With the conclusion of the Easter season, the school year, and our faith formation programs (this Sunday – the solemnity of Corpus Christi – will also be our celebration of First Holy Communions in the central region), we finally enter into the summer season. There are a few key events that I especially appreciate of this time, particularly the ordination of priests (typically the second Saturday in June) and the annual priest convocation (‘Priest Days’) that is held each year in Ocean Shores. All in all, it is a lovely combination of celebrating the fruits of the last year and enjoying some much-longed-for downtime with friends & family!
Of course, this quieter time in the life of our parish family is also a key time to plan for when things go back into full swing! And with a year (almost) under our belt, I am excited to discern and dream with our staff & volunteers about what we want to change, continue, and create in our parishes. Father Ed, Father Gali, and I have been talking about what we hope to prioritize in the coming months and year, especially now that we find ourselves more settled and comfortable here on the Olympic Peninsula! I’m excited to see how those develop.
There is also the question of what we want to do as individual local communities and as a parish family. Over the next few months, I hope to finalize our Parish Family Advisory Council and begin meeting with them to plan next steps in Partners in the Gospel. We’re coming up on the part of One Parish Planning where each of us will be called to consider who we are and who we want to become. This will involve listening sessions (likely starting in the fall), led by this new council (we have got to find a better acronym than ‘PFAC’ – sigh). You can read more about this in the May 2025 update (you can subscribe to the newsletter in the upper left corner of the page).
As we continue forward as a parish family, rest assured of my daily prayers for you all. The Lord has done amazing work in our parishes and continues to do so! May He bless us abundantly as His plan for our ministry together unfolds.
June 15 – This Sunday is the Solemnity of the Holy Trinity. With the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost last weekend, we now celebrate the fullness of God’s self-revelation of the Persons of the Trinity. I imagine that the Lord had many reasons for revealing Himself as He did, but the takeaway that I treasure the most is the realization that we are invited into the life of the Trinity. As each Person perfectly loved and is loved by Eachother, so we are invited to love and be loved. God chose to create us, not out of need but desire, to share in that relationship – what an extraordinary offering! As the first reading reminds us, God found (and finds!) delight in the human race. I invite you to join Bishop Barron in breaking opening the theology of the Trinity, available on his YouTube channel.
June 18 – I was delighted to discover that the Church celebrates another (!) saint of Padua so quickly after Saint Anthony. Today we honor Saint Gregory Barbarigo, bishop of Padua and a cardinal of the seventeenth century. I was particularly edified to read about his closeness to his people – over his time as bishop of Padua he visited all 320 (!!!) of his parishes. He was known for his kindness to the poor, to the point of selling his own bed – more than once! – to assist others. He was canonized by Pope John XXIII in May of 1960. Read more about him at the Newman Connection website.
June 19 – Saints Mark and Marcelliano were twin brothers and deacons of the third century. They refused to make sacrifices to Roman Gods and were arrested. Their captors eventually converted and Mark & Marcellian escaped – but they were then recaptured and killed for their faith. Read more about them at Catholic Answers.
June 21 – Due to the Spokane university bearing his name, I imagine a great number of Catholics in our area share a devotion to today’s saint Saint Aloysius Gonzaga. Though he only lived to the age of 23, he spent most of his life in devotion to the Lord and desired a life beyond the royal courts of his family and military dreams of his father. He eventually renounced his right to successsion and joined the Jesuits. He served in the hospital opened by the Jesuits during a plague in Rome in 1591. He caught the disease himself and even recovered from it, but succumbed to a fever that persisted afterwards. Read more at Franciscan Media.
Priests celebrating their anniversaries this week
- Rev. James McGloin, S.J. (June 15, 1974)
- Rev. Mark McGregor, S.J. (June 15, 1996)
- Rev. Joseph P. Mitchell (June 16, 1979)
- Rev. W. R. Harris (June 17, 1978)
- Rev. Jerry Graham, S.J. (June 17, 2000)
- Rev. Mark J. Neary (June 18, 1983)
- Rev. Emilio R. Gonzalez (June 18, 1988)
- Rev. Robert B. Grimm, S.J. (June 19, 1976)
- Rev. James Taiviet Tran, S.J. (June 19, 2004)
- Rev. Ignatius F. Ohno, S.J. (June 20, 1992)
- Rev. John D. Fuchs, S.J. (June 21, 1975)
- Rev. Frederick Mayovsky, S.J. (June 21, 1975)
- Rev. Armando Guzman (June 21, 1986)
- Rev. Richard J. Spicer (June 21, 1986)
- Very Rev. Gary M. Zender (June 21, 1986)
- Rev. Charles T. Barnes, S.J. (June 21, 2008)
Remembering our deceased priests
- Fr. William Quick (June 18, 1986)
- Fr. Fr. Peter J. Cuniff (June 19, 1917)
- Fr. Manual G. Ocana (June 19, 1995)
- Fr. Laurence O’Larey (June 20, 1964)
- Fr. Patrick J. O’Donnell (June 21, 1949)
- Fr. John McMullan (June 21, 2024)
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