Fall Retreat October 14-16, 2011

The retreat begins late Friday evening and ends in thebearly afternoon on Sunday and is held at the Bellarmine Retreat Center in Blue Ridge, PA about an hour and a half from DC and Baltimore. Carpools are available. This retreat is intended for young adults in their 20’s and 30’s. The retreat fee is $100 and includes meals (dinneron Friday night through lunch on Sunday), lodging, and all materials. Register by visiting us at www.trinity.org/yac.

Father Jim Martin at Holy Trinity April 2

From Our Pastor’s Desk

One of the distinctive characteristics of Holy Trinity is the large number of young adults, e.g., those in their 20s and 30s, who participate actively in the life of the parish. They are most visible at the 5:30pm Mass on Sunday evenings, but they can be found at all our Eucharistic liturgies, including our weekday liturgies, and in most every parish activity.

Their engagement in the parish is particularly consoling to me given the much-publicized experience of the American Church that young men and women largely disappear from our parishes during their young adult years, sometimes – though not always – reappearing briefly when they get married or have children to be baptized.

It was not until the 1970s that dioceses and parishes in significant numbers began to see the need to reach out in specialized ways to young adults. About that time, many Church leaders began to realize that the Church could no longer count on young men and women remaining active in the Church once they left their parents’ homes. The reasons for this are many and varied. It is enough to say that Church leaders now know that that they need to better understand young adults and their expectations of the Church and to respond to them if the Church is to retain its young people.

The continued involvement of these young adults is critical to the vitality of the Church. They are the future of the Church. It is important that we at Holy Trinity serve them well and, in turn, receive from them the gifts of their own talents and energy.

One of the ways Holy Trinity has tried to respond to the needs of its young adults is through the creation of the Holy Trinity Young Adult Community, better known as the “YACs.” The YACs were begun by young parishioners in the late 1970s in part to provide an entry point into the active life of the parish for young adults who had left their parents’ homes but who had not yet started families of their own.

Understandably, part of the appeal of the YACs is the opportunity they provide to meet one another, to socialize, and to support one another in a Christian setting.

Frankly, that would be enough for me, but the YACs also encourage their members to participate in retreats, monthly Masses, faith sharing, and prayer groups specifically designed to appeal to younger men and women and to help them integrate their spiritual lives and their work lives. The YACs also promote community service among their members, including service within parish organizations like Hands on Housing, Maria Madre de los Pobres, and the McKenna Center.

My hope is that, as they “age out,” these faithful young men and women will continue to contribute to the well-being of Holy Trinity parish.

Learn more about the YACS by speaking to a YAC representative at this weekend’s Ministry Fair, or by going to their blog at:
www.holytrinityyacs.wordpress.com.

Fr. Mark

http://www.trinity.org/sites/default/files/file/Communications/Bulletin/2010Sep19Bulletin.pdf

“Prepare the Way of the Lord” Spring Retreat April 15-17

 

The retreat begins late Friday evening and ends in the early afternoon on Sunday and is held at the Bellarmine Retreat Center in Blue Ridge, PA about an hour and a half from DC and Baltimore. Carpools are available. This retreat is intended for young adults in their 20’s and 30’s. The retreat fee is $100 and includes meals (dinner on Friday night through lunch on Sunday), lodging, and all materials. If cost is prohibitive, please contact Father Greg at GSchenden@holytrinitydc.org.

For additional information, questions, or to join the Retreat Team, please contact Beth at YAC.Retreat@gmail.com.

To register, please either:

-Mail this form, along with your check for $100 made out to Holy Trinity Catholic Church, to:

Holy Trinity Catholic Church, Attn: YAC Retreat, 3513 N Street NW, Washington DC 20007

-Click here to register at Survey Monkey and make your online payment by going to http://www.holytrinitydc.org/online-giving and selecting “YAC Retreat” under donation type.

We hope to see you!

