This coming Wednesday, February 18, the Universal Church will celebrate Ash Wednesday, and the beginning of the liturgical season of Lent. Ashes are used as a reminder that we are just dust in comparison with the existence of God. Hence, one of the formulas that you could hear this Ash Wednesday is “Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” This phrase recalls the book of Genesis at the moment of the creation of a human being, “The Lord God formed the man out of the dust of the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being” (Genesis 2:7). God made us in His image (Cf. Gen. 1:26-27). However, we cannot forget that we depend totally on God. We need His presence and love in our lives to live. We need His breath of life, that is the Holy Spirit, to walk in this world and work for the Kingdom of God and gain salvation and eternal life.

To attain salvation, it is necessary to turn our faces and repent from our sins. This is the second formula that we might hear this Ash Wednesday, “Repent and believe in the Gospel.” This is what Jesus proclaimed when He started His public life (cf. Mk. 1:14-15). The Lord Jesus is constantly inviting us to ask God for forgiveness. He is teaching us that God is the merciful Father who is waiting for us with open arms to bring us His love, mercy, and forgiveness (Cf. Lk. 15:11-32). For that reason, the Roman Catholic Church is always highlighting and promoting prayer, fasting, and almsgiving as Lenten observances which help us to ask God for forgiveness. Besides, the Sacrament of Penance (known as well as Confession or Reconciliation) plays an important role in this wonderful season. Let us go to this sacrament of forgiveness and practice the Lenten observances with love, believing that through them, we can obtain the mercy of God, salvation and eternal life.

Next, here are the different activities for Ash Wednesday at Holy Trinity Church.

Morning Prayer and distribution of Ashes	6:30 am
Mass and distribution of Ashes	8:30 am
Mass and distribution of Ashes at Maplewood	11:00 am
Prayer service and distribution of Ashes	12:15 pm
Mass and distribution of Ashes	5:30 pm

If you have a person at home who is sick, cannot come to church, and wants to receive Ashes, please contact the parish office.

There will be more activities for Lent at Holy Trinity Church. Please check the Lenten program. If you have questions or concerns, please let me know.

Remember, The parish that we dream is the parish that I help to build!
Holy Trinity Church… 165 years evangelizing.

God bless you and may the Blessed Virgin Mary be with you always!

Fr. Jorge Ramírez

Dear family of the Most Holy Trinity Church,

In this celebration of our 165th anniversary as a community of faith, I would like to share with you some notes from our previous pastors. The first one is from Father William M. Hart, Ph.D. Many of you may remember him.

Remember, The parish that we dream is the parish that I help to build!

Holy Trinity Church… 165 years evangelizing!

God bless you and may the Blessed Virgin Mary be with you always!

Fr. Jorge Ramírez

This past January 7th, 2026, Pope Leo XIV, accepted the resignation of the Most Reverend Salvatore R. Matano, the Nineth Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester, and appointed the Most Reverend John S. Bonnici as the Tenth Bishop of our Diocese.

I would like to first express our gratitude to Bishop Matano for all these years serving our Diocese. He was installed as our Bishop on January 3rd, 2014. Bishop Matano succeeded Bishop Matthew H. Clark and since his installation as our Bishop, he has been working to proclaim the Gospel, administrating to the Diocese, leading us through COVID and working very hard with the sexual abuse cases, which the process ended on September 5th, 2025. Bishop Matano will continue to be our Bishop until the installation of Bishop Bonnici. Meanwhile, if you see Bishop Matano, please express your gratitude for all the wonderful work that he has been doing in our Diocese of Rochester.

Secondly, even though Bishop Bonnici is not yet installed as our new bishop, I would like to express a warm welcoming to our Diocese. He will be installed as the Tenth Bishop of Rochester on March 19th, 2026, on the Solemnity of St. Joseph. Bishop Bonnici was born in New York City, was ordained as a priest at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan on June 22, 1991, and was ordained as a Bishop on March 1st, 2022. Bishop Bonnici will work for our Diocese, proclaiming the Gospel and being a pastor to all of us. Let us pray for Bishop Bonnici so that he can always show God’s face to all people and work hard for our Roman Catholic Church.

Let us pray for our bishops:

O God, who has appointed Thine only begotten Son to be the eternal High Priest for the glory of Thy Majesty and the salvation of mankind; grant that they whom He hath chosen to be His ministers and the stewards of His mysteries, may be found faithful in the fulfillment of the ministry which they have received. Through the same Christ Our Lord.
Amen.

