Pastor’s Letter: January 12, 2020

Pastor’s Letter: January 12, 2020

Pastor’s Letter: January 12, 2020

10 Jan 2020 | Posted by: chadmin

Dear friend,

I hope 2020 is off to a good start for you and your family. It is hard to believe how fast time passes. We had a great celebration of Christmas. Although we all know some people come to only celebrate Christmas and Easter, it is always a great joy to have a full church. I hope that you enjoyed the celebrations as I did. The celebration of our faith extends from the truth recorded in the Bible to its lived expression in our celebration of the Mass. As we gather as a community, we are encouraged to live out in the world the peace, joy, and forgiveness that we celebrate as a family gathered in church. The blessings of God are abundant to those who desire to receive His love and guidance. Please join me in encouraging your family and loved ones to join us weekly at Mass to practice our beautiful faith.

Last month, I communicated about the passing of our parish organist, Rick Ferguson. Rick functioned not only as our principal organist, but also as our Director of Music and the Adult Choir. As with all of our parish family losses, Rick going on to the next life was a difficult time for me personally. I will miss him as a friend and a dedicated employee to our parish family. In the meantime, I’ve been trying to put together a plan for our Mass music into the future. Our school music teacher, Mary Rose Williams, has agreed to function as our Director of Music. Monika Tonsor, a former St. Philomena teacher and one who had played organ at many church and school Masses, has agreed to be our principal organist. Ms. Williams is currently in the middle of a school year and preparing for her own wedding this summer. A time of great excitement for her. She also works with Mary Ellen Ulrich to produce our school musical in the spring. This year the kids are performing Seussical. I’m so excited to see the performance! With all the many activities, I have asked Ms. Williams to schedule cantors along with Mrs. Tonsor and another accompanist I’ve identified for the time being. With the scheduling of cantors, we will not have the past adult choir that Mr. Ferguson worked so hard to direct. My hope is that this coming summer we will have the time to reconstitute an adult choir to serve the parish community, under the direction of Ms. Williams. Thank you for your patience as we go through this time. It is difficult to lose any member of our parish family. It certainly affects us all more directly when we lose someone who was directly connected to our weekly prayer together. Please keep in prayer all of our musicians during this time of transition, as they seek to help facilitate our communal prayer.

God bless,

Father David