Pastor’s Corner

Trinity Sunday, June 4, 2023 

Dear Brothers and Sisters in the Triune God! 

This coming Satursday June 10th at 5pm we will have a grand procession in honoring the Holy Eucharist. Our Bishop Vann invites all the faithful in our diocese to participate in this special procession so we can be more appreciate Jesus in the Sacrament of the Altar. Please try to be in the Church at 4:30pm so we can be gin the procession at 5pm. There will be bilingual mass to follow. Please continue to support our new Grand Shrine of Our Lady of La Vang fundraising so construction can begin soon. Please also send in your 2023 PSA donations for our Bishop so he can help with the ministries within our diocese. May God the Triune God bless each one of you with peace love and joy! 

Today, we celebrate the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity. The mystery of the most Holy Trinity is a basic doctrine of Faith in Christianity, understandable not with our heads but with our hearts. It teaches us that there are three distinct Persons in one God, sharing the same Divine Nature, co-equal and co-eternal. Our mind cannot grasp this doctrine which teaches that 1+1+1 = 1 and not 3. But we believe in this Mystery because Jesus who is God taught it clearly, the Evangelists rec-orded it, the Fathers of the Church tried to explain it and the Councils of Nicaea and Constantinople defined it as a dog-ma of Christian Faith. 

All prayers in the Church begin in the Name of the Holy Trinity and end glorifying the Trinity. All Sacraments are ad-ministered (we are baptized, confirmed, anointed, our sins are forgiven, our marriage blessed, and our Bishops, priests and deacons ordained) in the name of the Holy Trinity. Church bells ring thrice daily, reminding us to give glory to the Holy Trinity for the Incarnation of Jesus and His Redemption of all of us. We bless ourselves, and the priest blesses us, in the Name of the Holy Trinity. 

There are only vague and hidden references to the Trinity in the Old Testament. But the New Testament gives clear teach-ings on the Holy Trinity. At the Annunciation, God the Father sends His angel to Mary, God the Holy Spirit comes upon her, the Power of the Most High overshadows her and God the Son becomes incarnate in her womb. At the baptism of Jesus, when the Son receives baptism from John the Baptist, the Father’s Voice is heard, and the Holy Spirit appears as a Dove. At the Ascension, Jesus gives the missionary command to his disciples to baptize those who believe, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. 

We need to respect ourselves and others because everyone is the temple of the Holy Spirit where all the Three Persons of the Holy Trinity abide. We must have the firm conviction that the Trinitarian God abides in us, that He is the Source of our hope, courage, and strength, and that He is our destination. We need to practice the Trinitarian relationship of love and unity in the family relationships of father, mother, and children because by Baptism we become children of God and mem-bers of God’s Trinitarian family. 

Sincerely yours in the Most Trinity and Our Lady of La Vang! 

Rev. Joseph Luan Nguyen, 

Pastor