From the Desk of the Pastor      August 28, 2025

September 5, 2025

Dear Friends in Christ,

Please plan on joining us for several special celebrations this weekend in our parishes. They are wonderful ways to celebrate our faith, get to know one another and knit together our parishes:

AT HOLY INNOCENTS IN DUVALL: SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 6 IS OUR ANNUAL BINGO NIGHT AND SUNDAY, SEPTEMBRER 7 IS OUR PARISH PICNIC

Saturday night September 6th, on the eve of the picnic, join us for our annual Bingo Night from 6-8pm. There is food, fun, and prizes, and always a great time had by all!

Sunday September 10th from 11:30-2:30 pm is the parish picnic. As we come back from Summer this is a great time to get reacquainted with old friends and meet new ones. We have had many new families join the parish over this past year, and this is such a great way to come together and strengthen the bonds of faith and fellowship among us. It’s a community potluck, so bring something to share. The Knights of Columbus will be providing their famous BBQ including hamburgers and hotdogs. Come and enjoy a really fun afternoon.

AT ST. JUDE IN REDMOND: SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 7 AT 10:30 AM WE CELEBRATE THE BIRTH OF MARY, OUR LADY OF VALINKANNI AND ALL THE WAYS BLESSED VIRGIN MARY HAS MANIFESTED HERSELF ACROSS THE WORLD AS THE MOTHER OF GOD AND OUR MOTHER.

Our Lady of Vailankanni is also known as Our Lady of Good Health. In approving devotion to Our Lady of Valinkanni, the Vatican wrote: “There are beautiful traditions ascribed to the encounters that the Virgin had with poor and sick boys at this place of worship. Thus, the tenderness and closeness of Mary, whom Jesus desired to bequeath us as Mother of all, is manifested.”

Through her intercession, Jesus Christ often pours out his strength and restores health to the sick. For this reason, in 2002, Saint John Paul II chose that place for the celebration of the World Day of the Sick. Thus, the same Virgin Mary who manifested herself at Lourdes also manifested herself in India as the Mother of Health.

It is not merely a matter of bodily health, but also one that touches the soul. Contemplating the image of Mary, we can all recognize the love of Jesus Christ that can heal our sadness, our anguish, and our fears. If we pause before Mary, even in a brief moment of faith and love, her maternal gaze restores peace to us.

The celebrations will begin on Sunday at 10:30 AM in the lower parking lot with a procession and rosary. All will be invited to process singing and following the statue into the Church. The procession will include images of Mary from around the world from the various cultures represented at St. Jude. It will be a celebration of the universality of our Catholic faith and love of the Blessed Mother. Then, the rosary will be led in different languages. At 11 am the Mass will begin and it will be followed by a meal downstairs in the parish hall.  Please join us in asking the Blessed Mother’s protection and healing upon our families and our parish. 

Many thanks to all who are working so hard to prepare these celebrations. Come and pitch in too! Many hands make light work. So, I urge us all to rest awhile in the Lord this weekend. Let us pray together, get to know one another, and celebrate our shared Catholic faith.

CANONIZATIONS OF TWO YOUNG WITNESSES TO CHRIST

Pope Leo XIV will canonize Blesseds Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati this Sunday in St. Peter’s square.

Blessed Acutis was a teenager known for his devotion to the Eucharist and creating an online exhibition of Eucharistic miracles. Born in 1991 and raised in Milan, Blessed Acutis used his tech skills to evangelize and was noted for his joyful faith and compassion for others before dying of leukemia in 2006 at age 15.

Blessed Frassati, born in 1901 into a prominent family in Turin, Italy, was admired for his deep spirituality, love for the poor and enthusiasm for life. A member of the Dominican Third Order, he served the sick through the St. Vincent de Paul Society. He died at age 24 after contracting polio, possibly from one of the people he assisted. These two Italian laymen will be the first saints proclaimed by Pope Leo. They remind us that even at a young age we are both called and capable of giving heroic witness to Christ.  May these new saints intercede for young people throughout the world that they may live lives of holiness and joy in the Lord.



Blessings on your week!

Fr Johnson