Welcome to our Catholic Church, east of Seattle, in the Snoqualmie Valley!

Dear friends in Christ,

We are in the midst of the Annual Catholic Appeal. This campaign is of great importance to our Archdiocese and to our parish.  This annual campaign is the way that parishes of the Archdiocese fund those ministries that we cannot do on own but can do together as a larger Church here in Western Washington.  The Annual Catholic Appeal funds ministries such as the recruitment and training of future priests and deacons, hospital ministry at our larger regional hospitals, campus ministry at several our universities, CYO camping, as well as day to day essential services that we as parishes depend upon.

Your support is crucial to the success of the Archdiocese and its many ministries.  This year the goal is $55,578.00 for our share of this year's campaign.  Any dollars received over and above that goal will be returned to parish.  This year the rebate will be used to help fund the $40,000 replacement of the sewage lift station which we had to do to keep our bathrooms working for the Church.  So, your generous pledge is all the more important to our parish this year!

I invite you to make a pledge today toward this important work.  How much should you pledge? Obviously, that would depend upon your circumstances, but certainly it should be in proportion to the way God has blessed you.  Last year the average gift was wonderfully generous, $450. Whatever the amount, your gift will make a tremendous difference.  The important thing is that we all do our part to build up the larger church and spread the Good News and Hope of Jesus.   This is what so many of these ministries do!

Please pray about this request and make a pledge to support these important ministries. We would be grateful if you would return the envelope or make your gift on-line at:

www.seattlearchdiocese.org/donate

Thank you!  I am so grateful to you for your faith and for your generosity.  With your help, we will be able to witness to Christ more effectively and bring his good news and love to so many in need.

Finally, I would like to conclude with a word from Pope Francis on knowing the Good Shepherd:

Listening to Jesus thus becomes the way for us to discover that he knows us. This is the second verb that concerns the good shepherd. He knows his sheep. But this does not only mean that he knows many things about us. To know in the biblical sense also means to love. It means that the Lord, “while he reads our inner beings,” loves us, he does not condemn us. If we listen to him, we discover this – that the Lord loves us. The way to discover the Lord’s love is to listen to him. Thus, our relationship with him will no longer be impersonal, cold or a front. Jesus is looking for a warm friendship, trust, intimacy. He wants to give us a new and marvelous awareness – that of knowing we are always loved by him and, therefore, that we are never left alone by ourselves. Being with the good shepherd allows us to live the experience what the Psalm speaks about: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil; for you are with me” (Ps 23:4). He sustains us above all in our sufferings, in our difficulties, in our crises – which are dark – by going through them us. And so, it is specifically in difficult situations, that we can discover that we are known and loved by the Lord. So, let us ask ourselves: Do I let the Lord know me? Do I make room for him in my life? Do I bring what I am living to him? And what idea do I have of him after the many times I have experienced his closeness, his compassion, his tenderness? That the Lord is near, that the Lord is the good shepherd?  POPE FRANCIS

Blessings on your week!

Fr. Johnson