"Mary, Mother of God"

Dear Parishioners,

Happy new year! And what better way to celebrate it than with the solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God? She has been given many titles, but this one really puts the focus on what is the most important, and that is… wait for it… not her! It would seem that this is a Marian feast, and it is in a way. But, the title is one of the oldest for Mary, for it was a title given her as a way to make clear the identity of Jesus.

A controversy arose in the late fourth century about the identity of Jesus. What Jesus truly the unity of God AND man (also called the “hypostatic union”), or was he two separate “persons”in one body. So in 431 AD, the Church held an Ecumenical Council, now called the Council of Ephesus, which affirmed that Jesus was truly the God-Man, one person with two natures that are indivisible.

Okay! That’s pretty geeky, and today we don’t bat an eye at this truth. But in the early Church, there were many thoughts about which proposed a way to understand who Jesus was. So, the Council condemned “Nestorianism,” as this heresy became to be known (A bishop named Nestorius proposed this idea and had many followers) affirmed that Jesus was mystically the union (they use the word, “hypostatic union”) of divinity and humanity. And since this was the case, the Council of Ephesus decided to formalized the ancient title for Mary which proclaimed this truth. Yes, she can be called Mary, mother of Jesus in his human nature, but it was also, therefore, important to make even more clear that she was, in Greek, Theotokos, which literally means, “God-bearer.” If she was not bearing God in her womb, then that would mean Jesus was not truly God incarnate, that is God-made-man.

So, if your head isn’t already spinning, just rejoice in the wisdom of the early Church which put to rest and made clear who Jesus is. It is, therefore, right and just to also call Mary the “Mother of God” since Jesus is also God. Be aware, however, that other later reformed Protestant traditions are very uncomfortable speaking about Mary in this way, since it appears to be lifting her too high, akin to a god or even higher than Jesus. Of course, this is not what this title means nor are we to elevate our Blessed Lady beyond human. But, it is right to recognize her as the singular Saint who bore God in her blessed womb. This is a good reason to celebrate this solemnity at the beginning of the year, to remind us not just of Mary’s privilege, but more importantly, from whom that privilege was given: God! God is more important! Mary even makes this clear in the Scriptures. All praise and worship be to God as we begin 2023. May God bless you and be with you in every moment of this new year!

Blessed New Year,

Fr. William Holtzinger
Pastor

Image: The Madonna of the Lilies, 1899 by William Adolphe Bouguereau (1825-1905)

Kerygma Series: "Response"

Dear Parishioners,

We have now covered 3 of the 4 dimensions of the Gospel message or “Kerygma.” In this series we asked questions:

1. (Created) Why is there something instead of nothing?

2. (Captured) Why is the world so messed up?

3. (Rescued) What is God doing about it?

And now we come to the final part, “Response.” The question is simple: “What is our role?” In other words, if we have grasped the profundity of the Gospel, there should be a natural response. That response will differ depending on who you are and where you are in your state in life. The big picture response is likely enfolded in two parts: Gratitude and Surrender.

Gratitude: I am thankful that God has saved me. I am thankful that he loves me and does not want be to be captured by the sin and wreckage I have created in my life.

Coming to Mass and receiving the Eucharist (word means “thanksgiving) is a potent way to show my appreciation. It also reveals that only in God is my soul at rest and capable of a joy beyond understanding. The goal of the kerygma is to come into a transformative, life-changing, and ongoing encounter with Jesus Christ. This is clearly a journey that fills one’s lifetime and culminates in heaven.

Surrender: With this understanding of the Gospel and having a personal encounter with Jesus, I trust Him who made me and loves me. He is the remedy for my wounds and reason for my rejoicing.

Almost every weekend, I have heard a story of how the Surrender novena has changed lives here at Holy Trinity and beyond. The novena itself is not magic, but it helps us to let go and respond in a potent way for all that God has done for us. When we finally let go of all those things that weigh us down and give them over the Jesus, we will be truly free. This is part of Jesus’ reasons he came. Recall the passage in John 10:10, “I have come that you may have life, and life in abundance.”

