A quote from The Fellowship of the Ring has been ringing in my head lately. Speaking to Gandalf about his plans, Bilbo tells him that “Why, I feel all thin, sort of stretched, if you know what I mean: Like butter that has been scraped over too much bread. That can’t be right. I need a change, or something.” Though I do not plan on anything as dramatic as a dragon-based fireworks show – or disappearing from sight, for that matter! – I have recently found myself re-energized after discussing & discerning some changes that I think will be helpful for myself (on both a pastoral and personal level). I’ll have a blog post about that sometime soon ™, as well as something in the bulletin this weekend. All that to say, however, that I have been edified over this last week or so at how the Lord sometimes not-so-subtly brings about exactly what we need even when we aren’t quite looking for it. It has been helpful to be reminded – sometimes rather forcefully by those who love me – that my own status quo should be challenged from time to time!
And speaking of breaking from the status quo and edification, how about that pilgrimate to Saint Peter mission in Suquamish?!? I daresay that a wonderful time was had by all – even before we arrived, people were asking if we might make this kind of thing an annual occurance. We had about 90 people register and some others just show up (you know who you are! ;-)). My back-of-the-napkin estimate is that some 115 or so people filled the little church for Mass this Sunday, with representation from across our parish family.
As I shared with those present, Saint Peter mission was my home parish when our family moved to Washington state. For years the Maurer family sat in the second row from the front on the right side of the church (from which this photo was taken)….unless of course one of us misbehaved, in which case we were marched outside (past all the other parishioners!) to be straightened out. Our dear friend Mary Reynolds, of happy memory, played the piano there for many years and my mom followed her first in playing music and later becoming the choir director at Saint Olaf parish in Poulsbo. For a variety of reasons, this trip was the first I’d set foot in Saint Peter in over twenty years – and my first Mass there since I was ordained! All in all, a special occasion for many reasons. Thank you to Courtney (PAA of Jefferson county) for coming up with this idea, to all our staff for coordination the many (many!) details – but especially Christy, who wrangled the biggest tasks!, and to everyone who actually came and made it a success! It was a great way to begin this week, end the summer, and most importantly, to celebrate the good things God has done and is yet doing in the Archdiocese of Seattle.
August 24 – Though Sunday Masses trump even feasts of Apostles, there’s nothing holding us back from a extra-liturgical celebration of Saint Bartholomew! He was martyred for the faith and flayed alive. Though this torture was meant to break him, he held fast to Christ – he is often depicted holding his own skin and Marco d’Agrate’s statue of him in Milan is one of the most striking depictions of his witness to death. Read more about him at the Vatican City State website.
August 27 – Next to the Blessed Virgin, Saint Monica is likely the most famous mother among the communion of saints. Especially to parents whose children have rejected or strayed from Christ & His Church, she stands as a clear symbol of hope and faith. Because of her faith, she never lost hope that her son would someday be brought to the Lord. And it is her perseverance in prayer on behalf of him that Saint Augustine credits to his conversion. I recommend his 2006 Angelus on this day, Pope Benedict XVI offered a lovely reflection on them both.
August 28 – How appropriate that having followed his mother in the faith, Saint Augustine’s feast day would follow her in the liturgical calendar. During a general audience in 2022, Pope Francis encouraged us to imitate Saint Augustine’s wisdom in considering the Lord’s presence not only in a given moment but throughout our lives, reminding us that “Knowing one’s own life story is, let’s say, an essential ingredient for discernment.” Check out his reflection on Augustine and discernment at the Vatican website.
August 29 – One of the lines of the Litany of Humility offers the prayer “That, in the opinion of the world, others may increase and I may decrease – Jesus grant me the grace to desire it.” Countless Christians have echoed this sentiment based on Saint John the Baptist’s own words. And yet, Jesus offers His humble cousin great praise, saying that among those born of women there is no one greater than John – and that all of us who follow Him will achieve even greater heights! May we take inspiration from Saint John the Baptist’s acceptance of his passion, that we might likewise bear witness to the Lord. Newman Connection has a brief reflection to assist in our celebration of this memorial.
This week’s “Why Do Catholics Do That?” pastor’s insert (from the August 17, 2025 and August 24, 2025 bulletins)
Priests celebrating their anniversaries this week
- Rev. Kilian Malvey, O.S.B. (August 24, 1973)
- Rev. Crispin A. Okoth (August 25, 1990)
- Rev. Antoine Karam (August 27, 2002)
- Very Rev. William J. Heric (August 29, 1981)
Remembering our deceased priests
- Fr. James McGreal (August 24, 2011)
- Fr. Philip D. Wallace (August 25, 2011)
- Fr. William Dell (August 26, 1986)
- Fr. John C. O’Connell (August 26, 1964)
- Fr. William H. O’Neill (August 26, 1943)
- Fr. Robert E. Russell, Jr. (August 26, 1989)
- Fr. Peter Smyth (August 26, 1957)
- Fr. Patrick O’Hogan (August 29, 2011)
- Fr. William Quigley (August 29, 1951)
- Fr. Michael A. Quinlan (August 29, 1944)
St. Augustine famously said, “Our hearts are restless, Lord, until they rest in Thee.” The pilgrimage to St. Peter Mission last Sunday provided us a wonderful way to ease our restlessness. Great weather, friendly driver, busload of eager people, on a scenic journey amid soaring Olympic Peninsula forests, bisected by glistening Hood Canal waters, to a lovely hillside site for fellowship at a historic church. Joined by many who had come by other means, people of all ages filled the church for Sunday Mass. Next, a picnic lunch in the park and around the church, a pensive stroll through the cemetery, and then Fr. Maurer engaging us in history and happy memories of this, his family’s parish where he grew up! This was his first visit back in 20+ years and the first time for him to serve there as priest.
Historical highlights include Chief Seattle (buried in the cemetery here), a Catholic convert who called the peoples of his time (mid-1800s) and of future generations to live in peace with each other, with nature, with God; “The Stick from Heaven” (aka “The Catholic Ladder”), an ingenious and effective tool from the 1840s, used to teach the locals the main truths of Christianity; and a 1930s hand-carved wooden altarpiece depicting “The Fourteen Holy Helpers.”
So many things to ponder and savor from this shared experience on the trip home. The beauty of it all lingers.
Thank you, Father and to all who made this trip possible. Let’s do it again with the sister churches in our new parish family. It’d be a great way to get to know, enjoy, and appreciate each, to grow in fellowship, and to find that divine rest.