Remember, The parish that we dream is the parish that I help to build!
God bless you and may the Blessed Virgin Mary be with you always!

Fr. Jorge Ramírez

As we begin 2026, on behalf of families and pilgrims with a grateful heart, I would like to thank our Holy Trinity family for supporting our fundraisers and the generous donors who supported our teenagers that attended NCYC 2025.

It was a great blessing for Fr. George, Jen Schoene and myself to accompany our teenagers on the pilgrimage to their personal encounter with Jesus at NCYC for 3 days of praising God, Masses, Confession, Adoration, conferences and lots of fun.

Abby: “My favorite part of NCYC was walking around the exhibit hall and going to the General Sessions at Lucas Oil Stadium.”

Claire: “My favorite NCYC experience was listening to Echo Harbor Worship at the Lucas Oil Stadium!”

Ella: “NCYC was a very moving experience, and I learned a lot from the EMCEES and keynote speakers.”

Eve: “During NCYC I enjoyed all the new friends I made and learning where around the country they were from. I also liked growing in my relationship with God.”

Gen: “Going to NCYC not only taught me about God, but helped me understand my connection with God”

Lilly: “Going to NCYC was awesome seeing over 16,000 kids around my age with the same beliefs, so strong in faith. It was beautiful to see, and I was able to witness it.”

Lillian: “It’s impossible to overstate just how incredible this conference was, from the music to the
breakout sessions to meeting our Holy Father Pope Leo XIV. I truly cannot believe I had this beautiful opportunity to experience the Holy Spirit in such a powerful way.”

Joey: “NCYC 25 gave me the chance to speak in front of 16,000 youth, reconnect with the people I served with in Ghana, and realize how powerful faith becomes when it brings people back together to serve something bigger than themselves.”

John: “My time at NCYC was a life-change experience where, amidst 15,000 pilgrims, I felt and inexplicable pressure against my side despite my friend being over a foot away and heard God whisper, ‘Don’t worry John, I’m right here,’ which overwhelmed me with such desirable sense of the Lord’s presence that I wept uncontrollably for thirty minutes before composing myself to return to the hotel”

Mya: “NCYC was a fantastic experience and changed how I view the world allowing me to act more like Jesus. I would like to thank the parishioners for their donations that allowed me to go on this wonderful trip!”

Michael: “Attending NCYC helped me view my faith differently.”

We were blessed that Pope Leo XIV addressed the youth stating: “Let me begin with something important. You are not only the future of The Church, YOU ARE THE PRESENT!

Your voices, your ideas, your faith matter right now. And The Church needs you; The Church needs what you have been given to share with all of us!”

God Bless,
Ivan Luqueno-Tlayeca

This Sunday, January 11th, the Church celebrates the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. With this celebration, the Church finishes the Christmas season and, at the same time, starts Ordinary Time.

The Gospel teaches us that John baptized Our Lord Jesus Christ in the waters of the Jordan River. Once Our Lord was baptized, God, Our Father, said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). We were baptized because our parents, as good disciples, followed the mandate of the Lord, “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20). Once we were baptized, we became God’s children by adoption; therefore, since our Baptism we are also the beloved children of God. The question here is… “Are we pleasing God with our life as Christian people?”

Baptism cannot become just a rite that is celebrated once in our lives. Baptism should be a living sacrament that is renewed constantly with each one of our actions. St. Paul in his letter to the Romans reminds us that through Baptism we died for our sins and get new life through the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ. He says, “What then shall we say? Shall we persist in sin that grace may abound? Of course not! How can we who died to sin yet live in it? Or, are you unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were indeed buried with Him through Baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of life. For if we have grown into union with Him through a death like his, we shall also be united with Him in the resurrection” (Romans 6:1-5).

Let us live our Baptism always being truly Jesus’ disciples. Remember that Baptism makes us new people. We are protected by God through this sacrament. We received for the first time the Holy Spirit in our Baptism and then His fullness in the sacrament of Confirmation. Let us always live our own Baptism with joy, knowing that God, our Father though our Lord Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit is always protecting each one of us.

Let us renew our Baptismal promises:

Remember, The parish that we dream is the parish that I help to build!

God bless you and may the Blessed Virgin Mary be with you always!

