Blessed Trinity R.C. Church

The Wake and Funeral Mass for Lanette Jennings will be at St. Martin de Porres, 555 Northampton Street, Buffalo, 14208

Wake: Tuesday, August 25 * 5:00 - 7:00PM
Wake: Wednesday, August 26 * 9:00 - 10:00AM
Funeral Mass: Wednesday, August 26 * 10:00AM Bishop Michael Fisher presiding, Fr. Ron Sajdak, preaching.

A Repass will follow the funeral mass. Details to be announced at the funeral.

If you were unable to attend Dcn Don’s presentation in June, you may be interested in this one at a nearby parish.

VATICAN CITY — Pope Leo XIV has urged Catholics to prioritize attending Sunday Mass, warning that active participation in the Eucharist cannot be replaced by virtual gatherings.

“I urge everyone to seek the best possible conditions so that even those who are unable to take time off work on Sundays may take part in holy Mass,” Leo said.

In his address during his general audience at the Vatican on Aug. 12, the pontiff continued his catechesis on the Second Vatican Council’s constitution on the liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium.

https://www.ewtnnews.com/vatican/pope-leo-xiv-attendance-at-sunday-mass-cannot-be-replaced-by-virtual-participation

“We’re headed to the movies again! This time we’ll see American Martyr - The Stanley Rother Story - Deacon Don has been to Guatemala where Stanley Rother served and was martyred. The event will be Wednesday, August 26th. The movie starts at 7pm - we'll decide if we want to get together before or after the movie. Cost of ticket TBD. If you're interested email Deacon at [email protected]."

The Way Forward - a reflection on the 19th Sunday of Ordinary Time (August 9, 2026)

The CEO of the company that I worked for had a rock on his desk that had this saying on it: "What would you do if you weren't afraid?"

I went to Mass today at Our Lady Queen of Peace in Boothbay Harbor, ME. (Yes, I'm on vacation!) I always pray over the readings for the coming Sunday whether I'm preaching or not - and when I heard the Gospel proclaimed today it struck me differently than it had when I had read it. And as I did a little research into the Gospel, I found some striking insights - some of which are tied to the Greek language in which the Gospel of Mattew was written.

I couldn't help but see parallels to The Way Forward - and thought I should share them with you.

First of all, the Greek work that Matthew uses for how Jesus gets his disciples into the boat gets translated as "made the disciples get into the boat" - but it's actually much stronger than that. It has the feeling in Greek of "forcing" or "compelling" - almost against their will. And it occurred to me that none of us asked for the situation we're in. None of us asked to be faced with a shortage of priests, or a lack of finances - but here we are - in the boat together, thrown together, facing the storm together.

It also occurred to me that the desperation that the disciples felt in the "third watch" was because they were exhausted. These were men who were familiar with rough seas and how to handle storms - but this was one that no matter how hard they tried, no matter how hard they continued to use all of their resources, all their experience, they were facing a storm that threatened to wipe them out. We frequently think of the "church" as a boat - and if you look at the picture of the church I attended, you will see that the architect intentionally designed the church to look like the hull of a ship turned upside down. Where is our focus when we are in a ship that has turned upside down? As Fr. Bob said in his homily today,(I did see it online) our only hope is when we "keep our eyes on Jesus".

That hope in and focus on Jesus is the point of the Gospel, of course. And another observation from the Greek - when Jesus's words get translated as "It is I", the Greek is actually ego eimi - "I AM". These are the same words that God told Moses his name was, the same phrase used over and over in John's Gospel to indicate Jesus' divinity. "Keeping our eyes on Jesus" is the only response to the storms we are facing because Jesus offers himself as the God who rules over the chaos - 'I AM". We need to remember that our ultimate hope is not in the boat, but in the one who comes through the storms, through the waves, when we are exhausted, and scared, and feel like we might sink. Jesus says - "I AM. Don't be afraid".

Fr. Bob also reminded us in his homily of the need and power of prayer. Maybe just the prayer of Peter: "Lord, save me!" - Lord save us! The promise of the Gospel story is that Jesus does hear such prayers - even in the moments when it is hardest to believe. But Jesus comes, and is still coming, and he is the one who has carried his people through every storm before. He is the One who still speaks over the chaos: "Take heart. I AM. Do not be afraid".

And what would we do if we weren't afraid?

Peace,
Deacon Don Weigel

Introducing our Holy Heroes Movie Series