Greetings in Christ!
As we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, we are reminded of the most profound and also most fundamental mystery of the Christian Faith: that the foundation of all reality is one God in three Persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Theologians have mentally wrestled time and time again with how to better understand this doctrine that we believe in faith. We believe it because God has revealed it to be so in the Scriptures as interpreted and passed down in the tradition of the Church.
The well known Jesuit philosopher and theologian Bernard Lonergan is said to have ended his rigorous lectures on the Trinity by quipping, “The Trinity is a matter of five notions, four relations, three persons, two processions, one substance….and zero understanding.”
The Trinity is indeed something we will never completely and entirely be able to comprehend and grasp with our limited minds. However, there is still so much that we can learn and know about the interior life of God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. There are literally libraries worth of books from saints and theologians down through the ages who teach us what we can say and know about this fundamental aspect of our God. If someone were to ask me for a good, reasonably short and reasonably understandable book on the Trinity, I would recommend, “The Trinity: an introduction to Catholic Doctrine on the Triune God,” by Gilles Emery, O.P.
I am absolutely thrilled to share in the great joy of our entire community as we congratulate the newly ordained Fr. Maximilian Frei! Witnessing a young man answer the call to the altar is a beautiful testament to the vibrant faith within our diocese. This truly marks a historical moment in our parish. Fr. Frei is now the first priest in our diocese to come from the parish of St. Dorothy. A special thanks to his parents and all who supported him in his vocation and also special thanks to each one of you, “prayer warriors,” here in our parish who do so much by your prayer and sacrifices to call down graces from heaven to make the church more holy.
Please keep Fr. Frei in your prayers as he begins his sacred priestly ministry of service for our diocese and as he begins his first assignment in the next few weeks!
In Christ,
Fr. Michael Carlson, Pastor