This space is usually reserved for Fr. Bill’s letter to the parish, but today he is on the road to Arizona to begin his sabbatical. Please continue to keep him in your prayers on his physical and spiritual journey. We may be surprised with a letter from him in the next four months, but until that time, this space will be filled with letters to the parish from our ministerial and staff and volunteer leaders, who will take turns sharing with you the work of their ministries, and some of their personal journeys of faith. We are blessed with extremely dedicated, hard-working, faithful individuals, who continually give their all to develop and foster parish life. It will be good to read their stories.

As I have taken over more of the communications, I write the weekly newsletter, Facebook posts, parish emails and update the website and I often wonder what percentage of the parish I am actually reaching. When I hear people say they didn't know something was going on I feel discouraged that I'm not doing enough. During this COVID time we have tried even harder to reach everyone as so many of us cannot attend Mass. Because we are no longer handing out bulletins we started a weekly newsletter that we distribute electronically, and for those parishioners who do not have an email address in our database, we mail the newsletter twice a month. If you have an email address and are not receiving our newsletter electronically, we may have an out of date address. Please call the parish office and let us know. We use Facebook and our website to reach others. I encourage everyone to visit our webpage, www.stvincentparish.org, to like us on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/StVincentparishFW, and to join us for Mass Live if you are not able to attend in person.

My job is to make sure all of our parishioners know what is going on at St. Vincent de Paul Parish and I take this job seriously. If you have any comments or suggestions on how to better "spread the word" please contact me at dcarasa@stvincentparish.org. Thank you for letting me be part of your parish.

Next weekend we are going to hear a little bit about a new program coming to the parish. PREPARES Pregnancy and Parenting Support is a nurturing response of the Catholic community in Washington state, open to all, to provide meaningful, local and sustainable support to mothers, fathers, and families as they nurture their children through pregnancy and early childhood. Volunteers at the PREPARES program offer support and activities for families from pregnancy to a child’s fifth birthday. Prepares is a parish based partnership that provides, free of charge, food, diapers and wipes, clothing, housing referral, support groups and parenting classes to families in need. St. Vincent de Paul is starting out as a support partner, by collecting diapers, formula, clothing and baby essentials and distributing them to local families. Next week is the Prepares Valentine Appeal 2021 and we will be taking a collection to support the Prepares program in Western Washington. Envelopes are available at the Check-In desk at Mass, or you can donate online at www.preparesforlife.org.

When: Sundays, beginning February 21st

Time: 3pm - 4pm (informal gathering begins at 2:30pm)

Where: Zoom

We are going to be doing the Formed program, “Into the Desert: A Lenten Study on Prayer.” Follow the link for more information on the study. https://watch.formed.org/into-the-desert

This study is open to all parents in our parish no matter the age of your children or if you have ever come before. If you want to learn more about prayer and how to pray then this study is for you. To sign up call the parish office or email Katie at kgoodson@stvincentparish.org.

Fridays in Lent we encourage everyone to participate in Stations of the Cross. Due to COVID restrictions and our limited staff we will only will be holding one "in person" Stations of the Cross.

It's Vincentian ( Our 55+ group) time again. Once again we will be playing games on Zoom. We will be playing the Ungame on February 16th at noon (this is a date change from February 9th due to a Funeral). You can registering by clicking the link below or by emailing Katie at kgoodson@stvincentparish.org. I am looking forward to seeing all of you for an afternoon of fun and friendship.

Join with hundreds of Catholics as we put our faith in action as we advocate for economic and racial equity in a Virtual Catholic Advocacy Day in Olympia, Thursday, March 23, 2021. The day will include Mass, briefing on legislative issues, advocacy tips and appointments with legislators, social media campaigns. Register at www.ipjc.org by March 9, 2021.

DONATE -Support PREPARES by donating to the OPEN YOUR HEART campaign by mail or online at PREPARESforlife.org

VOLUNTEER - Become a trained PREPARES volunteer at a local Catholic parish as a FAMILY COMPANION or SUPPORT GROUP member for Moms and Dads. Both opportunities provide practical, emotional presence and support to families in need.

ASSIST - Sponsor a parish based NEEDS DRIVE to collect and distribute food and household needs or a CLOTHING CLOSET accessible to PREPARES families. Establish a parish TRAVELING CRIB for the collection of baby essentials. Provide age appropriate PREPARES BAGS filled with infant and child items such as diapers and wipes, blankets, toys and books.

For more information please visit www.preparesforlife.org

♦ Don’t let Covid keep you from taking time for your relationship. Join us for a virtual WWME experience from the comfort of your home.

♦ Want to put the romance back into your relationship? 

♦ The Worldwide Marriage Encounter Weekend offers married couples an opportunity to get off the treadmill of life and focus on each other.

♦ It is a chance to look deeply into your relationship with each other and with God.

Sign up today to attend one of the upcoming virtual Worldwide Marriage Encounter Weekends that is in the Puget Sound area February 18-20, 2021

Early registration is highly recommended. For more information visit our website at: www.wwme.org. Please contact Jeff and Sandy Corneil at jeff.sandy.corneil@wwme.org, 360.930.2221, if you have questions.

Little Books can be ordered directly from the website at littlebooks.org. They are available in paper and ebook formats. You can also get all the seasonal books on the Little Books app available for iOS and Android devices. To learn more about the app, go to littlebooks.org/app

Ways to give: