It is the eve of the eve of the Triduum, with the end of Lent practically upon us and the beginning of an even deeper entrance into & meditation on the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus – the world behind us, the cross before us. In parishes around the world and here in our parish family, there are so many opportunities for prayer, reflection, and worship. I hope you’ll join in some or even all of them! There’s Tenebrae tomorrow evening, Lauds (Morning Prayer) each day of the Triduum, the Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord’s Supper, Tre Ore and Good Friday celebration of the Passion of the Lord, and of course, the Easter celebrations starting with the most glorious Mass of the year, the Holy Saturday vigil….

Happy Lent! Today marks the final day of the last full week of the season. With the celebration of Palm Sunday, we enter into Holy Week and soon, the Triduum celebrations of Christ’s passion, death, and resurrection. Over this last week – traditionally called Passiontide (which is why we cover images, statues, and the crucifix) – I have been struck by the coming together of several mysteries and celebrations of our faith. The first was this Wednesday, March 25 – the solemnity of the Annunciation – a full nine months (not a coincidence!) before the celebration of the Nativity of the Lord. One of my favorite readings is from a homily In Praise of the Virgin Mother by Saint Bernard in the Office of Readings on…

Happy Solemnity of Saint Joseph! Today was my first day back in the office after vacation and my annual retreat. I have loads of emails and voicemails backlogged alongside various things needing done in preparation of Holy Week & Easter as well as in the long-term (think Partners in the Gospel). As the day played out, various and sundry unexpected things popped up. As the day draws to a close, I realized that I had missed an opportunity to join my prayers to those of Saint Joseph: “Lord, I had plans!” That said, today HAS been pretty awesome, with Mass for the solemnity bookending the day. To boot, I discovered a neat tradition that I got to share at tonight’s reception at the Mass at Saint Joseph (celebrating their…

This week I am away on my annual retreat. In your kindness, please pray for me during this time of prayer & reflection – know of my prayers for you! Saints & celebrations March 8 – Saint John of God – The devil loves to whisper the lie that we are too broken, too fallen to be redeemed – much less become saints! John’s story breaks through that lie with a shining example of howeven a rough-and-tumble mercenary (of 18 years, no less) – was chosen by the Lord to become something greater…by embracing humility & poverty, no less! Learn more about him at Catholic Insight. March 9 – Saints Forty Martyrs of Sebaste – Soldiers from all different countries, today’s saints not…

Hello from vacation! This week I am (mostly) out of town at the Emerald City Comic Con (Thursday through Sunday), with my parents & brothers joining me for the first two days. As I understand it, there are some parishioners who are also attending – and some former parishioners too! – that I hope to bump into at some point during the convention. It has been one of the great and affirming delights since ordination to realize more & more how God uses our weaknesses & struggles as well as our desires & delights to show His glory in our lives AND in ministry. I’ve been going to ECCC since 2014 and it has never failed that I run into folks who could use a little bit of priestly presence – and are…

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…