Happy Feast of the Blessed Trinity! May each of our days begin and end in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. The “Shield of the Blessed Trinity” sums up this mystery. In the three corners of the triangle are the names of the persons of the Trinity (Pater = Father, Filius = Son and Spiritus Sanctus = Holy Spirit). The connecting lines state that the Father is not the Son and the Son is not the Holy Spirit, but each person is God (Deus).

The Feast of the Blessed Trinity signals the end of our school year. It is appropriate that we celebrate the Trinity at this moment because it sums up the heart of our Christian faith. Jesus did not come to reveal a new morality (his moral teachings can be found in the Jewish Scriptures and in the great teachers of Asia and the Americas). What Jesus revealed was his person, his unique relation to God the Father – and to send the Holy Spirit who enables us to become adopted sons and daughters. Pope Benedict explains this in his wonderful book Jesus of Nazareth.

As we wrap up a school year, I invite you to attend the Baccalaureate Mass this coming Tuesday morning. That evening we will have the graduation ceremony for our eighth graders. As Mr. Lutz says in his School News column, you are most welcome to attend these events.

This has been a very good year in our school. In spite of a major increase in tuition (11 %), our enrollment did not drop. In fact, we added several new families. At the same time, we made major improvements to our school building. This happened because of your solid support of the Capital Campaign, which made possible the construction of the Tice Hall, new restrooms and two new classrooms. Special thanks to the 650 families who have contributed to this effort and continue to support it. Your level of support inspired the Shea and Fulcrum Foundations to make major donations in order to renovate the parish hall/gym, school entrance and the four street-level classrooms.

We are planning to continue improvements of our school facility. At the school auction, some twenty thousand dollars were donated toward that end. Besides making these improvements, we are focusing on the long-term stability of Holy Family School. As you see in Mr. Lutz’ column, we have taken a major step by establishing the Randy Terlicker Endowment Fund. Randy Terlicker, shown in the picture, was a Holy Family School Graduate who as a firefighter gave his life in service to the people of Seattle.

At this stage we are asking you to pray and to read the insert and booklet which describe the scope of the Endowment Fund. We will be using this fund as a vehicle for both immediate and long term needs. In our two-bit collection next Sunday, we will ask you to contribute to immediate needs so that we do not lose families whose financial situation prevents them from paying the entire tuition. Mr. Lutz has a committee that carefully evaluates each request for tuition assistance.

This weekend we are making our final push for the Annual Catholic Appeal. If you haven’t yet filled out your envelope, please do so. Those who have not yet responded will receive a follow-up letter from the Archdiocese later this month. The two-bit collection for the Appeal provides an opportunity for every parishioner to help us reach and exceed our goal. I have some good news regarding the Appeal and the special project which it envisions. I will be communicating that good news next weekend.

Speaking of good news, Fr. Ramon returns to Holy Family this Tuesday. Before he left for the Philippines, he indicated that he might be bringing back a surprise for our parish. We will find out this week.

Finally, some news with both sad and happy elements: The sad news is that our eighth grade teacher, Mr. John Casio, is leaving Holy Family School after ten years of dedicated teaching. Our middle school students and their parents deeply appreciate Mr. Casio. We will miss him greatly. The bright side is that Mr. Casio will not be far away. He has accepted a teaching position at Kennedy High School. On Wednesday our middle school students had a surprise party to thank Mr. Casio. The picture shows Mr. Casio with students expressing their sadness at his departure. Mr. Casio cannot suppress happiness for his new opportunity – and the appreciation so many are expressing to him.

Feliz Fiesta de la Santísima Trinidad. Que cada dia nuestro comience y termine en el nombre del Padre y del Hijo y del Espíritu Santo. La doctrina de la Santísima Trinidad resume nuestra fe. Jesús no vino para revelar una nueva ley moral – sus enseñanzas morales se encuentran en el Antiguo Testamento y en los grandes maestros de Asia y América. Lo que Jesús revela es su persona, su relación al Padre – y el Espíritu Santo que nos hace capaces de ser hijos adoptivos. El Papa Benedicto lo explica maravillosamente en su libro Jesus de Nazaret.

El Señor Lutz, director de nuestra escuela parroquial, tiene una carta importante sobre el Fondo de Beneficencia en Memoria de Randy Terlicker. Les pido leerla cuidadosamente. Junto con el folleto en castellano, esta carta explica este proyecto importante para el futuro de nuestra escuela y parroquia. El Fondo tiene dos partes: ayuda inmediata para familias y pobres y ayuda de largo plazo para colegiatura. El próximo domingo vamos a tener una segunda colecta para pedir su ayuda para las necesidades inmediatas.

Este domingo es el empujo final para la Peticion Anual. Si usted todavía no ha llenado el sobre, favor de hacerlo ahora. El arzobispo enviará una carta de seguimiento a los que no han dado su respuesta. La segunda colecta hoy provee una oportunidad para todo feligres en ayudarnos a lograr y superar nuestra meta. Tengo algo de buena noticia en cuanto a la Petición y el proyecto que ella incluye. Les comunicaré la buena noticia el próximo domingo.

Hablando de buena noticia, el Padre Ramón regresa a Holy Family el dia martes. Antes de irse para la Islas Filipinias, indicó que tal vez traería una sorpresa. Vamos a ver esta semana.