I have always said that our faith, our religion, our belief in God is in some way a selfish one. Maybe you can wonder why, if Jesus talks about to love, share, and help one another. Well, one of the arguments that I can use in order to explain how our faith and religion is selfish, is explained in Mt 7:21-29. My faith is selfish because I need to think first of myself, in my relationship with God, and in my connection with Him before I can start to help others to help increase their faith, relationship, and love for God. Jesus said in Mt. 7:21-29, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.” What is the will of God in heaven? It is to believe in Jesus, to follow Jesus, and to listen to Jesus. If we do not do so, we will be in trouble. How is it possible we are all Catholic Christians, if we do not follow the Lord and do not do the Father’s will? It is contradictory. So, I need to think first about my relationship with God. We cannot say to the Lord, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not drive out demons in your name? Did we not do mighty deeds in your name?” (Mt. 7:22) because there is no relationship with Jesus. Hence, how is my relationship with Jesus? This is one of the things that you and I need to wonder.

It does not matter if we come to Mass every day, if we participate in all the parish activities, if we contribute to the CMA or make donations to the church or if we help people, if my relationship with God is death. How often do I go to the sacrament of Reconciliation? How often do I pray? How often do I say to Jesus, “Lord, thank you for this wonderful day?” We need to increase our relationship of Love. In another Gospel Jesus says, “Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye?” (Mt. 7:3). I need to think first of myself and my relationship with God. Jesus says, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment”. The second is like it: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Mt. 22:37-39). Pay attention, “As yourself.” We need to love ourselves first. If I love myself, I want to increase this wonderful relationship with the Lord. In that way, I am in a selfish faith. If I can have a great relationship with Jesus, I can help the others. It is only through my relationship with Jesus that everything I do makes sense, e.g. help people, love others, feed the hungry, come to the church, celebrate the sacraments, celebrate the different activities of the parish, and so on. How is my relationship with Jesus? How can I increase my faith? I need to realize that if I want to enter into God’s Kingdom, I need to have a wonderful relationship with God.

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

Fr. Jorge Ramirez

When we get an invitation to go to a party, we usually pick a nice dress or suit appropriate for the occasion. We prepare ourselves to celebrate and have fun with our relatives or friends. We laugh, smile, tell jokes, drink, and, of course, eat. In Matthew 22:1
-14, Jesus describes the Kingdom of God as a wedding feast. The King summoned the guests for the feast, but they rejected his invitation. So, the King decided to invite everybody else in his kingdom. They accept- ed and went. One person was not appropriately dressed. Because this person was not prepared to celebrate the wedding feast, the King decided to expel him.

The Eucharist is commonly compared with a banquet in the New Testament, especially compared with a wedding banquet. Jesus used the image of the wedding banquet to describe what the Kingdom of God is. The Church compares the Eucharist also to a wedding banquet because it is an anticipation of how we are going to live in heaven.

So, Jesus compares heaven with a wedding banquet. God is the king who invited His people (Israel) but they did not listen to Him. So, the King, God Himself, decided to invite everyone (Gentiles) to this banquet. Personally, I love the song which says, “All are welcome in this place.” This is what God wants. Everybody is called to heaven, to the Church, and to the celebration of the Sacraments, especially the Eucharist; however, Jesus is very clear to say that all of us need to wear “a proper dress for this banquet.”

How can we get this dress for this banquet, for the celebration of the Eucharist? The answer is very easy: through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Through this sacrament, we restore our spiritual dress that was given to us in the Sacrament of Baptism. We need to dress correctly: physically, but more importantly, spiritually for the celebration of the Eucharist. I am not asking people to come dressed with a tie and jacket or a very elegant dress, but to dress according to the celebration of the Eucharist.

So, God chooses us to go to His banquet. Nevertheless, Jesus is clear saying that we need “to dress” appropriately to go. Hopefully, God will not deny us from heaven because we are not rightly “dressed.” Jesus, at the end of this Gospel (Mt. 22:14), says, “Many are invited, but few are chosen.” So, we need to think about our spiritual lives. What are we doing to get into heaven?

All of us are invited, and hopefully, we will be chosen to be there with God, the angels, and all the saints. God bless you, and may the Blessed Virgin Mary be with you always!

Fr. George

It is true that almost all the churches that we visit or go to worship God have images. We can see the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Joseph, St. Patrick, St. Francis of Assisi, and so on. But these images are not our central reason to worship.

