Last Saturday, May 21st, for only the second time in our 22 year history, we had the rare opportunity to host the ordination to the transitional diaconate, of Holy Redeemer seminarian, John Paul Tomassi.  It was a beautiful ordination Mass and all who attended were gratified in their faith.  Deacon John Paul will be in Longview this summer before heading back to Mundelein seminary (outside of Chicago) for his final year.  God willing, he’ll be ordained in June 2023 to the Priesthood.

This Sunday we do something we’ve never done before, introduce a permanent deacon to the ministry of Holy Redeemer Parish. 

In our vocations starved generation of the Church, it is rare for a parish to produce priestly or religious vocations. Holy Redeemer Parish is a rare exception to that rule. Having only been a parish for twenty-two years, we have had one of our own ordained to the priesthood in 2014 (Fr. Brian Thompson), while another six are currently in formation for the priesthood or religious life. One of them, John Paul Tomassi, left for the seminary almost nine years ago. He took a major step toward the priesthood when he was ordained to the transitional diaconate by Archbishop Etienne on Saturday, May 21st. God willing, John Paul will be ordained to the priesthood at the cathedral in Seattle, in June 2023. Please pray for John Paul, Elizabeth Tadlock, Evan MacKenzie, Grace Hincapie, Kaitlyn Goertzen, Andrew Brands and by God’s grace, many more vocations from our parish in the future

Over the past couple of weeks, you have gotten a letter from Archbishop Etienne and myself introducing us to this year’s Annual Catholic Appeal (ACA). Each year at this time we pause and consider all the good that is accomplished because of your support of the ACA: the homeless are sheltered, retired priests and nuns are cared for, our seminarians are prepared to serve us as our future priests, and so much more. If you haven’t already done so, I pray you will join me in supporting the Catholic Church in Western Washington by giving to the 2022 Annual Catholic Appeal. The support of every parish is critical to the success of the Archdiocese and its many ministries.

Over the past couple of weeks, you have gotten a letter from Archbishop Etienne and myself introducing us to this year’s Annual Catholic Appeal (ACA). Each year at this time we pause and consider all the good that is accomplished because of your support of the ACA: the homeless are sheltered, retired priests and nuns are cared for, our seminarians are prepared to serve us as our future priests, and so much more. If you haven’t already done so, I pray you will join me in supporting the Catholic Church in Western Washington by giving to the 2022 Annual Catholic Appeal. The support of every parish is critical to the success of the Archdiocese and its many ministries.

This pastor’s column is a follow up on the one I ran last week about a change in the weekday Mass time. Currently weekday Masses start at 7am. To find out why its’ being moved at all, please read or re-read my pastor’s column from last week, found on our website here.

As of this Monday, May 2nd, the weekday Masses will start at 8:30am (rosary at 8:10am) – this means that we will have Mass at 8:30am every day of the week! Easy enough to remember. I chose 8:30am over 8am because it is just as popular as 8am, and works a little better with parish calendaring and events than 8am. Here’s the breakdown.

A couple of months ago, the US Senate voted 100-0 to leave standard time behind and make day light saving time permanent.  When was the last time the Senate voted unanimously on anything?  Simply put, we American’s are sick of changing our clocks twice a year.  While I would have preferred the Senate to make standard time permanent, most Americans obviously prefer day light saving time, taking an hour of light from the morning and placing it in the evening.  This got me thinking about our 7am weekday Mass time. 

The greatest thing that has ever happened was when God died for our sins. No greater act has ever happened, not the creation of heaven, the universe, the earth, man, or the future new heavens and new earth. Creation is something God can do with a mere thought, with no suffering, while adding to His Glory. Being crucified for the sins of others is something that God had to physically act out, with much apparent humiliation, and with great suffering. All of those things are beneath God’s dignity, yet He endured His Passion and Death to demonstrate His infinite love, which is the greatest feature of God’s Glory. The greatest manifestation of God’s Glory is not revealed in His power, which is infinite, but in His infinite Love.

The Bible doesn’t tell us what Jesus looked like, how do we know? Answer: The Shroud of Turin.

Today is Passion or Palm Sunday, where at Mass we solemnly read through Our Lord’s Passion and death. Yet the Scriptures aren’t the only place that testify to what happened to Our Lord Jesus Christ at His death. There is one relic par excellent that irrefutably testifies to the truth of the Scriptures. That relic is the Shroud of Turin – the burial cloth of Jesus Christ.

As part of 1st Century Jewish burial custom, people were wrapped in a burial cloth. “They took the body of Jesus and bound it with burial cloths along with the spices, according to Jewish burial custom.” (Jn 19:40) and “They both ran, but the other disciple [John] ran faster than Peter and arrived at the tomb first; he bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in” (Jn 20:4). Because of what they discovered on it, the burial cloth that was wrapped around Our Lord’s body, was preserved by his disciples after the Resurrection and became a closely guarded relic.

