Liturgy truly unites heaven and earth. It is not so much things that we do or activities that we plan but is God himself at work through the celebration of the mysteries. It is essentially his work and its most important fruit is the inner transformation of all those who come to his presence with an open heart.

In short, Holy Week is always a time of blessing and people who came to the celebrations at St Patrick’s can bear witness to it. Each day there was an overwhelming sense that it truly was a Holy time and that God was at work blessing his people and allowing them to partake in his death and resurrection. We praise God for the beautiful liturgy, decoration, choir, the growth in people’s attendance but above all for Christ’s work in our hearts!

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On Holy Monday Archbishop Vlazny celebrated the Chrisms Mass that gathered a big assembly from all the corners of the Archdioceses. In the celebration all the priests present renewed their promises, and the oils to be used in the celabration of the sacraments were consecrated. In his homily Archbishop Vlazny spoke about the commitment that the priest has with his flock. All the members of the SSJ and SM participated in this beautiful celebration along with some college students from the Fragua program. A great way to start Holy Week!

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During February and March 2012 we ran a first edition of Quest, an evangelization series led by the SSJ for adults, similar in format to the Fragua program. We formed this team from young adults that had previously participated at Fragua in College and also from people who are active at St. Patrick’s church in Portland. In this first Quest, we had 20 team members come together to grow in prayer, become acquainted with the new format of the program and to start getting ready for Quest in the Fall.

Fr. Ivan Pertine led some of the sessions and challenged people to think of this as the first seed: “I think God wants to bring a lot more people back, to reach out to them. He wants to see many have the blessings that we have in a relationship with Christ”. Others speakers for the series were Fr. Lucas Laborde, Fr. Ignacio Llorente, Dcn. Federico Dundas, Sr. Teresa Harrell, Josh Jones and Elizabeth Dorthalina.

The moments of common prayer were, in the opinion of the group, some of the most moving in their lives. Many remarked that they could experience God’s presence and love in a very powerful way during those gatherings. We hope that many will soon come to experience the same.

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Last Tuesday Juan Ignacio Soria and Teodosio Brea were instituted as readers. The ceremony, held at Mount Angel Abbey, was presided by the Archbishop of Seattle, Mons. Sartain.

From the rite of Institution:

 “In proclaiming God’s word to others, accept it yourselves in obedience to the Holy Spirit. Meditate on it constantly, so that each day you will have a deeper love of the Scriptures, and in all you say and do show forth to the world our Savior, Jesus Christ.”

Let us pray for Juan and Teo so that they may become authentic witnesses of  the Gospel!

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Seventy people attended Fragua XIII last weekend.  The talks were powerful and many people experienced a renewal of faith through confession, in moments of personal reflection on one’s life, in moments of silence, in speaking with their peers, and in strong prayer moments to the Holy Spirit.  The testimonies given by the leaders also touched many of those coming for the first time on the retreat.  They no longer felt they were the “only one” going through difficulties but came to realize there are others going through some of the same trials and difficulties.  They came to find a new community of faith and of friendship founded in Christ.  One attending the retreat said of their experience, “This retreat gave me the opportunity to reflect on many things that I was not able to do before.  I was able to get away from the business of life and be in silence.  It was a life-changing experience for me and one in which I found joy again!”

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