May this last week of Advent give you an opportunity to respond in gratitude and surrender once again to our Lord for his coming as man, dying on the cross, and rising again on the third day is the greatest news ever!

Blessings,

Fr. William Holtzinger
Pastor

Kerygma Series: "Rescued"

This weekend, we continue our “Kerygma” series, and we reflect on the third part, entitled “Rescued.” By way of reminder, Dcn. Brett and I are framing each homily around questions to make it more accessible:

- (Created) Why is there something instead of nothing?

- (Captured)Why is the world so messed up?

- (Rescued) What is God doing about it?

- (Response) What is our role?

Last weekend, Dcn. Brett eloquently shared how we are captured by many things which promise us what inevitably are lies. As such, we then find ourselves shackled to false gods, struggling with sin which binds our hearts and minds, and we are, ultimately, unable to save ourselves from these evils. I pray that Saturday morning’s Communal Reconciliation Service was an aide to you in getting free from these things.

This weekend, I reflect on how great the Good News really is. Our world once had a sense of Christian ethos such that we could even speak of “Christendom.” This is no longer. Our world has removed God from the center and has become captured by Secularism, hedonism, and all their consequences. Pope John Paul II was known for describing our culture as one of death. The results have been catastrophic and horrific, not just bad news. And it is because so many people have domesticated the bad news to be something more akin to a side note, the Good News has been lost, forgotten, or even mocked.

The Good News is the Greatest News ever in the history of all creation! That is not hyperbole. We believe that Jesus came to us, incarnate as a baby, so that he could take on our sins, conquer the powers of darkness and death, and free us from the tyranny of the worst dictator ever, Satan. By coming as man, Jesus, God, became one of us, crushing the evil one, freeing those held captive, and opening the path to heaven! And if that was not enough, he desires to make all things new. Christ’s death was not a defeat nor the end. Rather it brought about the triumphant Resurrection. That cosmic event reoriented everything! Jesus completed the plan from the beginning whereby we share in God’s likeness in our own eventual resurrection.

So, let us rejoice always in the Lord on this Gaudate Sunday weekend. Give thanks for his marvelous deeds which has won for us: a prize of sharing in his awesome presence, transformed into His likeness as was the plan from the beginning of Creation!

Blessings,
Fr. William Holtzinger
Pastor

BOOK: “Rescued: The Unexpected and Extraordinary News of the Gospel” By Fr John Riccardo

A Trinity of Holy Days

Dear Parishioners,

This coming week, beginning on Monday, we begin a Triduum of celebrations of the Church: All Hallows Eve (a.k.a. Halloween), All Saints Day, and All Souls Day. Among these three the center is All Saints Day, a holy day of obligation. While our culture has taken on Halloween as the second most popular holiday (and a favorite of dentists all over), All Saints Day is that special celebration of those who are in heaven and are not named in our calendar of recognized saints. Yet, heaven is our destiny, and so we should celebrate what God has done to grant us such a gift. So, imagine what it will be like. “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things” (Philippians 4:8) Why? Because all of these things in this world that have such characteristics are foreshadowings of heaven, but infinitely greater. Now that is Good News!

Blessings,

Fr. William Holtzinger
Pastor

Remember: From Death Comes Life

Dear Parishioners,

It appears that maybe our summer-like weather has finally given way to Fall. Soon (Nov. 6), we will be turning our clocks back one hour. With such change, some of you may begin to struggle with the lack of light and the difficulty of readjusting your sleep schedule. The cold temperatures in the mornings have been teasing us, reminding us that Summer is no longer. But, as we hear in the Scriptures, “The prayer of the lowly pierces the clouds; it does not rest till it reaches its goal” (Sirach 35:20) and “I will bless the LORD at all times” (Psalm 34: 2). So, do not lose heart. If you struggle, let God know. Cry out (Psalm 34:7) to the LORD who hears every prayer. And in the midst of the storms of your life, praise God for his everlasting love. Surrender your cares and concerns to Jesus, and let him take care of everything (cf. Surrender Novena). Put into place habits that will encourage you. Look about and praise the Lord for the colors that the trees and plants. Seek out the Lord and praise him for his creation which waters the land (and we need it!) as well as the opportunity to enjoy the warmth of your home. Notice the beauty of the season and remember that from death will come life. Let these wonderful things inspire you to consider the the poor and the needy who are particularly effected by the weather. In your prayers, ask God to speak to you about what you could do to help those in need, and then go do it. The best response to struggles in our lives is to turn to the LORD and give of ourselves.

