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

It has been a tradition in Colombia to light a candle to Our Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. Let us remember that the Immaculate Conception is very important for all Americans because she is the patroness of this beautiful country, and for all Colombians as well. In Colombia, the day of the Immaculate Conception has a lot of celebrations, such as First Communions, parties, and different celebrations. One of these celebrations is called La Noche de las Velitas.

La Noche de las Velitas or the Night of the Little Candles is one of the most observed traditional holidays in Colombia. It is celebrated on December 7 & 8, on the feast of the Immaculate Conception, which is a public holiday in Colombia. This day is the unofficial start of the Christmas season in the country. On this day, people place candles and paper lanterns on windowsills, balconies, porches, sidewalks, streets, parks and squares; in short, everywhere they can be seen, in honor of the Virgin Mary and her Immaculate Conception. On December 8 it is customary for houses to hoist a white flag with the image of the Virgin Mary all day. They also hold numerous events, from firework shows to competitions.

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

The Catholic Church starts a new Liturgical Year this weekend with the season of Advent. The liturgical year consists of the cycle of liturgical seasons in the Catholic Church that determines when feast days, including celebrations of saints, are to be observed, and which portions of Scripture are to be read either in an annual cycle or in a cycle of several years. The Liturgical year has four seasons:

Advent:

It is the first season of the liturgical year in which we are waiting in preparation for both the celebration of the Nativity of Christ at Christmas and the return of Christ at the Second Coming. We use the Advent wreath which has 4 candles: 3 purple and 1 rose candle. The liturgical color is violet or purple.

Christmas:

In this liturgical season we are celebrating the Nativity of the Lord. Please, pay attention that this is a season, which goes from December 25 (Christmas Day) until the Epiphany of the Lord (known as the feast of the three kings [around January 6th]), and not only one day. The liturgical color is white.

Ordinary Time:

This liturgical year is divided into two periods: The first one goes from the celebration of the Baptism of the Lord until Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. The second one goes from the Sunday after Pentecost until the Solemnity of Jesus Christ, the King of the Universe. This time is called ordinary because everything is in order. The liturgical color is green.

Lent:

This is a season used by the Church to call us to make penance through almsgiving, fasting, prayer, and of course, the Sacrament of Reconciliation. This liturgical season goes from Ash Wednesday until Holy Thursday in the morning. The liturgical color is purple.

Easter Triduum:

This is not really a season, but the most important celebration for Christians. Here, we commemorate the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ. We celebrate on Holy Thursday in the evening at the Lord’s Supper Eucharist, which the liturgical color is white, Good Friday with the Adoration of the Holy Cross, which the liturgical color is red, and Easter Vigil at Holy Saturday’s evening where we start to celebrate the Resurrection of the Lord and the liturgical color is white.

Easter:

Like Christmas, this is not only a day, but a full season which starts on Easter Sunday until Pentecost (the celebration of the Holy Spirit). This season celebrates that Christ, the light of the world, is risen. Jesus Christ rose from the dead to take us to the house of the heavenly Father. We light the Paschal Candle, which was blessed on Easter Vigil during the whole Easter season. The Liturgical color is white.

Let us celebrate this liturgical year with love and enthusiasm, knowing that in each season, we will meet the Lord Jesus who is always with us.

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

My dear family of the Most Holy Trinity Church,

I hope everyone is doing very well.

I am very excited to share with you that two members of our parish family of Holy Trinity are now members of our parish staff.

First of all, let me introduce you to Mrs. Michelle Gibbs. She has been a parishioner all her life. Probably, you have seen her teaching your kids in Faith Formation. Her husband and children are very active in our parish as members of the Pastoral Council and altar servers, lectors, and so on. Mrs. Gibbs is now our administrative assistant. I asked her to introduce herself to all our family of Holy Trinity Church.

