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Pastor’s Letter: April 27, 2025

Dear St. Philomena Parish Family, 

Blessed Easter to you all! I pray that this past week has been a joyful one—and that this Divine Mercy weekend brings a great consolation to our hearts. I have been reflecting this week on many wonderful Easter blessings—I am so thankful for everyone who helped make our Triduum and Easter celebrations wonderful. I thought our church looked beautiful and the music was truly uplifting. The post-Easter Vigil Feast was one to remember!  In fact, I heard one family share that even though that Easter Vigil Mass is longer than usual, all their kids wanted to come to it…and to especially enjoy the party after! =) Congrats again to our OCIA class members who joined the Church—it was such a joyous gift to be able to make the spiritual journey with them. During most of my 21+ years as a priest, I have taught RCIA/OCIA and walked with the classes in the months of preparation for the Easter Vigil. This year I was really struck by the genuine faith of our class, the eagerness to learn, and the joy of arriving in that moment of receiving the gift of Jesus in the Sacraments. They remind us all to never overlook the gifts we have…and the generosity of Jesus in being so close to us!

Another reminder of Jesus being close with us is one of our prominent symbols of the Easter Season—the Paschal Candle. The very large candle, placed near the pulpit/ambo during Easter time and usually near the baptismal font during other times of the year, is called the Paschal Candle or the Easter..