My Dear Friends,

Today we celebrate Trinity Sunday. The Trinity is a central dogma of our Christian faith; one God and three Persons. When we say the words, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we are calling upon the very name of God. He has revealed Himself to mankind as a Trinity of persons, but that revelation as Father, Son and Holy Spirit demands the faith that what we know of God is He is one. That is why when we baptize someone we baptize in the very name of God, by calling upon Him as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It is a relational term as opposed to functional terms such as Creator, Redeemer and Sanctifier. These functional terms were popular in the 1980's and in some Christian denominations still are popular because they do away with "sexist" masculine terms for God.

My Dear Friends,

Today we commemorate the Descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Pentecost Sunday, fifty days after Easter and our Lord's Resurrection, the Holy Spirit, promised by our Lord to His Apostles, is commonly called the birthday of the Catholic Church. It is the culmination of the nine day novena of the Apostles and the Blessed Virgin Mary, beginning when Jesus ascended into Heaven. At the end of this novena, and with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the Apostles were given the courage and the strength to begin their ministry. Indeed, they were given the gifts of the Holy Spirit beginning with the ability to speak in tongues.

My Dear Friends,

Today in the secular world we celebrate Mother's Day. Setting aside one day a year for mothers does not seem like enough. Thankfully, in our church, we honor and celebrate mothers every day as we honor our Blessed Mother by praying the daily rosary. The months of May and October also serve to recognize our Blessed Mother. And we also have three holy days of obligation set aside for our Blessed Mother as well as countless feasts and memorials throughout the liturgical year. Honoring our Blessed Mother is important for she is the one who said "yes" to God in order to bring forth the Savior of the world. Mary is both virgin and mother. Mary's life of virtue is exemplary, and it is due to her life of virtue and the fact that she is co-redemptrix and mediatrix that we receive many graces through her intercession.

My Dear Friends,

This Thursday is the Solemnity of the Ascension, a Holy Day of Obligation. A Catholic must go to Mass either on the vigil on Wednesday night or on the Holy Day itself on Thursday. The Church gives us Holy Days as a gift. In the Catholic Church, the Holy Days of Obligation are the following; Christmas; Epiphany; Ascension; Corpus Christi; Mary, Mother of God; Immaculate Conception; Assumption; St. Joseph; Sts. Peter and Paul; and All Saints. These Holy Days are not meant to be burdensome. The truth that these Holy Days point to or enlighten is offered to us so that we may grow in our spiritual life and our love for Jesus Christ.