“My name is Michelle Gibbs. I am the new Administrative Assistant in the Parish Office here at Holy Trinity. I have been a parishioner here at Holy Trinity my entire life. I attended Holy Trinity School and have fond memories of my days here as a youth. My husband, John, and I have four children, Maren, Parker, Braeden and Hollis. I currently serve as a catechist for 4th grade and Confirmation Year 2 faith formation programs. I am excited to join the team and serve our Holy Trinity community. Please stop by and say ‘Hello’”.

Secondly, I want to introduce Mr. Stephen O’Reilly. He has been working with our choir, and officially he will co-coordinate the music ministry with Mrs. Linda Carson, our organist. He and Linda are a great team, and they both will lead the choir and cantors to help us to worship the Lord through the Sacred Music in the different liturgical celebrations in our parish. Like Mrs. Gibbs did, Mr. O’Reilly will introduce himself to all of us.

“Hello. I’m Steve O’Reilly, and I’ve just joined the staff at Holy Trinity as Music Ministry Coordinator. After many years in the choir at Holy Spirit Parish, I joined the choir here. I’ve been directing our Classic Choir for over five years now, and I’m honored to begin planning and directing our music ministries here. Please, feel free to contact me if you have any questions or suggestions.”

Please, let us greet Mrs. Gibbs and Mr. O’Reilly next time that we see them. They, like all of us, are very important members of our parish family. All of us are working for the Kingdom of Heaven.

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

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

This past Thursday, November 6th, the Church published a document called Mater Populi Fideis (The Mother of the Faithful People) that talks about the Blessed Virgin Mary and her role. It was approved by Pope Leo XIV on October 7th and signed by the Prefect, Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández. This document tries to answer all the questions and ideas about Marian devotion and the titles given to the Mother of God.

According to Vatican News, “Mater populi fidelis (MPF) is the fruit of a long and complex collegial effort. It is a doctrinal document on Marian devotion, centered on the figure of Mary, who is associated with the work of Christ as Mother of believers. The Note provides a significant biblical foundation for devotion to Mary, as well as marshalling various contributions from the Fathers, the Doctors of the Church, elements of Eastern tradition, and the thought of recent Popes. In this positive framework, the doctrinal text analyses a number of Marian titles, encouraging the adoption of some of those appellations and warning against the use of others. Titles such as ‘Mother of Believers,’ ‘Spiritual Mother,’ ‘Mother of the Faithful’ are noticed with approval in the Note. Conversely, the title of ‘Co-redemptrix’ is deemed inappropriate and problematic. The title of ‘Mediatrix’ is considered unacceptable when it takes on a meaning that excludes Jesus Christ; however, it can be used appropriately so long as it expresses an inclusive and participatory mediation that glorifies the power of Christ. The titles ‘Mother of Grace’ and ‘Mediatrix of All Graces’ are considered acceptable when used in a very precise sense, but the document also warns of particularly broad explanations of the meaning of the terms.” (source)

I know that all of these are confusing for many people, perhaps for some of you. What the Church wants to say in this document is that we cannot place the Blessed Virgin Mary at the same level as Jesus. Jesus is truly man and truly God. Mary is just a human being. We call Mary “Mother of God” because of her relationship with the Lord Jesus. Mary is the Mother of Jesus, and Jesus is God; therefore, Mary is the Mother of God. This doctrine is called Theokokos and was established by the Church in the Council of Ephesus in 431 AD. The only redeemer is our Lord Jesus Christ. Mary is praying for us, as we say in the Hail Mary, “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners…” The Maternal role of Mary is to love all her children and pray for their salvation. Mater Populi Fideis in the number 71 says, “The Second Vatican Council preferred to call Mary our ‘Mother in the order of grace,’ which expresses well the universality of Mary’s maternal cooperation. This title is undeniable in a precise sense, for she is the Mother of Christ: he who is Grace par excellence and the Author of every grace.” Let us ask the Blessed Virgin Mary to continue to pray for us. Let us love, honor, and respect her for her courage to say “yes” to God’s will. Let us imitate her virtues, and like her, let us always obey the Word of God.

