Pastor’s Letter: March 10, 2019

Pastor’s Letter: March 10, 2019

18 Mar 2019 | Posted by: chadmin

Dear friend,

Last Sunday was the annual Men’s Smoker. I am always amazed by the ease at which our community comes together to socialize and raise funds for the parish. The dedication of our parishioners to the success of St. Philomena is truly humbling. So many parishioners are willing to pitch in to help our community thrive. The crowd for the Smoker was substantial. I am told the Men’s Club made a nice profit on the event. Thanks to all the Men’s Club members for the hours of service for the promotion of our parish and for all the future projects we can fund through their efforts.

We had a great start to Lent on Ash Wednesday. I was so pleased to see that large crowds desiring to enter the Season of Penance. Lent is a great reminder that we all have many spiritual needs. God is always there to support and guide us, but we have to do our part. As Christians, we are readily reminded of the need to support the needs of the world and the Church with our prayers, stewardship, service, and love. The Season of Lent is meant to be an intensified time of prayer and reflection on the gift and meaning of life. The 40 days of Lent are a reminder of the 40 days Jesus was in the desert fasting and praying. During those days, he overcame temptation and communicated his resolve to be faithful to himself and his Father in Heaven. Lent is an opportunity for us to renew our commitment to God, increase our prayer, and experience the grace of fasting for conversion.

As with each Season of Lent, we have daily meditation books. These provide a reflection for daily reading. Simple additions to our daily walk with the Lord can help us deepen our relationship with Jesus. Lent provides us the opportunity to focus on prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Fasting is of course a form of sacrifice, a spiritual reminder to our bodies that our will is in charge, and a way to remember that we all are called to hunger for God’s love and forgiveness. The giving of alms helps us focus on worldly needs beyond our own. Put simply, prayer is a conversation with God. As with any relationship, our relationship with God is only as strong as the time we give. Attendance at Mass and visits to the Adoration Chapel, along with family prayers at home, ensure we keep the conversation with God growing.

Throughout the Season of Lent several opportunities to pray and celebrate the sacraments are added to our schedule. Monday through Friday we will have Mass at 5:30pm. Confessions will be heard at 6 m Monday through Thursday. The Stations of the Cross will be prayed at 6pm on Fridays. On Fridays of Lent, we will offer Mass at 5:30pm and Stations of the Cross at 6pm. Please take advantage of these additional opportunities to pray your way through Lent. I pray that Lent is a time of spiritual growth for our parish community.

Hopefully you received the email about someone impersonating me seeking funds and iTunes cards. Someone is creating new email addresses close to mine and sending email requests to parishioners with email address on our website or bulletin. If you have any question about an email that appears from me, please call the office and report it to me. Please know I would never email any parishioner asking for money. I am sorry for the inconvenience.

God bless,

Fr. David