Pastor’s Letter: August 4, 2024

Pastor’s Letter: August 4, 2024

2 Aug 2024 | Posted by: chadmin

Dear St. Philomena Parish Family,

God’s peace and blessing be upon you all this week! As I have been visiting with people after Masses, there are a few questions that seem to come up regularly in conversations…How are you settling in? How is Fr. David doing? Are you ready for school to start? What’s next for the Eucharistic Revival? From the Growing Disciples Pastoral Plan from our Diocese…is there anything that will change here at St. Philomena? These are all great questions! This week, I thought I’d share a bit about these, and also lay out some framework for the months ahead.

How are you settling in? Very well, thank you! Everyone has been so gracious and welcoming—I am very thankful for such a great beginning. I certainly benefitted from already living here at the Rectory—what often is a lengthy process of packing, moving, unpacking, and settling has happened in a short time, since I just needed to move my office from downtown at Sacred Heart to here at the Parish Center. I haven’t yet moved to the pastor’s room in the rectory, but I’ll be gradually doing that over the next couple of weeks. Overall, it has been a very smooth and easy process! Aside from practical things, I have been enjoying getting to know our parish family—I know it will take some time to get down names—I have been so thankful for everyone’s friendly greetings and patience. I look forward to growing together!

How is Fr. David doing? Well also and he sends his prayers and greetings. He is also settling in and getting to know people there at Epiphany. As I have known in several moves through the years, it definitely takes some time to transition from boxes to being comfortable in a new space. He has been meeting with people to get an overview of their staff, school, and parish life—no doubt he will bring his great skillset and help them grow very much in the months and years ahead!

Are you ready for school to start? This is a big one! I am excited to have our campus full of life each day and I’m really looking forward to having all our students back in the buildings. One of my favorite parts of living here the last two years was hearing the students playing outside—it is so uplifting to hear their joy and laughter! I have previously had a few interactions with our students in the past—speaking to many of the classes about the Eucharist and subbing for a school Mass here and there. I’ve been so impressed with our students’ attentiveness, respectfulness, prayerfulness and good faith. It is such a wonderful testament to our school staff and also, of course, to all our parents and families! Before the July 1 priest moves happened, I sat in on one of the parish finance council meetings. I was so edified to hear the members discussing the importance of our school and how impactful it has been for our children and their families. I love hearing people say that our mission and activity with the school is one of the most important things we do at our parish.

What is next for the Eucharistic Revival? I mentioned a bit about this last week, but an important thing to note is that the National Congress wasn’t the end of the Revival…it was just the beginning! As Bishop Lou has shared several times, the Revival is meant to be ongoing. For us as Catholics, as a Diocese, as a parish—the last couple of years were meant to be a launching pad for future growth. One of the hopes for this next year is a strengthening in our skillset for how we live our Faith out in the world and for how we share that faith with those we encounter. Don’t worry if that sounds like a big ask! Our hope is that we will gradually work on our evangelization, that is, how we share the blessings of Jesus and our Faith with others.

Speaking of evangelization…that leads well into our last question. Where are things with the Growing Disciples Pastoral Plan? Will anything change here at St. Philomena? Our Diocese has now moved into the implementation phase, which for some places means a lot of practical changes involving church buildings and groupings of churches. For others, changes like Mass schedules and staffing (I don’t anticipate any changes for us at this point. We have been asked to work with the other parishes to make sure the offering of Mass and Confessions is coordinated for our area, but as of now there is no timeframe for that review). For all parishes, including ours, the goals involve deepening our understanding of the Five Foundations for our Diocese (Discipleship, Evangelization, Devotion to the Eucharist, Promoting Vocations, and Continuing the legacy of Fulton J. Sheen), helping to strengthen how we live and pray together. We will have some practical things to work on these next months, including formation for our liturgical ministers, reviewing our outreach and ministries, and working with parish leaders to help strengthen our connection with the Five Foundations in our parish life here. To help jumpstart us, Fr. Daniel and I will be preaching on the Five Foundations in September…more to come as we go into this fall. Know of my prayers for you all this week!

In Christ,

Father Luke