Sr. by his wife and family 11:00 AM Jean and Joseph Ciryak May Memorial Candles Sanctuary Lamp in memory of Robert Peloquin by his wife, Wanda Altar Candles in memory of Jack Lyons and Clement Levell by Katherine Lyons Tabernacle Candles in memory of Nancy Corum by Don and Elizabeth Roussel FAITH FORMATION CORNER Registration forms for were sent home with the children on their last day of religious education classes. Completed registration forms are to returned by June 30th. This will enable us to determine the number of teachers and class rooms needed for each grade. The registrations form(s) and check /cash for the appropriate registration fee, can be mailed to the parish office at 270 Ocean Grove Ave., or placed in the collection basket in an envelope marked Religious Education. A registration form is required for each child. Registration forms can be obtained at the parish office and on our website: A GREAT BIG THANK YOU to all our Faith Formation teachers and volunteers. Without your creative ideas, generous nature, and dynamic spirit, we could not have achieved our plans and busy agenda. Thank you to one and all. Have a beautiful and restful summer! 69th ANNUAL CATH0LIC CHARITIES APPEAL Caring, Sharing, Offering Hope May 1st June 22nd The Catholic Charities Appeal began May 1. We encourage you to mail in your pledge and to support the Appeal as generously as you can. If you have not received a mailing, please call the parish office at so that one can be sent to you. Numerous agencies, programs, and ministries provide food and shelter, educate children and adults, and meet the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of thousands. Your support of the Catholic Charities Appeal helps us to meet these responsibilities. Returns can be mailed to the parish office, or place in the collection basket at any weekend Mass. Please be as generous as possible. Thank You. A video of the Catholic Charities Appeal is available on the Appeal web site at along with other informational material. May 23, 2010 Collection Budget.....$ 4, Catholic Charities Appeal 5/17-5/23..$ Total to date (including pledges). $16, Reminder: The Second Collection next weekend will be for Ecclesiastical Students Thank You to all who continue to Generously support our parish. Next week is the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi). On this day we will commission new extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist and re-commission those who have been serving as Eucharistic ministers. *** Enjoying the parish breakfast last Sunday 50 Week Club Weekly Drawing Congratulations to the May 30th winner Cecile Laflamme

2 St. Vincent de Paul Corner Our St. Vincent de Paul Society is accepting applications for summer day camp held at Cathedral camp in Freetown, MA, for children ages 4 to 13 years of age. Open House will be held on June 13th from 1 to 3pm. Weekly sessions are June 28 - July 2; July 5-9; July 12-16; July 19-23; July 26-30; August 2-6; August 9-13 August 16 20; and August Bus transportation provided. The St. Vincent de Paul Society would like to help families by defraying some of the cost for two week sessions. For further information or to leave a name and number, please call the parish office at MEMORIAL DAY AT NOTRE DAME CEMETERY In remembrance of our beloved deceased, there will be a Mass at the original Mausoleum chapel of Notre Dame Cemetery in Fall River on Memorial Day, Monday, May 31, at 10am. Bishop Coleman will be the celebrant. All are invited to attend. Thanks to the Family Life Committee for an awesome breakfast. Also, Fr. Michael and Fr. Peter are very grateful for the gifts honoring their priesthood. The next meeting will be held in the church hall Sunday, June 6th at 6:00 p.m. Please contact Monica Valenti if you have any questions. All Grades 8 12 students are welcome. Bring a friend. Zack grilling up hamburgers at the Youth Group cookout at last Sunday s meeting. Jeff Patota, Lisa Rutkowski, Frank Silvia, and Steve Amaral, some of the parish breakfast cooking crew. Family Life Corner The Family Life Committee is looking for faith-filled, generous people who are willing to share ideas, talents and faith to enrich St. Francis of Assisi parish. Our goal is to transform our parish community into a vibrant, active and welcoming home, where we all feel treasured and loved. To do this, we need you! Our membership is growing, but we still need more people to continue to do things which make our parish awesome. Meetings are held on the second Tuesday of each month at 7:00 p.m. in the church hall. The next meeting will be held on Tuesday, June 8th Please join us for some fun and fellowship. For more information please call Christine Patota at Special thanks to Burger King, Cunkin Donuts and Julie Mello for their generous donations to our parish breakfast. Also, a great big thank you to all who baked, cooked, set-up, served food, cleaned up, and helped in any other way. We could not have done it without you! Thank you so much for your generosity and assistance in raising the greatly needed items for Bishop Stang's humanitarian trips to Honduras and Tanzania. With your help, all three of the bins were overflowing with supplies and $60 was also donated! Your overwhelming generosity is greatly appreciated. Thank you again. Kirk Murphy PRAYER GROUP - Come and join parishioners of St. Francis, for a time of prayer, sharing and friendship. We gather in the Church each Wednesday evening at 6:30 p.m. HUNGRY! Amanda, Kayla and Katie waiting for Zack to finish cooking the hamburgers. Father s Day, is Sunday, June 20th

