Pastor’s Letter: May 29

Pastor’s Letter: May 29

27 May 2022 | Posted by: chadmin

The May 29, 2022 bulletin is now available online. 

Dear friend,

On Saturday, May 21, 2022, Bishop Lou ordained four men to the Transitional Diaconate. They will serve as Deacons for one year and then be ordained priests for the Diocese of Peoria. One of the new deacons is a parishioner at St. Philomena. After his ordination, he served at the 4:30pm Mass and delivered the homily. I joked after the Mass that he sounded like a seasoned veteran already. He then served at a wedding the same night at 6:30pm. Quickly he is learning the many different things one can do in a day! It truly was a grace-filled day for Deacon Patrick Wille, our Diocese, his family, our parish and me personally. I felt privileged to witness him serve as deacon for the first time. I am looking forward to his first Mass next May at St. Philomena. This will be another grace-filled time for us.

The summer brings some time for rest and ministry experience for all our seminarians. Deacon Patrick will serve at St. Michael Parish in Streator this summer. As a deacon, he can celebrate baptisms and marriages, proclaim the Gospel and preach. He will not be able to celebrate Mass or forgive sins until he is ordained a priest next year. Bishop Lou assigned one of the other four newly ordained deacons to St. Philomena this summer. On June 8, Deacon Daniel Dionesotes will move into the St. Philomena Rectory for the summer. Deacon Daniel will have the opportunity to serve our parish community until the end of July. I am looking forward to spending some time with him and maybe teaching him a thing or two.

The Church has ordained deacons from the very beginning as a means of the Church serving the community. On the Monday after their ordination, Deacon Daniel and Deacon Patrick stopped by to visit our campus. I planned to show Deacon Daniel around St. Philomena, while Deacon Patrick wanted to see many of the faces he knew when he attended St. Philomena School. As you can see by the picture, we found a way to put the two men to service. Please continue to pray for them as they complete their last year before ordination to the priesthood.  As always, continue praying that more men choose a life in the priesthood.

God bless,

Father David