Pastor’s Letter: January 29, 2023

Pastor’s Letter: January 29, 2023

27 Jan 2023 | Posted by: chadmin

The January 29 bulletin is now available online. This is our special Catholic Schools Week edition. We hope you’ll take some time to read the student submissions about why they love their Catholic school.

Dear friend,

This week the Catholic Church in the United States celebrates “Catholic Schools Week.” The bishops decided on this celebration as a means to joyfully celebrate what our schools represent and to build toward the future. The Church consistently teaches that parents are the first educators of their children in the ways of faith. Catholic schools exist to help parents in the transmission of the faith to our youth. St. Philomena School takes the transmission of the faith as its primary reason for existence. We teach the kids about the moral life and about how what we say and do is a reflection about what we believe about God and ourselves. Faith is obviously a life-long journey and something that the whole Body of Christ needs to play a part. This bulletin is evidence of the handing on of faith taking place in our school. I hope you enjoy reading some of the kids’ reflections. Our kids will partake in many activities this week to help them more deeply reflect on the great opportunity their parents have given them by enrolling in St. Philomena School.

As we emphasize and celebrate our Catholic School and the opportunity we have to spread our faith in Jesus, the school will host an open house. The open house will be on Sunday, January 29 from 10 am to 11 am. You are welcome to walk through the school and visit the classrooms and teachers. I am hopeful we can draw in new students to our school as we are always inviting new people to join our church. Each year we welcome new families and graduate others. Our hope is that we communicate well who we are as a community and the effectiveness of Catholic education in our parochial school. As a Church, we focus on handing on of the faith and truth. We run schools to educate in the varying aspects of life. I pray that our grade school and our Catholic High School, Peoria Notre Dame, consistently meet the needs of our children spiritually, physically, and intellectually. It is my desire as a Catholic priest, that all our kids experience our Catholic education. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me, our school or Peoria Notre Dame. We don’t want any roadblocks to the opportunity for Catholic education, especially financially. Please pray for the success of our school, for our teachers and staff, and especially for the students in our grade schools and high school. May we all work to together to grow in our love for God and neighbor, while understanding more about the beautiful world He created. Please join me in thanking our teachers for their excellence in service and dedication to the mission of St. Philomena Catholic School.

God bless,

Father David