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 before being scattered across...

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 against the...

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 conclusion of our mortal...

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 - Benedictine College has a lovely reflection on this final day of the...

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 awaits an...

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 celebrate...

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 celebrations almost always happen in a...