We are all sinners yet no one in heaven is, yet they were on earth.  How does the transformation from sinner on earth to sinless in heaven happen?  How are our sins atoned for after death?  God has a plan for all this – purgatory – a word derived from Latin, meaning purgation, purification, or cleansing.  Purgatory is the process after death, of the saved, by which God’s justice for our sins is satisfied through our remorse (which is very painful), and we are purified by God and prepared to enter the beatific vision of heaven.

A little over a month ago (9/29/24) I wrote a pastor’s column about us calling ourselves “Columbia River Catholic.”  This pastor’s column is a follow up to that one, furthering clarifying who we are, where things stand right now, and where we’re going into the future.

            Because some were confused by my previous pastor’s column on Columbia River Catholic, I need to clarify some things.

Notice how Jesus Christ is a King and not a President?  The Kingdom of Heaven is a monarchy not a democracy.  There’s never been an election in heaven, and never will.  There, God rules as an absolute sovereign, and we’re grateful for that because He’s infinitely good and perfect.  If we had to govern heaven, we’d mess it up and it wouldn’t be heaven anymore. 

In reference to helping his parishioners grow in holiness, a good priest friend of mine says, “I can’t make anyone do anything, all I can do is offer.”  He’s right.  With that said, my priest friend’s statement would be more accurate if it was: “while I can’t make anyone do anything, God has entrusted me with the responsibility to try to help people grow in holiness.”  If you know me at all, then you know this is something I take to heart.

This Wednesday at 6pm at Holy Redeemer, there will be a Mass of the Holy Angels.  The Mass will be celebrated by Fr. Wolfgang, a priest from Opus Angelorum, a missionary order that spreads devotion to the Holy Angels.  There will be an opportunity after that Mass to start a process to consecrate yourself to your guardian angel.  We can all use the protection and help that heaven’s angels want to give us. 

In light of Fr. Wolfgang’s visit, I thought I’d write on the holy angels. 

Instead of dressing up your kids for Halloween as a fake superhero, popular cultural figure, or monster, how about dressing them up as a saint or angel?  Instead of having them trick or treat through demonically themed lawns and front doors, how about having them come to the parish center for Christ-themed fun?  This Halloween let’s protect our children and reclaim this festivity from its current godless and even satanic manifestation and return it to its Catholic origins.

            On Thursday, October 31^st, Holy Redeemer will host our annual “All Hallows Celebration.”

God, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and I love the Rosary and want you to pray it daily.  When the Blessed Virgin Mary visited St. Bernadette at Lourdes, she always prayed the Rosary on her 14 visits.  When the Blessed Virgin Mary visited the children at Fatima, she told them to pray the Rosary daily.  Simply put, heaven wants us to pray the Rosary daily.  If all the Catholics in the world prayed the Rosary daily, Satan’s power would be broken, and the world would be converted to Jesus Christ.  The Rosary is a gift from God, a superpower. 

As most of you know, the Archdiocese of Seattle, to which we belong, has embarked upon the greatest reorganization in our 147-year history.  That reorganization is called Partners in the Gospel, or Partners.  Last July parishes and missions throughout Western Washington were organized into regional clusters under a single pastor, called parish families.  There are sixty of these in the Archdiocese of Seattle and our number is #46.  Our Parish Family includes Holy Redeemer Parish, Vancouver, St. Thomas Aquinas Parish, Camas, and Our Lady Star of the Sea Mission, Stevenson.  Again, many or most of you reading this already know this.  What almost no one knows is that we are called Parish Family #46 or PF 46.  That’s a challenging title to remember and certainly not one that engenders a sense of identity or community.

            Identity and community are important for the Church because they are important to God. 

A possessed woman, snarled at Saint John Vianney and said: “If there were three like you on earth, my kingdom would be destroyed. You have taken more than eighty thousand souls from me.”

This statement by Satan toward St. John Vianney is very interesting, because St. Vianney is the only priest out of thousands whom the Church has formally declared a saint (canonized) who was just a parish priest.  Not a parish priest and a founder of a religious order, or a parish priest who went onto become a bishop, missionary, monk, theologian, etc.  He was a parish priest throughout his priesthood, the only one ever to be declared a saint in 2000 years of Christian history. 

This Sunday we have the honor of hosting a choral ensemble called “Chor Anno.”  This is a choir made up of music professionals that sing uplifting and, at times, Christian songs.  Holy Redeemer Parish hosted them last year and I discovered how impressive they are.  During those 90 minutes I was at times driven to goosebumps. 