God said that we cannot worship other gods, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall not have other gods beside me” (Exodus 20:2–3). We do not worship statues or images, but we take them as a reference for our spiritual life. The images were created originally in the Catholic Church to help people in catechesis to better understand the life of God, Jesus, and saints. The stained-glass windows, for instance, helped people to know much better the life of Our Lord Jesus Christ because the Bible was read only by the clergy, monks, scholars, and very important people, such as kings.

Do we have images in our churches? Yes, but we do not adore them. Once again, we see the saints as reference for our lives. If these men and women were able to go to Heaven, following Christ and each one of His commands, we will also be able to go to the house of our Heavenly Father. God calls us to Holiness. There are many biblical texts in which we can find how God invites all of us to be holy. I am only going to talk about two of them. The first one is found in Leviticus 19:1-2, “The LORD said to Moses: Speak to the whole Israelite community and tell them: “Be holy, for I, the LORD your God, am holy.” The second one is in Matthew 5:48, “Be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” In other translations we can read “Be holy, just as your heavenly Father is holy.” Both translations have the same meaning, to imitate the holiness and perfection of God, our Father.

Besides this, we have the images of the saints because we believe they are in heaven and can intercede for us. In the Apostles Creed we say, “I believe in… the communion of saints…” That communion means the saints are now with God in Heaven. For this reason, we have saints for each day, in which we celebrate the Eucharist in their honor. I want to highlight this: they can intercede for us, but they are not God; therefore, we do not adore images, but the images remind us that the saints are in heaven and intercede for each one of us.

Remember! Catholics do not adore images. The only one who is adored is God, who is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

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

Fr. George

First of all, as I told you last week, I have been in the parish for a month. I also explained that I am in the first step of the theological method: to see. I am watching the reality of Holy Trinity Church. Even though I am in the first step of this method, I have been making some small changes. I do not know if you are aware of them, but I would like to share with you some of them.

We now have a procession at the beginning, at the presentation of the gifts, and at the end of Sunday masses (Saturday evening as well) when I preside the Eucharist. We have Dc. Gary Terrana, who is a great help to our parish, is processing with the book of the Gospels at the beginning of the Mass and serving in his duties as a deacon. When the deacon is not present, the lector is processing with the Book of the Gospels. Part of my spiritual life is my devotion to our mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary. I pray and consecrate to her at the end of the Mass. Also, I pray “Glory be to…” at the end of my homilies. These are not part of the liturgy. These are part of my faith and love for God, our mother, and the Roman Catholic Church.

Another change that you probably have seen is in the bulletin. We are now adding the current Sunday intention for the Mass until the following Sunday in the bulletin. The reason is because I think that it is very important that all of us know what is the intention of the Mass that we are participating in. In addition, we are highlighting the fact that liturgically Sunday starts on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. For this reason, even though the Vigil Mass (Saturday) is celebrated, we already read Sunday. This is not a typing mistake. Saturday evening is already Sunday in the Roman Catholic Church. For this reason, we have Saturday’s evening Mass because we are in the first vespers of Sunday already.

Secondly, as you heard this past Sunday, Fr. John Omboga is preaching about his home diocese, Diocese of Ngong in Kenya. I want to share something that Fr. Omboga wrote about his diocese.

My brothers and sisters… let us welcome Fr. Omboga and be generous with his mission.

Let 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. George

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

It has been a month since I arrived at Holy Trinity Church. Time flies, doesn’t it? As I said previously, thank
you for the welcome you gave me during these weeks. I am very happy to work for the Lord in this wonderful community. It is still early (I guess) to introduce you to the pastoral plan. The theological method talks about three steps to interpretate the reality: To see, judge, and act. Pope Francis, who wrote the Encyclical Letter Laudato Si, reflects on this method, which the Church in Latin America uses. I encourage you to read this wonderful encyclical from Pope Francis, and the rest of them written by different Popes throughout history. I am in the first step of this method: To see. I am watching the reality of Holy Trinity, learning from each one of the parishioners their history, stories, and traditions. Therefore, little by little I am introducing my pastoral plan, which consists basically to evangelize people to become truly disciples of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Then, I will start to work on this wonderful family with the help of Pastoral and Finance Council, parish staff, all parishioners, and of course, the Holy Spirit.

