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.

Last month, at the graduation ceremony for Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, a 28-year-old man gave the commencement speech, and it was the best commencement speech of all time. Harrison Butker is the Kicker for the Kansas City Chiefs NFL football team. … What Harrison did was call his fellow Catholics to faith in Jesus Christ and His Catholic Church, not shying away from truths that our world has rejected to its detriment. Harrison modeled courage.

Recently I came across the article on the other side of this page about decluttering. I thought it was good enough, and simple enough, to make a pastor’s column about it. More specifically about the importance of order…We see order in all of God’s work, the macro to the micro. From the universe and its billion plus galaxies, to the billion stars within each of those galaxies (average), to all the planets circling those stars (solar systems), to the moons attached to those planets, to all the creatures on earth (too numerous to count), to the order within our bodies, organs, billion cells within each human being, the immense order of our DNA, to the order of our relationships. Order is essential for families, government, workplaces, and the Church.

Our readings this Sunday feature two of hell’s most powerful demons, Satan and Beelzebul. So, I thought I’d use this column to bring up one way the fallen angels gain access to us, a way most of you are not aware of.

Jesus Christ left us an inestimable gift before he parted from this world, that gift is His Very Self in the form of the Eucharist. As most of us know, the bread and wine consecrated at Mass becomes the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ (who is God). This isn’t just what Catholics believe, as if others who believe differently might be right too, nor is this true because we want it to be; the bread and wine consecrated at Mass truly become the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ whether we accept this fact or not.

All Glory be to the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Today we celebrate or acknowledge, the One Triune God. A communion of Divine Persons: Father, Son, and Spirit. God exits in a family, and He created us to exist in them too. We need to honor that.

May the Holy Spirit be worshiped and praised ~

While Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity takes center stage every Sunday, on this one Sunday, Pentecost, we specifically honor the Holy Spirit. Today I recycle a pastor’s column from five years ago about the fruits and gifts of the Holy Spirit.

This Sunday we celebrate the Ascension of Our Lord Jesus Christ into heaven. I found this good summary of the Ascension, abridged for space, written by Fr. Rick Poblocki at www.thestationofthecross.com/catholic-qa-the-ascension-of-the-lord/. I hope you enjoy it.

Within the past couple of weeks, you received a letter from Archbishop Etienne and me introducing you 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 as our future priests, and so much more.

What is the last thing a priest does at the end of Mass? He gives a blessing and a farewell: “May Almighty God bless you, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Mass is ended, go in peace.” That should sound really familiar because the presiding priest does that at the end of every Mass. So why do people come forward during the Communion rite to receive a blessing when they are going to receive one at the end of Mass? Great question.

Once in a while someone will ask me why we don’t give out “the wine” at Mass. By the wine they mean the Precious Blood of Jesus. I’ll try here to answer that question but first a few basics.

At every Mass we enter into the one, never ending sacrifice of Jesus Christ on Calvary. A sacrifice He made for the Glory of God and the redemption of the human race. By redemption I mean that Our Lord’s passion, death, and Resurrection made salvation possible, but not guaranteed. The sacrifice that Jesus made for us made these things possible because Jesus is God, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity. Since God is eternal, Jesus’ sacrifice is not bound by the laws of time and space that govern us. Hence, at every Mass we enter into that one sacrifice, made once for all, that began at the Last Supper on Holy Thursday and ended on Good Friday with the death of Jesus on Calvary.

Throughout Western Washington this weekend, parishes and missions will be finding out who their priests will be on July 1st. That’s when all 163 parishes and missions of the Archdiocese of Seattle will fall under 60 pastors. This is part of the restructuring of the Archdiocese of Seattle called Partners in the Gospel, something the Archdiocese and I have been sharing copious amounts of information about with you for over a year now. On July 1st, Holy Redeemer Parish, St. Thomas Parish in Camas, and Our Lady, Star of Sea Mission in Stevenson, will all share one pastor – me.

Because of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, the human race has hope for the future, and redemption in the sufferings of the present. If we didn’t know anything about the hope of heaven, and a life of perfect everlasting happiness within it, we’d despair of the present. With the suffering, death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ (the Paschal Mystery), heaven has been opened to those who will be His faithful disciples. That means for a Catholic Christian, life doesn’t have to be lived in vain, but with incredible purpose, and with an interior peace that comes with accompanying Christ—a peace the world cannot give.

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.

God has blessed Holy Redeemer with (now) nine religious vocations in the past 15 years, six in the last four years! One of them, Townsen Poissant, is set to leave for Mt. Angel Abbey this Monday (you’ll hear from him below). We are hopeful that many more will follow him in the religious life.

Please pray daily for those from Holy Redeemer who have not yet reached final vows or ordination: Sr. Catherine, Sr. Katlyn, Evan, Br. Gabriel, Sr. Maris, and now Br. Townsen. Almost all those in religious formation will undergo a vocational crisis or more while in formation; almost all have undergone a vocational crisis before they even entered formation. Saying yes to God in this way is the bravest thing a human being can do because it is so un-natural.