I invite you to read this document.

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

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.

This Sunday, November 9th, the Roman Catholic Church is commemorating the Dedication of the Basilica of St. John Lateran. You can wonder… we celebrate the memorials, feast days, and solemnities of the Saints, but why do we celebrate the dedication of a church? What is the importance of this basilica to the Roman Catholic Church?

Let us start by saying that the Basilica of St. John Lateran is the oldest church in the world. The dedication of this basilica was in 324 AD as the main cathedral of the Bishop of Rome, that means the Pope. This celebration emphasizes that this church is the head and mother of all churches and helps us to reflect on the unity of the Universal Church. Remember the four marks of the Church that we say in the creed every Sunday and during the solemnities, “I believe in One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church…” The Church is One. There is a unity in the Roman Catholic Church, and the celebration of the dedication of the Basilica of St. John Lateran is a way that we celebrate that unity.

Vatican news says, “Today’s Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica allows us to remember the journey of the people and God’s constant and faithful care. At the same time, we are reminded today that each one of us is a ‘house of God’ in the Risen Jesus, because the Holy Spirit dwells in each one of us (cf. 1 Cor. 3:16). This awareness alone leads us to praise the Lord on the one hand, and on the other, it leads us to say, at times excessively, ‘O Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof’ (Mt. 8:8), forgetting that He is already in us and that He welcomes us and loves us not as we would like to be, but as we are, here, now. All the present distractions are what make the Lord’s face blurry. When we learn to keep our gaze fixed on Jesus, the Author and Perfector of our faith, of our friendship with Him (cf. Heb 12:1-4), our faces will shine with light that flows from a ‘unified’ heart. The serenity required is momentary, but it needs to develop over a life time of continuous entering within ourselves and heading straight for the ‘King’s room’ (cf. The Interior Castle, Saint Teresa of Avila)” (source).

In this celebration, we should
Pray for the unity of the Church. There cannot be divisions in the Church. All of us are the mystical body of Christ (cf. 1 Cor. 12:12-27). Our Lord Jesus Christ works through each one of us. Even though all of us have different charisms that make us unique, all of us share the same spirit of the Risen Lord who works through each one of us. WE ARE ONE IN CHRIST.

Pray for the Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV. This basilica is known as the cathedral of Rome, and it was considered the official residence of the Pope until he was moved to the Vatican in 1870. Pope Leo needs our prayers. He is the representative, the vicar of Jesus on Earth.

Respect our own church of the Most Holy Trinity. We need to think and love our beautiful church as well. Let us care for our temple, using properly the pews, carpets, walls, and so on. This is God’s home. The Blessed Sacrament is in the Sanctuary. Let us use the Church as a place for prayer.

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

How many of us know what the four last things are? Perhaps, dinner, watch tv, brush our teeth, and going to bed? Or maybe, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s celebrations? If you thought of one of these things, I am sorry. This is not what I am talking about. When the Roman Catholic Church talks about the four last things, she is talking about Death, Judgment, Heaven, and Hell.

Death: We are mortal beings. That means we will die. We have a day of birth, and we will have a date for death; however, we do not know this date. Only God knows when the time for us to depart from this world to His Heavenly Kingdom is. Our Lord Jesus

Christ taught us that although our physical bodies die, our soul is eternal. We need to remember that the death is not the end of our existence, but just the beginning of something beautiful.

Judgment: Jesus teaches us in the Gospel that we will be judged at the end of our lives (cf. Mt. 25:31-46). St. John of the Cross (1542-1591) says, “In the evening of life, we will be judged on love alone.” Our Lord will judge us according to our actions and will decide where we are going: Heaven or Hell. However, before going to Heaven, we need to pass through purgatory, which is a state of the soul where we will be purified from our sins. We need to be pure before seeing God face to face. The Church teaches that Purgatory “is a temporary state of existence in which the soul is purified and brought to Christian Perfection” (taken from the association of Catechumenal Ministry [ACM]). Purgatory is a wonderful sign of God’s mercy.

