Newsletter | September 12, 2023

TWENTY-FOURTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

Saturday at 5:00pm

Sunday at 9:00am

Sunday at 11:00am

TWENTY-FOURTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

PRACTICE OF HOPE

Peter is looking for a clear, bright line beyond which there is no hope of forgiveness. How much, he seems to be asking, are we to tolerate from our brothers and sisters before we can write them off? As humans, we are all drawn to such definite boundaries. What's more, we tend to weigh God's mercy using our finite capacity for forgiveness as a measure. But as Christians, we know that God's forgiveness is limitless, and if we hope in the eternal forgiveness of God, we must also offer that forgiveness to others.

• Examine your conscience and ask yourself: What sin of mine, or what sin against me, am I hugging tight? Can I let that sin go? Do I truly believe in God's forgiveness? Can I offer that forgiveness to someone you has hurt me?
• Go to confession.
• Reconcile, if you can, with someone or some situation in your life that you are at odds with.

We are doing our best to continue to provide a safe space to worship for everyone. Click here to see current COVID safety measures.

Self-Screen | Live Stream Mass

CATHOLIC CAMPAIGN FOR HUMAN DEVELOPMENT COLLECTION

This Weekend, September 16-17

Please be generous in this week’s special collection for the Catholic Campaign for Human Development. In the United States, more than 11% of the population lives in poverty. Through this collection, you support programs that address the root causes of poverty and provide a sustainable future for those struggling across the country. In addition, 25% of the funds we collect remain in our diocese to fund local anti-poverty projects. Please prayerfully consider how you can support this collection and support those working on the margins. More information about the Catholic Campaign for Human Development can be found at www.usccb.org/cchd.

STYROFOAM RECYCLING

Sunday, September 17 from 10:00am - 3:00pm

Bring your Styrofoam for recycling to church this Sunday after all Masses and during our SJV Parish picnic, in the back parking lot. All material must be clean, dry, and free from any tape or labels. Look for the #6 or EPS inside the recycle symbol. Please contact Susan, sweaver@sjvkirkland.org to help or for more information. 

CELEBRATION OF CULTURES PARISH PICNIC

Sunday, September 17 from 12:00-3:00pm on the South Lawn

Please bring friends and neighbors to this fun, free, family event!

ENTERTAINMENT SCHEDULED

• We will open with the Hawaiian Tunes of parishioners - Greg Lum, Colin Radford, Angelina Lum, and Chris Klepper!
• 1:00pm: Special Guests - Kalahi Dance Company from the Filipino Community of Seattle, will perform some wonderful folk dances for us!
• Not to miss Cultural Performances from parishioners - Angelina Lum, Cecilia Canaca, the Filipino Community, and the Vietnamese Community!
• 2:00pm: Special Guests - Gansango Music & Dance from South Seattle will provide an energetic program combining traditional and contemporary African dance and drumming!
• A Martial Arts Demonstration from parishioner Frank Mateo, and Flamenco Dancing from Luz Franco (one of our preschool teachers) and Kristin Roy!
• 2:45pm: Raffle Basket Drawings! 

SJV LISTENING SESSIONS

The Partners in the Gospel initiative is continuing to move forward. Our parish’s proposed partnership will be announced at Masses the weekend of September 23 and 24. We will have several listening sessions in the following three weeks. Please sign up to attend a listening session here, on the signup sheets in the Narthex, or by emailing the parish office at sec@sjvkirkland.org. If none of the listening session options shown work for your schedule, please check back soon as we will be adding more sessions, and at least one Zoom session.

The listening sessions will be structured along the lines of the synodal process - two main questions will be put forth:

1. What concerns do you have about the proposed family grouping? What challenges might this grouping pose?
2. What hopes do you have regarding the proposed family grouping? What opportunities or possibilities might this grouping offer?

All people present for the listening session will have an opportunity to speak on the questions and all comments will be given to the Archdiocese for their continued discernment. Trained facilitators will lead the sessions.

Please continue to pray for the church in Western Washington as we move through this time of transition.

Please review the Partners in the Gospel materials available to become more familiar with the overall mission of the Church, the goals of this effort, and the process we are undertaking.

QUILTERS

The quilters have been busy! Look at all the beautiful quilts they’ve created to donate to KidVantage (formerly Eastside Baby Corner). Labors and gifts of love!

