Fr. Jim's Blog

I am writing this update from the Archbishop Brunett Retreat Center at the Palisades in Federal Way. We are so fortunate to have such a beautiful retreat center in our Archdiocese. I have conducted numerous retreats here over the past 17 years.  How well I remember coming here nearly 18 years ago for my diaconate retreat. It snowed during that week and I stared out the window for quite some time watching planes come and go from the Sea-Tac airport. My seminary formation was rapidly drawing to an end and I was overwhelmed at how quickly the 5 years had gone by. I borrowed my Aunt Millie's car who was in the nursing home. I decided to make a surprise visit to her during my retreat. I had a great conversation with her and during that time and she said she was proud of our family and that she was ready to "move on". She "moved on" to her eternal reward on March 17, 1997. I flew up to sing at her funeral. She was a remarkably generous and kind person and I always e...

I should be working on a number of things but I feel like I am at the end of my rope for the day and have decided to try and retire early and get up very early for a very busy day. In April I knew I was going to get a refund on my taxes and with all the talk of tax fraud, I simply chose to file for an automatic extension. If it hadn't been for the Mass yesterday with the reference to the "tax collector" I think I would have totally forgotten to get that done. It shouldn't take me too long to complete my tax return, thanks to TurboTax. In 2002 I filed for an extension and unfortunately, my Grandmother, Edna Martinson, was dying and passed away on August 16, 2002. I completely forgot about the extension and got a heavy fine for being late. That isn't going to happen as I will get the return filed tomorrow before midnight. I am planning on leaving early in the morning for the Tri-Cities. I am the State Chaplain for the Catholic Daughters of the Americas and will ...

I wanted to share the Daily Meditation from The Word Among Us. It is incredibly encouraging especially for our brothers and sisters throughout the world who are experiencing persecution. Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. (Matthew 16:24) A letter to our sisters and brothers who are following Jesus in situations of extreme hardship: There are millions of you suffering silently—a hundred million, some experts say. You are Catholics and Orthodox, Protestants and Pentecostals, and you live in almost 140 countries in Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East. You follow Jesus as you take up the crosses that come to us all: sickness, financial worries, family problems, and so on. But unlike most of us who are reading this, you also bear the heavy cross of anti-Christian persecution and violence. Some of you are denied access to good jobs and educational opportunities. Some of you are forbidden to build churches, pray toget...

Fishing has been pretty slow with regards to salmon and halibut. We will go out one last time tomorrow and try and pick up some halibut. We caught a nice collection of bottom fish today. This is our final trip to Tofino. My dad has said this in years past but we both agreed on this being our last time to come here. It's become quite the tourist trap and the fishing just isn't what it used to be. We may explore fishing out of Victoria or somewhere else. My brother commented that people are catching salmon in the Columbia river. My dad commented, "who wants to go fishing in a 106 degree heat for salmon?" I think I might like to:) You can always jump in the river to cool off or invest in a large umbrella. It's still been a good trip and the weather has been great. We will leave early Friday morning for Bothell. I will have to share a great blessing the Lord provided for me last week. God is very good to me!

As of this post, I have officially not slept for 28 hours. I don't feel the least sleepy or tired but know this wave I am riding is soon going to come crashing down. Hopefully, that will happen sometime after the weekend Masses. I may try and catch some zzz's right after morning Mass today in anticipation of Reconciliation and Mass this evening. I have never had such bad jetlag and thought I was managing my transition back to Pacific Standard Time well. I obviously wasn't! It is good to be home from a long couple of days of travel. Hope you all had a great 4th of July.

I arrived home last evening and got my bags into my bedroom and then crashed until 1AM. I then got up unpacked, went to the office, went shopping, and then prepared for Daily Mass. I'm not exactly sure when I will "run out of gas" but it is great to be home after a good visit with Fr. Johnnie and his parish. I will have more to report on in the days ahead. I did not have any internet access while I was away and the only means of communication was with my Delorme InReach device. This enabled me to provide very brief (160 characters or less) posts to Facebook. I did take notes and journal a bit and while this visit was very different than my first one in 2008, I have no doubt a good foundation has been laid out to help us progress in forming a sister-parish relationship. I met a gentleman on the plane ride from London to Seattle who was from Holy Family Parish in Kirkland. I noticed he was reading a piece of Catholic literature and asked him if he was a Catholic. He has...

I enjoyed a great Priest Days this year and was very impressed with the speakers and the topic for the event. It was incredibly relevant to the challenges and joys of parish ministry and I feel like I walked away with a greater understanding of what needs to change in order to help people enter into a deeper relationship with the Lord and sense of ownership within the parish. Now comes the time for prayer and practical implementation. The book that was referenced during the talks, Forming Intentional Disciples , by Sherry Weddell, works very well with another popular book which focuses on the renewal of the parish. That book is Rebuilt, by Michael White and Tom Corcoran. I came home Thursday afternoon and wasn't feeling well. I picked up some kind of 24 hour bug but took it easy on Friday and I'm feeling much better. I have a busy day ahead but it was nice to get a little break after Mass this morning. I have a total of 4 Masses today. I leave Monday afternoon for a brief t...