A Note From Our Pastor: July 19, 2026

It was back on January 11th, in my Pastor’s Note, that I proposed that there are five things a parish and its people should put their energies into doing well: 1) cultivating a prayerful environment and helping parishioners to grow in their life of prayer; 2) fostering community among parish members; 3) teaching the faith; 4) evangelization of the faith beyond our parish and parishioners; and 5) caring for and supporting those in need.

In that communication, I announced that at St. Philomena we would begin a monthly Works of Mercy collection, for the purpose of supporting five local organizations, we intended to partner with. As I recently mentioned at St. Philomena Masses, there’s been an amazing response of generosity from you all. Thank you.

Since having begun this monthly collection at St. Philomena, parishioners from St. Thomas have expressed a desire to do this as well. I’ve been part of great discussions, in moving toward this.

Here’s what I intend for us to do. Rather than having separate Works of Mercy programs at St. Thomas and St. Philomena (rather than having five local organizations to partner with St. Thomas, and five other organization that partner with St. Philomena), I intend for St. Philomena and St. Thomas to combine in this effort. This will involve re-establishing what will be our shared partnering local organizations.

We will include the following:

1. St. Vincent de Paul - we already have a St. Vincent de Paul Society at St. Thomas;

2. Des Moines Food Bank - we partner with them in our ‘Loaves & Fishes Meal’ on 4th Friday evenings;

3. Thea Bowman Apartments (in Kent) – named after a heroic nun, and part of Catholic Housing Services, providing housing for veterans, the homeless, and those who suffer with chronic mental illness or substance abuse issues;

4. Respect Life Initiatives - in addition to supporting efforts for advocacy and creating awareness on issues of human life, this may come to include Des Moines Pregnancy Aid, as well as Prepares (associated with Catholic Community Services), which supports families before their child’s birth and beyond.

I’m open to discerning adding a fourth organization, if it is a good fit, faith-wise, location, etc. We could also eventually establish a relationship with a parish in an impoverished part of the world.

In conjunction with this collection, I would like to create a Works of Mercy Committee (representing both parishes) to serve with me as a consultative body. This group would meet quarterly, and part of their function would be to help us to periodically evaluate which organizations we work with, but also to help us get more connected and involved with these organizations. Please let me know if you are interested in being part of this committee.

Yours in Christ,

Father Todd O. Strange