Holy Trinity YACs Digest, April 9, 2010: The “Wait a minute! Dogs don’t talk!” Edition

 

 

Holy Trinity YACs Digest, April 9, 2010: The “Wait a minute! Dogs don’t talk!” Edition

 

“I will follow like a puppy dog if I can only find a way to salvation.” – St. Ignatius of Loyola

 

And the YACs will follow right along like St. Ignatius, particularly to the Spring Retreat.  If you have any upcoming events or announcements for our bulletin, your YAC Digest Guy can be reached at digest@holytrinityyacs.org.  And if you know anyone who isn’t a member of the YACs, but you think they’d like it, feel free to pass along this digest, or tell them to e-mail welcome@holytrinityyacs.org.

First:  The Spring YAC Retreat will be held next weekend April 16-18, 2010,  with our special guests, Fr. Tom Reese, S.J. (Columnist for the Washington Post’s “On Faith” section, Senior Fellow at Georgetown’s Woodstock Center, and frequent celebrant at Holy Trinity’s Masses), and “Flannery” (see below….) If you haven’t decided on whether or not to come, take some time to pray about it this weekend.  Then come anyway.  We’ll be talking about the Resurrection; the cost is $100, but to paraphrase, the life that gets resurrected may be your own.  The HT YAC 2010 Spring Retreat Registration Form is here.

Next YAC Mass:  This Sunday, April 11^th at 7:15 p.m. in the Chapel of St. Ignatius Loyola, adjacent to the Holy Trinity main church.  The Chapel is located on N Street, N.W., between 35th and 36th Streets.  Please join us for worship and fellowship afterwards at the YAC Café!

We finally made the leap into the 21^st Century with the new Holy Trinity YAC Blog!  Check it out at http://holytrinityyacs.wordpress.com.   It’s still a work in progress, but we have a calendar and a few announcements up.  And there will be more to come!

Are you on Facebook?  Aside from being tremendously useful for keeping in touch with old friends, it’s also a place where you can find out what’s going with the Holy Trinity YACs, from retreats and YAC Masses to service activities and happy hours.  So if you’re on Facebook, become a member of the Holy Trinity YACs page…  http://bit.ly/HTYACs.

Highlights!

• Next YAC Mass:   This Sunday, April 11, at 7:15 p.m, Chapel of St. Ignatius.  YAC Café afterward!
• YAC Spring Retreat:  April 16-18, 2010 at the Bellarmine Retreat Center in Buena Vista, PA. Registration information here! All are welcome!
• YAC Softball Begins! E-mail co-captains Matt Reuter (mjr73@georgetown.edu) or Sarah Murray (sarah.marie.murray@gmail.com).  All are welcome to play!
• Join the YACS on Facebook! - http://bit.ly/HTYACs.  (It’s the way we keep in touch!  And we have pictures from past YAC events there, too!

Holy Week, the Triduum, and Easter Sunday at Holy Trinity

Members of the YACs will be at Triduum services, towards the back of the church on the right. These services are beautiful and moving and we hope to see many of you there.

Wednesday, March 31

6:30pm – 8:30pm Confessions in the Church

Holy Thursday, April 1

8:00am Morning Prayer
8:00pm Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper

Good Friday, April 2

8:00am Morning Prayer
12:00noon Georgetown Ecumenical Good Friday Service (hosted by Holy Trinity)
4:00pm Family Stations of the Cross
8:00pm Commemoration of the Lord’s Passion

Holy Saturday, April 3

8:00am Morning Prayer
8:00pm The Easter Vigil

Easter Sunday, April 4

7:30am Mass in Church

9:00am Mass in Church, Theater and at Georgetown Visitation Nolan Center

11:30am Mass in Church, Theater and Chapel

1:15pm Mass in Church

No 5:30pm Mass on Easter Sunday

About the Easter Triduum

During Holy Week celebrate the center of the entire Church Year, the Easter Triduum of the Lord’s Passion, Death, and Resurrection. The word “Triduum” means three days, and it consists of Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter Sunday. Because we count a church “day” as starting the evening before, we begin this celebration of the holiest days of the year on Holy Thursday Evening.

On Holy Thursday, we receive the Holy Oils, wash feet, process with the Blessed Sacrament and celebrate the Eucharist in remembrance of Jesus, whose death gives us life.