Fr. Jorge Ramírez

The Epiphany of the Lord is a Christian feast that celebrates the manifestation of Jesus Christ to the world. Observed on January 6 in many Christian traditions, Epiphany comes from the Greek word Epiphaneia, meaning “appearance” or “revelation.” While Christmas focuses on the birth of Jesus, Epiphany emphasizes who Jesus is and to whom He is revealed: not only to Israel, but to all nations.

We find the visit of the Magi or Wise Men in the Gospel of Matthew 2:1-12. These Magi were not kings, as later tradition sometimes describes them, but scholars or astrologers from the East. Guided by a mysterious star, they journeyed far to find the newborn King of the Jews. Their arrival in Bethlehem shows that Jesus’ mission extends beyond the people of Israel. From the very beginning, Christ is revealed as Savior of the whole world.

The gifts the Magi present—gold, frankincense, and myrrh—carry deep symbolic meaning. Gold signifies kingship, acknowledging Jesus as a king. Frankincense, used in worship, points to his divinity. Myrrh, often associated with burial, foreshadows his suffering and death. Together, these gifts proclaim the mystery of Christ: fully human, fully divine, king, priest, and sacrificial offering.

Epiphany is not limited to the visit of the Magi alone. In many Christian traditions, it also includes other moments of revelation in Jesus’ early life, such as His baptism in the Jordan River and His first miracle at the wedding at Cana. At His baptism, the voice of the Father and the descent of the Holy Spirit publicly reveal Jesus as God’s beloved Son. At Cana, Jesus reveals His power and glory by turning water into wine. Each of these events deepens the meaning of Epiphany as a celebration of divine self-disclosure.

The feast carries an important spiritual message for us today. Epiphany reminds us that faith is not meant to be hidden or confined. Just as the light of the star led the Magi to Christ, we are called to seek Christ and to reflect His light in the world. It is a call to openness, humility, and willingness to journey—even into the unknown—in search of truth.

Moreover, Epiphany challenges us to recognize Christ our Savior in unexpected places. The Magi found the Messiah not in a palace, but in a humble home. This teaches that God often reveals Himself through simplicity and vulnerability rather than power and wealth.

In essence, the Epiphany of the Lord celebrates revelation, light, and mission. It proclaims that Jesus Christ is revealed to all people and invites every nation, culture, and individual to encounter Him. As a feast of light, Epiphany continues to inspire us to follow Christ Jesus faithfully and to share His presence with the world.

Let us pray:
O God, who by the guidance of a star did on this day manifest Your only-begotten Son to the Gentiles, mercifully grant that we who know You by faith may also attain the vision of Your glorious majesty. Through Christ our Lord. All: Amen.

Remember, The Parish that we dream is the parish that I help to build!

God bless you and may the Blessed Virgin Mary be with you always!

Fr. Jorge Ramírez

Thank You All

2025 has been a year full of blessings by God. In this year, we have been celebrating the sacraments, especially the Sacrament of the Eucharist and Reconciliation, worked on CMA, the pastoral and finance councils, and the different committees of the parishes and their activities. I blessed the pets on the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, celebrated the feast day of Holy Cross on September 14th with the prayers of 1000 Jesuses, the Solemnity of All Saints, children and youth Masses, the trip to Indianapolis, IN, with 11 of your youth to participate in NCYC, the Colombian tradition of “La Noche de las Velitas” (The night of the little candles), Christmas celebrations, among other activities. Everything we have done is thanks to each one of you because you are realizing that we are more than a parish… we are one family who are walking together under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, through our Lord Jesus Christ to the house of our Heavenly Father. All of us are also realizing the importance of my theme or slogan for my pastoral plan, “the parish that we dream, is the parish that I help to build.”

For all of these and for your prayers and friendship, I only have to say, “Thank you very much.” This 2025 has been amazing, and I know that the following year will be even better. Please, let us continue to work for the kingdom of God all together as one big family… Holy Trinity Family. I know that God has wonderful things for each one of us.

Let us pray:
Remember us, O God;
from age to age be our comforter.
You have given us the wonder of time,
blessings in days and nights, seasons and years.
Bless your children at the turning of the year
and fill the months ahead with the bright hope
that is ours in the coming of Christ.
You are our God, living and reigning, forever and ever. Amen.

¡Feliz Próspero Año Nuevo 2026! / Happy New Year 2026!

Remember, The Parish that we dream is the parish that I help to build!

God bless you, and may the Blessed Virgin Mary be with you always!

