Happy Valentine’s Day! At our Masses we are offering special prayers for our engaged and married couples. In a particular way we pray for young couples that they will build a strong foundation for family and life-long marriage – and for our older couples that they will continue to give their witness to beauty of fidelity.

Last Sunday our Knights of Columbus honored altar servers at their monthly breakfast: Renard Bansale, Jordan Crawley, Camacho, Bill Corcoro, Jon Walter Cortez, Tan Dinh, Lynn Dinh, Michael French, James French, Adam Fox, Aaron Hance, Adrian Hernandez, Nikolaus Horn, Joshua Law, Brian Le, Cliff Macaraeg Kenny McElhose, Christian cana, Nelson Ocana, Edward Sprague and Christian Nuqui.

I am proud of these young men who serve God by their important role during the Sacrifice of the Mass. I ask your prayers that each one will recognize his vocation and courageously pursue it. We desperately need strong, prayerful men to assume their proper roles in our Church and society. Of course, I am praying that one or other will be inspired to consider a vocation to the priesthood. On the bulletin board I have posted an interesting on article on another parish (also called Holy Family) that has an all-male altar server corp. The article reflects a lot of our own experience.

A big thank-you to all who made a financial pledge in November! As you can see in the Stewardship column, this January we had a nice increase in comparison to the previous year. With your support we could do so much more in terms of parish staffing and maintenance of buildings and grounds. You will notice a couple of important projects in the coming weeks: the repair and repainting of our church interior, as well as the preparation of the south lot to make possible more parking spaces (these projects came out of our Capital Campaign). And - depending on the final rebate from our 2008 Annual Catholic Appeal - we hope to make other improvements to our grounds, especially the purchase of a new outdoor reader board.

Speaking of Stewardship, on Ash Wednesday and the First Sunday of Lent I will be asking you to make a commitment of time – to put your relationship to the Lord in first place. One of the exciting possibilities is a program that enables a person to read the Bible and Catechism in the course of year. I also want to encourage more people to participate in our wonderful Catholic Bible Study. In addition I would like all parishioners to take advantage of Eucharistic Adoration and the Sacrament of Reconciliation during the time of Lent.

I thank you for your support of Birthright last weekend. It was wonderful to see donations of over two thousand dollars to help girls and young women facing an unplanned pregnancy. There is something deep in us that makes us want to do all we can to defend and protect these tiny lives – and their beautiful moms. In the seventh grade religion class (which I have been teaching twice a week) we have been discussing aspects our Church’s teaching regarding human life. We talked about an interesting statement made by President Obama: “There's no god who condones taking the life of an innocent human being.” (National Prayer Breakfast, February 5, 2009) We saw how this reflects the universal moral law – and that those who go against it are worshiping a false god, perhaps even worshiping the devil himself. An example would be those who attach dynamite to a mentally defective person and send him into a shopping area. We discussed another example regarding “Baby Shanice.” For those who have not heard about this case, I have placed the CNN article on the bulletin board. These are important issues for middle and high school students to study in a manner appropriate to their age. A good example is a speech on abortion that a seventh grader gave to her class. You can view the five minute speech at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOR1wUqvJS4

Some final notices: Now is the time to get in condition for the annual Cathedral Walk on March 21. We will leave from Holy Family Church at 7 a.m. and celebrate Mass at St. James Cathedral at 11 a.m. Also please be sure to mark March 31 on your calendar for the presentation by Dr. Tom Curran on the Mass. The presentation will be geared for high school students and older. Next Sunday Fr. Jim Williams will preach at the 8 and 11 a.m. Masses. He is a much loved priest and homilist. We are blessed by his presence at Holy Family. In next week’s bulletin I will write something about Fr. Tom McMichael – a former Lutheran pastor who was ordained as a Catholic priest of the Archdiocese. Since he is a married man, a number have asked questions about this, which I will try to address. And as we celebrate Presidents Day, here is good quote from Abraham Lincoln: “I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere to go. My own wisdom, and that of all about me, seemed insufficient for the day.”

Feliz Dia de San Valentin! Estamos rezando por los novios y matrimonios jovenes – por los matrimonios mayores que sigan dando su testimonio de fidelidad. Este fin de semana hemos tenido el retiro para parejas y el baile para los enamorados. Felicidades a todos.

Un agradecimiento a todos que hicieron su compromiso economico en noviembrel Como se puede ver en la columna de Co-Responsabilidad (Stewardship), tuvimos un buen aumento de donaciones en el mes de enero – en comparacion con el año pasado. Con su apoyo podemos hacer mas en cuanto a los servicios y edificios de la parroquia. Van a notar unos proyectos importantes en las proximas semanas: reparacion y re-pintar dentro de la igleias y la extension del estacimiento (el lote al sur de parking principal). Y – según los que recibimos de la Peticion Catolica Anual 2008 – esperamos hacer otros mejormamientos.

Hablando de Co-Reponsabilidad, el Miercoles de Ceniza y el Primer Domingo de Cuaresma, les voy a pedir un compromiso de tiempo – poner al Señor en primer lugar. Una posibilidad es un programa para leer la Biblia y Catecismo en un año. Ademas me gustaria que todos tomen parte en la Adoracion Eucaristica y Sacramento de Reconciliacion durante la Cuaresma.

Gracias por su apoyo a “Birthright” (Derecho de Nacer). Las voluntarias entrenadas de nuestra parroquia estan ayudando a varias muchachas y mujeres jovenes que estan enfrentando un embarazo no-planeado.

Notas finales: Favor de anotar en su agenda la Peregrinacion a la Catedral el 21 de marzo. Saldremos del templo de Holy Family a las 7 a.m. y habrá celebracion de la misa en la Catedral a las 11 a.m. En el proximo boletin escribiré sobre el Padre Tom McMichael – un pastor luterano que se convirtio a nuestra fe y fue ordenado al sacerdocio. Como es un hombre casado, algunos me han hecho preguntas que trataré de contestar. Finalmente como este fin de semana es una feria nacional (Dia de los Presidentes) pido su oraciones por los que hayan fallecido en guerras, especialmemnte el esposo de mi sobrina. Abajo hay una foto del marcador de su tumba en el cementerio de Camano.

Stewardship Reflection:

“Rising very early before dawn, he left and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed.” (Mt. 1:35) Managing your finances as a Steward of Providence is largely a function of your relationship with the Lord. And your relationship with the Lord depends on a healthy prayer life. How healthy is yours?

Faith and Finances with Phil Lenahan © – www.VeritasFinancialMinistries.com

Parish Stewardship Giving Summary
Wk. 32 of Fiscal Year (July 6, 2008 – February 8, 2009)

Registered Parishioners:	   1242	
Parishioners Using Envelopes:    314	  	

Amt. Needed 1st Collection Each Sunday:	$ 14,100.00
Feb. 8 Check/Cash Envelope:		$   8,367.00
Feb. 8 EFT (Automatic Deduction):	$   1,064.88    
Feb. 8 Loose Cash:			$   3,622.74  
February 8 Total Offering:			$ 13,054.62

Weekly Income Difference:		          - $ (1,045.38)

1st Week  (Feb. 1)	$12,558.77
2nd Week (Feb, 8)	$13,954.62
3rd Week (Feb 15)	
4th Week (Feb. 22)	

Monthly Comparison by year
	2008	2009
Jan.	$43,133	$55,179



Some of the Gifts from the Other Half of our Stewardship
Feb. 8 - Birthright:				$ 2,095.89

For on-line donations to parish or school: www.HFSeattle.org  
For on-line donations to the Annual Catholic Appeal: http://www.seattlearch.org/ACA