Pastor’s Letter & January 2 Bulletin

Pastor’s Letter & January 2 Bulletin

31 Dec 2021 | Posted by: chadmin

The January 2 bulletin is available online.

Dear friends,

This weekend we celebrate the Epiphany of the Lord. In Christian tradition, this feast day was celebrated much the way we celebrate Christmas with the giving of gifts. The Epiphany represents the unveiling or revealing of Jesus as the Son of God. The wise men from the east follow a celestial star to find the child. Clearly this “star” represented to the three men that this child was one of great significance to humanity and the Jewish people. They stopped their lives in order to travel and behold the existence of the newborn king. Their journey was one of great desire that culminated in them offering the gifts of gold (for Christ’s kindship), incense (to adore his divine nature), and myrrh (to acknowledge his humanity). We are called from the example of the wise men to offer our gifts to one another and to always serve God with the gifts we have received from God. In the spirit of the Epiphany, over the Christmas season, I received so many kind words, cards, and gifts. I am truly thankful for all of your kind gestures. Thank You! I pray will we continue to grow in our love for God and one another.

St. Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians, gives us an important theme to reflect upon this week. “You have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for your benefit…that the mystery was made known to me by revelation.” Stewardship represents the duties of the steward of someone else’s possessions. Technically, I am the steward of the Bishop and the people of St. Philomena Church and my ministry is stewardship for this community. St. Paul invites us to reflect on him as a steward of God’s grace and thus his ministry of stewardship. In this season of celebrating Christmas and Epiphany, we give gifts as a sign of our love for Christ, our love for each other, and our understanding of the gifts we have all received. We trust the Biblical words of St. Paul because we know God entrusted him with the truth of the Gospel message. All of us are invited by God to trust that God has given us each the gift of life, and the blessings of our natural and spiritual gifts to be a steward for the world. We are each a steward of God’s creative order. We are called to know ourselves so we can know our gifts and best share them with the world. May 2022 be an opportunity for us to live true Christian stewardship, in thanksgiving for all the Lord has entrusted to us. Happy New Year!

God bless,

Father David