This wonderful ministry meets every Wednesday morning at 10:00am in the Social Hall to make quilts for those in nursing homes or recovering from illness. Anyone can join them in the social hall! If you would like to join this group but are inexperienced with quilting, they would love to help you get started. Contact Kathy Egan with questions, 425-864-4325.

RECTANGULAR TISSUE BOXES

The preschool music teacher is in need of empty rectangular tissue boxes for a craft project. If you can save yours and donate them, please drop them off in the parish office. 

CATHOLIC KIDS' CATECHISM CLUB

Begins Sunday, October 1 or Monday, October 2

Time to put our heads together to start another year of CKCC! Kids ages 3 years old through 5th grade are invited to sign up for the fun and learning that comes with membership into coolest club in town! We learn about our faith, complete some wacky challenges that teach us about all sorts of aspects of our Catholic Faith, and how to be lights in the world for others! 

Registration forms are available here.

• 3 year olds – kindergarteners are scheduled during the 9:00am Sunday Mass.
• Grades 1-5 are scheduled either from 10:00 -11:00am on Sundays, or from 7:00-8:00pm on Mondays.

Catechism Clubhouse Leaders and assistants are also needed to get this year’s clubs started!  

HARRY POTTER RETREAT

September 22-24 at SJV

High School and Middle School are invited to Faith & The Deathly Hallows (Part 2) Retreat, themed after the eighth movie in the series. We will have a 3-day (no overnight) retreat experience here at SJV:

• Friday 6-9pm - Movie Night, Deathly Hallows (part 2) open to all MS & HS
• Saturday 9am - 5pm for those registered for the retreat
• Sunday 8am - 12:30pm for those registered for the retreat

Join us for this kickoff event! Space is limited so email Maybeth, mterashima@sjvkirkland.org to register soon!

After our kickoff Harry Potter Retreat, Youth Group will meet on Sundays from 5:00-6:30pm. Join us for Mission Impossible night on Sunday, October 1. Looking forward to seeing everyone! Registration forms are available here.

LAUDATO SI'

REFLECTIONS ON CARING FOR OUR COMMON HOME

Forward Thinking and Living in History

As Christians, we believe that God entered human history in a very forceful and dramatic way through the Incarnation. Yet He did so in a way that did not destroy or overturn human history, but rather that was based on human history at the same time that it transcended it.

St. Matthew begins his Gospel with the genealogy of Jesus Christ (Matthew 1:1-17). In doing so, Matthew is making several theological statements, one of which concerns the relationship of Jesus Christ to human history. As the Messiah, Jesus encapsulates (or perhaps, following St. Irenaeus, one might say recapitulates) the entire history of his people. Matthew is concerned not only with showing that Jesus is a descendant of King David, but also that the continuity of the Davidic line rested on some dubious moral and ethical behavior. Tamar, for example, posed as a prostitute to seduce Judah, to whose son she was betrothed; Rahab was a prostitute who betrayed her own people to support the Israelites. Along with kings of deep faith, the Davidic line also included kings who were devoted to Yahweh but failed to take serious measures against pagan worship, along with kings who committed idolatry by embraced pagan worship and pagan sacrifice. Jesus, in other words, lived in history, and the history of his people profoundly shaped him. As the author of Hebrews points out, “Therefore he had to be made like his brethren in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest…For because he himself has suffered and been tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted.” (Hebrews 2:37-38). Because he was rooted in the history of his people, Jesus through his life and ministry linked past, present, and future.

Just as Jesus did, we both individually and as the national and global Church are called to live in history. That means to look at our history honestly, to assess its strengths and weaknesses, its triumphs and its defeats, its virtues and its sinfulness. This calls for a careful and objective examination of our history with a view to transforming it and, where we have sinned, to bringing healing to those injured through our actions.

Contemporary Western culture, on the other hand, emphasizes individualism, the self-definition of the individual, instant self-gratification, and moral relativism. The individual (and not the family, not society, and not social/cultural/religious organizations) is held to be self-defining, while the influence of the family, society, and social/cultural/religious organizations is minimized or denied altogether. These cultural changes have found their way into Western Christianity, with the result that the linkage between past, present, and future has been broken. We often focus so much on ourselves and on the present that we forget about both the past and the future. In other words, we fail to live in history,

Our next series of posts will focus on the future and on the importance of forward thinking – on recognizing that the consequences of our actions transcend the present, on planning for the future, on considering the kind of world we are leaving for our children and their children. Engaging in forward thinking, however, requires that we ground ourselves in the past. We cannot go forward unless we know how we got here, unless we live in and confront our history.

