THE MOST HOLY TRINITY

This Sunday is Trinity Sunday. For many people the mystery of the Holy Trinity, that God is not a solitary divine force but a community of three Divine Persons, is difficult to understand. My friend Father Tom McDermott, OP, offers this good summary of the mystery of the Trinity:

In the interior life of God, the Father pours out His life to the Son and the Son does the same for the Father. Each points to the Other, speaks of the Other and lives for the Other. The Holy Spirit is, by analogy, the love that the two share. Because we are made in God’s image and likeness, we are not meant to be focused on ourselves but outwardly directed toward others, and, in a supreme way, directed to God. We are meant to live for others and especially for God. Only by living in this way will we ever find ourselves and become the beauful people that God made us.

One of the ways to deepen our faith that God is a Holy Trinity is to pray to the Holy Trinity. I encourage you to say the "Glory Be" prayer frequently. While most Catholics know the "Our Father" and the "Hail Mary", there has been a real drop in the number of Catholics who know this prayer: Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be. Amen."

- Father Mike

St. Raphael has been offering a number of opportunities for adult faith formation over the past three years. Let me take a moment to share with you what is on the horizon.

A group of 25-30 adults have been involved in Bible study, most recently completing a study of the Gospel of Luke. We have recently viewed Bishop Robert Barron's DVD series on the Mass; a number of adults were amazed at how much they learned from watching about two hours of talks by Bishop Barron. On June 11, Father Jim McIlhone will be here at St. Raphael speaking about “A New Life in Christ.” Mark your calendars for June 11 at 7:00 pm and please join us.

ALPHA is a program that explores basic questions about the Christian faith. We are planning to launch an ALPHA program with a small group gathering in the fall and then a larger program will follow.

More opportunities will be announced in the coming weeks. Please join your neighbors in learning more about our life as Catholics and our faith at St. Raphael.

Registration for 2019-2020 Now Through June 30th 

Registrations for the 2019-2020 Religious Education Program are now being accepted. Tuition per family: $200; Fees per child: $50 Late fee assessment per child $25 Late fees are assessed after June 30, 2018.

Please note you should be registered as a parishioner to register your children for Religious Education.

For more information, please contact Annette Wynn. Coordinator of Religious Education at (847)395-3474.
 

If you love to do your personal or gift shopping online using Amazon.com, please sign up and use Smile.Amazon.com instead https://smile.amazon.com— and designate St. Raphael the Archangel Catholic Church as your preferred charity! OR - Simply Click on the Amazon Smile Box Above and Enjoy Your Shopping knowing that you are supporting your Parish.

AmazonSmile.com | Amazon donates 0.5% of the price of your eligible AmazonSmile purchases to the charitable organization of your choice

It works just the same as regular Amazon.com — same shipping, same Prime, same everything — but you provide a gift to St. Raphael Catholic Church in the process.
 

Every Sunday at 10:20 am in church, we pray the Glorious Mysteries of the Holy Rosary for the intentions of our parish, in particular for those written in the Intention Book located at the statue of St. Raphael the Archangel. Please add your intentions to the book so we can lift up your needs and be united in prayer. We read the intentions that have been put in the book the previous Sunday or during the week. This can be anonymous if you want. Let us prayerfully accompany you on your journey, in imitation of Our Patron, St. Raphael the Archangel.