After receiving a beautiful invitation from the Pastor, Sisters and parishioners of St. Francis Xavier Parish on the San Juan Islands, I spent the 4th weekend of Lent with them earlier in March.
I arrived at St. Marys in Anacortes on a Saturday morning to visit with the two priests who care for this geographically expansive parish, Fr. Mel Strazicich and Fr. Xavier Bazil, who is a Herald of the Good News from India. It is quite amazing all the fine ministry taking place at Anacortes and the San Juan Island communities. After a pleasant visit and some sight seeing around Anacortes Fr. Mel and I boarded a ferry for Friday Harbor.
Note, there is one other parish that makes up this parish family, St. Paul on the Swinomish Indian reservation. I will return in April after Easter for a pastoral visit there and then a few days later for a Confirmation Mass. There are good things happening here as well! I look forward to that visit. Fr. Bazil covered St. Mary Anacortes and St. Paul at Swinomish while Fr. Mel and I spent the weekend in the Islands. The priests switch this schedule every other weekend. God bless them both!
Part of the plan was for me to experience a normal weekend Mass schedule in the Islands and the various means of transportation required to get from one place to the next in the islands – but mostly in order to meet the parishioners and see the vibrant faith present on the Islands and to be more familiar with some of the unique challenges and opportunities they face.
One of the parishioners from Friday Harbor was on the ferry and gave us a ride from the ferry station to the parish. After unloading luggage we made our first visit of the weekend to the Missionary Sisters Servants of the Word, a delightful group of sisters from Mexico who are providing an incredible presence and ministry on the Islands.
After a brief pastoral visit with the sisters, Fr. Mel and I went to St. Francis Xavier Church for confessions and 5:30 Mass. This is a tiny, historic church building which seats far fewer than the present number of parishioners. The parish is a nice mix of people, Anglo and Hispanic. To say they are experiencing growing pains would be an understatement. The Mass was live-streamed to the next door parish hall, where the community hosted a delightful pitch-in dinner after Mass.
After the reception Fr. Mel and I returned to the rectory. We enjoyed a nice visit and I learned more about some of the hopes and dreams of the parishioners for their future. After a full day, we retired for the night.
I am very grateful to Stephen Brashear who spent the entire weekend with us taking pictures. Included in this post are two different slideshows with many photos. Take your time and enjoy the sights!
Sunday morning we were up early taking time for the usual routine of silence, prayer, meditation along with some coffee and breakfast then headed over to the church for a few confessions and 8:30 Mass with the parishioners of Friday Harbor. After Mass we had about an hour to mingle with parishioners during the reception before heading to the airport for a short flight to Orcas Island.
We were greeted at the airport on Orcas Island by Sr. Maria Juan and escorted to the parish church. This church was built and dedicated some 30 years ago by my predecessor, Archbishop Thomas Murphy. It doubles as worship space and parish hall. Island life requires making good use of space! Fr. Mel immediately began hearing confessions while Sr. Maria Juan and I worked with a young family prior to Mass to prepare for the baptism of their first child. Since they were moving off the Island they wished to have their daughter baptized before finding a new parish in their next location. We were happy to oblige!
I learned years ago while a pastor in southern Indiana that every parish has the gifts necessary to carry out the basic mission of the Church. It is amazing how God provides. This parish is gifted with great volunteers and musicians. The sisters provide tremendous support in the area of faith formation and catechesis. No doubt, there are some elements they would love to add to supplement what is already taking place, but it is good to give thanks while seeking to expand basic ministries.
Once again a reception followed Mass and we had just short of an hour to visit before departing for the airport for the next flight to Lopez Island.
On Lopez a couple of the parishioners picked us up at the airport and took us on a brief tour of the island. We made a stop for a walk along a nature trail to a beautiful spot for some whale watching! We did not succeed in spotting any whales, but we did see some seals.
While the Archdiocese does own a small section of land on Lopez Island, this community does not have a worship space to call home. These parishioners have shared various Protestant churches on Lopez for decades. Grace Episcopal is the present location from where the community has exploded since there is now indoor plumbing and space for both worship and gathering for socials and faith formation. This requires parishioners to prepare the worship space each time they gather for Mass, including bringing in statues and all the other necessary items to celebrate a Catholic Mass. They go about this work quite joyfully.
Here we celebrated a 4:00 Mass – the 4th and final Mass of the weekend on the islands. After Mass everyone gathered in the hall for a pitch in dinner. Even some of the children provided some entertainment with a dance they learned. After our visit we made our way to the ferry station for a 7:05 ferry departure and return to Anacortes. Even on the ferry I was approached by a young woman who was experiencing some personal struggles and asked if I would visit a moment and pray with her. It was a meaningful, spontaneous pastoral moment.
By 8:15 we were back at St. Mary’s parish and I was in my car for the 90 minute drive home to Seattle.
I am very grateful to Fr. Mel, Fr. Bazil, the many sisters and staff and all the volunteers and parishioners who are keeping the faith alive and expanding in the San Juan Islands! What they are accomplishing there is inspirational!
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