Pastor’s Letter: June 4, 2023

Pastor’s Letter: June 4, 2023

2 Jun 2023 | Posted by: chadmin

The June 4 bulletin is available online.

Dear friend,

Last Saturday Bishop Lou ordained four new priests. As a parish community, were blessed to have one of own, Fr. Patrick Wille, ordained to the priesthood. After Fr. Patrick was ordained in the morning, he celebrated his first Mass at St. Philomena at our 4:30 pm Mass time. If you were unable to be present for the Mass, it was recorded to YouTube and is on our YouTube Channel to watch anytime. It is a great spiritual gift to our community to have a man from our parish answer God’s call to priestly service. Personally, it was a spiritual gift to watch Fr. Patrick mature into a generous young man who found his identity as a servant and disciple of Jesus Christ. Last Saturday was filled with many graces. Please join me in praying for all the many souls that Fr. Patrick will bring to Christ in his priesthood.

This Sunday we celebrate God as the Most Holy Trinity. Our knowledge of God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit comes from the revelation of Jesus. Jesus, as the Son of God, revealed God as His Father, and promised the gift of God the Holy Spirit after His Ascension. As we celebrated the coming of the Holy Spirit last Sunday on the Feast of Pentecost, we are reminded of the Spirit’s gifts. The readings this weekend invite us to reflect on our own relationship with each Person in the Trinity. 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.” A thousand different ways the same truth is communicated; focus on love of other before self and one is like God. 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 – great reward in the end.

I hope this summer brings some time off and vacation for you and your loved ones. It’s funny every year to watch the kids get so excited for school to end, and then in the blink of an eye a new year begins. A large part of religious practice is the concept of rest. God knows we need time to rest. God created for six days and then rested on the seventh. The concept of the Sabbath comes from this holy rest. In short, God knows we all have lots going on in life, but we need to take some time to rest in Him. As we take some time to rest from work or school, it’s a good reminder of our spiritual need to rest in God. The call to Sunday Mass is the principal way we celebrate the Sabbath rest. If you are traveling this summer, you can find Mass by visiting discovermass.com or masstimes.org. May God give rest and peace to those in most need of His love and healing this summer.

God bless,

Father David