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I recently received a note from Sean, who is a student at St. Charles Catholic School in Spokane. Sean painted the cover of the note card with the scene of Jesus walking on the water, which we find in the Gospels. The apostles were caught in a storm and, as they saw Jesus walking toward them on the water, they thought he was a ghost. They were filled with fear and anxiety. Despite their lack of faith, the Lord calmed the storm and restored peace in their hearts.

La Crosse, Wisconsin – July 18, 2019 – A Franciscan Sister of Perpetual Adoration with ties to your area is celebrating her Diamond Jubilee, marking 75 years of vowed religious life.

SINSINAWA, Wis.— July 18, 2019 — Sister Jeanette Landuyt, OP, died July 3, 2019, at Mercy Medical Center, Dubuque, Iowa. Her religious name was Sister Guinevere. The funeral Mass was held at the Dominican motherhouse, Sinsinawa, July 10, 2019, followed by burial in the Motherhouse Cemetery.

La Crosse, Wisconsin – July 18, 2019 – A Franciscan Sister of Perpetual Adoration with ties to your area is celebrating her Diamond Jubilee, marking 75 years of vowed religious life.

Late July brings one of my favorite celebrations in the Church year:  the July 26th Memorial of Saints Ann and Joachim, the parents of Mary, the Mother of God. 
I had some early biases toward this feast.   I grew up in a New York parish named for St. Ann.   My parents gave me that moniker for my middle name when I was baptized, and I took it again when I was confirmed.   My family always celebrated our patron saints’ feast days, and I was competitively (but uncharitably) pleased that I had two celebrations rather than one because I was the only one of my siblings to be baptized with a middle name.  

You can’t miss the bright blue exterior with 1950s vintage style painted squares on the side. Whether it’s the colorful mural or the restaurant with a purpose that first draws you in, the food and mission will bring you back.

“Here’s the mailman,” Bishop Skylstad welcomed me with his customary greeting when I delivered the odds and ends of his mail that are addressed to the Chancery. But something was different: he was standing with a walker, and I don’t mean one of The Walking Dead variety. “My legs just gave out the other day. But I’m OK now."

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) held its 2019 Spring General Assembly in Baltimore from June 11 to June 14. In terms of anticipation and importance to the U.S. Church, the U.S. protocols for the application of Pope Francis’ apostolic letter, Vos estis lux mundi (You are the light of the world) topped the list. In the letter dated May 7, 2019, Pope Francis established new procedures for reporting abuse and for holding both the abuser and the bishops and religious superiors accountable for their actions.

From the moment we sat down, it was clear I should have brushed up on my Latin. Ad majoriam Dei gloriam (A.M.D.G.), cura personalis, Magis, Ite inflammata omnia – all familiar phrases to those immersed in Ignatian spirituality – roll gracefully off the tongue of new Gonzaga Prep aluma, Liza Christopher. Christopher holds dear the tenets shared by the students and staff of Prep, and credits the Catholic school system for inspiring her to live her faith actively rather than passively - to travel through life as a person for others rather than a person for herself.  

Extra credit question: Name the author of this admonition about the insecure cultural foundations and potentially perilous future of the American republic — “Seeds of dissolution were already present in the ancient heritage as it reached the shores of America. [And] perhaps the dissolution, long since begun, may one day be consummated. Perhaps one day the noble many-storeyed mansion of democracy will be dismantled, leveled to the dimensions of a flat majoritarianism, which is no mansion but a barn, perhaps even a tool shed in which the weapons on tyranny may be forged. Perhaps there will one day be wide dissent from....[the understanding] that the eternal reason of God is the ultimate origin of all law [and] that this nation in all its aspects — as a society, a state, an ordered and free relationship between governors and governed — is under God...”

Recientemente recibí una nota de sean, quien es un estudiante en la Escuela Católica de San Carlos Borromeo en Spokane. Sean dibujó en la portada de una tarjeta la escena de Jesús caminando sobre el agua, que encontramos en los Evangelios. Los apóstoles estaban atrapados en una tormenta y, al ver a Jesús caminando hacia ellos en el agua, pensaron que era un fantasma. Estaban llenos de miedo y ansiedad. A pesar de su falta de fe, el Señor calmó la tormenta y restauró la paz en sus corazones.

La Iglesia Católica considera el matrimonio como un sacramento que une a dos personas para toda la vida. Al casarse, la pareja le promete a Dios mismo el poder durar casados para toda la vida – hasta que la muerte los separe. Sin embargo, cuando la relación matrimonial no funciona y ya los esposos se han separado por el civil (esto es, legalmente), se puede pedir la anulación del matrimonio eclesiástico.

All are invited to the Seventh Annual Guatemala Mission Celebration on Monday, September 16, 5:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. at Barrister Winery in Spokane. Featured guests will be Sr. Mary Bertrand, SSND, and Lourdes Tzoc Ramirez (pictured). Both Sr. Mary and Lourdes are associated with the radio station, Nawal Estereo, in Nahuala. The event includes appetizers and coffee and is free to the public.

Aston, PA — June 23, 2019— Sister Marie Inez Gonzales, OSF, 85, died in Assisi House on Wednesday, June 19. She had been a professed member of the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia for 66 years.

June 21st is a great day of the year:  the start of summer!
When I was a child, summer seemed to last forever.  The summer highlight was a family road trip – a week or two, all together in the family station wagon or on my Dad’s beloved long distance trains.   Beyond that much-anticipated adventure, my summertime memories are filled with ordinary things:  biking in a nearby park, borrowing (a lot!) from the county library,  whiling away afternoons with my grandfather, spoiling my cat, spending long evenings in the backyard, eating more ice cream than I should have, and sharing more time with the people I loved.

In these weeks when spring gives way to summer, many celebrate the Ordinations of new priests – new shepherds who, in these difficult days, commit the rest of their lives to the sacred service of God and the people of God. It is also the time when others celebrate the anniversaries of their own Ordinations.   These Ordinations are times of great celebration and rejoicing.  But, no less worthy of celebration and rejoicing are the many days when that vocation is lived with fidelity in unnoticed ways in ordinary times.  

Al saber que uno de nuestros familiares va a fallecer pronto, la idea de pensar que ya jamás volveremos a ver a esa persona nos entristece demasiado. Quizás, la muerte de algún familiar llegue inesperadamente. En mi experiencia pastoral, he tenido algunos casos de personas que han fallecido repentinamente y que los familiares no saben que hacer. En estos casos, debemos de estar conscientes que es deber de los familiares el avisar a las autoridades pertinentes cuando un familiar fallece.

My fondest memories of summer are the times spent with my favorite aunt at her cottage nestled in the Adirondack Mountains. As a middle school teacher, she had a gift for relating to kids in a way very different from parents, like a wise friend or a trusted confidante. My aunt patiently taught us how to knit and sew; she listened to our stories and nurtured our dreams as if each niece or nephew were the only one.

"My bride is wounded, and I am asking you to help her." This was the invitation the Serra Club of Spokane heard from their chaplain, Father Daniel Barnett, at a board meeting just before the beginning of Lent. “The Church, the bride of Christ, is suffering because of the sins of her members — all of her members. And all of us are called to help,” he observed.