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Happy Trinity Sunday! Alleluia! Alleluia! - The Great Commission
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This passage is known as the Great Commission. With our upcoming merger with St. Mary, we have been asked to be more active in evangelizing our enlarged parish. Many of us are a little daunted by this commission. We’re fighting a secular society that sees no need in a god, and we have a male priesthood, which offends some. And then there’s the sex abuse scandal, which offends everyone.
So how are we to swim against this tide? I might suggest we follow Jesus’ commandments, beginning with the Great and Second commandments, the Sermon on the Mount, and his teachings on forgiveness. These remain as relevant to our current society as they were to the first century Roman world.
Chapter 7 of Pope Francis’ Fratelli Tutti is “Paths of Renewed Encounter”. He addresses issues of truth, forgiveness, reconciliation and peace. He quotes bishops conferences from South Africa, South Korea and Congo and addresses made in Jerusalem, Colombia, Latvia and Jordan, but it also seems appropriate to the lingering issue of The Lost Cause in the American South:
Renewed encounter does not mean returning to a time prior to conflicts. All of us change over time. Pain and conflict transform us. We no longer have use for empty diplomacy, dissimulation, doublespeak, hidden agendas and good manners that mask reality. Those who were fierce enemies have to speak from the stark and clear truth. They have to learn how to cultivate a penitential memory, one that can accept the past in order not to cloud the future with their own regrets, problems and plans.
Currently the Annual Catholic Appeal is underway to support the Church in Western Washington. While Catholics tend to be very parochial, thinking their own parish community is the one and only, the bishop and the diocese is the local administrative and teaching authority of the Universal Church.
The Archdiocese of Western Washington has been a leader in developing safe environment and stewardship practices for over thirty years. It manages health insurance, retirement and other benefits for staff and provides payroll services. It oversees the financial practices of parishes and advises on the management of facilities. It advises on religious education curricula and runs one of the largest education systems in the state of Washington. It recruits, educates and manages the retirement funds of priests. It contributes to the retirement and health fund of sisters.
Please give generously to the Annual Catholic Appeal.
Ministry Opportunities
To help in the parish garden in support of St. Mary’s Food Bank, contact Victoria Ries, victoria.ries@comcast.net
To help run our livestream equipment, contact Nicole at nicoles@st-therese.cc
To make and deliver lunches for the Matt Talbot Center, contact Ellie Wakefield at ellieawake@gmail.com
To join the Spirit Choir, contact Diane Figaro at diane.cornell.figaro@gmail.com or (206)271-5717.
Collections July 1 - May 27, 2021 $383,659
Where we need to be: $355,318
Last year at this time $342,923