We will all die. As obvious as that statement is, many people are dumbfounded when it comes to the end of their own life or that of a loved one. People avoid thinking of death because we don’t like to think about unpleasant things, understandable enough. Yet our generation ignores death more than any generation that has ever lived.

Over the past 50 years advances in medicine have been amazing in the areas of medication, technology, and knowledge of the body. These advances have significantly improved and prolonged life, contributing to a false sense of physical immortality; and a subconscious belief that we’ve beat death! We haven’t.

Another reason why this generation thinks less of death, and is less prepared for it, is because of our focus on what the Church calls materialism. Materialism is man’s obsessive focus on empirical things to the exclusion of the spiritual or moral. God after all, is the most important “thing” to focus on; not our bodies, money, careers, home(s), cars, clothes, entertainment, etc.

We all want the war in Ukraine to end but what can we do? Prayer of course, Jesus says it can move mountains (Mt 21:22 & Mk 11:24). This past Friday, Pope Francis and a great number of the world’s bishops and pastors (including yours truly and hundreds of our faith filled parishioners) consecrated Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

In the apparition of July 13, 1917, in Fatima Portugal, Our Lady had asked for the consecration of Russia to Her Immaculate Heart, stating that if this request were not granted, Russia would spread “its errors throughout the world, promoting wars and persecution of the Church. The good will be martyred; the Holy Father will have much to suffer, various nations will be destroyed.”

There is something special here at Holy Redeemer, and its’ not just a feeling. It can be seen in the number of people who have returned to Mass, and the number of people who never left (for covid), or in the number of kids we have at the 11am Mass, or in the 50 altar boys that we have, or the hundreds of people who join small faith sharing groups or go on retreat with us, or the 100–200 people who show up for weekday Masses at 7am, or the number of people who stand in line for Confession every week, or the percentage of parishioners who have made a commitment to be a steward of the Church here, or the number of people who pray the rosary before Mass, or the incredible fundraising we’ve done from the start to build this campus and pay it off – the list goes on and on. Holy Redeemer is a lighthouse among parishes, beckoning others to our safe shores for truth, communion, and grace. It is also a catalyst for the ultimate act of trust in God – religious vocations.

“Ding dong, the witch is dead. The wicked witch is dead . . .” Those are the words from a song from the Wizard of Oz, and that’s how I feel about the end of the covid pandemic. It has been a long two years since we closed everything down and went through three waves of the virus. At last, the masks have come off, the signs have come down, and we can return to being human – phew! I feel as if some great moment has come for the world, as if a world war has ended, and we need a ticker tape parade and public events to mark the occasion – but we aren’t – how awful. This is a moment to mourn the dead and grieve what has been lost; to celebrate the end of a tyranny that has ruled the world for two years, and the return of humanity.

Lent is a special penitential season when Catholic Christians try to become better Catholic Christians. Specifically, we try to make some sort of sacrifice for God’s glory, our salvation, and to atone for our sins and the sins of the whole world. Some people do big things and some people just one small thing, but we should all do something for the One who did everything for us.

Although Lent began last Wednesday, it's still not too late to make a resolution, there are six weeks left. Great things, even little things, don’t happen without a commitment and a plan: marriage, parenting, career, good health, etc., all take great commitments and a plan. So does our faith. Martyrs have died for the Lord, and saints have given their whole lives for Him. This Lent please join me in making a commitment, with God’s grace, to make a plan to better yourself in Christ.

Lent is a special penitential season when Catholic Christians try to become better Catholic Christians. Specifically, we try to make some sort of sacrifice for God’s glory, our salvation, and to atone for our sins and the sins of the whole world. Some people do big things and some people just one small thing, but we should all do something for the One who did everything for us.

Now is the time to start making a Lenten resolution, it will begin this Wednesday. Great things, even little things, don’t happen without a commitment and a plan: marriage, parenting, career, good health, etc., all take great commitments and a plan. So does our faith. Martyrs have died for the Lord, and saints have given their whole lives for Him. This Lent please join me in making a commitment, with God’s grace, to make a plan to better yourself in Christ.

I’ve mentioned recently in a homily or two that I have been having moments of anger. They usually pass within seconds but they seem to occur nearly every day. The almost daily part is new for me. Where is this coming from? The world. I’ve been spending too much time on the internet and not enough time applying myself to constructive things like my ministry and spiritual reading. When these feelings of anger come over me, they are always for some perceived injustice in the country, world, or the Church’s hierarchy (not you). What gets me is the momentary hatred I feel, as if for a couple of seconds a demon enters me. Its’ not me, and it hurts and frightens me. The answer? Love the very people that in my moment of anger I’m hating.