3 The Son is said to be eternally begotten of the Father, while the Holy Spirit is said to proceed from the Father through the Son. Each member of the Trinity interpenetrates one another, and each has distinct roles in creation and redemption, which is called the Divine economy. For instance, God the Father created the world through the Son and the Holy Spirit hovered over the waters at creation. Trinity Sunday Definition and Summary Trinity Sunday commemorates and honors not an event, but a reality: the Holy Trinity. Trinity Sunday falls on the Sunday after Pentecost. In 2010, Trinity Sunday falls on May 30. Trinity Sunday, officially "The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity," is one of the few feasts of the Christian Year that celebrates a reality and doctrine rather than an event or person. On Trinity Sunday we remember and honor the eternal God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Trinity Sunday is celebrated the Sunday after Pentecost, and lasts only one day, which is symbolic of the unity of the Trinity. The Eastern Churches have no tradition of Trinity Sunday, arguing that they celebrate the Trinity every Sunday. Westerners do as well, although they set aside a special feast day for the purpose. The Trinity is one of the most fascinating - and controversial - Christian dogmas. The Trinity is a mystery. By mystery the Church does not mean a riddle, but rather the Trinity is a reality above our human comprehension that we may begin to grasp, but ultimately must know through worship, symbol, and faith. It has been said that mystery is not a wall to run up against, but an ocean in which to swim. The common wisdom is that if you talk about the Trinity for longer than a few minutes you will slip into heresy because you are probing the depths of God too deeply. The Trinity is best described in the Niceno- Constantinopolitan Creed, commonly called the Nicene Creed. Essentially the Trinity is the belief that God is one in essence (Greek ousia), but distinct in person (Greek hypostasis). Don't let the word "person" fool you. The Greek word for person means "that which stands on its own," or "individual reality," and does not mean the persons of the Trinity are three human persons. Therefore we believe that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are somehow distinct from one another (not divided though), yet completely united in will and essence. How can this be? Well, think of the sight of two eyes. The eyes are distinct, yet one and undivided in their sight. Another illustration to explain the Trinity is the musical chord. Think of a C-chord. The C, E, and G notes are all distinct notes, but joined together as one chord the sound is richer and more dynamic than had the notes been played individually. The chords are all equally important in producing the rich sound, and the sound is lacking and thin if one of the notes is left out. The Nicene definition of the Trinity developed over time, based on Scripture and Tradition. The Scriptures call the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit "God," yet the three are also clearly distinct. For instance, St. John gives Jesus the titles theos and monogenes theos (God and Only-Begotten God) and has Jesus saying that the Father and Son are one, yet in his gospel Jesus also states that the Father and Son are not one witness, but two (John 1:1, 18; 8:17-18; 10:30). So John tells us that Jesus is God but not God the Father? Jesus is one with the Father, but they constitute two witnesses? It is scriptures such as these that led to the development of the Trinity doctrine. The Church had to reconcile the Divinity of Christ and the Holy Spirit with Jewish monotheism. Over time, and with the aid of the Holy Spirit, the Church reflected on the implications of God's nature, and even began using the word Trinity by the middle of the 2nd century to describe the relationship between the Father, Son, and Spirit. When in the 4th century a presbyter named Arius denied the Father and Son were both true God and co-eternal, his bishop Alexander of Alexandria challenged him and deposed him. Eventually the Arian controversy spread, and the emperor Constantine, newly fascinated with Christianity, convened a council of bishops in AD 325 in Nicaea to deal with Arianism. It is there that the Church drew up the beginnings of the current Nicene Creed. In the latter half of the 4th century the Church dealt with those who specifically denied the divinity of the Holy Spirit, adding more text to the creed. Ultimately, Trinitarianism posits a dynamic God, whose ultimate nature is beyond human conception, yet who voluntarily operates within the created world. Trinitarianism also shows a loving God that is willing to become as we are so that we may become like Him. The implications of believing in Arius' God, a God unwilling to involve himself in our redemption, but who instead sent an angel of the highest order, did not escape the earliest Christians. As St. Athanasius was fond of saying "that which has not been assumed has not been redeemed," meaning that unless God truly became completely human, we could not be fully redeemed, because only God Himself is capable of truly redeeming humanity; an angel does not have this ability. Thus, the Trinity is not about Greek philosophy or pointless metaphysical speculation, but about the heart of our salvation. For more information, please check out The Nicene Creed: Ancient Symbol of the Catholic Faith. (from ChurchYear.net)

4 HOLY TRINITY SUNDAY SAINT FRANCIS OF ASSISI PARISH SWANSEA, MASSACHUSETTS

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