Living in history calls for an objective and often painful examination of our past. And here lies a significant problem: as both Americans and as Catholics, we typically not only do not see ourselves as living in history, but to the extent that we do, the history that we recognize is often largely fictitious. Both histories tend to emphasize the good while ignoring the bad and the evil.

While American history includes a growing recognition of the dignity of the individual and the inalienable rights of individuals, it also includes genocide against native peoples, an economy based on the enslavement of Blacks, enforced segregation in the South, a foreign policy that often installed and supported extremely tyrannical dictators overseas, and the use of nuclear weapons at Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

As Catholics, we should recognize the enormous contribution made by our faith to the shaping of the world around us. The works of charity, the formation of the university system, the emphasis on education for all, the deep faith that motivated a commitment to the dignity of the individual, have all been responsible for transforming societies. But we should also recognize the dark side of Catholicism and Christianity: the Crusades (which even after a millennium still affects Christian-Muslim relations), the intolerance that led Catholics to wage war against Lutherans and Calvinists (who in turn waged war against Catholics), the Inquisition that focused on the rooting out of individuals who were “heretics,” the collaboration with political power that led to the conquest of the Americas and the denial of the humanity of indigenous peoples, and more recently the sex abuse scandals.

Especially because our culture separates us from our histories, living in history imposes some requirements:

• That we learn more about our history and especially the history of our faith (an area of weakness for many Catholics), and that we struggle to separate truth from fiction, propagandistic history from genuine history.
• That we not only recognize our shortcomings and our sinfulness, but that we repent of them, strive to bring healing to those who were injured, and ensure that they will never happen again. A good example is the Vatican’s repudiation in March 2023 of the doctrine of discovery, which was formulated starting with Pope Alexander VI’s papal bull Inter Caetera in 1493 and gave Western political powers ownership of “undiscovered” lands, thus preempting the rights of indigenous inhabitants
• That we recognize, as St. Vincent of Lerins pointed out, that history is a forward-only process. A return to an idealized past is not possible, and attempts to return to an idealized past have catastrophic consequences (as the attempt to restore the ancien régime in the aftermath of Napoleon’s defeat suggests). This is particularly important for American Catholics today given the rise of Christian nationalism, which presents a completely falsified image of American history in advocating a return to a supposedly Godly nation.

In his commentary on our Lord’s parable of the wheat and the wheat, St. Augustine points out that the separation of the weeds from the wheat must wait until the harvest because each of us is capable of being either wheat or a weed at any given time. Living in history means that we strive to be wheat not only individually, but for our nation, for our church, and for the world.

September 13 Fr. Vu will be returning from a pilgrimage. There will be a Word & Communion Service at 9:00am in the chapel instead of Adoration & Mass. Adoration & Mass with Fr. Vu will resume on September 14.

THE LETTER: A MESSAGE FOR OUR EARTH

FOLLOW UP DISCUSSION

Tomorrow - Wednesday, September 13 at 7:00pm in the Social Hall

PARISH PICNIC SET UP

This Saturday, September 16 at 10:00am on the South Lawn

CONFIRMATION PREPARATION FAMILY MEETING

This Saturday, September 16 from 2:30-4:45pm

STUDY OF THE PATRISTIC TRADITION

As Catholics, our faith has been preserved and handed down to us over the course of almost 2,000 years. A critical role in preserving and further articulating the faith of Jesus and the Apostles was played by the Patristic Fathers and Mothers during the first eight centuries after Christ’s death and resurrection. Yet today, despite Vatican II’s call to return to the Patristic tradition, we’ve virtually lost sight of the Patristic Fathers and their contributions to our faith. Often, the best we can say is, “I’ve heard of her (or him).” Join us as we study the Patristic tradition and, in the process, learn more about our faith and who we are as Catholics. The class will be held remotely via Zoom on Monday evenings from 7:00 to 8:30 PM starting on September 18, 2023. The course text is Mike Aquilina’s The Fathers of the Church, 3rd Edition, available in a Kindle edition from Amazon. To register, please call the parish office or sign up at the welcome table in the narthex.

