This is a truly very special, exciting and anointed time. As you may know, it is about 25 years since I moved to north Scottsdale and attended my first Mass at Blessed Sacrament; and also just under 23 years since I left Blessed Sacrament Parish to go to Seminary at Mount Angel in Oregon with the blessing of Fr. Pat Robinson, the pastor back in 2000, and all of the Parish.

When I was a 12-year-old boy, my older brother and I shared the job of opening and closing the gymnasium for evening rentals at our Catholic school and parish. This “first job” often required a late-night four-block walk home after the last basketball or volleyball group finished for the night. On one night, working on my own, there was a late (11 p.m.) closing. As I walked home, I became frightened by a slow-moving vehicle that I perceived to follow me for about a block. Even after the car had turned and disappeared from sight, my fear persisted. Then, while I still a couple of blocks from the house, I received an overwhelming sense of calm and safety. I knew, in that moment, that God was with me, protecting me, surrounding me with His loving presence. I arrived home safely, and while I have had similar feelings, I have never experienced something as strongly as I did on that night.

How time flies! It’s six months already since Bishop John Dolan asked me to act as Interim Parochial Administrator of our beautiful Parish family. When Msgr. Bui called to break the news tome, it hit like a thunderbolt. Much as I was worried about my lack of experience of the workings of the Church in America, I was sure I had the most loving and caring Parishioners who would help me to navigate and hold the fort. And truly, these six months have been the most intensive of my life. It has been my privilege to serve as your Interim Parochial Administrator.

The people of Israel, under the leadership of Moses, left Egypt, the land of bondage, and traveled towards the land of God’s promise. Three months into the journey, they reached Mount Sinai and encamped there at its base. By this time, they have experienced God’s favor in events such as the parting of the Red Sea, the drawing of Egyptian forces into the Red Sea, the provision of manna and quail for food, the provision of water from a rock, and victory over the tribe of Amalek. These events certainly taught them about God and about themselves as people chosen by God. But in this reading, for the first time they come to know what their vocation is. As a prelude to the covenant to be ratified later, God tells them through Moses that they are to obey Him and become a priestly and holy nation, offering worship that pleases Him. His plan of having a priestly nation came to be fulfilled only in the church redeemed and sanctified in the Holy Spirit by the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus and nurtured through the mission of the apostles.

Many of the prayers made by the people of the Old Testament are centered on reminding God, in case His divine memory is slipping, of the promises He made to save them. When the chosen people face new trials, their insurance against disaster is the promise of God to see them through their time of pain. They hold fast to that word of promise. Every new experience of want or suffering serves to keep alive the memory of God’s promises. Thus, their prayers of intercession are made to jolt God’s memory, to play back His promise, to hold Him to His word.

Today, Catholic Christians celebrate the feast of the Most Holy Trinity. On this day, we remember the basic dogma of our faith—the Trinity. This dogma holds that, though we believe in only One God, this God has Three Divine Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

We read in St. Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians about the necessity to love one another. He says, “Mend your ways, encourage one another, agree with one another, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss” (2 Corinthians 13: 11-12). Through the centuries, members of the Church have never agreed completely on everything.