Heaven: This is the Kingdom of God. Jesus came to teach us what the Kingdom of God is and how we can reach this Kingdom. In terms of St. Thomas Aquinas, Heaven is our supernatural destination: we came from God, and we are going back to God. Heaven is not a gift, but our choice. We choose in life if we want to go to Heaven or not. I am very sure that all of us want to go to Heaven; therefore, we should always listen to Jesus and obey Him. Our Lord says, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die” (Jn. 11:25-26). If we want to live, that means, to go to Heaven, what we need to do is to believe in Jesus and receive His Body and Blood in the Eucharist.

Hell: This is the eternal separation from the Most Holy Trinity. Like I choose if I want to go to Heaven through my actions, I choose if I want to go to Hell. If someone does not want to listen to Jesus, not doing good things for others, not practicing the sacraments, and so on, that person is choosing to go to Hell. God will say, if you did not want to be with me when you were alive, I will not obligate you to be with me in the eternity. Go to the place that you chose. I will not be there. That place is called Hell. In other words, Hell is being without the presence of God in our lives.

Do not forget: November is the month that the Church chose to pray for all souls in purgatory. Once souls are in purgatory, they cannot do anything else for themselves. They need our prayers, so God helps them to leave purgatory soon and rejoice in Heaven. Let us remember, one day, you and I will be in purgatory, and we will also need prayers.

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 lived in Colombia, I heard that Halloween is evil. Some people say that Halloween originated from the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, which celebrated the end of harvest and the beginning of winter, a time when the veil between the living and spirit worlds was believed to be thin. This day is celebrated on October 31st. But, I wonder, is Halloween really evil? Are we calling a celebration where children dressed as superheroes, princes and princesses, police officers, priests, robots, and so on, evil? Is it evil to go door to door, having interaction with our neighbors and asking them for candies for fun? Is it evil to share with family this tradition of decorating our houses and eating pumpkin treats? I do not think this celebration is evil, but we need to understand the Catholic point of view of Halloween.

According to catholiccompany.com, “The true substance of Halloween belongs to the Catholic Church.” Of course, “violence, gore, sensuality, or demonism now commonly associated with Halloween is not, in fact, true to the origins of this holiday.” The real meaning of the word Halloween comes from All Hallow’s Eve. In other words, Halloween refers to the evening or vigil of the Solemnity of All Saints, which is celebrated on November 1st. In Mexico, there is a celebration commonly now called “El día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead); however, the original name of this celebration is also called All Saints Day, which goes from October 27th to November 2nd (this day is All Souls Day). Even though Mexicans go to the cemeteries and create altars to their beloved ones with flowers and food, they are praying for their beloved one who died, and celebrating the fact that some are now in heaven.

Therefore, let us celebrate Halloween understanding the true sense of this tradition, not dressing our children as demons, monsters, or something evil, but as saints, such as St. Francis of Assisi, St. Teresa of Avila, or your favorite Saint. You can also dress your children with costumes that promote good, such as superheroes or cartoon characters.

Let us celebrate and have fun in Halloween, exalting our beloved ones who are now in heaven.

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

Have you noticed that usually we start our Masses praying for our beloved ones who are now resting in the peace of Christ? Have you gone to a funeral Mass for a relative or friend who passed away? Have you paid attention to the fact that in the petitions of the Mass we pray for all dead? Have you heard in the Eucharistic prayer a special prayer for the souls in purgatory?

