Saint Anthony of Padua
F A I T H    M A T T E R S
St. Anthony of Padua~ Dayton, Ohio E-Brief
5/29/2015
This Sunday we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. Legend has it that St. Patrick would use the shamrock to explain the Trinity to the pagans of Ireland. We're not sure if he truly did this or if it's just part of his lore, but in it's childlike simplicity the truth and beauty of it make it a lesson worth repeating. What St. Patrick truly did say about the Holy Trinity is also worth repeating:

"For there is no other God, nor ever was before, nor shall be hereafter, but God the Father, unbegotten and without beginning, in whom all things began, whose are all things, as we have been taught; and his son Jesus Christ, who manifestly always existed with the Father, before the beginning of time in the spirit with the Father, indescribably begotten before all things, and all things visible and invisible were made by him. He was made man, conquered death and was received into Heaven, to the Father who gave him all power over every name in Heaven and on Earth and in Hell, so that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and God, in whom we believe. And we look to his imminent coming again, the judge of the living and the dead, who will render to each according to his deeds. And he poured out his Holy Spirit on us in abundance, the gift and pledge of immortality, which makes the believers and the obedient into sons of God and co-heirs of Christ who is revealed, and we worship one God in the Trinity of holy name."
Summer Reading
When we think of summer reading our minds may go towards light reading or beach reading as it is so often called. But this summer, why not take another approach? While you are at the pool or on the front porch, why not recharge your spiritual side as well as your physical being? Pope Emeritus, Benedict XVI had this suggestion a few summers ago:

"I would therefore like to make a suggestion: why not discover some of the books of the Bible which are not commonly well known? "...

"Some are very short, such as the Book of Tobit, a tale that contains a lofty sense of family and marriage; or the Book of Esther, in which the Jewish Queen saves her people from extermination with her faith and prayer; or the Book of Ruth, a stranger who meets God and experiences his providence, which is even shorter. These little books can be read in an hour. More demanding and true masterpieces are the Book of Job, which faces the great problem of innocent suffering; Ecclesiastes is striking because of the disconcerting modernity with which it calls into question the meaning of life and of the world; and the Song of Songs, a wonderful symbolic poem of human love. As you see, these are all books of the Old Testament. And what about the New? The New Testament is of course better known and its literary genres are less diversified. Yet the beauty of reading a Gospel at one sitting must be discovered, just as I also recommend the Acts of the Apostles, or one of the Letters."

To tie the current culture into what you have gleaned from your bible readings pick-up Fr. Barrons's  Seeds of the Word: Finding God in the Culture . Or if you'd like to do some real spiritual work, perhaps the modern day classic The Seven Story Mountain by Thomas Merton will become your must-read summer favorite.

To read Pope Benedict's full comments about spiritual reading for the summer click here.



Maki ng Mass More 
Meaningful
Are you bored with or uninspired by Mass? Don't give up Mass for a day at the beach! Watch Fr. Barron's advice on attending Mass.
 
Message of the Week




"If God is not a Trinity, God is not love. For love requires three things: a lover, a beloved, and a relationship between them."

~Peter Kreeft
 
Upcoming Events
Sacrament of Reconciliation
May 30, 2015
3:30-4:00 PM

8th Grade Graduation Mass
June 1, 2015
7:00 PM

First Saturday Adoration
June 6, 2015
9:30-10:30 AM


 
 
Mass Readings 
May 31, 2015
The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

First Reading:

Psalm:

Second Reading:

Gospel: