Pastor’s Letter: May 12, 2019

Pastor’s Letter: May 12, 2019

10 May 2019 | Posted by: chadmin

Dear friends,

Happy Mothers’ Day to all our mothers. On Friday, May 3, we celebrated our annual May Crowning Mass. The month of May is a special time to not only remember our own mothers, but also to remember the Mother of God, Mary. Mary fulfills a pinnacle role in the plan of God’s salvation. Mary’s “yes” to God allowed the Son of God to freely enter the human condition in love and service. Mary serves not only as the Mother of Jesus, but as a spiritual mother for all of us. As we remember our own mothers this weekend, we pray for guidance from Mother Mary, asking she will always pray for us and lead us to her Divine Son. I hope all our mothers not only experience the love and appreciation of family but also enjoy some rest and relaxation. No matter what stage of motherhood our mothers are in, we all know they deserve our appreciation and thanks. Please join me in praying for each of our mothers and asking God to continue to bless them for all their love and sacrifice.

Last week, we celebrated first Communion with our 2^nd graders. Each year this is such a beautiful celebration. Not only are they excited because the day is marked specifically for them, but they are well prepared for the gift of the sacrament. A conversation with our kids of different age levels reveals the quality of our kids and I think the excellence of education in our school. Our faculty and staff really do a great job of continuing the formation that happens in your homes. Our school is certainly the principal ministry of our parish, as we help you educate the kids emotionally, spiritually, and intellectually. As the years go by, I see more and more the importance of Catholic education, at least to college, if not through a bachelors degree. Our culture clearly needs and should support public education, but I think we can all see how it doesn’t present to our kids the fullness of truth. I graduated from all public schools. When I entered seminary, I was amazed at how little I knew about faith, compared to other seminarians who received Catholic education. As we come to the end of another year, I’m just thankful we have the opportunity at St. Philomena and Notre Dame to push academic excellence, but more importantly, to guide kids in truth. The goal of life is to get to heaven. Every year of my priesthood, I see how the most important aspect of life is a relationship with God. I pray our schools continue to grow, that our kids are educated in the beauty of life, family and a life ordered to heaven.

We have two big projects planned for this summer. Recently the St. Philomena Finance Council voted to repave our parking lot and remove the old, abandoned, boilers from the school. With the new parking lot, we plan to install a new concrete sidewalk along the primary building to assist with school’s morning drop off and provide some landscaping on the parking lot side of the building. The plan is to complete the parking lot in the month of June and remove the old boilers during early July. I’ll write further details as I have them.

God bless,

Father David