Parish Administrator’s Notes

Phil Grant, Pastoral Administrator and Safe Environment Coordinator

May 10, 2026

Stewardship & Formation

What is “The Gospel According to Tom Homan”? 

That was our topic at our most recent Commonweal discussion group meeting. The article we discussed went into detail about “border czar” Tom Homan’s thinking with regard to immigration enforcement. 

As we learned, Tom is a lifelong Catholic. He attended Catholic school through grade eight. He’s written about what he misses in today’s Catholic church. He’s undoubtedly sincere in his beliefs. 

And yet--we wondered about the extent of Tom Homan’s faith formation in our Catholic faith. What did he learn in high school, college, or since? What were his opportunities to continue lifelong formation? 

“Formation” is a very Catholic term, referring to “a lifelong journey of growing deeper in relationship with Christ, integrating faith into all aspects of life, and fostering ongoing conversion.” (University of San Diego website) 

I feel blessed that my lifelong formation journey has involved Catholic grade school, high school, college, seminary, relationships, parish life, and reading books and magazines (such as Commonweal). I recognize that others may not have been so blessed. Many of my elementary and high school friends have drifted away from our faith. I wonder how much of that drift was related to an end to their formation before maturity. Childhood faith formation, while essential, might well be insufficient to respond to adult questions about the world. 

We are fortunate to have a good Faith Formation program for grades 1-8 here at St. Matt’s. We’ve taken steps towards teen programming with our Youth Club; more needs to be done. 

As for adults, I’d like to do more in our community. We do have Zach’s monthly Bible study group and the Commonweal group. We have worship opportunities, with good preaching. We’re close to Assumption church downtown, which has excellent speakers and programs. The University of St. Thomas regularly offers programming. What else might we do? 

In closing--what do you like to do in your lifelong journey of growing deeper in relationship with Christ? How do you integrate your faith into your life? How do you foster ongoing conversion? 

Alleluia! Christ is Risen!

Phil Grant, Administrator
Safe Environment Coordinator
pgrant@st-matts.org
651-224-9793