The mission that Our Lord Jesus Christ gave to the Church is to Evangelize all people on Earth. This is the
mission of the Church, which is in the Gospel of Matthew 28:19, “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.” This is the mission of the Church… this is our mission. We need to work to bring more people to the Church. We need people who accept the Gospel and want to serve the Lord in every possible way. My dream, which is at the same time the dream of the Church, is to have in Holy Trinity Church truly disciples of the Lord. I will work on this, but I need your help.

It is gratifying to see how many people participate in the different pastoral activities of the parish. Seeing lectors, cantors, extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion, ushers, greeters, altar servers (acolytes), sacristans, counters, and so on are expressions of the great love that all of us have for the Lord and for the Church. Even though we have many people working for the Lord through the different ministries at Holy Trinity, it is always good to see new and more volunteers.

Remember that any help is appreciated, regardless of its “importance.” Everything that we do in the parish is important. It is like the boy who offers the five loaves and two fish to Jesus. How much is this for feeding over 5000 people? Nevertheless, Jesus used this little help from this boy to do a wonderful miracle (Cf. John 6:1-15). If we help in our parochial family regardless of how big or how small it is, God will use our help to multiply it for the goodness of our parish. If you are a sacristan, extraordinary minister of Holy Communion, lector, usher, acolyte, greeter, or another ministry in the parish, let me say to you “Thank you very much”. We really appreciate your help. Let 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. George

I would like to express all my gratitude to each one of the parishioners of Holy Trinity Church. You welcomed me with love and joy, even though it is a difficult time for all of us because our beloved friend and pastor, Fr. Tim, is not with us anymore. Let me tell you that each one of the manifestations and expressions of affection are very important to me to start this journey as your Pastor.

As I expressed before, my intention as the Pastor of the Most Holy Trinity Church is that each one of the members of this wonderful community feel like they are at home. We are one family walking together to rejoice in the presence of the Lord in each one of the activities that we do as a parochial family. All of us are disciples of Christ; therefore, each member of this community is very important. Each one of us contributes something important and valuable in the construction and development of our parish mission:

“We are a Catholic faith community blessed with the joy of God’s love. Together we share this love with all who hunger for God’s presence in their lives. We follow Christ who taught us to find God by giving our lives in service to others and gathering to celebrate a Eucharist that welcomes everyone. Join us on this journey!”

Personally, I have a slogan or phrase that you will hear from me many times. My slogan is, “The parish that we dream is the parish that I help to build.” We work as a family, a big family who dreams to be truly disciples of Christ. Each one of us has the responsibility to contribute something so that our mission becomes a reality. No matter how big or little our contribution is to our community (as a lector, usher, altar server, volunteer, sacristan, CMA, collection, donation, and so on), our contribution is very important for the life and future of our Holy Trinity Family.

This is not only my community, but it is the community of each one of us. This is our home. And because it is our home, I work so that my home becomes a welcoming place, not only for each one of the members of this wonderful family, but also for those who are visiting us. Remember… this is our parish; let us work together for our parish; let us love our parish; let us feel all the blessings by God through our parish.

I would like each member of Holy Trinity Church to learn this by heart: “The parish that we dream is the parish that I help to build.” Let us believe that everything we do in the parish is our grain of sand to help build this wonderful parish that all of us dream of.

Let us work together as a big family who is always doing God’s will. Remember… “The parish that we dream is the parish that I help to build.”

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

Fr. George.

All of us received the sad news of the depart of our brother and pastor, Fr. Timothy Horan. Fr. Tim was an extraordinary man who always gave us wonderful teachings and example of his extraordinary love that he had for God and His holy Church. We had the opportunity to express our gratitude for everything that he did for us during his priestly ministry as our Pastor and friend. Moreover, we honored him with a wonderful funeral Mass presided by our Bishop Salvatore R. Matano and preached by Fr. Daniel McMullin. At the end of this funeral Mass, I expressed my gratitude to all present, and invited to remember him with a great smile. Let us remember all the wonderful teachings from Fr. Tim.

I would like to share one of the most important memories that I have of Fr. Tim.

I was assigned to Holy Trinity Church as a seminarian in 2011. It was my second year of the seminary, after having studied English at St. Bernard School of Theology & Ministry. I joined St. Mary’s Seminary & University in Baltimore, MD, to continue my English studies and to begin studying theology.studying theology is not easy… studying theology in English (for me as a Spanish speaker) was hard. I had to study more and more. Double work for me, I believe.