Blessings,

Fr. William Holtzinger
Pastor

A New Adventure

Dear Holy Trinity Parishioners,

It is with great joy and excitement that I come to Holy Trinity! I have heard from Fr. Dave, Dcn. Brett and the staff about how kind and welcoming you are as a parish. You already have a wonderful reputation in the Archdiocese. With such a reputation, I feel honored and blessed to be coming to you as your new pastor. Fr. Dave is a saintly man and we have known each other since the later part of the 1980’s when he was first ordained and was serving in Eugene and I was a new college student at OSU. After I was ordained, I followed him at St. Anthony in Forest Grove in 2002. Parishioners there kept calling me “Fr. Dave.” Some would catch themselves and apologize. On my part, I simply saw this as an incredible compliment. Hey! If I can serve you with something akin to the passion of Fr. Dave, then I must be doing something right. I look up to Fr. Dave and will be reaching out to him for guidance, as I learn how to be the shepherd that God wants me to be for Holy Trinity.

Please forgive me for any mess ups, mistakes in speech, or the deer-in-the-headlights look that will be on my face for many months. This is certainly the largest parish I have been affiliated with as a priest. In addition, I am used to being at parishes that begin with “St.” so I will most certainly goof up our parish name in the first several months. Heck! Maybe even longer. In fact, I might even goof it up and say, “Holy Family,” as I used to go to Holy Family for spiritual direction for years. In some of my emails to Fr. Dave, I have mistyped the church name as “Homy Trinity” and had to correct it! Hah! Maybe that is what is meant to be, eh? Speaking of misspelling, in my coming bulletin letters, there are bound to be some doozies. Auto-spell has done me wrong before, and if I write or say something weird, let me know. Let’s talk. Let’s get clarity. I trust we will be merciful and patient with each other! Feel free to even laugh at me or with me. Life is short, and laughter is wonderful medicine to keep things in perspective, right? And beware! I like “Dad” jokes if that helps you get a sense of my humor.

A few other personal things about me: I am the ninth of nine children. I spent my childhood in Medford and teen years in Tualatin and Tigard. After graduating from college, I taught at Central Catholic (teaching Math, Computer Science, and Religion) and then Tigard High School (Math). I am a self-professed geek. I don’t even mind being called a nerd. I have many hobbies including kayaking and astrophotography. I am fascinated by gadgets and, as an extrovert, love to be around people. I listen to Christian music and have days where I just need to hear some 80’s tunes like that from Toto and such. I enjoy camping. You might even see me heading out with my little trailer just for a couple day R&R on occasions. I have had three dogs during my priestly ministry, and as things get settled may very likely begin the search for a new four-legged friend to assist me in ministry. You can visit my website, frbill.org at your leisure and have a presence on social media. A recent joy in my life was when I celebrated my 22nd anniversary of priestly ordination last Friday, July 1st.

I love Jesus! I praise the Trinity and thank God for all he’s done for me. Indeed, my life as a priest is my way of giving back to God for all that he has done for me. He wooed me, put a passion in my heart, and set me on a great adventure. I am spoiled by his love and grace. I look forward to meeting you and learning the gifts present here at Holy Trinity. I hope I can lead you closer to Christ and learn from you at the same time. I am sinner who also needs to be forgiven, so well-ordered love served with an outpouring of mercy is my thing. I ask for your patience as the learning curve, I expect, will take some time. I am humbled that Fr. Dave would invite and recommend me to come to Holy Trinity. Let’s see what God got in store! If its from God, it’s gunna be great!

