St. Patrick's Day Party 2020
Join us for an Irish celebration!
Ash Wednesday Collection 2020
Join us in supporting the KINO Border Initiative with our Ash Wednesday Collection. You can give to the fund directly by clicking here. Or you can help by purchasing a needed item from this Amazon Wish List. Help us, help the KINO Border Initiative continue their good work, click here to find out more about them. Last November a group from St. Joseph visited the KINO Border Initiative (KBI) in Nogales, Arizona and Sonora, Mexico to provide service and experience first hand the conditions of those crossing the US-Mexico border. KBI is a faith-based organization that is administered by the Jesuits. Responding to the needs and God-given dignity of migrants and deportees, KBI fosters education and provides humanitarian assistance and advocacy. Since their return, the St. Joseph delegation has shared their experiences on their mission trip both within and outside the parish, and has been actively involved in the parish’s ongoing efforts to stand in solidarity with the struggles of our immigrant brothers and sisters. Individual parishioners have been financially contributing to KBI, and St. Joseph will contribute as a parish through a special collection on Ash Wednesday. Another delegation will travel to KBI next November – stay tuned for details if you are interested to going on this trip. We also hope to organize a trip to El Paso Texas with Maryknoll in early summer. While the details are being worked out on the KBI trip, anyone who feels the call to help should consider ordering items on the KBI Wish List. When you follow the link you will see a list of desired items. Some are pretty straight-forward (e.g. toiletries) and you can just click “Add to Cart” to choose. Others have more choices (e.g. clothing) so you will need to note the requested sizes in the comments before clicking “See all buying options”, then chose a requested size and a color you would like to send. At checkout be sure to select the Kino Border Initiative gift registry address from the list of shipping addresses so your donation will be shipped directly to KBI. By default the items are listed as gifts, so you have the opportunity to send a note of support with your donation. If you have any questions about the wish list, contact Cathy Dietz.
Bible Study
Online Bible Study is reflections on the Sunday Readings written by parishioners for our parishioners. This is a great way to feel connected to our community through communal reading and reflection. By becoming intimately familiar with the Sunday’s Gospel, your experience at Mass will be more prayerful and fruitful. The Online Bible Study is self-directed and can be accessed at a time convenient to you. Studying and praying with the Bible allows you to bring Christ alive in your head and heart. Click here to join us. Pastor’s 3 Week Bible Study begins in Advent and is meant to give insight into the Gospel for this year’s lectionary cycle. Questions? Contact Theresa Lukasik theresal@
Recorded Homilies
Listen to recent homilies, recorded and available online here.
Welcome to St. Joseph Parish
the Jesuit Parish in Seattle
Dear Companions & Friends, Peace of Christ!
Whenever the early Jesuits would enter a new town, they would look for the busiest corner, and there they would set up shop. Unlike older, monastic orders, they did not seek mountaintops or secluded alcoves to set themselves aside in prayer; rather, these followers of Ignatius sought crossroads, believing that here—amid the hustle and bustle of ordinary life, amid the glorious racket of God’s creatures—the surprising grace of God was most truly to be found.
St. Joseph Parish, in the spirit of those first Jesuits, likewise seeks to live at the crossroads: at those points where the hum and buzz of the world meets the quiet of the Spirit, where the awesome beauty of liturgical worship encounters the chaotic longings of the young, where the pain of war and poverty are met by the compassion and love of a diverse community. A communion of opposites, the living Church at St. Joseph seeks to engage the world in the dialogue of Christ, and to live faithfully the call of our brother Jesuit, Pope Francis, who asks us to “come out of ourselves in order to go to meet others, to go toward the outskirts of existence, to be the first to take a step toward our brothers and sisters, especially those who are the most distant, those who are forgotten, those who are most in need of understanding, comfort, and help.”
In our Mission Statement, “Ignited by the Eucharist to love and serve,” St. Joseph declares that we are women and men on fire through the presence of Christ in our midst, and committed to follow Christ in the active love and personal service of all of our sisters and brothers. Coming from various places and traditions, from a variety of social, economic, and political backgrounds, we have found our way to this crossroads, to this place of God’s Holy Spirit. Some come seeking greater depth in their life of prayer; some, greater understanding of the faith they profess; some desire a values-based education for their children; some, a place of beauty and respite in a difficult world; some seek to do justice with others; some do not yet know what they seek, but come from habit, or tradition, or an inchoate longing in their heart. Yet, all who come with hope, are touched by the grace of the One who loved us first.
Placed on the crossroads through its history and its people, St. Joseph Parish welcomes every pilgrim and passerby, every sinner and everyone longing for sanctity. Whether you come to us for a while or abide with us for a lifetime, whether you explore us on the web or stand with us at the table of Eucharist, we welcome you, and bless you, and open our door to you, for the greater glory of God.
Yours in the Lord,
John D. Whitney, S.J.
Pastor
