The countdown is on to the WALK-A-THON! Next Friday, MAY 13th is the big day so be sure to share with all your friends and family how they can donate to support St. Louise School! Click here to find out all the details!

Family Walk a Thon Packets were sent home last week in the Red Envelope and you should have received an email with a personal fundraising link to send to all of your supporters. If you didn't receive your packet, please stop by the office and pick one up. Please email the walk a thon chairs if you didn't receive the email with your personal link.

If you have not yet picked up your auction purchases, please contact the auction office (auction@stlouiseschool.org) to schedule a time to pick them up. 

Come see what CROWD at St. Louise is all about this Friday, May 6th at 6:30 in the Parish Hall. Usually just open to 6th-8th graders, this Friday current 5th graders are welcome to join as well.

Find out more about CROWD here - we look forward to seeing lots of you in the hall this Friday!

The Father Mychal Judge Circle of ACC (Advocacy and Caring for Children)  will be holding their 11^th annual Cosmos for a Cause event at St. Louise School on May 19^th. Please join us! All are welcome and encouraged to attend this fun event which includes Hors d’oeuvres, cosmos, wine and desserts and features a silent auction of wonderful items! Every dollar raised goes to support agencies in the Seattle and Eastside area serving children and families living on the margins. The Father Mychal Judge Circle is made up entirely of St. Louise School alumni parents – we look forward to seeing you, celebrating, and supporting our community together!

Charger Cards is seeking help for the 2022-2023 school year! Stop by the window or email us at: chargercards@stlouiseschool.org

Dear Friends at St. Louise,

Happy Mother’s Day! Such a blessing to reflect on the lives of our mothers – in our own families and in our community – both living and deceased. I continue to be amazed at my own mother, Lenore Zender, who, at 88 years of life, continues with a positive, “can-do” attitude, despite the fact that she is losing her sight. She listens to all kinds of great things on her iPad, including Bishop Robert Barron and Fr. Mike Schmitz. Whenever I visit her, she prepares a great meal, usually a new recipe that she has come across. Since her parish no longer livestreams their Masses, she is a frequent virtual visitor at St. Louise Parish for both weekday and weekend Masses, as well as “Coffee and Donuts.” I have to be careful about what I say!

Memorial of St. Louise de Marillac on Monday, May 9! We will honor our parish patron St. Louise at our weekday Mass that day, and will invite you to join in a prayer for the intercession of St. Louise that we will post on our website and circulate through Flocknote. St. Louise, together with St. Vincent de Paul, did amazing work for the poor in Paris and founded the Daughters of Charity. Today, there are more than 14,000 Daughters of Charity living and working in more than 90 countries throughout the world. For us here at St. Louise too, serving the poor remains very important to living the mission of Jesus Christ. Locally, our parish has a special connection to the New Bethlehem Shelter in Kirkland, to Congregations for the Homeless, and to our own St. Vincent de Paul Society, to mention a few. Internationally, we are just entering into Standing with Haiti, together with St. Anthony Parish in Renton, to establish a sister parish and school relationship with St. Anne de Hyacynthe Parish and School in Haiti. You can find more information about all of this on our parish website.

Blessings to Fr. Ben! Most of you know by now that as of July 1 Fr. Ben will be assigned as Priest Administrator to Holy Trinity Parish in Bremerton. He, like Fr. Carlos last year, will be assigned to lead his new parish as a pastor does, but will not receive the official title of pastor until later. In recent years this has been the policy of the Archdiocese of Seattle – we no longer have the luxury of having our newly ordained priests serve two three-year terms as parochial vicars in a parish with a more senior priest as pastor, to give them more “on the job training” before taking on the responsibility of leading a parish. Fr. Ben and others like him will receive special training and support through the Archdiocese, to help them negotiate the challenges of leading a parish. (Your ACA dollars at work!) The designation “Priest Administrator” gives the priest the authority he needs to lead the parish, and gives both the bishop and the young priest the flexibility for him to be reassigned if things are not working as well as hoped. I have no doubt that Fr. Ben will do very well at Holy Trinity. Please keep him in prayer! It has a growing Hispanic community and is a bigger parish than we would normally give to a newly ordained priest. We know that they will love him and come around him with their support so that he will be wildly successful!

And we look forward to welcoming soon-to-be Fr. Josh Nehnevaj! Deacon Josh is from Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Vancouver, Washington, attended seminary at Mt. Angel, Oregon, and is now studying at the North American College in Rome. (Again, your ACA dollars at work!) He speaks English, Italian, and Spanish. I promised him he will be able to put his Spanish to excellent use here at St. Louise. He will return from Rome just a few days before his priestly ordination at St. James Cathedral on Saturday, June 25 at 10AM. (All are welcome to attend.) It will be a real whirlwind of activity for him to finish his studies, move back home from Rome, get ordained and celebrate his Mass of Thanksgiving. So, officially he begins his assignment on July 1, but we all understand that he will need some time to catch his breath! He will arrive here sometime in mid-July.

There is so much more to share, but that’s what next week’s column is for! Blessings to you all and especially to all our mothers!

Fr. Gary Zender

133 156th Avenue S.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

Phone: (425) 746-4220

Fax: (425) 644-3294