Dear Parishioners,

If you could ask God any question, what would you ask him? Why is there war? Why did my husband die so young? Why did Jesus not make life, and especially the faith, less complicated? Why do I have this debility? Why am I a Bears fan? Maybe those last two are related.

Jesus says in the Gospel on this 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time, “nothing is concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known” (Matt 10:26). We will ultimately receive the answers to these questions when we are with God in heaven. But it's still worth asking them now, and reflecting on the very nature of the inquiry.

Dear Parishioners,

We are completing this weekend the "quadfecta" of Sunday Feasts: Ascension, Pentecost, Holy Trinity, and now Corpus Christi. Today, the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, we focus on the Eucharist. The crucial passage from John 6, which is our Gospel today, lays out the concept of the real presence. “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him” (Jn 6:56). Saint Paul is fairly explicit as well: “The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?” (1 Cor 10:16).

Dear Parishioners,

We celebrate the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity. We believe in a Triune God: three persons all co-equal as God. Though ‘three is one’ appears illogical, the Trinity can be reasoned out…somewhat. Instead of providing the theological rational of how Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all one God and not three Gods, what I’d like to do here is propose more of a ‘what if’ scenario.

Dear Parishioners,

Today is the Feast of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit in tongues of fire descended upon the disciples and Mary in the upper room fifty days after the Resurrection. Like Easter and the Ascension, this is a monumental day in our Church. Without the Holy Spirit, we do not have the Church; we do not have the ability to intimately relate to God.

Instead of explaining the importance of this feast day, I will leave you with a beautiful prayer to the Holy Spirit, known as the Veni Creator. Perhaps you might pray it at some point today.