Pastor's Corner

This weekend we celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit and the ways in which the Spirit inspires, guides, and strengthens us to live as Christian disciples. Especially in the later weeks of Easter Time, we have anticipated the advent of the Holy Spirit in the lives of the disciples and in the Church. Now we hear the account of the first Pentecost, when, through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, the Good News of Christ was shared with people from throughout the whole world. Those who heard the disciples  speaking were amazed and astonished at the power of God. May that same Spirit “melt the frozen, warm the chill” (Pentecost sequence) of the COVID period we have been through so that we may give others hope of a grand future with our God.

As we celebrate the feast of the Ascension of the Lord this weekend we are reminded that Jesus is counting on us to continue his work today. Before he ascended in glory to the Father, Jesus said to his disciples: “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature.” The latter part of our parish mission statement proclaims: “and the diversity of our gifts is used to answer Christ’s call to proclaim and live the gospel.” Our three priorities for the last few years echoes this: “Gather in God’s name, Grow in God’s time, Go in God’s Spirit.” In other words, Jesus did not have a plan B. It all depended and depends on his disciples and us to build up his kingdom in our world today. With his help may we do it.

Thanks to all of you who have contributed toward the Annual Catholic Appeal which assists sixty some ministries in the Archdiocese of Seattle.  Our goal this year is $113,508 and we have gotten off to a good start in achieving our goal.  Everything over and above our goal goes to beautifying our restrooms in the church and the education center.

Happy Mother’s Day to all our women who are sharing in this most important ministry of parenting.  Your quiet (and not so quiet) resolve during this difficult COVID season has helped steer your family through its travails.  Thank you for all you do for your families and our parish family.  May the Lord bless you in every way.

 

We will be welcoming Fr. Bill McKee as our new pastor on July 1^st.  He is currently the pastor of St. Vincent de Paul parish in Federal Way.  He grew up in Longview, WA and was eight years behind me in the seminary.  Right now he is on sabbatical in Tucson, AZ and will be returning to the Northwest at the end of May.  He is immersing himself in Spanish and also the Strengthfinders program.  He is a quiet man, whose number one strength is Deliberative.  He likes to think things through.  He is attracted to our parish because of our emphasis on social outreach and advocacy.  He lives in Federal Way and will commute here for the time being.  I can’t think of a better pastor for our parish than Fr. Bill.  Please pray for him.

This weekend we celebrate Good Shepherd Sunday.  John uses the image of the Good Shepherd to explain what it means to be a faith community.  It is about our shared trust in Christ who put his life on the line to take care of his flock and keep them secure.  It is about a flock that can be opening and welcoming to others without fear for its safety, because the one who laid down his life for them has taken it up again as the Father commanded.

It is only fitting that on this weekend at all the masses I will be announcing the name of our new shepherd as pastor.  In my retirement beginning July 1^st, I hope to continue to be a presence to this community which I love so dearly

Normally at this time I would be presenting my spring reading list but I’m still plugging along with the winter literature.  Much of my selections come from four reference books.  I really enjoy the suggestions from Seattle librarian Nancy Perl’s Book Lust series.  I’m currently in her second book More Book Lust, focusing on Science 101.  I will choose one book she recommends from that sections as I’ve done for all her sections.  I also like 1000 Books to Read Before You Die by James Mustich.  I’ve read 279.  And going alphabetically by author I’m up to Voices from Chernobyl by Svetland Alexievich.  The third book is Great Books of the Century which are New York Times Book Reviews of the 20^th century.  I’m up to A Passage to India by E. M. Forster written about a hundred years ago.  Finally there is The Top Ten edited by J. Peder Zane.  He asked 25 leading British and American writers to “provide a list, ranked in order of what you consider the ten greatest works of fiction of all time- novels, short stories collections, plays, or poems”.  He received 544 separate titles.  He gave ten points to each writer’s number one selection and one point to their tenth.  From this he came up with the top ten list.  Anna Karenina, Madame Bovary, and War and Peace were the top three.  I’ve read 166 of the list.  I’m up to Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens which is number 68.  If you have any references you draw from let me know.  Happy spring reading!