Dear Holy Trinity Family,

Today it is all about farewell. Jesus ascended into the heaven before the eyes of His disciples. He returned to the Father; however, His parting was not about abandonment or making us orphaned. He needed to go back to the Father so that He can prepare a place for all of us because where He is we also may be (Ref. John 14). He promised us to send the Holy Spirit, the Advocate, to be with us always. His ascension is our future along with the reality of the Resurrection on the last day. Both the Resurrection and the Ascension give us a sense of hope that we will live forever in the kingdom of God. This was the promise of our heavenly Father and Jesus fulfilled this promise of God through His Resurrection and Ascension. Hope keeps us alive and His Spirit is with us always!

Fr. David Ocran from Ghana has been here at Holy Trinity since April 10. He now needs to return to Ghana shortly to obtain his R-1 religious visa from US embassy there in order to legally stay here in Los Angeles next three or four years. He is leaving on Tuesday, May 19; however, upon obtaining his R-1 visa, he will come back to Los Angeles. I am very grateful for his visit that I have been able to take my post-Easter vacations and annual spiritual retreat while he substitutes my pastoral duties and covers many Masses for me. Until he comes back to Los Angeles in July, we wish and pray for him and his priestly ministry. Thank you, Fr. David, for your time and everything you have done for Holy Trinity parish!

Last, I would like to make an announcement formally about my departure from Holy Trinity Parish. Probably many of you already have heard that I will finish my pastoral ministry here at Holy Trinity and move to another parish as of July 1. On Friday, May 1^st, the archdiocese sent out an e-mail with a list of pastors’ new assignments. Since I was assigned to Holy Trinity two years ago, it has been my privilege to do pastoral ministries as your pastor overseeing the parish’s operational, sacramental, financial matters; enhancing our strong value of Church’ missionary endeavors; and ensuring that we live by our core value of Gospel in everyday of our lives. Taking this kind of pastoral responsibility is not light; it is very heavy. As a pastor, I always put our parish’s interests first. However, this pastoral responsibility became a burden and caused some medical issues and my health declined severely. I had to get some emergency medical attentions, and I saw needs of taking care of my health seriously so that I may continue my priestly ministries next 15 more years, not a year or two. After many hours of prayers and consultations with other priests and my spiritual director, I had to request a reassignment to another parish to Archbishop Gomez sometime last winter. I will continue doing my pastoral duties until June 30 with my best and will make my best efforts to have a smooth transition of pastoral leadership with an incoming new administrator,

Fr. Jonathan Nestico. Please pray for Fr. Jonathan and me!

May God bless all of us in the presence of the Risen Christ Jesus and the Holy Spirit!

Blessings,

Fr. Brian