Pastor’s Letter: August 6, 2023

Pastor’s Letter: August 6, 2023

4 Aug 2023 | Posted by: chadmin

The August 6 bulletin is now online.

Dear friend,

One of the great gifts of our modern world is the advancement of technology. Technology and media advance communication and in many ways help people to connect. Unfortunately, there are negative uses of technology as well. Over the last several years, my identity has been spoofed to try and steal money from people. The same method is used each time. An email or a text is sent to parishioners with the appearance that I sent the message. In every case, the request is made for gift cards to be purchased to help someone in need. The purchase of a gift card and sending someone the security code on an Amazon or iTunes card is like sending someone cash. The methods of getting the email addresses and mobile numbers of parishioners has varied. Most often they are addresses that were publically listed on a website. I haven’t had my email contact list hacked, but that can happen as well. The key thing to know is that I would never directly ask someone for money.

If you have any questions about anything that appears to come from me that seems off character, always check the from email address and mobile number to make sure it is from me and call the office. If you receive a text or email asking you to help me with anything, the best response is to ignore it. I am sorry that this happens several times a year and if you have had to deal with it. As far as I know, every priest in town has had this happen. A few years ago, I read about a church in Texas that had parishioners fall for the scam and in total over $10,000 was given away. The fact that some people fall prey to this keeps people trying this scam. I am sorry for all who have fallen prey to this scam in the past. Hopefully we can help each other grow in our awareness of false communication.

Happy Feast Day of St. Philomena on Friday, August 11! The body of St. Philomena was discovered on May 24, 1802 in the Catacombs in Rome. The tomb was marked with the words PAX TECUM FILUMENA, “Peace be to you, Philomena.” You can see the Latin and English translation on the wall in our church devotional candle area, the back right side of church. The parents of St. Philomena struggled with infertility. Their own physician encouraged them to talk to a Christian doctor who in turn encouraged them to pray to Jesus. Upon converting to Christianity, Philomena’s father, a Greek king, and mother conceived Philomena with great joy. Her parents named her Philomena meaning daughter of light, a birth they credited to their faith in God.

St. Philomena was then a princess who refused to marry the Roman Emperor, Diocletian. Philomena made a vow of chastity at the age of 13. Her refusal to marry Diocletian because of her Christian faith resulted in her torture and martyrdom. Tradition holds that prior to her beheading, several attempts were made to kill her. After scourging her, an anchor was tied to her and she was thrown into the sea. The anchor miraculously broke loose and she returned to the shore dry. Arrows were shot her direction before circling back and striking those who shot at her. Like many of the great saints, her time of death is noted on a Friday at 3 pm, the time of the death of Jesus. Also in our candle area, you can see the anchor, arrows, and lilies. These are all signs of her martyrdom. Sometimes the exact details of the early Church saints are difficult to know, what we do know for sure, is that our world needs the intercession of saints living chastity and dedicated to God.

As with each year, we will pray the St. Philomena Novena as a community from August 3 to August 11. As you pray the novena, have an intention on your heart for your own healing or someone you love. May St. Philomena guide and protect our young and encourage all of us to live our Catholic Christian faith.

God bless,

Father David