Tuesday June 1st, 2021
My Soul is Thirsting for Relationship
Does the Trinity still confuse you? Do you still struggle to understand how three persons are One God, not three Gods? Do you feel sometimes, or most times, the idea of the Trinity has no relation to your practical daily life? If your answer to any of these questions is yes, then you are not alone. We all get stuck because we often engage in the hair-splitting theories about the Trinity. The Most Holy Trinity is not an idea or concept to be known and explained intellectually. The Most Holy Trinity is first and foremost a love that must be lived. Our God is three persons to be invited with us into a relationship.
Therefore, we come to understand the Trinity after we have lived and practiced love – practice before theory, experience before explanation, belief before theology! We say God is Father (and Mother), Son (or redeemer), and Spirit (advocate or lawyer) because we experience God in these three different ways. These three ways are all loving ways. The whole experience of the Trinity is relational. You will never understand it until you are in love and in relationship with the Trinity. The meaning of God is a love that is shared in Christ with us. Our reception of this love involves our sharing it with one another. God is a relationship of love in which we are called to participate. Saint Thomas Aquinas would say “Love (God) is to love and be loved” – relational.
In the Book of Deuteronomy, our first reading, Moses reminds his fellow Israelites to never forget their God is like no other in love in with them: “… did any god venture to go and take a nation for himself [herself] from the midst of another nation, by testings, by signs and wonders…?” (Dt 4:34). God is intimately in love with, and unconditionally committed to, humanity because God created humanity. That’s the relationship right there - God is our creator and we are God’s creation and creatures. This is why the Gospel asks that we be baptized and baptized in the name of God – the Father (source of all being), the Son (eternal word), and Holy Spirit (see Mt 28:16-20). We are being called to claim our connectedness, relationship, and participation in the love that exists in this three-person God.
In Ordinary Time we reflect on the daily and concrete life of the early Christians, how they lived still connected to the Creator through Christ in the Spirit, so that we also may be faithful and effective witnesses of Christ in our own times.
How then do we maintain our relationship and stay in good standing with God who has faithfully kept his or her part of the bargain?
Faithfulness is very much like Patriotism in politics. Therefore, we can learn a thing or two from our country’s observance of Memorial Day as we honor those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for the love of our country. Those women and men who died defending the country did not die for a physical or material land. They weren’t in love with the USA’s wealth, land size, real estate, military might, etc. They were in love with the USA’s ideals, values, spirit, and principles. Here are some quotes about the patriotism of our heroines and heroes:
“A [person’s] country is not a certain area of land, of mountains, rivers, and woods, but it is a principle; and patriotism is loyalty to that principle (George William Curtis).
“There is nothing nobler than risking your life for your country” (Nick Lampson).
“Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism” (George Washington).
Like our patriots, we Christians need to commit to our relationship with Christ not only chasing material, physical, external things, but the spiritual values of love, sacrifice, unity, etc. We must practice love of humanity in all its difference and diversity in order to understand the God of the Trinity. We must learn to be open to worship with our political opponents and people who are different from us. That’s the way we can understand and feel the presence of the Trinity – the 3-person God, who loves us. Let our souls thirst for a relationship with God and humanity.
- Fr. Kwame
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We would like to Congratulate
The Youth Confirmation Group
who received this blessed sacrament Sunday!
Watch the video HERE
Join a Ministry...
Volunteer and fill your soul with love!
St. Charles is in need of individuals who are searching to share the talents God has given them. We have a number of ministries that just might match your own talents!
Please contact
for more information.
Jun
3
Thursday Evening ADULT BIBLE STUDY on ZOOM
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No
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going.
not going.
might be going.
Fr. Kwame's Adult Bible Study Program
1.) Handout available Thursday.
2.) Join us on Zoom at 7:00 pm:
Meeting ID: 845 0845 9657
Passcode: 141849
Dial by phone: (669) 900-6833
You May View VIDEOS of Previous
Jun
4
Adoration Of The Blessed Sacrament
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going.
not going.
might be going.
Adoration Of The Blessed Sacrament
Friday, June 4th
Between 10:00 am - 6:00 pm
Join us at this important event where we as Catholics believe that since the Son of God became man for us. He has devised a marvelous way to remain with us in the Eucharist. Adoration is an intimate encounter with Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. This is not an afterthought, but rather an essential aspect of the Eucharist.
Eucharistic adoration enables us to spend time intimately thanking Him for His sacrificial gift expressed in His Eucharistic words: “This is my body which is given for you” (Luke 22:19).
Come hear our own Parochial Administrator, Fr. Kwame Assenyoh,
give a talk on The Apostle's Creed.
Meet us in the Hall
For discussion and Pizza.
Jun
7
Monday, June 7th, 6:30 pm
Topic: The Apostle's Creed
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going.
not going.
might be going.
If you plan to attend in person or on Zoom,
A special thank you to the many parishioners for their support
of the "Host & Chalice Tabernacle."
If the Spirit inspires you, please donate HERE
Will may have noticed that our white picket fence has been removed from the center courtyard.
Don't be alarmed, we are in the process of replacing the fence with a newer version. We will have this area back up and operating very soon.
Jun
9
Interfaith Interconnect Religion Chat!
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might be going.
Please Join Us
Interfaith Interconnect Religion Chat!
Wednesday, June 9, 2021, 5:00–6:15 p.m.
Topic:
How Does Your Faith Approach Health Issues? One of the speakers will be St. Charles Health Ministry leader Maria Gamulo-Owen.
Come June 9 to hear some of the ways different religions’ beliefs, traditions, practices, and rituals address topics such as nutrition, addiction, mental health, and contagion. Afterward, participants may also speak briefly on how their faith promotes health today. There will be time for questions. All are welcome!
Interfaith Interconnect comprises over twenty Tri-Valley congregations, including St. Charles. Its mission is, “To enrich, inform and educate ourselves and others about the great diversity of faiths and cultures in our valley.”
Contact Marcia at 925-321-0730 or Interfaith.interconnect@gmail.com
A friendly reminder that we are still practicing Covid19 protocol from both the CDC
and Diocese of Oakland.
the Oakland Diocese
Jesus Boost Podcast
Episode 36
BREATH
BREATH
The Breath of Life
God breathed man into being, Jesus breathed the Holy Spirit into a man. Man is meant to breathe the Spirit of love, peace, justice into the world each day and not waste or take the sacred gift of breath for granted. Plus this episode gives tips for connecting the physical and spiritual benefits of deep breathing by providing a specific practice to cleanse, purify and saturate the soul with God's amazing grace.
By Lisa Tolido
St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Community
1315 Lomitas Ave.
Livermore, CA 94550
"Not a Place Where...But a People Who"
