Thank You God

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