Dear St. Philomena Parish Family,<\/p>\n
Peace and blessings to you this day! As I get ready to begin my third year as pastor here with you, I am filled with joy and gratitude. I do think these past two years have gone by quickly! As a priest, I know that means that time has been full of sacraments and blessings shared together. This weekend we wish Fr. Albert well and offer prayers for him as he moves to St. Mary\u2019s in Bloomington for his next assignment. As I think many know, Fr. Albert isn\u2019t a fan of large gatherings where he is the center of attention\u2014so I told him my gift to him would be that I\u2019m not making him have a farewell reception! I appreciate very much Fr. Albert\u2019s time with us and am thankful for his service. Many have shared with me how they appreciated Fr. Albert\u2019s meaningful homilies and great spiritual advice in the confessional. Thank you all for your generosity in supporting Fr. Albert\u2019s home area for our parish mission this year. Please continue to pray for Fr. Albert during this time of transition and for the good people there in Bloomington where he will be serving.<\/p>\n
As I look back on the past two years, one of my favorite memories was the first wedding I had here for Jake and Mackenzie Payton. It is always awkward to switch over wedding prep couples during priest moves and I was so impressed and edified by how gracious they were when I let them know I would be with them for the rest of their preparations and their wedding. I have enjoyed checking in with them a couple of times over these last two years and continue to pray for them and wish them well.\u00a0 Would you believe, as of today, during 2026 we have 35 couples we have been\/are working with for their marriage preparations! Not all of the weddings are scheduled for here in our parish, but it is so joyful to know that all these couples are preparing for the graces of such a wonderful sacrament. One prep highlight is a couple that our seminarian Jonathan is working on prep with\u2014they are planning to marry a little after Jonathan would be ordained\u2014we are hoping it will work out for him to celebrate with them!<\/p>\n
Continuing our review through the Sacraments, it is fitting we come to the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony. Our Catechism<\/em> teaches, \u201cThe matrimonial covenant, by which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole of life, is by its nature ordered toward the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of offspring; this covenant between baptized persons has been raised by Christ the Lord to the dignity of a sacrament\u201d (CCC<\/em>, 1601). Over the next few weeks, we\u2019ll take a closer look at this great gift where two become one and we are given a reminder of the wonderful bond between Christ and His Church.<\/p>\n As our Catechism<\/em> notes, \u201c\u2026God himself is the author of marriage\u201d and \u201cThe vocation of marriage is written in the very nature of man and woman as they came from the hand of the Creator. Marriage is not a purely human institution\u2026\u201d (CCC<\/em>, 1603). We know from the Scriptures that \u201cGod who created man out of love also calls him to love\u2014the fundamental and innate vocation of every human being. For man is created in the image and likeness of God who is himself love. Since God created him man and woman, their mutual love becomes an image of the absolute and unfailing love with which God loves man. It is good, very good, in the Creator\u2019s eyes\u2026this love which God blesses is intended to be fruitful and to be realized in the common work of watching over creation: \u2018And God blessed them, and God said to them: \u201cBe fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it\u201d.\u2019\u201d (CCC<\/em>, 1604).<\/p>\n Continuing, \u201cHoly Scripture affirms that man and woman were created for one another: \u2018It is not good that the man should be alone\u2019 [Genesis 2:18]. The woman, \u2018flesh of his flesh,\u2019 his equal, his nearest in all things, is given to him by God as a \u2018helpmate;\u2019 she thus represents God from whom comes our help.\u00a0 \u2018Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh\u2019 [Genesis 2:24]. The Lord himself shows that this signifies an unbreakable union of their two lives by recalling what the plan of the Creator had been \u2018in the beginning\u2019: \u2018So they are no longer two, but one flesh\u2019.\u201d [Matthew 19:6] (CCC<\/em>, 1605).<\/p>\n Every now and then, I have the joy of officiating a wedding for a couple with a backstory of ups and downs\u2026eventually finding each other or persevering through to come to recognize how God is blessing them in each other. Sometimes, these couples will choose Genesis 2:18-24 as their first reading of their wedding, including the joyful verse where Adam recognizes the true gift God has given him in Eve:\u00a0 \u201cThis one, at last, is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.\u201d There is often this kind of joyful exhale as everyone takes in how God has blessed the couple on their journey. What a great gift!<\/p>\n All these great passages from the first two chapters of Genesis teach us about who God is, who we are, and how God has asked us to share His love and live it together. They show us that the gift of marriage was present from those earliest days. They show us the love God has for us, created in His image and likeness. Husbands and wives share in God\u2019s love in a special way\u2014a love so powerful that it brings forth fruits in their home and in the world around them. Of course, we know there are many challenges we face in trying to live God\u2019s love\u2026and we know that in our fallen state we often fall short. As we will see next week, God gifts the married couple with a sacrament so that their hearts will be strong enough to live His love faithfully! Know of my prayers and blessing for you all this day!<\/p>\n In Christ,
\nFather Luke<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"