From the Desk of the Pastor                                                                   

June 26, 2020

Dear friends in Christ,

Last week it was a joy to finally be able to have public Mass in Church.  Many thanks to all who made it work smoothly. I am grateful for your cooperation with the protocols (masks, distancing, limited music, and seating people early) that we have to follow to keep people safe while the COVID virus is still active.  

Please keep in mind the following:  Remember that the Sunday Obligation is still dispensed and that the health department still advises those who are over 65 and have vulnerable conditions to stay home. Most importantly, if you have any symptoms or exposure recently, you must stay home. You can always participate through our online Masses if you cannot attend the limited indoor Masses.  Saturday Vigil Mass will be live-streamed at 5:00 PM from St. Jude.

THIS WEEK’S SCHEDULE

Public Indoor Masses at St Jude (reservations required)

Saturday, June 27 at 5 PM - (live-streamed, as well)

Sunday, June 28 at 11 AM

Sunday, June 28 at 5:30 PM (with RCIA Initiations postponed from Easter Vigil)

Please note the only entrance will be the main doors of the church on the upper level. We will add Masses as necessary depending on attendance.

Daily Mass (June 29, July 1, 2, and 3)

Daily Mass will remain private and live-streamed.

Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday at 9 AM

Drive Through Confessions

Saturday, June 27 from 3 - 4:30 PM

Church Open Hours for Private Prayer

Monday - Friday  9:30 - 11:30 AM

Saturday  3 - 5 PM

Sunday 9 - 11 AM

Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles

On Monday, June 29, we celebrate the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul Apostles. This feast reminds us that our faith rests upon the testimony of ordinary people; a fisherman and a tentmaker had a real encounter with Jesus, saw Him crucified and risen. They testify that He is Lord of heaven and earth and invite us to acknowledge Him as Lord of our own lives. Pope Francis gave a marvelous homily last year on this feast, which I excerpt at length because it reminds us of important things we need to ponder:

The Apostles Peter and Paul stand before us as witnesses. They never tired of preaching and journeying as missionaries from the land of Jesus to Rome itself. Here they gave their ultimate witness, offering their lives as martyrs. If we go to the heart of that testimony, we can see them as witnesses to life, witnesses to forgiveness, and witnesses to Jesus.

Witnesses to life. Their lives, though, were not neat and linear. Both were deeply religious: Peter was one of the very first disciples (cf. Jn 1:41), and Paul was “zealous for the traditions of [his] ancestors” (Gal 1:14). Yet they also made great mistakes: Peter denied the Lord, while Paul persecuted the Church of God. Both were cut to the core by questions asked by Jesus: “Simon son of John, do you love me?” (Jn 21:15); “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” (Acts 9:4). Peter was grieved by Jesus’ questions, while Paul was blinded by his words. Jesus called them by name and changed their lives. After all that happened, he put his trust in them, in one who denied him and one who persecuted his followers, in two repentant sinners. We may wonder why the Lord chose not to give us two witnesses of utter integrity, with clean records and impeccable lives? Why Peter, when there was John? Why Paul, and not Barnabas?

There is a great teaching here: the starting point of the Christian life is not our worthiness; in fact, the Lord was able to accomplish little with those who thought they were good and decent. Whenever we consider ourselves smarter or better than others, that is the beginning of the end. The Lord does not work miracles with those who consider themselves righteous, but with those who know themselves needy. He is not attracted by our goodness; that is not why he loves us. He loves us just as we are; he is looking for people who are not self-sufficient, but ready to open their hearts to him. People who, like Peter and Paul, are transparent before God. Peter immediately told Jesus: “I am a sinful man” (Lk 5:8). Paul wrote that he was “least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle” (1 Cor 15:9). Throughout life, they preserved this humility, to the very end. Peter died crucified upside down, since he did not consider himself worthy to imitate his Lord. Paul was always fond of his name, which means “little”, and left behind his birth name, Saul, the name of the first king of his people. Both understood that holiness does not consist in exalting but rather in humbling oneself. Holiness is not a contest, but a question of entrusting our own poverty each day to the Lord, who does great things for those who are lowly. What was the secret that made them persevere amid weakness? It was the Lord’s forgiveness.

Let us think about them too as witnesses to forgiveness. In their failings, they encountered the powerful mercy of the Lord, who gave them rebirth. In his forgiveness, they encountered irrepressible peace and joy. Thinking back to their failures, they might have experienced feelings of guilt. How many times might Peter have thought back to his denial! How many scruples might Paul have felt at having hurt so many innocent people! Humanly, they had failed. Yet they encountered a love greater than their failures, forgiveness strong enough to heal even their feelings of guilt. Only when we experience God’s forgiveness do we truly experience rebirth. From there we start over, from forgiveness; there we rediscover who we really are: in the confession of our sins.

Witnesses to life and witnesses to forgiveness, Peter and Paul are ultimately witnesses to Jesus. In today’s Gospel, the Lord asks: “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” The answers evoke figures of the past: “John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah or one of the prophets”. Remarkable people, but all of them dead. Peter instead replies: “You are the Christ” (Mt 16:13-14.16). The Christ, that is, the Messiah. A word that points not to the past, but to the future: The Messiah is the one who is awaited, he is newness, the one who brings God’s anointing to the world. Jesus is not the past, but the present and the future. He is not a distant personage to be remembered, but the one to whom Peter can speak intimately: You are the Christ. For those who are his witnesses, Jesus is more than a historical personage; he is a living person: he is newness, not things we have already seen, the newness of the future, and not a memory from the past. The witness, then, is not someone who knows the story of Jesus, but someone who has experienced a love story with Jesus. The witness, in the end, proclaims only this: that Jesus is alive and that he is the secret of life.                  ~POPE FRANCIS

Let us witness to Jesus, his Joy, Hope and Love!

Blessings on your week!

Fr.  Johnson

Annual Catholic Appeal Update

We are getting close but we still have a way to go, so please get your Annual Catholic Appeal pledges in.  We are at $144,000 of our $199,000 goal.  Your generosity makes a difference in the lives of so many of the people helped by the ministries of the Archdiocese throughout Western Washington.  Thank you to all who have already pledged and to all who will be making a pledge.  You can make a pledge on-line at:               https://www.seattlearchdiocese.org/Stewardship/ACA/Donate.aspx

 Many employers will make a match for an ACA gift including Microsoft and Boeing.

Peter’s Pence Collection

On the Sunday nearest the Solemnity of the Apostles Peter and Paul, the Church takes up the collection for the charitable works of the Holy Father otherwise known as Peter’s Pence.  Since we are not able to take up a collection in church you may give online through the parish web-giving portal, just highlight the Peter’s Pence line to indicate your gift.