I am and have been out of town all this week – first for my monthly priest support group and then at the Ignite NW youth conference at the University of Portland in Oregon. Between my time away last week for the funeral of my friend Francine and this week’s crazy, I have been playing catch-up between conference events….thus this late pastor’s post (and the lack of one last week!).

If you haven’t heard the news yet, today (July 18, 2025) a federal court blocked the Washington state law that attempted to force priests to break the seal of confession. This effectively puts a hold on the enforcement of this law, though there is, as I understand the process, yet legal work to be done before we can rest assured that the state’s effort at such a grievous intrusion is definitively stopped. While there is yet work to be done – with our prayerful support! – this is nonetheless cause for some offerings of thanksgiving to the Lord!

On a more personal note, I’d like to express my gratitude for the many expressions of support and prayer for my friend Francine, her husband Thom, and their children Michaela & Sam and Tristan & Raine. Your intercession and words of encouragement have been a source of much consolation, especially in these difficult days of goodbye as we celebrated the funeral rites and laid her to rest last week. I was honored to preach her funeral Mass, but it was the outpouring of love from family, friends, acquaintances, fellow parishioners, and strangers that has been most affecting. To all of you who have taken part in this, thank you. And if you would, please continue to pray for the repose of her soul and the consolation of her family.

July 14 – Today the Church celebrates the memorial of Saint Kateri Tekakwitha. Though I have little interaction or knowledge of the richness of Native American cultures & history, I delight in the fact that the Lord not only saw fit to elevate Kateri Tekakwitha as an example, but that her final miracle before canonization took place here in the Archdiocese of Seattle! Fittingly, our archdiocesan magazine did an excellent write-up on this year’s celebration of the memorial at Saint Joachim (the parish at which it all took place) – it is definitely worth a read.

July 15 – Today the Church celebrates ‘the Seraphic Doctor’, Saint Bonaventure. At a young age, he received healing from the Lord by the intercession of Saint Francis of Assisi. At the age of 22, he joined the Franciscan Order himself. He studied (and graduated!) with Thomas Aquinas and was eventually made the superior of the Friars Minor, a position he held for 17 years. He helped stabilize the order in a period of division & struggle and was tapped by Pope Gregory X to assist in preparing for the Second Ecumenical Council of Lyons (itself oriented towards reunifying the Latin and Greek Churches). Sadly, he died while the council was in session. Check out Dr. Richard Declue’s article at Word On Fire about him.

July 16 – Each year on this day we celebrate the memorial of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. I delight in the tradition of the brown scapular and, as so many priests do, have received many requests to assist Catholics in embracing this devotional through formal enrollment. If you haven’t heard of it – or would like to learn more – I heartily recommend Sister Mary Martha’s 2007 blog post ‘What Can Brown Do For You?’ – not only informative, but delightfully presented, you will be educated, edified, and perhaps even inspired to take on this devotional yourself!

July 18 – Saint Camillus of Lellis, whose memorial is today, was probably the last person his peers expected to achieve sanctity. Argumentative, nursing a diseased leg that just wouldn’t heal, he was rejected not once but twice (!) from the Capuchin Friars. Nonetheless, he persevered in service to the sick while also pursuing priesthood and was ordained a priest. He went on to found the Clerics Regular, Ministers to the Sick or ‘Camillians’, as they were called. He devoted the remainder of his life to care for the sick – especially those whom no others would serve – until his own death, still serving other patients. Read more about him at Loyola Press.