Dear Friends in Christ, The week of June 18-22. I will be at Ocean Shores for the annual “Priest Days” convocation. This is the yearly opportunity for the priests of the archdiocese to gather together, for prayer, fellowship, and reflection on topics meant to help strengthen our service to the people of our local church. One of those topics is the Partners in the Gospel Strategic Planning Process that has begun this year. Continue reading...

Dear Friends in Christ, Graduation season is upon us and this weekend we will offer a blessing to all those graduating from 8th grade, high school, or college and beyond. It’s also a time to celebrate anniversaries for previous graduations in our life journey. I recently gathered with some classmates to celebrate the 50th anniversary of our graduation from St. Edward Minor Seminary in Kenmore. The celebration was at our old school which closed years ago but is now “The Lodge at St. Edward” a boutique hotel with a lovely lounge and restaurant open to the public. It’s located at St. Edward State Park, a wonderful place to take the family for hikes and recreation. It was my home for 8 years a long time ago.

Dear Friends in Christ, The church returns to “Ordinary Time” with two solemnities that can only be described as “Extraordinary.” This week we celebrate Trinity Sunday, our central belief in the one God who reveals the divine life in three persons. We enter the life of this divine community of love when we are baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. We invoke the trinity every time we make the sign of the cross, a sacramental moment whenever we do it, like at the beginning and end of every Mass.

Dear Friends in Christ, I hope you’ve noticed that we have celebrated quite a few baptisms in recent months here at St. Bridget’s. The children baptized range in age from infants to toddlers, to those 7 years or older. For this last group, it is now the policy in our archdiocese to offer them all the sacraments of initiation at once; baptism, confirmation, and first Eucharist. These sacraments remind us that the gifts of the Holy Spirit are given to us at baptism, strengthened in confirmation, and nourished by our sharing of the body and blood of Christ in the Eucharist.

Dear Friends in Christ, This weekend we celebrate the beautiful feast of the Ascension of the Lord, where Jesus gives us the great commission to “Make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Teach them all I have commanded you and remember I am with you always, to the end of the ages.” (Mt. 28:16-20).  Continue reading...

Dear Friends in Christ, We are blessed to live in a beautiful part of Seattle. The only thing not beautiful about it is the traffic. The “Montlake Mess” increasingly is a challenge as the bridge is raised more often for the growing number of boats that pass through in spring and summer. To make matters more difficult, I-5 North will close before the Montlake 520 exit on May 19-21 to do some work on the new connector lanes to the interstate. All this will require us to find new ways to navigate our travels. Continue reading...

Dear Friends in Christ, There is a chant that rings out in many churches that goes like this: God is good….all the time. All the time…. God is good! That acclamation rings true here at St. Bridget’s for the following blessings. continue reading...

Dear Friends in the Risen Lord, One of the things we celebrate in the Easter Season is the birth of the church, the body of Christ. The Risen Jesus did not appear in private revelations but to a community of his disciples. His words to them were “Peace be with you” followed by the commission to “Preach the gospel to all the nations and know that I am with you always!” Here at St. Bridget’s, the mission of the church is to proclaim Christ belongs to all the baptized. As your pastor, I have a responsibility to gather our community to hear God’s word and celebrate the sacraments, especially the Eucharist. That responsibility is not exclusively mine, however. I collaborate in that with our Parish Staff and lay leaders from our Pastoral Council. Sharing responsibility with the laity who represent all of you is very important to me. continue reading...

Dear Friends in Christ, One of the salutations that St. Paul often used in his epistles to local Christian communities was this: May the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you! That word fellowship reminds us that part of our life as the Body of Christ the church is to gather in fellowship, in friendship with one another to share the gifts of the Holy Spirit. We have several opportunities to do so coming up. Continue reading...

Dear Friends in the Risen Lord, Our celebration of the resurrection of Jesus continues in an 8-day octave where every day is considered Easter Sunday! I would compare this to a newly married couple’s “Honeymoon” period where every day is a special continuation of the joy of this new covenant that bonds a couple together for life. Honeymoons are not meant to last forever, and the time comes when it is time to get about the business of living a

Dear Friends in Christ, As a general rule, the news that tends to draw our attention is often bad, pathetic, and even on occasion horrific. I don’t need to cite any specifics to make the point. But there are exceptions, and Easter is perhaps the greatest news of all! Christ is risen from the dead, he is risen indeed! Here is the reason for all our hope and joy! It’s also the raison d’etre for the Christian Church throughout the world.

Dear Friends in Christ, Our Seattle Mariners opened the season this past Thursday, and with making the playoffs last year, there is a buzz and excitement about their prospects this year. Although historically a fair-weather fan, I am rooting for the M’s and will probably attend a few games at T-Mobile Park. Continue reading...

Dear Friends in Christ, Periodically, I flashback to my early experience of television which speaks in its own way to the present moment we live. One such memory is a show that ran on the BBC from 1962-63 titled “That Was the Week That Was.” It was a lighthearted review of events and people who had made the news that week. I think of the title of that show every year as the church invites us to prepare for “Holy Week.”

Dear Friends in Christ, One of the ways I find myself describing this point in time is to call it “Post COVID.” We are slowly but surely returning to some of the measures of church life that were impacted by the COVID pandemic when it hit us in March 2020. The most important sign of our recovery as a Catholic Community is the return of many of our parishioners to more regular participation in weekend Masses. We’re making progress in this regard, but as always I encourage everyone to make this a “Habit of the heart” and to invite family and friends to join us for Mass.

Dear Friends in Christ, One of the main purposes of Lent is to prepare the church community to celebrate Easter, Christ’s victory over sin and death by his cross and resurrection. A particular way we do that is by supporting those who seek to join the church at Easter. Their initiation into our faith tradition brings new life to our church community. We will be focusing on that in the next few weeks. Continue reading...

Dear Friends in Christ, I hope and pray that these early days of Lent are already touching your lives and making you more aware of the saving presence of Christ’s love. One of the spiritual disciplines which deepen that awareness for us is prayer. Lent invites us to make more time for prayer in our everyday lives. Continue reading...

This week, we are pleased to offer a reflection by Bishop Robert Barron Over the years, I have been laying out what I take to be the basics of evangelization. Proclaiming the Good News has to do with announcing the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, declaring that Jesus is divine, celebrating the deep humanism of Christianity, and finally, insisting on the indispensability of the church as the mystical body of the Lord. In this column, I would like to reflect, however briefly, on some simple practical strategies for evangelization, things that you can do to make this message public. Continue reading...

Dear Friends in Christ, These past weeks in the Gospel of Matthew we have heard Jesus's magnificent “Sermon on the Mount”. You may recall it begins with the famous “Beatitudes” which outline Jesus's program for happiness. Oh, how happy you would be he says if you were poor in spirit so that you might focus your life on being merciful and a peacemaker. Continue reading...

Dear Friends in Christ, There is a well-known idiom that says, “First things first.” Following that advice, I draw your attention to the devastating earthquake that happened in the Middle East countries of Turkey and Syria. Continue reading...

Dear Friends in Christ, This past Wednesday, February 1st was the feast of St. Bridget of Kildare the first Irish-born to be canonized a saint of the church. Born around 450, she felt called to dedicate her life to God as a nun at age 15. Continue reading...