Happy Feast of the Holy Trinity! Hope does not disappoint
because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts
through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
St. Paul, Romans 5:5
Amen! Let us take the time to sit quietly and open our hearts to the outpouring of the Spirit.
WELCOME ST. MARY’S! I hold hope that you will find a new spirit-filled home here at St. Therese. We look forward to hearing your story and to working together to make our new community bigger and stronger than we were apart.
I also hold hope that we will support the work of the Church in Western Washington by giving to the Annual Catholic Appeal. The Annual Catholic Appeal is the main funding source of the Church of Western Washington, accounting for almost half its revenue. Parishes benefit directly from Archdiocesan services in terms of the management of staff payroll and services and consultation on facilities, personnel matters, religious education, liturgy and loans for facilities. The ACA also helps fund the training of seminarians, the CYO camps and athletics, the marriage tribunal and much more. The largest single use of funds goes to the Catholic Schools Department, which oversees 72 schools serving almost 20,000 students.
As Fr. Woody said last week, paying the Appeal is really not an option. While it’s the right thing to do, the Church in Western Washington needs to be funded. Paying the Appeal is not an option for any parish. If we can’t pay the Appeal by our pledges above our support to the Parish, the Archdiocese will bill us for the shortfall, and we really don’t have the financial flexibility to do that. In addition, any funds that come in after the appeal goal is met come back to the parish and will be used to defray the cost of the new hearing loop system.
For more on Pope Francis’ recently announced re-missioning of the Roman Curia, details can be found here.
Ministry Opportunities Last week Nicole made an appeal for liturgical ministers. This includes choir members (Spirit Choir could really use a few more voices!), lay presiders, greeters, sacristans, ushers, and Eucharistic ministers. Oh, and livestream operators! If you see a ministry you would like to participate in, email Nicole at nicoles@st-therese.cc