Welcome

This weekend we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. From a purely intellectual standpoint, we cannot unlock the mystery of the one God united in three persons. However, we can come to better understand the divine mystery when we see it as a mystery of a relationship of total love. When we seek to live in relationships of selfless and unconditional love then we begin to experience the life of the Trinity and are even drawn into it. Coming off of Pentecost Sunday, we find ourselves out of the Easter Season and back in Ordinary Time. This season will stretch all the way to the First Sunday of Advent, but let’s not fall into the trap of misunderstanding the word “ordinary.” The season is named for the fact that the Sundays are marked by ordinal numbers. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops states: Christmas Time and Easter Time highlight the central mysteries of the Paschal Mystery, namely, the incarnation, death on the cross, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ, and the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. The Sundays and weeks of Ordinary Time, on the other hand, take us through the life of Christ. This is the time of conversion. This is living the life of Christ. Ordinary Time is a time for growth and maturation, a time in which the mystery of Christ is called to penetrate ever more deeply into history until all things are finally caught up in Christ. The goal, toward which all of history is directed, is represented by the final Sunday in Ordinary Time, the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. This Sunday’s Gospel takes us back to the Upper Room. Jesus, on the eve of His Passion, speaks not just with urgency but with a deep awareness of the disciples’ limits. Jesus knows their hearts, their fears, and their readiness. He is patient and He promises the Holy Spirit who will guide them gradually into all truth. This passage speaks volumes about the nature of divine revelation: it is not dumped on us all at once. It is unfolded patiently, progressively, and personally. In the person of the Holy Spirit, God continues to teach the Church. What the disciples could not understand before the Cross and Resurrection, they would begin to grasp in the light of Pentecost. Jesus calls the Holy Spirit the Spirit of truth. In a world where truth often feels relative, manipulated, or hidden, we are reminded that truth is not an idea, it is a person, Jesus Himself. And it is the Holy Spirit who leads us deeper into the truth of Christ: into who He is, what He taught, and how we are to live in Him. The Spirit doesn’t invent new truth but “will take what is mine and declare it to you.” The Holy Spirit helps us understand, guard, and proclaim the unchanging truth of Christ in every age. Jesus speaks of the perfect harmony between the Father, the Son, and the Spirit: “All that the Father has is mine,” and the Spirit “will take from what is mine.” This Gospel passage is one of the most Trinitarian in all of Scripture. It reveals not just three divine Persons, but a communion of love—mutual giving, shared truth, and total unity. This is the model for the Church and for Christian life. We are called to reflect that same communion in our families, our parish, and our relationships. Where there is competition, division, or pride, the Spirit of truth is stifled. But where there is humility, listening, and love, the Spirit breathes new life. May our lives reflect the unity and love of the Most Holy Trinity, in whom we live, and move, and have our being. Preparing to Take My Leave As you likely have seen, my farewell reception has been scheduled for Tuesday evening, June 17, from 5:00PM to 8:00PM in the parish center. Come by, have something to eat, and enjoy some fellowship with your fellow CTK parishioners and friends. I will offer some farewell remarks at the end of all the Masses the weekend of the 21st/22nd, and I will leave CTK on the 24th. Father Mark plans to arrive after the following Sunday, and the parish will be in the capable hands of Father Alex in the meantime. I ask for your continued prayers for myself and Father Mark in these days of transition. Blessings to you and yours for the week ahead! Father Chris House

Following the Lord’s Ascension into heaven, the Apostles were gathered once again in the Upper Room where the Lord had instituted both the Eucharist and the Priesthood at the Last Supper. It was also the place where He first appeared to them following the Resurrection. Tradition tells us that the Apostles were not alone on this particular day and that Mary, the Mother of the Lord, was with them. Jerusalem was filled with Jews who had come to the holy city for the feast of Pentecost, a feast celebrating the wheat harvest that was celebrated seven weeks and one day (50 days) following Passover. That day was a day that would forever change the face of the earth. Before His Ascension, the Lord promised the Apostles that He would send a paraclete, an advocate to be with them always until He returned in glory. It was precisely this advocate for whom the Apostles waited in the Upper Room, when on that Pentecost day, the Lord Jesus fulfilled His promise and the Holy Spirit came upon the Apostles and Mary, appearing as tongues of fire. It was precisely in this moment that the Good News, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, was preparing to break forth into the greater world. From the Upper Room, the Apostles went forth as new men, as new creations. The grace of the Holy Spirit had forever changed them, transforming their fear and trepidation into courage and zeal. With this gift of the Holy Spirit, they went out and fulfilled the Lord’s command to preach the forgiveness of sins, beginning first in Jerusalem. Acts of the Apostles recounts that some 3,000 people that very day heard the preaching of the Apostles, believed, were baptized, and thus the Church was born. This testimony from the Scriptures is why Pentecost is called the birthday of the Church. As we reflect on the significance of Pentecost, we are called to open our hearts to the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit renews the face of the earth and renews us as individuals and as a community of faith. The Spirit brings unity in diversity, as seen in the apostles speaking in different languages yet proclaiming the same message of salvation. Pentecost challenges us to be open to the Spirit's guidance in our lives. It invites us to step out of our comfort zones, to overcome our fears, and to be bold witnesses to the love and truth of Christ. The Spirit equips us with gifts and charisms for the building up of the Church and the spread of the Kingdom of God. Today, we, the living stones of the Church, claimed by Christ in baptism and anointed with the Holy Spirit through Confirmation, are called to carry on this mission given to the Apostles some 2,000 years ago. We who profess the name of Christ are His disciples because we have come to believe in Him, but our discipleship must be transformed into apostleship as the word apostle means “one who is sent.” The Apostles were the first to be sent and we are called to continue their work. On this Pentecost Sunday and always, let us open our hearts to the gift of the Holy Spirit who continues to guide the Church. Let us cooperate with the grace of the Spirit that seeks to make us witnesses of the crucified and risen Lord so that others may come to know and believe in the Lord Jesus and accept His gift of salvation. My Farewell Reception My farewell reception has been scheduled for Tuesday evening, June 17, from 5:00PM to 8:00PM in the parish center. Come by, have something to eat, and enjoy some fellowship with your fellow CTK parishioners and friends. My last day at CTK will either be June 24 th or June 25 th . Blessings to you and yours for the week ahead! Father Chris House