Blessings,

Fr. William “Bill” Holtzinger

A Heart Full of Gratitude

Dear Parishioners,

My time here at St. Anne and her missions comes to a close this week. It is poetic that this is the Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary time as well as my 13th year as your pastor. This is a very sad thing for me and for many of you. This is the longest I have stayed in one parish assignment which makes this all the more difficult to bid you, goodbye. But, looking back, my heart is full of gratitude. So, pardon if this last letter rambles some. So be it.

I leave with wonderful memories and lessons. I have had the privilege to work with your children, been on retreats with your teens, offered blessings for your graduations, helped you prepare for marriage, presided over your weddings, baptized your children, blessed your anniversaries, anointed you when you were sick, offered some of you the commendation of the dying, and celebrated your loved ones funerals, and mourned with you at their burials. I have been deeply touched that you allowed me in to your struggles and was humbled to hear your confessions. I was honored to join you in your many celebrations of life and visited many of you in the hospital, care facilities, retirement centers, and homes. I made many friends, and have felt your prayerful support throughout these thirteen years. I could go on and on.

I became a priest as an effort to thank God for all that he has done for me. And in return, he gave me a grand adventure unlike any I could have imagined. All of you are part of that adventure which now turns a page to a new chapter. And so, thank you for what you have taught me. Thank you for your patience with me. Thank you for gently correcting me. Thank you for saying yes when I asked you to join a ministry. Thank you for stepping up to serve without even being asked. Thank you for putting up with my long homilies. Thank you for listening and sharing your faith with me. Thank you for being Christ’s hands and feet for me. Thank you for laughing at my silly jokes. Thank you for Helping me when I needed it. Thank you for giving me a ride when I needed to go to the hospital for health needs. Thank you for being kind to me when I failed to be kind. Thank you for forgiving me when I messed up. Thank you for sticking around to clean up after an event. Thank you for being gentle when I was hurting. Thank you for the cards you sent me on my birthday, Christmas, and Easter. Thank you for letting me take your picture for our website or social media presence. Thank you for bringing me cookies. Thank you for taking me out for meals. Thank you for participating in the planning, and building of our new church! Thank you for letting me park my trailer on your property so I could go camping. Thank you for listening when I was trying to teach. Thank you for speaking when I needed to listen. Thank you for reminding me that I am precious in God’s eyes and that he delights in me.

Thank you to all the wonderful staff I have known in my thirteen years. Thank you to those parishioners who visited our sick and dying. Thank you for checking on fellow parishioners when you noticed that they were unusually absent. Thank you for being so generous when a need arose. Thank you for accompanying new parishioners and visitors alike. Thank you for participating in our annual church open house and booth at the county fair. Thank you for your patience through all the changes during the pandemic. Thank you for stepping up to make our Food Box Program so successful. Thank you for giving money to the church so we could employ the talented staff that we have. Thank you for naming St. Anne, our school, and/or her missions in your estate planning. Thank you for coming and participating at Mass. Thank you for serving in our liturgical ministries, bible studies, music groups, rosary groups, our grade school, Faith Formation, youth and confirmation ministry, and even auxiliary ministries, most notably the Knights of Columbus and St. Vincent de Paul. Thank you for praying, serving, cleaning, fixing, and helping when no one was watching. Of course God saw it all… and sometimes I did too.

Thank you, most of all, for loving me, and showing me what it is to be a saint, being passionately in love with our Lord, and willing to share that joy with others. I take all these things with me, as I move to Holy Trinity. You have been a gift of immeasurable value to me. You have blessed me with Christ’s presence, for which I will be forever grateful.

So, don’t hesitate to come to Mass at Holy Trinity in Beaverton. Pray for me so that I can be the pastor that they need at this time, and that I will be responsive to their needs as God would want me to be. I will continue to pray for you. A big part of my heart will always be here. I will pop in to check on you on Facebook an YouTube. I hope to see the new and amazing things that will happen under Fr. Wolf, your new pastor.

