Pastor’s Letter: July 13, 2025

Pastor’s Letter: July 13, 2025

11 Jul 2025 | Posted by: chadmin

Dear St. Philomena Parish Family,

Blessed day to you all! I hope everyone enjoyed the 4^th of July celebrations! We had a joyful wedding here at the parish—it truly made for a wonderful day! Throughout the weekend, I took some time to reflect on my first year as pastor here—hard to believe one year is already in the books! I know I have shared this several times over the past year, but I wanted to highlight my gratitude for all the wonderful people we have in our parish family. I continue to see great generosity in supporting one another…our recent mission collection to support the appeal of Fr. John Bosco is a great example of how that generosity also extends beyond our parish boundaries. Thanks to you all for making this such a great first year as pastor here!

Continuing through the last part of the Creed…“I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.” This week we examine the next mark of the Church:  The Church is Holy. At first glance, this might seem a little presumptuous. We all know we have faults; Church leaders make mistakes—sometimes really big ones—maybe the teaching of St. Paul about purity is something we need to review more often:  “Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?” (1 Corinthians 6:15).  Knowing the reality of ourselves…how “holy” could the Church really be?

As our Catechism teaches, the Church is holy because: “Christ, the Son of God, who with the Father and the Spirit is hailed as ‘alone holy,’ loved the Church as his Bride, giving himself up for her so as to sanctify her; He joined her to himself as his body and endowed her with the gift of the Holy Spirit for the glory of God” (CCC, 823). Similarly to how the Church is one, the Church is holy because it is founded by Christ and led by the Holy Spirit toward the unity and holiness that Christ calls all Christians to live. As a creation of Christ and kept in being by the presence of the Holy Spirit, the Church is “indefectibly” holy because of its relationship with the Trinity. Where God is concerned, unity is holiness…and so holiness flows from the oneness of the Church.

That the Church is holy, means that love becomes the motive and goal of the entire Church and all her ministries and activities. The Church should then be operating with the pure motive of bringing others closer to Christ. Knowing that she and her members have been sanctified by Christ, the Church shares in Christ’s power to sanctify others.

Ok, but what about all the sins I and others commit? Doesn’t that diminish the holiness of the Church? Objectively, no—because of Christ the Head and Founder, the Church is holy despite the sinfulness of members. The members of the Church are imperfect yet being perfected. Of course, we all realize the damage that is done by the poor example of our sins and weakness. How often have you heard (or maybe said yourself?) that an individual’s faith has been damaged by someone’s failure in Christian charity? Each time we hear something like that, as frustrating as it is, it should also be a reminder to us to continue striving to be more and more faithful in our own hearts and to pray especially for our Church leadership to do the same.

What are some of the means provided by the Church to help members grow in holiness? Liturgical and sacramental life, teachings/doctrine, devotions and private prayer, laws—even though that is a tough word for us, Church rules oblige us to important acts of worship, penance, and sacrifice we might otherwise neglect. In addition, the example of the saints are also practically helpful to us in the journey toward greater holiness. The saints show the Church’s holiness and the power of what Christ’s love can do in our hearts.  Next time we get a little frustrated with someone’s lack of holiness and charity, let’s pray for that person to have an open heart to Christ and to become a saint!

Know of my prayers and blessing for you all this week!

In Christ,

Father Luke