I had some difficulties in my studies at the beginning of my seminary formation. I came to Holy Trinity during one of my breaks to celebrate Holy Week. I was thinking seriously of leaving the semi- nary and going back to Colombia. I thought that the priestly life was not for me. I talked to Fr. Tim about it. He said to me something that I will never forget. He said, “George, you are now in purgatory, but you will be soon in the Kingdom of Heaven.” Those words were meaningful for me because they helped me to think again about my situation at the seminary and my priestly formation. I can say, without a doubt, that I am a priest because of Fr. Tim. He was a very important person in my priestly formation.

I believe all of you have wonderful memories of Fr. Tim, and how he touched your hearts. Also, I know how difficult it is for all of us because Fr. Tim is not with us anymore. However, we also have the hope that Fr. Tim is with Jesus, enjoying His presence in the company of all the angels and saints. Fr. Tim is living what he told us about many times during his homilies and conversations. Fr. Tim is hap- py right now because he is alive with the Lord in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Let us continue to pray for the soul of Fr. Tim so that God takes him to His Holy place in heaven.

Fr. Tim, we love you. We will never forget you. Please, continue to pray for us from heaven.

God bless you and the Blessed Virgin Mary be with you always!
Fr. George

Jesus, before He went up to heaven gave a great mission to the Church: “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.” (Mt. 28:19-20).

Since that moment, the Roman Catholic Church has the mission to preach the Gospel to all; however, this has not been an easy task. During the Church’s history we can see how the Church has been facing heresies, persecutions, blasphemies, and so on. Nevertheless, it is because of the action of the Holy Spirit that the Church continues her task to announce the Gospel to all mankind. For instance, in the Acts of the Apostles, we find the story of when the apostles were in jail for announcing the Gospel, and Gamaliel, one of the teachers of the law, defended them: “So now I tell you, have nothing to do with these men, and let them go. For if this endeavor or this activity is of human origin, it will destroy itself. But if it comes from God, you will not be able to destroy them; you may even find yourselves fighting against God” (Cf. Acts 5: 34-42).

Even though we have difficulties announcing the Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit is upon us. This should be enough argument to spread the Gospel with happiness and joy. Pope Francis is making a great effort to remind us that there is joy announcing the Gospel. On November 24, 2013 (on the solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the King of the Universe), Pope Francis wrote the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (EG) (The Joy of the Gospel). In this exhortation, the Pope is reminding us of the necessity to evangelize to all people through a missionary spirit that leads us to leave our churches and to spread the Word of God with joy. Joy is the central attitude of the gospel; therefore, we cannot be sad when we preach the gospel: “An evangelizer must never look like someone who has just come back from a funeral! Let us recover and deepen our enthusiasm, that ‘delightful and comforting joy of evangelizing, even when it is in tears that we must sow… And may the world of our time, which is searching, sometimes with anguish, some- times with hope, be enabled to receive the good news not from evangelizers who are dejected, dis- couraged, impatient or anxious, but from ministers of the Gospel whose lives glow with fervor, who have first received the joy of Christ’” (EG 10).

Let us help people to have a personal encounter with the Lord Jesus, who is the source of our happi- ness and joy. Let us participate in the liturgy celebrating the life because Our Jesus Christ is not death, but He is alive. Let us announce the Gospel with love and joy.

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

Fr. George

My name is Fr. Jorge Iván Ramírez Velásquez, but all my family and friends have called me George since I was four years old. So, it is fine if you call me Fr. George.

I am from Medellín, Colombia. I grew up in a very Catholic country, and I always studied in Catholic schools. My home parish is Nuestra Señora del Carmen (Our Lady of the Mount Carmel), and since I was a boy, I have been very active in the Church. I joined El Seminario Conciliar de Medellín (The Council Seminary of Medellin), where I earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Philosophy. Later I received a Licentiate Degree in Philosophy with a specialization in Docencia Universitaria y Gerencia Educativa (University Teaching and Educational Management).