My heart is full, and there is not enough room to write it here. So, I leave with the miraculous prayer given to me from my mother which has changed so many hearts: O Jesus, I surrender myself to you. Take care of everything!

Blessings! Goodbye! God be with you! Thank you!

Fr. William Holtzinger
Pastor (2009-2022)

Thank you!

Dear Parishioners,

This past weekend we celebrated our annual parish picnic after being on a hiatus due to the pandemic. It was a joyous occasion to symbolically end the new church building project by burning a copy of our $1.5 mil. loan agreement from the Archdiocese. It was also a wonderful opportunity to begin, in earnest, the process of saying goodbye to myself, Fr. Stephen, and Sandra. The thoughts and hearts that were shared were truly wonderful. These are those times when God wants to tell us how much he loves us, and he does it through his people. Thank you all for your outpouring of love for me, Fr. Stephen, and Sandra. I will forever keep that celebration in my heart.

As you may know, next weekend will be my last as your pastor. Thank you to all who have lovingly walked with me in my stumbling, helped me get back up, challenged me to change, encouraged me when I felt down, forgiven me when I sinned, and prayed for me and my vocation. I am better for it all. Thank you, God, for such a blessing you have given me in the people of St. Anne, Our Lady of the River, and St. Patrick of the Forest.

Blessings,

Fr. William Holtzinger
Pastor

Priest Reassignments

Dear Parishioners,

Last week, the official priest assignments around the Archdiocese’s were made public. I will be moving to Holy Trinity in Beaverton while Fr. Stephen will be moving to St. Mary’s in Eugene which will now pick up St. Catherine of Sienna. Fr. Ron Nelson is the pastor at St. Mary’s and many of you may remember him when he was our Parochial Vicar some fourteen years ago. I will be working alongside Fr. Steve Geer who will be coming as a “priest in residence.” Please pray for us during the coming weeks, and I know you will. We are so blest and spoiled by your love and support! I will be actually leaving on June 28 in the early morning. I don’t know Fr. Stephen’s schedule as of this writing since the news is still so fresh. Nonetheless, I am sure he will communicate that information when he knows.

Fr. Robert Wolf will be coming to us as our new pastor. He will be moving here on June 30th and will take up residence at the parish house where Fr. Stephen currently resides. Fr. Joseph Mujaeropiro, AJ (Apostles of Jesus) has been assigned as our new Parochial Vicar. I have yet to hear from him, as of this writing, but rest assured, he will be present by the first weekend of July. I heard through the grapevine that he is well liked by adult parishioners and children alike in his current parish of St. Joseph in Salem where is serves as a Parochial Vicar.

Fr. Wolf was born in 1979 in Salem. He eventually graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Philosophy in 2005 followed by a Masters of Divinity, both from Mount Angel Seminary. He  was ordained in 2010 and was sent as a Parochial Vicar to Our Lady of the Lake parish in Lake Oswego. Following that assignment, he was sent to St. Monica parish in Coos Bay where he has been since 2012. I have known Fr. Wolf since he was a seminarian, as he spent a summer with me at St. Anthony in Forest Grove. I found him to be kind, soft spoken, has a good sense of humor and a gentle warm laugh to match, and has many hobbies from camping to comic books. He will be helping offer the Latin Mass in Sacred Heart in rotation with Fr. Brent Crowe from Our Lady of the Mountain in Ashland and Fr. Theo Lange, the coming pastor of Shepherd of the Valley.

