GOSPEL: John 20:19-23
In the evening of that same day, the first day of the week, the doors were closed in the room where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews. Jesus came and stood among them. He said to them, 'Peace be with you,' and, after saying this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples were filled with joy at seeing the Lord, and he said to them again, 'Peace be with you. 'As the Father sent me, so am I sending you.' After saying this he breathed on them and said: Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone's sins, they are forgiven; if you retain anyone's sins, they are retained.

REFLECTION
This week's Gospel begins by describing how Jesus’ disciples had locked themselves in a room. They were afraid of the Jews. Imagine this scene! Here are eleven grown men locked in a fairly small room, fearful of what might happen to them. So much for Jesus’ “brave disciples.” 

Then Jesus quietly appears in their midst. Did they rub their eyes wondering if something was wrong with their eyesight? Did they think they were going crazy when they saw Jesus? Did they immediately recognize that this apparition was Jesus, their beloved friend and teacher? 

Jesus quietly and simply said to his beloved friends and disciples: “Peace be with you.” I suspect that the primary emotion the disciples experienced when they saw this apparition was not “peace.” Rather, I assume that they felt shock, fear, disbelief, astonishment and perhaps hope. Did they ask themselves: How could this be? Is this real? Is Jesus truly here with us?

Then Jesus showed his beloved friends his hands and his side. Did Jesus do this so they would know and believe that Jesus truly was in their midst? I suspect that the disciples needed some proof that this apparition truly was Jesus, their teacher and friend. Yet as they began to absorb the fact that Jesus truly was with them once again, they rejoiced. They were awed and amazed! 

Jesus once again said to his disciples: “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” Did the disciples experience peace envelop them when Jesus spoke these simple yet powerful words? Jesus then breathed on them and said: “Receive the Holy Spirit! Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained!”

Take a moment and hear Jesus say to you: “Peace be with you (your name)! Then quietly breathe in Jesus’ gift of peace for 3-4 minutes! Allow Jesus’ peace to envelop you, to fill you! (Do it, don’t just read the sentence and move on!)

What was your experience? Do you feel Jesus’ peace within you? Do you feel less stressed or worried? Jesus gives us the gift of peace every day! However, we have to consciously accept and absorb His peace! If we do this every day, we may find that we are more peaceful, relaxed and joyful!  (Sr Kristine Anne Harpenau)

VINNIES WINTER APPEAL
Last year, Vinnies Conference members provided over $2 million in emergency assistance including food vouchers and parcels to people in need.

Help us make a difference to people in need in our local community this winter.

Support the Vinnies Winter Appeal and help bring safety and security to people struggling to make ends meet.

This year, Mt Carmel will be doing a canned food drive to support families within the Yass community. In each classroom we have placed a basket where students can place their donations. Food cans should be free of rust and damage and should not be out of date. 

If each of us were to bring in just one food can this year, we would have over 300 cans to support those in our community who need our support most.

Your generosity is most appreciated!

FIRST EUCHARIST
This year we will be celebrating First Eucharist on Sunday 23rd June. As students from our school and parish community prepare for this special day, may we keep them in our prayers and thoughts.

SOLEMNITY OF THE MOST HOLY TRINITY
This Sunday we will celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Spirit. To help us understand what this day is all about I found the following explanation. 

The fundamental dogma, on which everything in Christianity is based, is that of the Blessed Trinity in whose name all Christians are baptised. The feast of the Blessed Trinity needs to be understood and celebrated as a prolongation of the mysteries of Christ and as the solemn expression of our faith in this triune life of the Divine Persons, to which we have been given access by Baptism and by the Redemption won for us by Christ. Only in heaven shall we properly understand what it means, in union with Christ, to share as sons in the very life of God.

The feast of the Blessed Trinity was introduced in the ninth century and was only inserted in the general calendar of the Church in the fourteenth century by Pope John XXII. But the cultus of the Trinity is, of course, to be found throughout the liturgy. Constantly the Church causes us to praise and adore the thrice-holy God who has so shown His mercy towards us and has given us to share in His life.

Trinity Sunday
The dogma of faith which forms the object of the feast is this: There is one God and in this one God there are three Divine Persons; the Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Spirit is God. Yet there are not three Gods, but one, eternal, incomprehensible God! The Father is not more God than the Son, neither is the Son more God than the Holy Spirit. The Father is the first Divine Person; the Son is the second Divine Person, begotten from the nature of the Father from eternity; the Holy Spirit is the third Divine Person, proceeding from the Father and the Son. No mortal can fully fathom this sublime truth. But I submit humbly and say: Lord, I believe, help my weak faith.

Why is this feast celebrated at this particular time? It may be interpreted as a finale to all the preceding feasts. All three Persons contributed to and shared in the work of redemption. The Father sent His Son to earth, for "God so loved the world as to give His only-begotten Son." The Father called us to the faith. The Son, our Savior Jesus Christ, became man and died for us. He redeemed us and made us children of God. He ever remains the liturgist par excellence to whom we are united in all sacred functions. After Christ's ascension the Holy Spirit, however, became our Teacher, our Leader, our Guide, our Consoler. On solemn occasions a thanksgiving Te Deum rises spontaneously from Christian hearts.

The feast of the Most Holy Trinity may well be regarded as the Church's Te Deum of gratitude over all the blessings of the Christmas and Easter seasons; for this mystery is a synthesis of Christmas, Epiphany, Easter, Ascension and Pentecost. This feast, which falls on the first Sunday after Pentecost, should make us mindful that actually every Sunday is devoted to the honor of the Most Holy Trinity, that every Sunday is sanctified and consecrated to the triune God. Sunday after Sunday we should recall in a spirit of gratitude the gifts which the Blessed Trinity is bestowing upon us. The Father created and predestined us; on the first day of the week He began the work of creation. The Son redeemed us; Sunday is the "Day of the Lord," the day of His resurrection. The Holy Spirit sanctified us, made us His temple; on Sunday the Holy Spirit descended upon the infant Church. Sunday, therefore, is the day of the Most Holy Trinity. www.catholicculture.org

​God Bless,
Warren Ziebowski
Religious Education Coordinator