Prayer During Time of Transition

Loving God,

Your wisdom is beyond our understanding, and your goodness to us is more than we can imagine.

Surround and fill us with the light of your truth and love during our time of transition.

Let us view this moment of change and renewal
as an invitation to build upon the foundation that your creative power has begun in us.

As we offer our thanks for all we have experienced together as a parish community,
help us to look forward with trust to the future you have planned for us.

Empower us to be your Church at all times:
a people united in faith, where all are welcomed and connected by your love.

Give us the courage to carry the torch forward,
being open to new possibilities and embracing the new life to come.

As our Good Shepherd, guide us through this transition to become more fully the community of disciples you call us to be.

Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

Priest: St. John the Baptist  All: Pray for us!

Recently, a number of Catholic churches and institutions in western Washington have started working together as the Creation Care Network.

The Creation Care Network is at a point where they want to appeal for Archbishop Etienne to prioritize Care for Creation. They have composed a letter to him and are now inviting all Catholics in the Archdiocese to join by signing the letter.

To mark Earth Day this year (April 22, 2021), the Creation Care Network of Catholic parishes and institutions welcomes you to join in asking Archbishop Etienne to rise to the challenge of the climate crisis.

Please read the Creation Care Network’s letter to Archbishop Etienne and indicate your support for these proposals for personal and community-based actions to care for our common home.

To read the letter and sign on to support it, go to: https://forms.gle/EPtuTJrTJewKfViEA.

All signatures are due by April 19, 2021.

As a show of support and solidarity for the Asian American and Pacific Islander community, our Holy Thursday collection will be going to Asian Counseling and Referral Services (ACRS). ACRS promotes social justice and the well-being and empowerment of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and other underserved communities – including immigrants, refugees, and American-born – by developing, providing and advocating for innovative, effective and efficient community-based multilingual and multicultural services. These include Aging Services for Older Adults, Behavioral Health & Wellness, Child & Youth Development, Employment & Training Services, Citizenship & Immigration Assistance, and Recovery Services. You can learn more about this organization by visiting ACRS.org.

From the Franciscan website: "Every year on Good Friday, a collection is taken up in Catholic Churches to support the work of the Franciscans working in the Holy Land. Christians there rely heavily on the help that comes to them from this worldwide collection.

The Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land in America is part of a world-wide network of Commissariats of the Holy Land which function as bridges between the Holy Land and Christians all over the world. The Franciscan Monastery in Washington, D.C., coordinates this vital support for the work of the Franciscans who work in the Holy Land.

The Franciscans of the Custody of the Holy Land have the unique responsibility to care for the Holy Places as well for the “Living Stones,” the Christians living there. It is vital that we support Christians living in the Holy Land, in order to maintain a Christian presence in the very land made holy by the life, death and Resurrection of Jesus."