Fr. Joseph Mujaeropiro was born in 1968 in South Sudan and attended school in South Sudan and Kenya. He was ordained for the Apostles of Jesus Aug. 23, 2003 in a Ugandan refugee camp, where his mother was living. That basic information alone should peak our interest for the stories and experiences he has to share. He studied Arabic and Islamic studies in Egypt and Rome before attending the Angelicum in Rome, 2013-15. He served as a parochial vicar and then pastor of Holy Family-Blessed Sacrament and St. John Vianney Parish in the Bronx, New York, for several years before going to Rome to work on his doctoral dissertation on ecumenism and interreligious dialogue. He returned to New York early due to the coronavirus, served at St. Angela Merici Church in the Bronx, and was most recently assigned to St. Joseph in Salem. He will be residing in the parish house I currently live in. Along with Fr. Joseph being sent to our Vicariate, one of his brothers in the community of the Apostles of Jesus, Fr. Silverino Kwebuza will be stationed locally at Shepherd of the Valley.

In my communication with the community last week before some of the Masses, I shared erroneously that Sacred Heart parish would be saying good by to Fr. Moises Kumulmac. As it turns out, he will be staying another year! They will continue with a staff of three priests. All these arrangements/reassignments will give our Vicariate some breathing room, so-to-speak, for attaining substitute help when needed.

With this information in our time of change, please pray also for all forty-four priests who will be either reassigned, receive new responsibilities, or will be on leaves of absence. Change is hard. Saying “goodbye” needs to be imbued with our faith and hope if it is to retain its meaning and keep our souls open to the Holy Spirit. Please know of my prayers for you as you grieve and wait with expectation for the new chapter in the life of our parish and missions.

Blessings,

Fr. William Holtzinger
Pastor

New Ministry Hires

Dear Parishioners,

This coming month will mark many changes to our pastoral staff. As you all know, I will be reassigned to a parish in the Portland metro area. We don’t know what decision will be made for Fr. Stephen Kenyon. He may remain at St. Anne into the next year, but he may also be reassigned to another parish. As of this writing, I do not know who will be my successor. Please keep us priests in your prayers. I hope to be able to let you know about these things by the first part of June. But, as things have been going, even that date may change.

June will also mark the end of Sandra Lopez’s time in our pastoral staff team. She joined our staff originally in the position of a Bilingual Administrative Assistant for our pastoral ministries in 2017. Since then, she has proven herself able to fulfill the position of Pastoral Assistant and now ends her time as the Coordinator of Evangelization & Catechesis. While she exits the staff as an employee, she will remain active in the parish, ministering as her time and other work allows. We wish her all the best in her new adventure in the medical field.

Since January, we have been seeking out candidates to fill our need for a bookkeeper when Carol Scherf moved from that position to the position of Parish Manager, replacing Stephen Voehl who moved on to other work months earlier. This past week, we are happy to announce that Veronica Lee has begun working part time in this important part of our administrative support staff. She comes to us with much experience in administrative positions elsewhere. Her presence has been a wonderful addition to our office. Welcome aboard, Veronica!

In the past several months, we have been seeking out a minister for our youth. We recognize that a key part of youth ministry involves parents. Also, offering a part-time position ended with no applicants. So, the Administrative Council agreed to make possible a full-time position. After conducting a renewed search and subsequent interviews, we have hired Brian Suda as our new Coordinator of Youth & Family Ministry. He will start June 13th. Many of you already know him and have seen him participate in our music group for the 5 PM Saturday night Mass. He comes with a wealth of experience, and we are glad to have him on our team.

Finally, with the coming departure of Sandra Lopez, we conducted a search and interviews to find her successor. We concluded that process some three weeks ago and can now share that Emily Suda will be joining our ministry team on July 1st as our new Coordinator of Evangelization and Catechesis. She will remain active in the 5 PM Saturday night music group playing the keyboard. Her hire also completes a dream for her and Brian, yes her husband, to work together at St. Anne on our pastoral ministry team.

My only sadness is that I will not have the opportunity to work with all three of these new team members, as I will have landed in my new assignment when Emily officially begins her work. These three hires mark a new era in our staff. You can expect to read more about them in a future edition of our bulletin once they come on board. Again, we wish Sandra all the blessings in her new work and we welcome Veronica, Brian, and Emily.

Blessings,

Fr. William Holtzinger
Pastor