Bishops of Washington State Support Refugee and Immigrant Brothers & Sisters
During this Christmas Season, we are familiar with the story of the holy family, who fled a King who sought to take the life of their newborn son, Jesus. They were forced to leave their homeland, family and friends for their own safety. Sadly, many today live in similar circumstances Read more…
Jesus: Love Come Down From Heaven
Merry Christmas to all, with assurance of prayers for each of you. On this Christmas Day, I remember all of you in each of the Christmas Masses, and the same was true as we celebrated in St. James Cathedral last night. May we open our hearts to Christ today and Read more…
Recognize God’s Love
As our Advent journey continues, we are presented in the Gospel today (Matthew 17: 9-13) with Jesus telling his disciples that as the people failed to recognize John the Baptist as the return of Elijah, so too people will fail to comprehend Jesus as the promised Messiah; as the Son Read more…
Popular Piety & Devotion To Our Lady
On Saturday we celebrated our annual Mother of the Americas Mass at the Cathedral. During my tenure in Seattle, this was the largest gathering by far with an estimated 2,000 people gathering for the celebration! The cathedral was overflowing out the doors. The day began at Immaculate Conception parish for Read more…
Advent Light
Advent heightens our awareness of fresh new possibilities still hidden within the Reality and Mystery of God. The grace of Christ awaits to quicken our steps to extend his Kingdom to those trapped in the darkness of their present realities. As the light of the Advent wreath, or the light Read more…
God’s Will Our Solid Foundation
How often do we stop to reflect if my life is in accordance with God’s will? After all, we pray each day in the Lord’s Prayer “your will be done”. Jesus stresses how important the pursuit of God’s will is for those who hope to enter into the Kingdom of Read more…
Placed At His Feet …
For this fourth day of Advent we have a passage from Matthew’s Gospel (15: 29-37) [Once again an encouragement to read the Gospel and take time to silently reflect upon God’s eternal Word.] In today’s Gospel, another large crowd has gathered around Jesus. They bring to him for healing “the Read more…
Advent Day 3: Prefer Nothing To The Love Of Christ
St. Benedict of Nursia is believed to have been born in the year 480. In the sixth century he wrote his Rule for monastic life, which became a foundational work which remains influential and formative for monastic life today. In the fourth chapter of this Rule, St. Benedict writes: “Prefer Read more…
Advent: Let us go up rejoicing to the house of the LORD
A brief reflection on our Advent journey for this day. In the Gospel today a centurion appeals to Jesus to heal his servant who is dying. Jesus offers to visit the dying person, but the centurion responds, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only Read more…