Fr. Jim's Blog

First off, Happy Easter! The last few weeks have been incredibly busy. I haven't had much time to think about a blog entry because of the pace of parish life, but now that Easter has arrived things aren't quite so hectic. (Knock on wood!) A lot of priests take the week after Easter off to recharge. I am taking the second week of Easter off and will reconnect with some friends from the seminary. It will be good to have some down time and I am looking forward to my departure on Sunday evening.  I had a good visit with my brother and his family the week before Holy Week. We did a number of tourist things, including Ride The Ducks in Seattle. It was a little cold and I sure appreciated the blankets they provided as we zipped around Seattle with the windows (or plastic shades) down. I have always been fascinated by amphibious vehicles and remember one in Richland that would cross the Columbia river before they built a bridge. We also visited the zoo and I bought a membership and...

I have posted the Lenten Resources for the 5th Sunday of Lent. I didn't record a message for the After The Homily Resource as it is very time consuming and practically no one has clicked on the link according to the statistics at YouTube. This is a very busy time of the year. Your prayers are greatly appreciated as we journey into Holy Week and Easter. Tomorrow is the Chrism Mass at St. James Cathedral. That is always a highlight in the year and I am looking forward to it. Have a blessed day! in Christ, Fr. Jim

I fixed the "After the Homily" resource for the 3rd week of Lent. There was part of the presentation with two audio tracks going on at the same time. I have uploaded the homily from the 10AM Mass yesterday and provided the homily notes. An English speaking woman came to the Spanish Mass so I showed her the quote I read from the book from Pope Francis. I think she thought I was loaning it to her and she took it home. I had asked her to return it after the Mass. As soon as I get it I will add the quote to the homily notes and the description of the podcast. I will also post another "After the Homily" resource in the next couple of days. You can find all of the Lenten resources so far by clicking here. My brother and sister-in-law arrived this evening. We will be doing a number of tourist things over the next few days.

I tape Life Today with Betty and James Robison every morning but seldom have the time to watch any of the episodes. Today I felt inclined to watch the episode that was being taped and there was a very powerful message about a young man with a fatal heart condition who died about two and half years ago. Here  is the link to the episode. Then watch Ben's video presentation which they didn't know about until after he died. That is on YouTube and you can watch part one by clicking  here.  Part two should be in the upper right hand corner. Then watch his sister Ally, talk about the last few days of his life and the events that surrounded his death. Click  here  for that video. Beautiful message about life. My favorite quote is that eternal life is God's gift to us and that life on earth is our gift to God.

I have changed the format for the Daily Thought and will be posting those through a new blog. The page will appear on the website as an external page, so it looks a little different. The good thing is I can update the Daily Thought from anywhere and have it updated on the website. This will be very handy when I travel.

I have published the Podcast for the 1st Sunday of Lent. I also have provided an additional "After The Homily" teaching on temptation. Click here for the podcast. Click here for the Lenten Resource section of my website. I leave Thursday for the Religious Education Congress in Anaheim. I am looking forward to seeing an old friend from college and numerous people I went to seminary with. The event draws a crowd of nearly 40,000 people. The weather report said it was going to be 88 degrees on Sunday. Wow! Hope your Lent is off to a good start. Mine is!

On Saturday I joined Barbara McGuigan, host of "The Good Fight" for a two hour program featuring a great book by Trent Beattie titled "Finding True Happiness" . The episode has been posted. You can listen to the program by clicking here. here. I have also posted the homily for the 7th Sunday in Ordinary Time (February 23, 2014). You can listen to it by clicking here.