Holy Spirit Church at 355 E Champlain Dr, Fresno, CA 93730-1273 US - NEWS FROM HOLY SPIRIT

New Encyclical "Caritas in Veritate"

full encyclical
VATICAN CITY, 29 JUN 2009 (VIS) - At midday today, the Holy Father appeared at the window of his private study overlooking St. Peter's Square to pray the Angelus with thousands of pilgrims gathered below.

On this Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul, Benedict XVI addressed a special greeting to faithful of his own diocese of Rome, assuring them of his constant prayers "that Rome may uphold its Christian vocation by maintaining unadulterated its immense spiritual and cultural heritage", and "that its inhabitants may translate the beauty of the faith they have received into concrete forms of thought and action, thus offering those who ... come to this city, an atmosphere charged with humanity and evangelical values".

"Today's Solemnity also has a universal aspect", he went on. "It expresses the unity and catholicity of the Church. That is why every year on this day, the new metropolitan archbishops come to Rome to receive the pallium, symbol of their communion with Peter's Successor".

"May the shared veneration of these martyrs [Peter and Paul] be a sign of an ever greater and more deeply felt communion among Christians all over the world".

Following the Angelus prayer, Benedict XVI indicated that "the publication of my third Encyclical, entitled 'Caritas in veritate', is now imminent. Returning to the social themes contained in 'Populorum progressio' written by Servant of God Paul VI in 1967, this document - dated today 29 June, Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul, Apostles - aims to delve more deeply into certain aspects of the integral development of our age, in the light of charity and of truth.

"To your prayers I entrust this latest contribution made by the Church to mankind, in her commitment to sustainable development while fully respecting human dignity and the real needs of everyone", he concluded.


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We warmly welcome Alex Chavez, Seminarian, who will be with us at Holy Spirit for the next year.

My full name is Alejandro Chavez, and I go by Alex. I was born in Matamoros, Tamualipas, Mexico. I am the youngest of a family of 13, which includes my parents. I have six sisters and four brothers. The oldest of my siblings is my sister Ana, who is 51 years old. My brother Alfredo, who is the oldest of the boys, is in the monastery preparing to be a Benedictine monk at the Prince of Peace Monastery in Oceanside, CA. I am 36 years old and was baptized as a child and brought up Catholic. My family and I emigrated from Mexico to California in 1980. We ended up in Porterville and I was seven years old at that time. I attended Porterville public schools starting from second grade and going on through high school. I graduated from Fresno State University and received my Bachelor of Science Degree in Civil Engineering in the fall of 1997.

Shortly after graduating from college, I started working for Caltrans and it was then that one day as I drove home from Visalia to Porterville in my orange Caltrans truck that the thought of the priesthood came to me as I prayed my end of the work-day prayer. It wasn’t until eight years later, that I applied to the Fresno Diocese and was accepted as a seminarian. It was during these eight years that I experienced powerful life-changing events, such as the Cursillo weekend retreat, my father’s death and an active
and rewarding time in ministry. These events helped me grow in my faith and aided me in the proper discernment of my vocation to the priesthood. When I applied to enter as a seminarian I was still working for Caltrans, where I was in the Design Branch office
in Fresno. I enjoyed my job very much, but it just wasn’t as fulfilling as when I am ministering.

The seminary that I am enrolled in is St. John’s Seminary in Camarillo, CA. This is my fourth year in priestly formation and it is also the year in which I complete my internship. After completing this year of internship, I’ll have two more to go before my ordination. I have been assigned here at Holy Spirit to complete my internship year which is a year in which I, as a seminarian, shadow the parish priest and learn about everything that goes on in the life of a parish. As part of my formation here, I will be involved in the different parish ministries and I’ll be learning all the different functions of parish office. Occasionally, I will be giving reflections on the gospel reading during the homily time in Mass. I am very excited to be here and I hope to learn lots from you during my time here at your parish. I thank you for your warm welcome and I ask that you keep all seminarians in your prayers.
Know that you are in my prayers and may God bless all our endeavors this year. —Alex
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PARISH COUNCIL MINUTES
September 17,2009

The following items were discussed at the meeting:

• The Parish Fundraising Policy was reviewed
• Resulrs of the bulletin survery were presented
• Plans for parish 30th anniversary were discussed
• The council was informed of fee increases for weddings,
  quinceneras, the use of the hall for out of parish fundraisers,
  and wedding paper work from the diocese.

Please contact the parish office for additional information.
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