Fr. Jim's Blog

A Lesson on Fence Building During one of my summers while home from college I worked for a real estate company in landscape maintenance. A friend of mine was the manager and I had told her I had a hard time finding a job for the summer. She graciously offered to put me to work for her company. While I was excited about the pay, which was pretty good, the idea of spending much of the summer working outside wasn’t too appealing. The thermometer usually stays pretty high in the Tri-Cities, Washington during the summer months, and I’ve never been that fond of “outdoor” work. Nonetheless, I was desperate for money for my college expenses so I took the job. That summer I found myself doing a variety of things to fix-up and maintain properties. My favorite job was painting since that usually allowed me to be in an air-conditioned climate. My least favorite work was weeding and mowing lawns. One day while working at an apartment complex, the manager there asked m...

Below is the video answer to one of the question a young adult asked for the "According to Father" series from the Archdiocese of Seattle.

The homily has been posted for the 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time. Since I recorded it from my studio at home, it is a little longer than the actual one I delivered because we had a witness speaker after the homily for our Stewardship campaign. I will spend some time tomorrow morning producing a video for the Archdiocese of Seattle. I have agreed to be part of the "According to Father" program for Youth Ministry. There are several other priests who are also participating in the project as you can see from the poster below.  The program consists in having young adults present questions for us to answer via a video. I have 13 questions to answer and some of them require a little homework, which isn't a bad thing:) I will put a link to the video once it is completed if you are interested in viewing it. 

I have posted the homily from the weekend Masses. You can go to my podcast page by clicking here. 

One area of concern for Christians is how they use their speech. Jesus tells us in the Gospel of Matthew, "I tell you, on the day of judgment people will render an account for every careless word they speak" (chapter 12 verse 36). St. James says the following: For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by the human species, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings who are made in the likeness of God. (James 3: 7-9) I wish I could brag about having mastered this important area of Christian behavior, but I am far from doing so. I have also noticed how easily we can fall into gossip and rumors when we don't have adequate information or are not interested in seeking the truth about a person or situation.  I am always on the lookout for down-to-earth practical resources to help us live a more authe...

I am incredibly grateful for the teaching and instruction I received through our college prayer group while attending the University of Idaho. Shortly after my first year, the prayer group sponsored a Life in the Spirit Seminar. Our small group leader was a senior who took the time to meet with each person in our group before the 5th session when we were prayed over for a release of the Holy Spirit. I remember having a bit of apprehension about one particular gift: the gift of tongues. He told me to be open to whatever the Lord wanted to give me.  Sometime after the prayer for  Baptism in the Holy Spirit, I was kneeling by my bed in my dorm room and something came out of my mouth that I didn't understand. That was the beginning of receiving and using the gift of tongues. While St. Paul says it is the "least of the gifts", it has been incredibly helpful to me. It wasn't long before I realized that I could sing in tongues and that is always a powerful experience.  I...

The homily from this past weekend's Mass has been posted. I am back on track and will podcast a homily each week. You can access the homily by clicking here.