The ultimate origin of music is God, so music has supernatural power.  At many points in our lives, we have listened to a favorite song over and over again.  Why?  Because it moved us in some powerful, mysterious way.

If you’ve heard at least a handful of my homilies, then you’ve heard me mention, at least in passing, how harmful screens our to our lives. Barring a chastisement (and one will come), screens of all kinds are here to stay: TVs, computer monitors, iPads, smart phones, and any others I don’t know about or that haven’t been invented yet. Screens can waste away a person’s life...

More than at other time in human history, people are swamped with information.  ...  We must be discerning not only about the information we access, but the degree to which we access it.  This is also true of where we get information about our Catholic faith.

At this point, it should simply be assumed that non-Catholic sources intentionally run misleading stories to undermine the Catholic Church, while championing heretical Catholics and denigrating faithful Catholics. ...Recently, The Seattle Times published a hit piece on the Archdiocese of Seattle’s handling of the sexual abuse claims.

This pastor’s column is an update on where things stand for the three communities that share me as their pastor: Holy Redeemer Parish (HR), St. Thomas Aquinas Parish (STA), and Our Lady Star of the Sea Mission (Star).

            As of July 1^st, we entered phase #1 of the Archdiocesan plan to reorganize.  What that amounts to at this point for us is sharing our priests (pastor and vicar) and staff. I do not know what the future holds.  I was told that the next phase (phase #2) will be shown to the priests and staff in September.  Whatever is in that phase would be worked on over a one-to-three-year period of time.

More than at other time in human history, people are swamped with information.  With the internet being in the palm of everyone’s hand, information is everywhere, some of it true and helpful, some of it misleading and evil.  We must be discerning not only about the information we access, but the degree to which we access it.  This is also true of where we get information about our Catholic faith.

This Thursday, August 15th, we celebrate the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into heaven. It will be a holy day of obligation, so please treat Mass attendance with the same determination as you would Mass on Sunday. Masses at Holy Redeemer will be at 8:30am, 11:00am, 7:00pm. Masses at St. Thomas will be at 8:30am and 7:00pm. Mass at Star of the Sea will be at 4:30pm.

What you ask, is the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary?

“But whoever denies me before others, I will deny before my heavenly Father.” Jesus ~ Mt. 10:33.

I read an article over a year ago about the great loss of faith amongst Americans, and the rest of the world for that matter. I’ve attached the article below. How do we deal with this? The answer to that is the same in every age but especially in this one: sanctity. If you and I want to help people who have stopped believing what the Catholic Church has always taught, or more honestly, people who simply don’t care enough to live it, then the best we can do for them is to be a saint.

We know how to add, subtract, multiply, and divide; we know how to drive a car with all its myriad rules; we know about photosynthesis; we know what it takes to do our taxes annually; but when it comes to knowledge of our faith, we can be woefully uninformed. I thought I’d write this column on the basics every Catholic should know, or at least what can fit on one sheet of paper. You might want to save this and magnetize it to your refrigerator and share it with your family.

The Washington State Primary Election is August 6th and mail in voting opened on July 19th. As Catholic citizens we have the privilege and obligation to “see that the divine law is inscribed in the life of the earthy city...” (Second Vatican Council, Gaudium et Spes, no. 43).

As in years past, the United States Conferences of Catholic Bishops have written a voting guide on “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship.” It may be of help in informing your conscience and guiding your decision making. It is worth a read if only once in your lifetime.

Parish Family #46: Holy Redeemer, St. Thomas Aquinas, Our Lady Star of the Sea

As almost all readers of this pastor’s column know, the Archdiocese of Seattle, to which all of the Catholic Church in Western Washington belongs, is undergoing the greatest restructuring in its history…As a result of this restructuring, called Partners in the Gospel, on July 1st I became the pastor of Holy Redeemer Parish in Vancouver, St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in Camas, and Our Lady Star of the Sea Mission in Stevenson. Over time, these three communities are expected to become one.

Human nature being what it is, we take what we have or know for granted, as if what one person experiences is normative for everyone else. It frequently isn’t. …We especially notice what we had when we lose it – “you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone.” It is important to acknowledge what is good, appreciate it, and give thanks to God for it. Holy Redeemer Parish is truly a parish to appreciate and give thanks to God for.