Pastor’s Letter: February 3, 2019

Pastor’s Letter: February 3, 2019

1 Feb 2019 | Posted by: chadmin

I hope everyone kept warm this past week! It was hard to believe how cold the temperature and wind-chill was this week. We were out of school on Wednesday and Thursday, mostly for safety concerns with kids traveling to and from school. As I write this, our building and heat worked well despite the temperatures. The days off school disrupted our celebration of Catholic Schools Week. The week is intended to celebrate all the blessings that come with Catholic education. I am daily grateful for the strong school at St. Philomena. We have a community that supports the school financially and a faculty, staff, and administration who focus on providing not only the best faith education, but also excellence in the whole of our curriculum. Teaching the faith to children is the first call of every parent and certainly the main reason for the Church existence is to hand on the deposit of faith. The school plans to reschedule most of the events that were missed during Catholic Schools Week because of the cancelled days.

The second reading this weekend is the familiar thirteenth chapter of I Corinthians. In a reading that is often heard at weddings, St. Paul talks about love. St. Paul wants all to strive for the greatest spiritual gifts. But no matter what gifts one may possess, love is the most perfect gift. Real and authentic love is patient, kind and generous. Love is also not jealous or of self-interest. True Christian love is about God first, then others, then the self. When we have a proper focus, we then give our time and energy in a Christian and loving way which keeps us in a right relationship with God, others and within our own hearts. Love guides forgiveness and apology. Love encourages personal growth and humility. Love calls us to the Altar to receive Eucharist.

God bless you,

Father David