Fr. Jorge Ramirez

When I was a boy, I was always excited because of Christmas. To place the Christmas ornaments on the tree, to set the Nativity scene, to watch the Christmas lights, to eat delicious food, and Night of the Little Candles, the Christmas Novena, which is a Colombian Tradition, the Christmas carols and December music, the food, dancing, and of course the gifts, made me feel that Christmas is a special celebration. However, Christmas was special not because of the ornaments, food, or gifts, but because all families are together, sharing this wonderful time. I remember being together on Christmas Eve with my parents, brothers, grandparents, uncles, cousins, and close friends. We ate, danced, exchanged gifts, and had a marvelous feast. We had an incredible time because of all of these things, but also because we know that Jesus is not only born in Bethlehem, but also in our hearts.

This joy is the same one that the shepherds felt when the angel of the Lord announced that the Messiah was born, “For today in the city of David a Savior has been born for you who is Messiah and Lord.” (Lk. 2:11). The announcement of the angels is joy because Jesus is born in our lives. The nativity of the Lord is the expression of God’s love to each one of us. This joy is reflected in the different decorations that we have in our homes.

The angels invited not only the shepherds to go and adore the newborn baby, but also each one of us. We cannot forget that the main reason for Christmas is Christ. Look at that fragile boy. Look at Him, His innocence, tenderness, and all of the love that God has for all of us. Our mission is not only to feel the love of God who is given us through this child, but to transmit the same love in our society who is living in crisis because of violence in many places, such us Ukraine, Israel, South America, Africa, Asia, and of course, our country.

Let us celebrate Christmas with love and joy. Let us eat delicious food with our family and friends, let us sing Christmas carols and enjoy the snow in the company of our children. Let us rejoice because the Emmanuel is among us. Let us keep Christ in Christmas through an amazing action that we can do for our relatives, family, friends, and strangers. Let us live Christmas the whole year because the baby Jesus is always in our hearts and came to us in the wonderful sacrament of the Eucharist.

I, as the Pastor of the Church of the Most Holy Trinity and on behalf of our staff, wish you Merry Christmas! ¡Feliz Navidad!

May the Baby, who was born in Bethlehem, be born again this Christmas in your hearts and homes and be with you always. Feliz Navidad, Merry Christmas, my brothers and sisters. Enjoy the wonderful Holy Days in company of your beloved ones and, of course, the Holy Family, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.

Remember, The parish that we dream is the parish that I help to build!

God bless you and may the Blessed Virgin Mary be with you always!

Fr. Jorge Ramírez

We are lighting the candles of the Advent Wreath as preparation for the coming celebration of Christmas and the second coming of the Lord. The Advent wreath has three purple candles and one rose candle. We have lit two purple candles, and now it is time to light the rose candle during this Sunday which is called “Gaudete.” Gaudete Sunday, the third Sunday of Advent in the Catholic Church, takes its name from the Latin word “Gaudete,” meaning “Rejoice,” from the opening antiphon of the Mass: “Rejoice in the Lord always” (cf. Phil. 4:4). It marks a joyful pause in the otherwise penitential season of Advent, reminding the faithful that the coming of Christ is near.

The liturgical color for this day is rose, symbolizing hope and joyful expectation. The prayers and readings highlight themes of joy, encouragement, and renewed anticipation as the Church draws closer to Christmas.

Gaudete Sunday invites believers to rejoice in God’s nearness and to prepare their hearts with gratitude and hope. Therefore, let us celebrate this Gaudete Sunday and our lives with love, enthusiasm, and happiness with a thanksgiving attitude to God, Our Father, for sending us His only begotten Son to be born in a manger, died for us on the Cross, and rose from the dead to give us hope in the eternal life.

Remember, The Parish that we dream is the Parish that I help to build!

God bless you and may the Blessed Virgin Mary be with you always!

Fr. Jorge Ramirez

The Night of the Little Candles

I will celebrate the Night of the Little Candles on December 8 at 5:30 p.m. with the Solemn Mass and then our reception afterwards.

Please, join me in this Colombian tradition in honor of our Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary and her Immaculate Conception. Besides this celebration, after Mass, I will share the Colombian traditional dessert for Christmas. Feel free to bring something to share in this gathering after the celebration. If you have not signed up yet, please do so and tell us how many of you are attending and if you want to share some dessert with us. Come and participate in this beautiful Colombian tradition.

All are welcome!

Remember, the Parish that we dream is the Parish that I help to build!

God bless you, and may the Blessed Virgin Mary be with you always!

Fr. Jorge Ramirez