Pastor’s Letter: June 12, 2022

Pastor’s Letter: June 12, 2022

10 Jun 2022 | Posted by: chadmin

The June 12 bulletin is now available online. 

Dear friend,

This Sunday we celebrate God as the Trinity of Three Divine Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Our knowledge of God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit comes from the revelation of Jesus recorded in the Gospels. Jesus, as the Son of God, revealed God as His Father, and promised the gift of God the Holy Spirit after His Ascension. We celebrated the coming of the Holy Spirit last Sunday as the Feast of Pentecost. That first Pentecost saw the Holy Spirit come in tongues of fire on the Apostles to begin the Apostolic ministry of the Church.

As we celebrate the Holy Trinity this weekend, we are invited to reflect on our own relationship with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. This week invites to reflect on God the Father as being “Father” from the beginning of time. There is no time in which the Father is not the Father. While Jesus was born in this world, in time, Jesus is begotten of the Father before the beginning of Creation, before the beginning of time. There is no time in which Jesus did not exist. We know the Spirit, not only because of the Spirit coming on Pentecost, because Jesus promised the gift of the Spirit and prepared their hearts to receive the gift. Every prayer we pray in the name of God, we pray in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. May this weekend remind us to grow in our relationship, by time spent in prayer, with the Persons of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

The scriptures and the lives of the saints make it clear that true and authentic love is the key to this and all relationships. St. Paul says, “Mend your ways, encourage one another, agree with one another, live in peace and the God of love and peace will be with you.” This same truth is communicated many different ways. If we get over our own wants, preferences, and judgments, we learn to see clearly in the truth of God. The gift, and the challenge, is that this kind of authentic love is always a growth process. We call it conversion in the Church. The Father loves us enough to send His only Son that we might have life; so, we are called to live a life of thanksgiving by loving as He loves us. Big challenge, but a great reward in the end.

This week we welcome Deacon Daniel Dionesotes to St. Philomena Parish. Deacon Daniel was ordained to the transitional diaconate on May 21, 2022. He will serve the diocese as a deacon this year until his priesthood ordination on May 27, 2023. Over the summer, Deacon Daniel will assist at Mass, preach some homilies, visit parishioners, help with some parish projects, and fulfill commitments for the diocese. His summer assignment with us will be complete at the end of July when all the seminarians attend a retreat before returning to seminary. Please join me in welcoming Deacon Daniel Dionesotes to St. Philomena.

God bless,

Father David