Dear St. Philomena Parish Family,<\/p>\n
May the blessings and joy of this Holy Season continue to be with all of you! I hope that everyone has enjoyed a wonderful Christmas and that we will have many graces to look forward to in 2026! This weekend we celebrate the Holy Family\u2014Jesus, Mary, and Joseph\u2026and then on Jan 1 we celebrate Mary, Mother of God.<\/p>\n
The title Mary, Mother of God is actually one of our four main Marian Doctrines of our Catholic Faith. What are these major Marian Doctrines?\u00a0 How does their celebration come down to us? As the Catechism of the Catholic Church<\/em> instructs, \u201cWhat the Catholic faith believes about Mary is based on what it believes about Christ, and what it teaches about Mary illumines in turn its faith in Christ\u201d (CCC 487). We see this very clearly through the four main Marian doctrines<\/strong>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Whenever we celebrate one of Our Lady\u2019s Feast Days, I\u2019m always reminded of what a wonderful mother we have: She points us to her Son, the Savior; she cares for us, prays, and helps protect; she provides a constant model and reminder of the fruits of living faithfully according to God\u2019s will. Let\u2019s not forget to thank the Lord for such a wonderful mother! On these days, I\u2019m also reminded to give thanks for my own mom. She (along with dad) has been a great teacher in the Faith, and we could see them striving to live a faithful Christian life at home and out in the world. As a parish priest, I\u2019m also thankful for all the women who faithfully serve our parish family:\u00a0 helping in the Mass, teaching our children, preparing and serving for our parish celebrations, and many other \u201clittle things\u201d that sometimes go unnoticed. In honor of our Lady, let\u2019s stop and give thanks for the women in our lives. From the gift of life to helping us grow, from our own moms, grandmothers, godmothers, friends and other family, to members of our community\u2026God\u2019s blessing upon all \u201cmothers!\u201d Know of my prayers and blessing for everyone this week!<\/p>\n In Christ,\n
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\nFather Luke<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"