On Good Friday, we commemorate the saving action of Christ, who died for us out of the great love that is God. That night we listen to Jesus’ suffering in the Passion Reading, we venerate the Cross, and we receive the Eucharist as we remember the gift of salvation.

On Holy Saturday, at the Easter Vigil, we celebrate the Passover of Christ from death to new life. We celebrate this Passover in the Easter fire that lights the new Paschal Candle, in the stories of the saving works of God, in the baptism of our elect, and finally in the Eucharist itself.

Please join us for these services throughout this upcoming Holy Week.

Special note for the 9:00am Mass on Easter Sunday

We are once again scheduling three 9:00am Easter Sunday Masses, in the Church, the Theater and at the Nolan Center at Georgetown Visitation.   This Mass will accommodate several hundred people in addition to the Mass in the Church and the Mass in the Theater. It is a beautiful space and the Mass will be led by Holy Trinity priests, ministers and musicians. Thank you to the Sisters of Visitation for accommodating us.

Come Join Us On Retreat April 16-18, 2010

Space still available!

Join us April 16-18 for peer talks, Mass, small group faith sharing, individual reflection, music, and other community-building activities as we discover God’s call to live our faith. Together we will explore the elements of St. Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises, finding how God has been present in our lives, considering how to put our faith into action, and becoming more fully women and men for others.

We extend a special invitation to all those who are newcomers to the area, have been away from the Church, or are looking for a faith community.

The retreat begins late Friday evening and ends in the early afternoon on Sunday. Bellarmine Retreat Center is located in Blue Ridge, PA about an hour and a half from DC and Baltimore, two and a half hours from Philadelphia. Carpools are available.

Our chaplain will be Father Greg Schenden, SJ, and we will be joined by Martina O’Shea for spiritual direction.

The retreat fee is just $100 and includes meals (light dinner on Friday night through lunch on Sunday), lodging, and all materials. If cost is prohibitive, please contact Father Greg at GSchenden”at”holytrinitydc.org.

Please fill out our HT YAC 2010 Spring Retreat Registration Form and email the form to yac.retreat”at”gmail.com. Make your payment by going to: http://www.holytrinitydc.org/online-giving and selecting “YAC Retreat” under donation type.

For additional information, questions, or to join the Retreat Team, please contact us at yac.retreat”at”gmail.com.

Father Jim Martin, SJ and Mass Media Spirituality

There is a great profile of Father Martin, from America Magazine, on how we live our spirituality today. Here’s an exerpt:

“Ignatian spirituality is intended for the widest possible audience of believers and seekers,” Martin says.

He writes in The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything: The Spirituality of Real Life that “within the Christian tradition, all spiritualities, no matter what their origins, have the same focus — the desire for union with God, an emphasis on love and charity, and a belief in Jesus as the Son of God.”

It’s about making a God-centered life accessible to the doubtful as well as the devout, he says.

It’s about realizing that when you are most vulnerable — sick, out of work, lonely, afraid, “God can move through your defenses, strengthen and accompany you.”

And there’s a radical simplicity to that, Martin says.

He says Ignatian spirituality “does not ask you to become a half-naked, twig-eating, cave-dwelling hermit. It simply invites you to live simply.”

The book becomes like a read-along spiritual director, someone to prompt you with questions, redirect your gaze, and help you, Martin says, to “discern where God might be speaking to you.”

Check it out here.

ADW Theology on Tap – Washington: “Marriage is Forever” begins April 6th!

Theology on Tap – Washington:  “Marriage is Forever” begins April 6^th! Each week we’ll have a different married couple share spiritual reflections on the sacrament of marriage as well as provide practical advice for young adults. We’ll hear from couples who have been married for 2, 18, 26, and 41 years! For more information, click here.

Archdiocese of Washington: Christ in the City – True Peace. True Presence.

Presider: Msgr. Edward Filardi, Thursday March 11: This month, the Archdiocese will have a special reception afterward at St. Patrick’s! Join young adults from across the Archdiocese of Washington to pray and worship our Lord in the Eucharist. For complete information, click here.