Pastor’s Letter: October 26, 2025

Pastor’s Letter: October 26, 2025

24 Oct 2025 | Posted by: chadmin

Dear St. Philomena Parish Family,

Blessings to you all this day—I hope everyone is well and knows the love of God in your hearts this day! As of this writing, I am joyful to share that our OCIA class continues to grow every week! A couple weeks back, I counted more than 30 people in the room as Fr. Daniel was teaching about the Holy Spirit. Our group is a great mix of people at different stages in the their faith journey—some are seeking life in the Church through the sacraments, some are looking to complete a missing sacrament like Confirmation, and some are just looking to learn more about our Catholic Faith. We have had several new people join us within the last couple of weeks – if you or anyone you know is still thinking about the class…or wishing you would have joined…it is definitely not too late to jump in with us – everyone is definitely welcome!

Reflecting on our OCIA group, and thinking about the previous series on Baptism we concluded a couple of weeks ago, I thought it would be fitting to talk about the next of the Sacraments of Initiation:  the Sacrament of Confirmation. Although we often use the simple greeting at Mass, “The Lord be with you,” another of the greeting options the priest can use is: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” For me, this greeting always highlights the Trinity, God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit…but especially names the “communion” of the Holy Spirit. In our Faith Tradition, we often refer to the Holy Spirit as the bond of love – the bond of love between the Father and the Son…between God and us…between us and one another. So, one of the key works of the Holy Spirit is uniting hearts together, drawing us deeper into union with the Lord. In that sense, the “communion” of the Holy Spirit truly celebrates our union with God and one another.

When we talk about Confirmation, we can first look to our Catechism:

“Baptism, the Eucharist, and the sacrament of Confirmation together constitute the ‘sacraments of Christian initiation,’ whose unity must be safeguarded. It must be explained to the faithful that the reception of the sacrament of Confirmation is necessary for the completion of baptismal grace. For ‘by the sacrament of Confirmation, [the baptized] are more perfectly bound to the Church and are enriched with a special strength of the Holy Spirit. Hence they are, as true witnesses of Christ, more strictly obliged to spread and defend the faith by word and deed’ (CCC, 1285).”

So, Confirmation is understood as the completion of what we first receive in Baptism—being joined to the life of God through the Gift of the Holy Spirit dwelling within us. There are many wonderful fruits that come from the Sacrament of Confirmation which help strengthen us for our life in Christ. Here are some of the most common ones our Church speaks of:

• An increase and deepening of baptismal grace.
• A deepening of one’s roots in the divine filiation (sonship), which makes one cry, “Abba, Father!”
• A firming of one’s unity with Christ.
• An increase of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
• A strengthening of one’s bond with the Church and closer association with her mission.
• Special strength of the Holy Spirit to spread and defend the faith by word and action as a true witness of Christ, to confess the name of Christ boldly, and to never be ashamed of the cross.
• The imprinting, as in Baptism, of a spiritual mark or indelible character on the Christian’s soul. Because of this character, one can receive this sacrament only once in one’s life.

As I look over this list – key words jump out at me:  increase, deepening, firming, strengthening, imprinting – all words which help us understand how the Holy Spirit is such a great gift for us! With this overview in mind, in a couple weeks we’ll take a look at some Scripture passages which help us understand Confirmation and the work of the Holy Spirit.  (Next week, we’ll reflect on All Souls Day since it falls on a Sunday this year). I hope everyone has a great week ahead—know of my prayers and blessing for you all!

In Christ,
Father Luke