Pastor’s Letter: March 2, 2025

Pastor’s Letter: March 2, 2025

28 Feb 2025 | Posted by: chadmin

Dear St. Philomena Parish Family,

Blessings to you all this day! This week, I had the opportunity to visit my folks at the farm for my day off (plus a good chunk of another day thanks to the generosity of Fr. Daniel!). I always enjoy visiting down there—it really is a slower pace of life and a great connection with nature. Of course it is also a connection with my family heritage. Two years ago, the two farms (the one where my dad grew up and the one where they live where my mom grew up) were recognized by the State of Illinois for being centennial and sesquicentennial farms—both have been in the same family for more than 100 and 150 years. It is remarkable to think of the ancestors working the land and raising their families—no doubt, the faith, hard work, and daily life of my family have been so influential on me. I give thanks for all those who provided a firm foundation for the life we live today.

In a very similar way, I have continued to reflect on the 150^th anniversary of our Diocese. I was thinking of the early settlers who gave their very best to establish communities here and build churches for a gathering point for faithful people. I think about how our Diocese grew through the years and expanded with more parishes—I also think about how that growth resulted in the formal establishment of St. Philomena in the spring of 1945…80 years ago this year!

As part of the 150^th anniversary celebration for our Diocese, we have the opportunity to receive a special grace called a plenary indulgence. What is an indulgence? As our Diocese shared from the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “An indulgence is a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven, which the faithful Christian who is duly disposed gains under certain prescribed conditions through the actions of the Church which, as the minister of redemption, dispenses and applies with authority and treasury of the satisfactions of Christ and the saints. An indulgence is partial or plenary according as it removes either part or all of the temporal punishment due to sin. The faithful can gain indulgences themselves or apply them to the dead” (CCC, 1471). Did everyone get all that?  =)  (I’ll give a fuller explanation in two weeks, including a bit about some of the confusing history.)

For now, as the Diocese shared, “the 150^th Anniversary indulgence is a plenary indulgence. The Church’s usual conditions for gaining an indulgence apply in connection with the 150^th Anniversary Indulgence.” What is needed for this special grace? During this time of sesquicentennial celebrating, the Holy Father has granted an indulgence if we make a pious pilgrimage to any of six designated pilgrimage sites, along with the normal requirements for a plenary indulgence.

What are the usual conditions for receiving an indulgence?

• Be in a state of grace and have the interior disposition of complete detachment from sin
• Receive the Sacrament of Confession/Reconciliation
• Reception of Holy Communion
• Prayer for the Pope’s intentions

What are the pilgrimage sites?

• The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, built in 1889, the childhood parish of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen and his current resting place
• Corpus Christi Church in Galesburg, built in 1884 and contains the relic remains of St. Crescent, a young Roman martyr
• St. Mary Church in Moline, established in 1875 and the diocese’s only primarily Hispanic parish
• St. John’s Chapel at the University of Illinois Newman Center, completed in 1927 (also where Fr. David and I went to Mass during our college years…as did many more of us!)
• St. Mary Church in Utica, site of the first Mass offered in the territory of our Diocese on Holy Thursday, April 11, 1675, by Fr. Jacques Marquette
• Sts. Peter and Paul Church in Nauvoo, dating back to 1848 and the work of the famous Mississippi River missionary Fr. John Alleman

As I saw the pilgrimage sites, I was excited to see three of them are places where I have been previously assigned, and I have enjoyed being able to offer Mass in the other three places as well. I will look forward to an opportunity to visit them during this time our Diocese is celebrating 150 years! As I mentioned previously, I’ll explain more in two weeks about indulgences, hopefully helping us to understand them better. In the meantime, know that I am praying for you all this week!

In Christ,

Father Luke