Holy Name of Jesus National Catholic Church

Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the Catholic Faith. Which Faith except everyone does keep whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly. And the Catholic Faith is this: That we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity, neither confounding the Persons, nor dividing the Substance.

For there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Ghost. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, is all one, the glory equal, the majesty co-eternal.

Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Ghost. The Father uncreated, the Son uncreated, and the Holy Ghost uncreated. The Father incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible,and the Holy Ghost incomprehensible.

The Father eternal, the Son eternal, and the Holy Ghost eternal. And yet they are not three eternals, but one Eternal.

As also there are not three incomprehensibles, nor three uncreated, but one Uncreated, and one Incomprehensible. So likewise the Father is Almighty, the Son Almighty, and the Holy Ghost Almighty. And yet they are not three almighties, but one Almighty.

So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Ghost is God. And yet they are not three gods, but one God.

So likewise the Father is Lord, the Son Lord, and the Holy Ghost Lord. And yet not three lords, but one Lord.

For like as we are compelled by the Christian verity to acknowledge each Person by Himself to be both God and Lord, so are we forbidden by the catholic religion to say that there are three gods or three lords.

The Father is made of none, neither created, nor begotten. The Son is of the Father alone, not made, nor created, but begotten. The Holy Ghost is of the Father, neither made, nor created, nor begotten, but proceeding.

So there is one Father, not three fathers; one Son, not three sons; one Holy Ghost, not three holy ghosts.

And in this Trinity none is before or after another; none is greater or less than another; but all three Persons are co-eternal together and co-equal. So that in all things, as is aforesaid, the Unity in Trinity and the Trinity in Unity is to be worshipped.

He therefore that will be saved must think thus of the Trinity.

Furthermore, it is necessary to everlasting salvation that he also believe rightly the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. For the right Faith is, that we believe and confess, that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and man; God, of the substance of the Father, begotten before the worlds; and man, of the substance of his mother, born in the world; perfect God and perfect man, of a rational soul and human flesh subsisting. Equal to the Father, as touching his godhead; and inferior to the Father, as touching His manhood; who although He is God and man, yet he is not two, but one Christ; one, not by conversion of the godhead into flesh, but by taking of the manhood into God; one altogether, not by confusion of substance, but by unity of person. For as the rational soul and flesh is one man, so God and man is one Christ; who suffered for our salvation, descended into hell, rose again the third day from the dead. He ascended into heaven, He sits on the right hand of the Father, God Almighty, from whence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead. At His coming all men will rise again with their bodies and shall give account for their own works. And they that have done good shall go into life everlasting; and they that have done evil into everlasting fire.

This is the Catholic Faith, which except a man believe faithfully, he cannot be saved.

I tried all week to come up with some words on how the resuIt of our hosting the Ninth Annual Mission & Evangelism Workshop had been expressed to both participant and guest; I couldn’t come up with any that truly expressed the success of all of our efforts had provided.

• First of all, was all the prep time put in to the hall and the needed cleaning and getting ready there
• The preparation of the gift bags and all that went into that effort
• The bringing of the cushions for our guests to be able to learn and stay focused on the speakers’ presentation
• The banners produced by the SOCL class and Deborah which provided our guests with an insight into what we do here as a church
• The donations of the pens, cups, soda, water, cookies that again were a blessing
• The precision with which the pick-up and delivery schedules allowed a safe and timely passage for those guests in need of transportation
• The wonderful breakfast provided for and served by our parishioners
• The spirit of hospitality and greeting for those who had come from far and wide to share in the afternoon
• The very positive and comfortable image that our Prime Bishop and our Diocesan Bishop have now of the congregation here in Schenectady
• The time of clean up on Friday night, Saturday night and Sunday afternoon
• The group of parishioners who attended the opening Mass on Friday giving our Prime Bishop and Diocesan Bishop a good sense of our parochial involvement
• Our regular Sunday congregation who mingled their voices of praise and prayer with the attendees
• A sense of real accomplishment that we had served our Lord well by serving our Church and our fellow sisters and brothers of the Faith in their desire to learn more on how to do mission and evangelism. For all of you, may God truly bless you for your sacrifice!

For each week of Lent this year, you were asked to bring in specific items for the needy, as a part of your denial in this penitential season. May the Lord bless your denial!!! We had the same number of bags as last year (38!!!), still able to provide for many. May you be blessed for your sacrifice!! God’s people, some of whom we may never meet, have been nourished and sustained through your donations. It was bittersweet to learn, however, that we are the only church in the city that has a Lenten collection!!! We are the only contributing congregation in the Spring!!! May the Lord bless you!!! As the Lord has been gracious to us during our Lenten journey, may He continue to bless us as we continue to sacrifice and give unto Him. To those of you who have allowed this parish to heed the Lord’s command to feed the hungry, God love you all.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)