In our Gospel today Jesus tells us to love our enemies. This seems unjust, until we remember that in our sins, we are God’s enemies and he loves us just the same. Jesus would go so far as to suffer crucifixion for our sins; loving His enemies enough to die a horrible death for them. Okay, but Jesus is God and I’m not. In my humanity, how am I supposed to love my enemies?

There is a good degree of ignorance regarding the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick, and I hope to remedy some of that here so that we’ll all be better informed and better able to effectively use the sacrament.

First, what is a sacrament? “A sacrament is an efficacious sign of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us through the work of the Holy Spirit. The sacraments are seven in number: Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Penance (Confession or Reconciliation), Anointing of the Sick (Extreme Unction), Holy Orders, and Matrimony” (Glossary of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC)).

What is the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick? “Also known as the sacrament of the dying, administered by a priest to a baptized person [Catholic] who begins to be in danger of death because of illness, injury, or old age, through prayer and the anointing of the body with the oil of the sick. The proper effects of the sacrament include a special grace of healing and comfort to the Christian who is suffering the infirmities of serious illness or old age, and the forgiving of the person’s sins [through Confession]” (Glossary CCC).

In the Gospel this Sunday, the apostles catch a great number of fish because of Jesus’ intervention. They are excited to catch so many fish yet the fish are simply an analogy of the great productivity that comes from serving God. Jesus says they will become fishers of men. The bountiful catch is symbolic of the number of future disciples they will be gaining for the Kingdom of God. This future catch is dependent on one thing – their holiness.

As Christians we have inherited a universal call to holiness or sanctity; that is to say, God desires and equips us to be saints, but most Christians don’t try. Failure to pursue sanctity saddens Our Lord and eventually us; for one day we will stand before Our Lord at our final judgement and see all too clearly at that time what our failure to try has cost us – and others.

Regardless of our state in life, we can become saints: priests, consecrated religious, married, single, employed, unemployed, laborers, homemakers, students, soldiers, prisoners, etc. It doesn’t matter what we are doing or our situation in life, God is equipping us to be saints and through us, to lead others to Jesus Christ, His Church, salvation, and holiness.

Last Sunday I wrote about the anxiety that our world is causing us at this time, and the antidote to it, sanctity. Today I want to continue in that vein by drawing our attention to the work of demons in our lives.

When we find ourselves anxious or upset we cast about looking for the cause. We look at others for the source of our suffering, and we look within ourselves to see if we’re the cause. What almost no one does is look for the presence and work of demons. When we are tempted to anger, distress, depression, cowardice, lust, greed, envy, gluttony, laziness, vanity – do we ever stop to think how the fallen angel assigned to us at birth, is influencing that feeling in that moment? Because they do. At birth we are all assigned an angel from God to assist us on our journey through this life to heaven, our guardian angel. So too at birth does hell assign to us a fallen angel to tempt us into sin throughout our lives, and ultimately lead us to hell. When we find ourselves in a moment of temptation it is important for us to recognize the presence of the Evil One and call out for help from heaven, then turn our minds from the temptation. Of course it helps not to put ourselves in the near occasion of temptation e.g., screens (TV, smart phone, internet), sugar, alcohol, the news, etc.

I love that little introductory line just above this one, it comes from Hebrews 13:8 where St. Paul is relating that through all the trials and changes of life one thing remains constant – Jesus Christ and the eternal Truth. What it says to me is this: I am God, fear no man, be faithful to Me, I am God.

Our world seems awash in bad news, more so than say five years ago e.g., covid, crime, government spending, inflation, supply chain problems, congressional deadlock, civil discord, loss of faith in democracy, Russia, China, and the list goes on and on. What makes our round of problems even more anxiety inducing is a pervading sense that things aren’t going to get better, but worse. As if things are on the brink of some kind of societal breakdown. So people are living now with a heightened sense of anxiety and dread compared to only a few years ago. What can be done about it?

As you can see from the title, I’m addressing a very serious and sensitive evil that is plaguing the world. In my seventeen years as a priest I have heard thousands of Sacramental Confessions; a large percentage of those involve at least the occasional viewing of pornography. Viewing pornography is every bit as addictive as alcohol or a street drug, and most people who view pornography truly wish that they didn’t but the temptation in the “moment” is often times too much to resist. Pornography was big business in the age of magazines but now it’s amazingly huge in the age of the internet, as the internet is everywhere: your home, businesses, hotels, schools, libraries, and of course hand held devices with internet access. Added to that accessibility is the producer of pornography who is aggressively trying to put his filth in front of you.