RACIAL JUSTICE AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

As we as a people of faith continue to struggle with the issue of racism in society and in the church, it appears that, while there is a unanimous recognition that racism Is sinful or evil, there is little shared agreement about what racism is. Also surprisingly, there is almost never an attempt to provide a Biblical or theological underpinning for the rejection of racism. In addition, in both Christianity and Catholicism in America, there is rarely a consistent emphasis or recommended course of action for combatting racism. As a result, for many of the unchurched, the Catholic Church appears to be largely indifferent to the issue of racism and social justice. However, both individually and as the people of God as a whole, we can deepen our understanding of racism, repent of racism, begin to actively promote racial justice, and so fulfill our mission of imitating Christ in the world. One of the ways to do this is to directly confront racism through study.

Each Thursday evening at 7:00 P.M. starting on September 21, 2023, we will examine the relationship of the Catholic Church to racism. The class is online using Zoom; all sessions are recorded and will be available on the SJV Kirkland Adult Faith Formation Channel on YouTube. The class will focus on Fr. Bryan Massingale’s book Racial Justice and the Catholic Church, (available as a Kindle edition from Amazon or as a free one-hour loan from Internet Archive) along with Conor Kelly’s book, Racism & Structural Sin (available as a Kindle edition from Amazon). To register, please call the parish office or sign up at the welcome table in the narthex.

AUCTION PLANNING MEETING

Wednesday, September 20 at 5:30pm in the Social Hall

KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS

Thursday, September 21 at 7:00pm

Membership is open to males 18 years of age or older who are practicing Catholics. Meetings are every third Thursday of the month at 7:00pm. For more information contact the Grand Knight: Brad Lund, bradelund@comcast.net. See you then!

This year’s Oktoberfest will take place on October 28. It will have all the fun, food, and excitement as last year’s event. Ticket sales will start after masses in a couple weeks.

SENIOR DINNER DATE CHANGE

Saturday, September 30 after the 5:00pm Mass

If you are 55 or older, we would like to invite you (single and married couples) to our monthly dinners held the third Saturday of every month. After dinner we play the Left, Right, Center dice game, so remember to bring four quarters. For $10, come join us for food and fun. Please prepay with cash and sign up at the parish office by Tuesday, September 26. We look forward to seeing you! Friends are welcome!

"YOU ARE THE VINE, WE ARE THE BRANCHES"

GALA DINNER & AUCTION

Saturday, November 4 after Mass at 4:00pm

We are looking forward to a fun night of good food and good friends – all while supporting the works of SJV.

Thank you to everyone who has donated the corks for decorations, we have plenty now.

Our auction helps to fund everything we do at SJV from spiritual nourishment of Mass and bible studies to bodily nourishment through Sunday donuts, Lazarus House sandwich making, and St. Vincent de Paul. We need your help – not just to come to the auction and bid on items, but also to help procure items for everyone to bid on. A successful auction requires about 300 items. We currently have less than 100 items that have been procured. PLEASE try to procure at least one item from a business you frequent or own or have a friend who owns. We need to get these in as the procurement deadline is OCTOBER 9! Thank you to those of you who have procured items and turned them in. It is invaluable to have them early and see what we can look forward to bidding on.

Procurement letters, forms, and a “tip” sheet are available in the Narthex at the Welcome Table.

We will be sharing some of these items as displays in the Narthex in October. Looking forward to a lovely evening on November 4!

Not sure you want to buy a ticket to the Gala? We are looking for volunteers at every level, so those interested in joining an auction committee can contact Ann V. at avandewark@sjvkirkland.org or sign up at the Parish Picnic or after Masses in late September. If you need some guidance on where you would best fit, Ann can help you decide where you would most enjoy volunteering, and make sure you’re comfortable!

We will be having a planning meeting on Wednesday, September 20 at 5:30pm in the Social Hall. ALL ARE INVITED AND WELCOME!

WOMEN'S BOOK GROUP

Every first Tuesday at 7:00pm in the Parish Office. See you October 3!

Learn more

GOODWIN GROUP TREK

All are welcome October 28 - November 4. Contact Kenny & Mary at 425-466-4460 or goodwin.hp@gmail.com. Learn more

NATIONAL EUCHARISTIC REVIVAL

The National Eucharistic Revival is a national movement to restore understanding and devotion to the Real Presence in the Eucharist. At the local level, Archbishop Paul D. Etienne is encouraging increased participation in the liturgical life of the Church, especially through Eucharistic Adoration.

To learn more and how the Archdiocese of Seattle is participating, go to archseattle.org/eucharisticrevival.