Dear Parish Family of St. Luke the Evangelist,

Our Lord was born into a human family, and there he received his formation in the virtues.  Thinking about this reality can fill us with many good resolutions.  Your home is a domestic church, and each of us is called to become saints. Your responsibility as parents is to see that you as well as your children are formed in the virtues and teachings of the Catholic Church. The clergy and lay instructors never replace your role, nor relieve you of this high calling you have received. Parents must oversee the entire family’s spiritual growth in the area of faith and morals.

Frequent reception of the sacraments at Sunday Mass (and daily Mass where possible) and frequent confession are cornerstones of a healthy spiritual life. Along with daily prayer and reading Sacred Scripture, they keep our interior life going. These practices show with our actions where our hearts lie – in the passing things of this world, or in the God who loves us, who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Pope St. John Paul II remarked that an image that stood out in his youth was getting up in the middle of the night and seeing his father on his knees praying (his mother had died years before).  The saint said that experience of his youth was his first seminary.  Once again, my dear parents, God’s plan is that you take care very well of the faith of your family.  The one thing necessary is making disciples of Christ.  Let’s give our next generation of Catholics the tools necessary to love, know and defend their faith and become saints.

Sincerely,

Fr. Matt