News - February 2019 RSS Feed

Nazareth Guild provided four grant opportunities to our 16 Catholic schools again this year! Principals were invited to apply for School Partnership and Bishop Brigade grants; teachers were given the opportunity to apply for funding through the Continuing Education and Teacher Initiative grants process.

Each Sunday at Mass, the priest dismisses the faithful by saying, "Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life." This exhortation poses important questions. What truly glorifies God? How can we take the deeply spiritual Eucharist into a determinedly secular world?

In our age, any offense by another is easily found and even more easily shared. A cross word or a mistake in judgement is no longer a private matter between two imperfect people. Instead, a toddler who is rowdy on a plane is the subject of tweets and re-tweets – as is the adult passenger who complained about the rowdy toddler. A picture of a car in an ill-gained parking spot is publically broadcast, and a disagreement between a student, parent and teacher becomes fodder for the news in a way that used to be reserved for events of much broader significance.

The SEEK 2019 conference in Indianapolis gathered 17,000 college students and lifelong mission track attendees, such as FOCUS alumni and parish leaders, to this biennial Fellowship of Catholic University Students event.

The Catholic Bishops of Washington State submitted testimony today in support of Senate Bill 5339, which seeks to repeal the death penalty and require that life imprisonment without the possibility of parole become the sentence for aggravated first-degree murder convictions.

Feb 1, 2019 Dear Friends, Each January as the nation commemorates the sad anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision, marches are held, and vigils are prayed. Those committed to the cause of human rights of the unborn make their voices heard. This year, pro-abortion politicians fearing increased restrictions on abortion have advocated for and passed laws expanding access to abortion in the state of New York. Similar attempts have been made in Virginia. Efforts to expand access to abortion, allowing murder of children up to the moment of birth is evil. Children are a gift from God, no matter the circumstances of their conception. They not only have a right to life, but we as a society have a moral obligation to protect them from harm. The champion of this abortion legislation is Andrew Cuomo, a Catholic and governor of New York. Governor Cuomo frequently cites his Catholic faith in support of legislation he favors. His public witness as a Catholic politician, coupled with his stalwart support of abortion, is unacceptable. Politicians who reside in the Catholic Diocese of Spokane, and who obstinately persevere in their public support for abortion, should not receive Communion without first being reconciled to Christ and the Church (cf. Canon 915; "Worthiness to Receive Holy Communion. General Principles." Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, 2004). The Church’s commitment to the life of every human person from conception until death is firm. God alone is the author of life and for the civil government to sanction the willful murder of children is unacceptable. For a Catholic political leader to do so is scandalous. I encourage the faithful to turn to our Lord in prayer for our political leaders, entrusting them especially to the intercession of St. Thomas More, a public servant who preferred to die at the hands of civil authorities rather than abandon Christ and the Church. Let us also keep the unborn, as well as all pregnant mothers, in our prayers. Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us. Live, Jesus, in our hearts forever. In Christ, Most Reverend Thomas A. Daly Bishop of Spokane

The Catholic Schools of the Diocese of Spokane celebrate Catholic Schools Week in many ways - thanking the community, collecting food for St. Margaret's Shelter, and touring the state capitol.

As a blessed parish of the Spokane Diocese, we have been able to meet many needs of the Diocese of Solola, Guatemala. The mission of the Guatemala Mission Committee of Our Lady of Fatima Parish (GMC) is education of the indigenous Mayan people.

The annual Mass and Walk for Life NW occurred on January 12 in downtown Spokane. The Cathedral of Our Lady of Lourdes was full of young and old alike.

On December 12, the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Bishop Thomas Daly installed six laymen as acolytes at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Lourdes.

Three LEGO robotics teams from St. Mary Catholic School advanced to a state competition in January. The LEGO Wildlife team, consisting of fourth grade students, placed ninth in the Robot games. This is an amazing feat at the state level for a first year team.