On Being Stubborn

I’ve heard a lot of “secrets of long marriages” (or committed relationships in general). My own untutored opinion is that it is simply stubbornness, a mutual refusal to quit. In a good relationship that can often mean needing the help of a third party to guide both through the emotional rocks of relationship. Or it may mean that one or both need to seek solutions to their own dysfunctional behaviors with their own counselors. My personal opinion is that marriage is God’s gift to mental health, but it only works if both are stubborn enough to make it work.

Refusals to quit are required of all relationships. Many who have disagreed with the Church about celibate male clergy or teachings on same-sex relationships have quit. It’s a major reason St. Therese no longer has 800 households. Those of us remaining have stubbornly chosen to refuse to quit on the relationship.

Which brings us to Pope Francis’ new reform of the Church’s power structure (America on the Synodal Church). As I understand it, the Pope wants to create a bottom-up process of issue discussion that would inform his decisions but then feed back down and up in a continual flow. The Opening Mass of Pope Francis’ Synodal Process is 5:30pm, Oct. 17 at St. James. Y’all come! (Or you can watch the livestream on Vimeo or Facebook @archdioceseofseattle.).

Thank you to all who helped on our Tiny House Project! The house will be blessed during the St. Therese Feast Day Celebration this Sunday, October 3, 1:00 – 3:00 p.m. and moved to one of the Low Income Housing Institute’s Tiny House Villages soon thereafter. Thanks also to Brian Lenz of Walsh Construction for construction supervision and to many local businesses for supplies.

If you would like to help St. Therese express God’s love, please look at the list of ministries and talents that are on page 7 of the Bulletin. If you have questions, please ask Diane at paa@st-therese.cc or Nicole at nicoles@sttherese.cc. Please let Diane know how you would like to support your parish with your time and talents. Donations to the Tiny House Project and to St. Vincent de Paul can be made from the home page of st-therese.cc.

Ministry Opportunities
Do you have expertise with online marketing?
 The Stewardship Commission is looking to put together a digital outreach team and could need your help! If you can serve, please contact John Russell at jvrussell85@gmail.com.

We also need photographers for parish outreach! If you are good with asking people if you can take their picture, your phone will take care of the rest. Contact Diane at paa@st-therese.cc. 

To help run our livestream equipment, contact Nicole at nicoles@st-therese.cc. The livestream is not a nice to-do. It’s a must-do and Nicole needs your help!

Parish Collections
July 1, 2021 – September 30, 2021.….... $83,413 
The budget….….                                        $89,000
Last year at this time….….                        $86,180