Dear Friends in Christ,

This Sunday is Pentecost, which, after Easter and Christmas, is considered the most important feast in the church’s liturgical year. The church of Jesus is not our idea but is born through the power and gifts of the Holy Spirit. So let me wish you all a very “Happy Birthday!” The Book of Acts, which we hear in our first reading this Sunday, tells us that the earliest disciples experienced together the fire of the same spirit, but who spoke to them in their own individual languages. St. Paul tells us in his letter to the Corinthians that different gifts are given in various forms to individuals in the Christian Community, yet they originate in the one spirit.

What does this great feast remind us of in our life together as a NE Seattle Catholic Community? We are indeed made up of many parts across our four parishes. The buildings, history, cultures, and personalities are each unique and different. I have enjoyed getting to know all four communities. I hope you spend time at all our sister parishes as well. And yet Pentecost reminds us that though many parts, we are all one body in the Lord. That is the vision of the Partners in the Gospel plan for us to become one parish, combining our many gifts to share in NE Seattle. I hope everyone remembers that as we experience the inevitable growing pains of becoming a single parish community. The first Christians went through numerous trials in their growth as a church, yet found their strength in the many gifts of the Holy Spirit poured out on them all. 80 of our youth received those gifts in the sacrament of confirmation this past Thursday. Here’s looking forward to the myriad ways the Holy Spirit will work through them and all of us!

Come, Holy Spirit!

Fr. William Heric, Pastor