Pastor’s Letter: July 21, 2024

Pastor’s Letter: July 21, 2024

19 Jul 2024 | Posted by: chadmin

Dear St. Philomena Parishioners,

Blessings and peace to you all this day! I am thankful to Fr. Daniel and Msgr. Jerry Ward for helping cover things while I’m away at the Eucharistic Congress—I’m hopeful to have some good fruits to share when I return.

We mentioned last weekend in the announcements that our parish received the St. John Vianney award at the conclusion of Emmaus Days. If you aren’t familiar, Emmaus Days is a summer program for young men (Jr High up beyond college…divided into four age groups) that our Peoria Seminarians have been putting on for 40 years now. I myself attended Emmaus Days back before I became a seminarian…and then worked for the summer program each of my years as a seminarian for our Diocese. While the focus is different for each of the age groups, it is a great opportunity to set aside some time for prayer, sacraments, learning, and of course fun. This year we won the St. John Vianney Award, which goes to the pastor/parish that send the most young men each year… I am joyful to say St. Philomena sent a record number this year—27! While certainly credit goes to Fr. David, Fr. Daniel, Mr. Jack Dippold and all our staff, I think our parish family also deserves a great pat on the back for working to create an environment where it is natural to be growing in our faith and having an openness to God’s call for our lives.

Earlier this summer, our parish hosted a “Finding Your Fiat” Retreat for young women, where more than 40 young women spent a day here praying, learning, and having a great time together. Ms. Jenny Witt, Ms. Katie Bogner, and Fr. Daniel from our staff, along with some Sisters from local communities organized an amazing day. I was able to join in for dinner, prayer, and some social time—I can definitely attest first hand that everyone was having a great time! The retreat day went so well that there has been discussion about making it a regular opportunity for our young women, as well as sharing the model around for other areas of our Diocese to experience the same. Great job to all who helped out with and attended the retreat!

Some more joyful news to share—Danny Miller from our parish has entered our Peoria seminarian program and begun what is called the Propaedeutic Stage (for anyone wondering, pronounced Pro-puh-doo-tick. The word Propaedeutic means a time of introduction to an area of study). The Propaedeutic Stage is a new part of seminarian formation that just was implemented a year ago. As our summer seminarian Brady describes it, the Propaedeutic Stage is meant to be a time to grow deeper in relationship with God, through prayer, community life, and study of the Scripture, Catechism, and lives of the saints. Unique to this period is also a technology fast, where the men spend the majority of each week away from media, phones, etc. As Brady shared, the hope is to cultivate good boundaries with technology so it isn’t an obstacle to prayer or community life. As Danny is beginning this Stage of seminary life, I invite all our parish family to be praying for him. Seminary is a time of growth, prayer, and discernment…so we pray Danny will continue to grow as a good Christian man, to deepen his relationship with God, and to be open to the pathway God is calling him to live.

With more to share in the future, I am also excited that our parish will be part of a pilot program for our Diocese to strengthen marriage preparation and better assist our married couples in their lives together. The hope will be to improve what we offer during preparation, especially through the gift and witness of our couples who are living their married life fruitfully. Stay tuned for more information as this develops!

As I reflect on these great blessings, I can’t help but think of the Five Foundations that Bishop Lou laid out for our Diocese (Discipleship, Evangelization, Devotion to the Eucharist, Promoting Vocations, and Continuing the Legacy of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen). One of the hopes of the Growing Disciples initiative for our Diocese is to strengthen and develop how our parishes are living out these Five Foundations. I am thrilled to see the many great ways St. Philomena Parish has already been engaging in these Foundations! Know of my prayers for you all this week, especially in the Masses at the National Eucharistic Congress!

In Christ,

Father Luke