Search
-
Dear Friends in Christ,
I confess that I spend a little time most days scrolling through the Instagram social media site. Today, I came upon a beautiful version of Bob Dylan’s 1964 song “The Times They Are a-Changing” made popular by the folk group Peter, Paul and Mary. The choir singing their version of the song on Instagram was young men and women in their late teens and early twenties who were not even born when the song was first released. The words to the song speak to them as they still do to me after all these years.
Come gather 'round people wherever you roam
And admit that the waters around you have grown
And accept it that soon you'll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you is worth savin', then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone for the times they are a-changin'
One thing I see changing in the life of our NE Seattle Catholic Community is the small but steady growth in the presence of high school students in our parishes. This is an age group we have tended not to see much in recent decades, but as the song goes, “The times they are a-changin'.” Two examples come to mind.
A group of 14 high school students from St. Catherine’s has spent this past week with the Esperanza Program in Tijuana, Mexico, building houses for low-income families. Besides donating their time and energy, they raised the money for the mission trip on their own. These young Catholics powerfully demonstrate their willingness to become servant leaders!
Last Sunday, two young women, graduates of OLL school and now entering their senior year at BBHS, spoke to our 11:00 am Mass about their involvement in the Agape Service Project, which helps young Catholics learn about and support migrant farm workers and their families in Whatcom County. In eloquent detail, they described the great hardships these families experience in trying to scratch out a livable wage to provide for their basic needs. More importantly, these young women remind us of this population’s dignity and our duty as Catholics to offer our support and advocacy in promoting their basic human rights, including a livable wage for their work.
Let us be grateful for the witness of these young members in our community and continue to look for opportunities to increase their generation’s presence in the life of the church!
Blessings of peace,
Fr. William Heric, Pastor