Dear St. Raphael family,

The Holy Trinity:  Our fundamental belief in the Holy Trinity may be a mystery, but it is the only way to logically understand what the gospel tells us about God.  I recently watched an informative online video about the various ancient “Christological heresies”. It took the early Church decades of debate and study to settle this matter.  The Council of Nicea took place in AD 325, but it still matters today because there are small Christian groups that even today lack the correct understanding of Three Persons in One God. The most common Christian heresy today is held by various “Pentecostal” groups, who mistakenly think of the Trinity as only a figure of speech. This clearly contradicts what the gospels tell us about Jesus calling God his Father.

The problem with any heresy is that it will eventually lead us into a contradiction, which in turn leads us away from true worship. For example, the ancient heresy of Arius held that Jesus was not actually God, but a kind of superhuman demigod who was assigned the job of redemption.  If that were true, we would be wrong to worship Jesus as God!  This is clearly in conflict with the gospel, yet it was very widespread among 4th century Christians.  The challenge of understanding the Holy Trinity is that there are many ways of getting it wrong, but only one way of getting it right!

Picnic gratitude: The attendance at last Sunday’s parish picnic was probably the largest in my years here as pastor!  It was great to see the children enjoying the petting zoo animals and other activities.   The weather was just right until the rain rolled in as we were cleaning up afterward.  I want to extend a big thank you to the many parishioners who contributed in various ways.  The Knights in particular did excellent work on the grilling.

Angel Wings: Our picnickers observed a release of balloons shortly after everyone had eaten.   This was not an official picnic activity, but a memorial for a departed loved one by a local family.  You might have noticed the balloons were white and shaped like small wings. All the more fitting for St. Raphael Church, since angels are usually depicted in artwork as having wings.  The wings that we commonly see on angels in artwork are a way of showing their spiritual nature.  Wings mean that the angel is not subject to gravity or other laws of the physical world. 

Yet in the biblical accounts of angels appearing in human form, wings are not mentioned. In the case of St. Raphael, it can be assumed that he did not appear with wings! Because in the Book of Tobit, Raphael introduces himself as Azarias, a man hired to accompany the young Tobias on his journey.  The context makes it clear that Raphael had the appearance of a human being, a man suitable as a bodyguard for the long and possibly dangerous trip.  This is why St. Raphael is the patron saint of travelers.

Rummage Sale Dropoff ends: This Sunday is the last day for drop-offs. Thank you to the many contributors so far this week! May your attic and garage stay uncluttered.

Blessings in the Trinity,
Fr. Matthew 

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National Eucharistic Revival

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