Pastor’s Letter: June 23, 2019

Pastor’s Letter: June 23, 2019

21 Jun 2019 | Posted by: chadmin

Dear friend,

Summer is in full swing on our campus. Thank you for the patience this week with the renewal of our parking lot. I believe it was 2004 when the parking lot was last paved. Over the years, the parking lot has been milled and paved numerous times. In some places the lot is one-foot thick! When taking off the top layer the strength of the under layers was evident. We are hopeful this current paving will last longer. It will be ongoing maintenance that will increase the longevity of the lot. We hesitated a bit on maintenance of the lot without having good knowledge of the lower structure. With that knowledge now, we are confident in preserving the lot by addressing future cracks and seal coating. While the lot is not done as I write, I am praying for minimal rain so the lot is fully paved for the weekend Masses.

The past two weeks, Sister Mary Rose, from the Nashville Dominicans, was at St. Philomena teaching teachers for the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. CGS is a Montessori-based faith education. The CGS classrooms are called Atriums. When we built the Parish Center, we included a few CGS classrooms, or Atriums, in the basement of the Parish Center. The CGS curriculum allows the children to have a “hands-on” approach to faith development. The children work with materials in the classroom that closely resemble what they see and hear at Mass and learn in the Gospel stories of Jesus. The faith development of our children in the last few years of CGS curriculum is observable and truly inspiring. I am so encouraged by the thoughtful progression of the child in the Atrium classrooms. The kids truly learn to slow down, concentrate, focus on mystery, all while feeling a part of God’s family. I am grateful to Sister Mary Rose for her excellence in training teachers. Jenny Witt has guided the development of our local CGS curriculum. At this point, all of our Pre-K through 3^rd grade teachers are educated in teaching this method of faith education. I am hopeful for years of ongoing development in our kids. Special thanks to all our wonderful teachers who have dedicated time to grow in their knowledge of this curriculum to better serve our parish children. Please continue to pray for our school, educators, students and families. The more we work together, the better we raise the next generation to serve God and neighbor. Have a great week.

God bless,

Father David