Pastor’s Letter: September 3, 2023

Pastor’s Letter: September 3, 2023

31 Aug 2023 | Posted by: chadmin

Dear friend,

Happy Labor Day Weekend! The unofficial end to summer is upon us. This one seemed to go remarkable fast.  Labor Day gives us one last day to celebrate the summer but more importantly allows us to celebrate the labor force of yesterday and today. I love being a priest at a parish with a parochial school. I love the support our parish family gives to the education of all the kids of our parish. I love the opportunity that a good grade school offers for the future of our children. The goal of achieving a four-year college degree begins in grade school. However, the most important education we give at St. Philomena is knowledge of Jesus Christ. We want our kids to leave school knowing Jesus and living the values of a good moral life. These moral values matter for college, they matter for marriage, for raising children, and they matter for every job in our culture. The Bible and the Catholic Church is adamant about the importance of finding meaning and beauty in work. No matter the job, blue or white collar, as Catholics we are called to give the best of ourselves. The use of our gifts and talents, united to the Gospel of Jesus, leads us closer to heaven. Whether or not we are personally resting this Monday, let us all pray that American sees Labor Day as an opportunity to be thankful for God-given talents, for the gift or work, and the blessing of church and family.

One of my favorite scripture lines is in the first reading this weekend. “You duped me Lord and I allowed myself to be duped.” The Bible focuses on how we think and where our thinking leads us. Our thinking leads to our decisions, words and actions. As Jesus is the Word of truth, He desires that His Word effects what we think. Real spiritual conversion happens by thinking as God thinks. In truth, I believe this to be a simple process, but one that requires much patience and humility. To think as God thinks requires us to let go; to be set free from selfishness, pride, creed, envy, lust, gluttony, and laziness. We have to realize that I am in fact “wrong” when I don’t think as God thinks. Christ reveals His truth to us not so that we will be “duped” but that we will realize we allowed ourselves to be “duped” by not submitting to the divine mind. Today is a great day to recommit ourselves to the daily reading of the Gospels and allowing the word of God to penetrate our thoughts in order to convert our words and actions. The beauty is that we are all capable of being saints. Peter shows us this through his life challenges, questions, and ultimately through his full cooperation. Peter didn’t lose his freedom, but simply learned to say “yes” to thinking as God thinks which in turn resulted in his eternal “yes” to think with Jesus.

On Tuesday September 12, 2023, we will host a “Come and See” for the 2024 RCIA class. RCIA, or the Rite of Christians Initiation of Adults, is the ordinary means for adults to learn about and join the Catholic Church. The Sacraments of Initiation are Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist.  If you are, or you know anyone who is interested in receiving the Sacraments, please know you are welcome to join us. Please feel free to reach out if there are any questions.

God bless,

Father David