Dear Parishioners, During Mass, we priests use a large red book, known as the Roman Missal, to guide the prayers, including the eucharistic prayers and others specific to holy days and liturgical seasons. At the beginning of this book, there’s a section called “The General Instructions to the Roman Missal” (GIRM). The GIRM provides detailed guidance on how to celebrate Mass, including gestures (like when to bow or genuflect), the items used (e.g., chalices, bowls, candles) as well as their composition (metal, wood, or glass), and the use of sacred art, (e.g., statues and icons). In 2000, the U ..read more

Dear Holy Trinity Families, We are having a remarkable year at Holy Trinity Catholic School and our school continues to flourish. As we move into Christmas Break I hope you and your family have a blessed holiday season and find time to rest and rejoice. I have some news to share with you before the break. As you know, last February Dr. Anne Erwin came out of retirement and jumped aboard as principal to complete the school year. Transitioning from administration of a public high school to a smaller Catholic grade school presented a significant change for Dr. Erwin. She openly shared that t ..read more

Dear Parishioners, Blessed Advent! As we prepare our hearts for the coming of our Lord, I wanted to provide an update on the Walker Rd. expansion and how it may impact our parish. A month ago, I shared a bulletin article and a Friday Reflection video outlining the potential ramifications of this project. The most immediate concern is our parish office building. Once the expansion is complete, the sidewalk would be just 10 feet from the building’s outer wall, making it unsuitable for our pastoral needs. Additionally, the disruption caused by construction may require us to set up a temporary mod ..read more

Today, we learned who our next president will be. For better or worse, it’s all part of the American “experiment.” As Christians, we’re called to love one another—not just despite our differences, but through them. Jesus commands us to love each other and even our enemies. We can be a church divided by politics or united by Christ. I urge you to choose latter. Clothe yourself in Christ’s compassion. Don’t gloat over victory or lash out in anger; both will only deepen division and pain. Instead, choose to love—love that binds us together in unity, peace, and hope. I was grateful to start with M ..read more

In recent weeks, I’ve shared some of the basics regarding the upcoming Walker Rd. expansion. Today, I’d like to provide more concrete details to ensure clear and consistent communication. On October 15, Dana, Deacon Brett, and I met with a representative from Washington County’s Land Use & Transportation office. We learned that the previously delayed Walker Rd. expansion will begin in June 2025 and will take 2.5 years to complete. This project will bring the new sidewalk within 10 feet of our main parish office, which serves as the catalyst for everything to follow. Click here to see the m ..read more

I would like to offer my personal insights into a recent article published in The National Catholic Register (NCR) on July 15, 2024, titled “Latino Catholics distraught at Portland Archdiocese’s dismantling of Hispanic ministry.” Once again, it appears that we have another episode of “the press gets it wrong” again. Firstly, it’s important to note that the NCR is not renowned for balanced and orthodox reporting, and this article is no exception. However, it does accurately report several facts: the temporary suspension of the Office of Hispanic Ministry, the termination of Ms. Montana, and th ..read more

Last weekend, I preached about how God is present to all creation and that we need to be mindful of his presence and make an effort to invite him into those moments and places. Here are some images of what I was talking about regarding the most distant object I have ever photographed. In 2018, I took several images of an area of sky where "Andromeda's Parachute" is located. It was a "challenge object" for people at the Oregon Star Party. I was thrilled to have found it and captured the few pixels my equipment would allow. What appears to be a single star in a sea of stars is actually a quasar ..read more

Over the last week, we have celebrated some amazing events in the life of the Church and our parish! We witnessed the ordination of four men to the priesthood on June 22nd, two of whom were seminarians from Holy Trinity: Fr. James Ladd and Fr. Justin Echevarria. Fr. James celebrated his first Mass with us last Sunday at our 11:15am Mass and Fr. Justin celebrated Mass with us last Thursday at our 8:15am daily Mass. We’ll have photos from both of those Masses printed in next weekend’s bulletin. Congratulations to all of our newly ordained priests! Priestly ordination and a priest’s first Mass ar ..read more

This weekend we celebrate Father’s Day. And indeed we should and need to, for about one in three children are being raised in families without a biological, step, or adoptive father (U.S. Census Bureau, 2021). The reasons are many from poverty, behavioral issues, health risks, lack of education, and crime and substance abuse.  The need for a father in a nuclear family cannot be underestimated.  Research shows that the influence of a father leads to better outcomes for their children in many aspects of life. A good dad also helps make a good mom (and I ‘ll be the same is true the othe ..read more

Dear Parishioners Happy Easter! Yes. It is still Easter. Remember, we Catholics know how to party.... celebrate. And we will be going so for 50 days until Pentecost. Once again, thank you to all who worked so hard to make sure that Holy Week, especially the Triduum and Easter Sunday went so smoothly. This, once again, reminds me of how wonderful our community is. Next week, we will be offering the annual Archbishop's Catholic Appeal (ACA) at all the Masses. The video prepared with Archbishop Sample illustrates what is already so good about Holy Trinity. I encourage you to watch it. Here's the ..read more