Six reasons to support the Annual Catholic Appeal

Happy Fifth Sunday of Easter!

Last week we all received a mailing from the Archdiocese about the Annual Catholic Appeal. This Bulletin contains a lot of helpful information on the Appeal. To be sure, many in our congregation are not happy with how the Archdiocese has chosen to handle the priest shortage, to say nothing of the parishioner shortage. Nonetheless, here are six reasons to support the appeal:

   Outreach ministries to the sick, prisoners, seafarers, immigrants and refugees, and others,
   The Catholic Youth Organization summer camps and sports leagues,
   Catholic Schools,
   Supporting retired diocesan priests,
   Training seminarians,
   The administration of parish staff benefits, payroll and facilities.

In addition, updating the kitchen has gained new life! A team including Jim and Lucita Valiere, John Steedman, Melinda Sechrist, Deborah Tinsley, Sachia Tinsley, Chuck Ralston, Principal Nelson and others is helping Diane bring this to fruition. Once received donations exceed our goal, further donations will be designated by Father Woody to go to the kitchen update and other projects serving the community of St. Therese.

More from the Catholic Earth Day Summit at Seattle U
The keynote speakers were Amy Gulik and David Montgomery. Amy spent a year living with families who made their living fishing for salmon in Bristol Bay, which culminated in The Salmon Way, An Alaskan State of Mind. She also wrote Salmon in the Trees about the effect of salmon on the surrounding forests. She celebrated the EPA’s refusal to approve the Pebble Mine project, which would have dumped mine tailings into the watershed of Bristol Bay.

David Montgomery is a geo-morphologist (they figure out why landscapes look the way they do). He made his academic reputation by proving that there are so many species of salmon in the Pacific Northwest because the various mountain uplifts isolate salmon populations, allowing six species to develop. He is the author of King of Fish, the Thousand-Year Run of Salmon. He urged attendees to support the proposal by Republican Rep. Mike Simpson of Idaho to breach the Snake River dams, which is facing stiff opposition in Congress. For a little more on this issue, click here.

Click on this link to open “The Letter”, a feature-length film on Laudato Si’.

Your community needs you for Ministry! The Noon Mass in particular needs liturgical ministers: lectors, Eucharistic ministers, and ushers. These are the low-hanging fruit of ministry; since you’re going to be at Mass anyway, you might as well help out! Contact Nicole at nicoles@st-therese.cc if you’re interested.