Dear Friends, First, I want to express my profound gratitude for the overwhelming response to this year’s Giving Tree. Your generosity is truly amazing and inspiring; you all have made a huge difference in the lives of many of our friends and neighbors. In a similar vein, I’d also like to express, once again, my gratitude for the donations to the wildfire…

Dear Friends, No letter this week. Instead here are some updates to the calendar for the next couple of weeks. First: extra Confession times. I will be available for confessions on Tuesday, December 15 and Thursday, December 17 from 5 to 7 PM. These are not communal penance services. I will be the only priest available. Please be brief and to the…

Dear Friends, I am certain that many of you noticed that when Advent began last weekend, the missalettes you were using had expired. As you know, when the parishes re-opened last May after the governor’s Covid lockdown, we were not allowed to keep missalettes and other items in the pews. This was done out of fear that the illness would be transmitted…

Dear Friends, This weekend we enter into Advent, the period in which we prepare our hearts and our homes to welcome the baby Jesus at Christmas. It is also a period in which we prepare our souls for the return of Christ in glory at the end of time. The state of the world today has many of us thinking that the…

Dear Parishioners, I’m not a fan of Christmas music and Christmas decorations in November; I’ll set up some Christmas stuff in my house after Thanksgiving, but no music until Christmas Day. However, I recently received a text from one of my friends who is even more opposed to jumping the gun on Christmas than I am. This text included a photo of…

Dear Friends, This week, as COVID numbers continue to climb once again, it’s time for some reminders. FIRST: Face coverings are required in the church. It is unfortunate that this simple means of helping to slow the spread of the illness has been so politicized in our society. Wearing face coverings should be seen as an ACT OF LOVE. The more someone…

Dear Friends, Throughout the month of November, we are encouraged to pray for the Faithful Departed. The need and duty of prayer for the dead has been acknowledged by the Church. It is one of the spiritual works of mercy. Reference to praying for the dead can be found in the Old Testament, specifically the Second Book of Maccabees (12:46): “It is…

Dear Friends, The month of October has flown by and the first three days of November bring with them some very important events. Sunday, November 1 is All Saints Day. The Vigil Mass on Saturday, October 31 (also known as Halloween) will, of course, be celebrated as All Saints Day. This gives us an opportunity to remember that Christians celebrate the saints…

Dear Friends, Last weekend, on October 10, the church got a new “blessed”! His name is Carlo Acutis and he is the first member of the “millennial” generation to be beatified. He was from northern Italy and was only 15 years old when he died of leukemia in a hospital in Monza, Italy, only 90 miles from Turin, the hometown of my…

Dear Friends, In 2015, shortly after he released his encyclical “Laudato Si,” Pope Francis asked that September 1 be observed as an annual World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation. That day has long since come and gone, as has the entire month of September. However, October has always been the month in which the great outdoors has called to…

Dear Friends, This Sunday is “Respect Life Sunday,” and as Catholics in the United States, we observe the month of October as a time to “focus on God’s precious gift of human life and our responsibility to care for, protect, and defend the lives of our brothers and sisters” (www.usccb.org). “The direct and intentional destruction of innocent human life from the moment…

Dear Friends, This past Monday the church celebrated the feast day of Saint Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist. In a homily on the call of Matthew, one of the great theologians of the Church, Saint Bede the Venerable, reflected on the importance that the conversion of this one tax collector had on the world. Tax collectors were among the most despised people in…

Dear Friends, To all of you who have been impacted by the fires, please know that you are in my prayers. I was in Mount Angel with Archbishop Sample and several other priests when the fires started and they asked me to express their concern and prayers for you. As we begin the long process of recovery, many people are asking how…

Dear Friends, In last weekend’s letter, I wrote about some concerns that I have had about the security of the parish facilities. As a reminder, if you use a key to enter any of the parish buildings, please make sure that all doors and windows are securely locked and fastened when you leave. Also, please make sure that children are always under…

Dear Parishioners, First, after speaking with the parish staff and some members of the pastoral council, I have sadly decided that the church and parish hall must be locked when they are not in use. I know that this will be a hardship for some of you, but, unfortunately, not everybody who comes into a church does so with good intentions. There…