Why does the Church pray for the dead? The Roman Catholic Church prays for the dead because she believes in the communion of Saints and God’s mercy for souls who have passed away. The Church wants to help our beloved ones on their spiritual journey to heaven by assisting in the process of purification in purgatory. Let us remember that the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) says that purgatory is a purification of those who are elected to enter into the eternal life (cf. CCC #1031). People need to be completely clean from their sins before they see God face to face. As I wrote in the bulletin article from November 7, 2023, “Purgatory is more like heaven than hell because all souls there are not in the hands of Satan, but they are waiting for the lovely hands of God. They have their sorrows, but also joys. They know that God is close. Because of this knowledge, they suffer because they cannot see God yet. But they also rejoice, because they also know that this suffering will end, and they can enjoy the presence of the Lord when they get to heaven.”

This is why it is very important to pray for the souls in purgatory. In the Catholic Church, the whole month of November, but especially November 2nd, is traditionally dedicated to the souls in purgatory. That day, the Church dedicates to pray for all the souls because there are many souls who need our prayers. Our parish, Holy Trinity Church, will have a special Mass for all the souls in purgatory called the Mass of Loving Remembrance on November 7th at 7:00 pm. Everyone is most welcome to pray for our beloved ones who are now resting in the peace of Christ. Please, pay attention to a little change that we will have this year in this Eucharist. As every year, we will light candles when we name our deceased family members and friends. However, we will only name those who died during this year. That means those who died between November 2024 through November 2025. The rest of the deceased people will be in the Book of Remembrance and at the end of the prayer, we will have the intention for those who remain in this book, and we will light a candle in honor of all of them. Once again, you can write their names for this special Mass, in the Book of Remembrance or call their names into the parish office, but only those who died this year will be read aloud.

Therefore, let us pray for the souls in purgatory. Let us pray for our brothers and sisters who are waiting to enter the Presence of the Lord. Let us pray for them in the Eucharist, the Holy Rosary, or a Novena. Let us pray not only for our faithful departed, but also for those for whom no one ever prays for. They also deserve to be in the presence of the Lord.

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

Dear family of Holy Trinity Church,

This weekend, we are celebrating the twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The gospel this Sunday is taken from St. Luke 17:11-19, and it is telling us the story of how ten lepers were healed by Jesus, but only one re- turned to Him expressing all his gratitude for the wonderful miracle that the Lord gave him.

This gospel makes us think about our attitude towards the gifts and wonders that the Lord gives to each one of us. Are we grateful for everything that God has done for each one of us? If so, how do we express this gratitude? One of the ways that we express our gratitude is through the Eucharist. Let us remember that the word Eucharist comes from the Greek word εὐχαριστία (Eucharistía), meaning “thanksgiving” or “gratitude”. Each time that we come to the Mass, we are saying “Thank you” to the Lord for all the gifts given by him. If we truly understand the real importance of the Eucharist and how we say “thank you” to the Lord, all our churches would be full of people, where each one of them praise the Lord.

I know that you, like me, come to the Mass. One proof of this is that you took our parish bulletin and are reading this article. Therefore, I invite you to do something else to express your gratitude to the Lord.

Our parish has different ministries in which you can participate. You can thank the Lord sharing your treasure through the weekly collection, Penny Sunday, or CMA (Remember our goal [$196,000] and challenge to reach this goal by December). You can also participate in the different ministries of the parish. Some of you already participate in these ministries as altar servers, lectors, extraordinary ministries of Holy Communion, ushers, readings, videographers, greeters, and so on. I really appreciate all your commitment to the Lord through your ministry at Holy Trinity Church. Your work is invaluable for us. If you do not participate in one of these ministries, you are most welcome to join us. If you are good using computers, consider becoming one of the videographers of our parish. We have parishioners who physically cannot attend Mass, and the streaming video is one of the ways that people feel close to Holy Trinity Church.

Let us know how you can serve God and our church. We will be happy to guide you and suggest to you what is the best way to do it. My office is always open for each one of you. I am here to help you always.

Let us remember that all of us should express our gratitude to the Lord for all the wonders that He does for each one of us.

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