I came to the United States in 2009 to study to become a priest for the Diocese of Rochester. First, I studied English at St. Bernard’s School of Theology and Ministry in Rochester, NY, and then Theology at St. Mary’s Seminary & University in Baltimore, MD. I was ordained by Bishop Salvatore R. Matano on June 4, 2016, and served as a parochial vicar at Holy Cross Church in Charlotte. There I enjoyed serving the community, working on programs such as Bible study groups, altar servers, RCIA, celebration of different liturgies and teaching in Holy Cross School Spanish and religious education. In addition, I was working with the Hispanic Charismatic Renewal of the Diocese. This was a great experience for me because I share my ministry with my fellows Hispanics as well.

Later, in 2018, I started my pastoral ministry at Our Lady of the Lakes Catholic Community in Penn Yan, NY as a Parochial Vicar. God called me to serve this beautiful community in which I continued to experience the presence of Our Lord Jesus Christ. I served the Lord and the Church under the leadership of Fr. Leo Reinhardt. I learned wonderful things from him, such as always to show the face of Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd to each person in my pastoral ministry.

In 2021, Bishop Matano sent me to serve as the Parochial Administrator of three wonderful communities: All Saints, Holy Cross, and St. Anthony at N.E.T. Catholic (North East Tompkins Roman Catholic Parishes).

As a part of my formation to become a priest, I served as a seminarian in different parishes in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and the Diocese of Rochester. One of these parishes was Holy Trinity Church in Webster, NY in 2011 and 2012. I am not sure if you remember me when I was around as a seminarian, but I have wonderful memories of Holy Trinity when I was here helping Fr. Horan and the staff. One of these memories is that I learned to drive during my stay at Holy Trinity. I am back not as a seminarian anymore, but as the Pastor. I hope to share with all of you my vocation, ministry, and love for God, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the Roman Catholic Church. I also hope to learn from all of you, and to share in your beautiful faith and love for God, our Blessed Mother, and the Church. I am praying for all of you, and I hope you are praying not only for me, but for all priests, deacons, bishops, the Pope, and all religious (men and women) vocations.

I want to say to God, thank you for entrusting to me this wonderful and big responsibility of being the Pastor of Holy Trinity Parish. I know that with your support, faith, and love we can work together for the Kingdom of God.

God bless all of you and may the Blessed Virgin Mary be with you always.

Fr. George

(please enjoy this previously published article by Father Tim)

Faith, of course, is the principle means through which we come to know God and enter into a relationship with Him. And this faith bases itself on the Word of God given to us in sacred scripture. This word is spoken by God “who can neither deceive nor be deceived.”

So Jesus (the Word made Flesh) says, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life”, or, “I am the Resurrection and the life”, or, “I am the Good Shepherd leading my sheep into eternal life.” And in response Peter said, “Oh Lord, you alone have the words of eternal life.” So Faith opens the door to heaven.

But there is something else that can happen. Sometimes before faith happens, one can have an experience that leads them to believe in God. OR, sometimes this experience can follow faith and help it to grow.

What is this experience? Wonder. Children have it all the time. Hopefully, you’ve had it too. It starts with a simple observation of life around us and leads to a “moment” where we experience the sheer beauty or power or mystery contained in what we are observing.

For example:

• The ocean, the waves, the horizon
• Seagulls riding a lake breeze
• The folds and color of a rose
• A baby’s smell
• The eyes of a child
• The full moon on new snow
• A lover’s first “I love you” and then hearing “I love you” back.
• A base hit in little league
• The day you could finally ride a bike
• Sitting on your dad’s lap, playing with his giant fingers
• Really hearing a great piece of music
• Tears upon finishing some effort that took everything you had in you
• Winning a game in triple overtime
• Losing a game in triple overtime
• Reading a book that moves you with its description of the human character
• Counting the stars at night
• (What would you add as your moments . . . . ?)

None of these moments happen in church, but each of them can open a window through which we catch a glimpse of a world filled with a beauty and mystery that far surpasses our ability to fully understand it. Yet it will not let us leave that place without touching our hearts with that experience we call “wonder.”

Read Psalm 139 for a beautiful moment of wonder. It all leads to a surrender to faith . . . “Oh Lord, How great you are. Thank you for letting me live and have my being. Thank you for letting me see/feel this moment”.

I hope you take time this summer to experience the beauty of this world and of our lives as human beings. Don’t try too hard though.

Just let the moment be what it wants to be in you. Remember, God loves you and made this world for us. Summer blessings.

Fr. Tim