This week all of the pastor’s of the archdiocese gathered together at the Archbishop Brunett Retreat at the Palisades for a couple of days of presentations, prayer, and fraternity. Though I feel it more keenly as a priest on the Olympic Peninsula, it is true for every priest in our sprawling archdiocese that we simply don’t see much of each other throughout the year – with just three times a year where we all are scheduled to gather together (the Chrism Mass, the priestly ordination Mass in June, and the 4-day priest convocation ‘Priest Days’ in the summer). That there is an additional couple of days to catch up with my brother priests – many of whom I once lived & studied with for years in seminary…

What -22° fahrenheit does to a cup of coffee After two weekends of various forms of sickness, I am so relieved to be back on my feet for weekend Masses in our parish family. Thank you to everyone who has prayed for, sent consolation notes, or taken time to offer words of support as I recover from whatever sinus & throat nastiness I managed to take home with me from Minnesota. I’m still taking cough drops like its going out of style, but things are approaching something like normalcy. Setting aside sinus/throat stuff and the -22° fahrenheit temperatures (uuuuuuugh!), my time in Minnesota was a combination of blessings & challenges. Whenever we are confronted with sorrow & death, our natural reaction is both lash out…

Ultimately ours, too, is a story of return! The return to Ordinary Time always holds for me a sentiment that I think was best dramatized at the end of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings movie adaptation. On one hand, the adventures that went before have come to a close – both the challenges and the triumphs have reached their climax & conclusion. On the other hand, who doesn’t want a return to the normal comfort and routine of ordinary day-to-day life? After all, we were ultimately created simply to live together with the Lord in the world He created for us! While our adventures do, in fact, continue, the transition from Christmas to Ordinary Time offers at least an echo of what we look forward in eternity: the…

Merry Christmas! As we continue through the Christmas season and begin the new year, may the blessings of the Lord’s nativity bring you and your loved ones many graces. Saints & celebrations December 28 – Holy Innocents – One of the first feasts after Christmas, we honor all of those children whose lives were lost so young but now witness to His kingship. The Vatican City State website has a brief write-up on them. December 29 – Saint Thomas Becket – I’m embarrassed to admit that I’ve never watched the classic movie about today’s saint. If you’re like me, this movie trailer might inspire you to add it to your 2026 watchlist! January 1 – Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God…

Tomorrow we celebrate, but today we wait in anticipation for the birth of the Lord. The whole world waits, anticipating the One Whose coming marks the turn from death to life, from sadness to joy, and from separation to a return to the union with God for which we were created. One of my favorite readings from the Office of Readings in the Liturgy of the Hours lands during the octave before Christmas – it is from a homily in praise of the virgin mother by Saint Bernard, assigned to the December 20th office. May you find it an equally inspiring reflection during these final hours of Advent: You have heard, O Virgin, that you will conceive and bear a son; you have heard that it will not be by man but by the Holy Spirit. The angel…

This week marks the third Sunday of Advent and the last full week before Christmas. And boy howdy have the last seven days been jam-packed! We had the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception last week Monday, the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe on Friday, Simbang Gabi (at Saint Mary Star of the Sea in Port Townsend), and Gaudete Sunday (the third Sunday of Advent). The last week or so also held a number of tragedies – some public and others more private. On the Immaculate Conception, the mother (Mrs. Hilderbrand) of a classmate of mine died unexpectedly. There have been two different mass shootings – one in Rhode Island at Brown University and the other in Australia as Jewish faithful gathered at Blondi Beach in Sydney to…

Well, that’s the first week of Advent in the bag! Between Thanksgiving (and post-Thanksgiving recovery), my birthday (December 1), OCIA resuming, additional confession times being offered, and our Advent retreat (today – December 6), it has been a crazy week….. but what a great kind of crazy! Sure, I’m exhausted and will absolutely crash into bed tomorrow after Masses – but with no regrets! In the Code of Canon Law, a parish is defined as ” is a certain community of the Christian faithful stably constituted in a particular church, whose pastoral care is entrusted to a pastor (parochus) as its proper pastor (pastor) under the authority of the diocesan bishop.” (CIC 515 §1) Catholic ritual…

For the first time in my priesthood, I was not at my assignment for the celebration of the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus, King of the Universe (aka Christ the King). Instead, I was at the Newman Center chapel at UW in Seattle, celebrating the nuptials of Gina & Clayton. I have been looking forward to this celebration for the better part of the year – it was a privilege and an honor to be the priest who led them in their exchange of consent at their wedding Mass (presided over and preached by the former Newman center chaplain, Father Chrysostom Mijinke, OP). Adding to the joy of the day was the fact that it was the memorial of Saint Cecilia, patron saint of musicians (Gina has been a longtime choir member at her parish). Especially…