You probably noticed the work on the front of our school. Over the course of almost eighty years, the facade has taken a lot of wear and tear. With this year’s renovation of the ground floor, gym and main entrance, we decided to repaint the gables and the cross. I think you will agree that this relatively small project makes a big difference in the overall appearance of our school and parish. The renovation has happened because of your support of the Capital Campaign - which in turn inspired others, such as the Fulcrum and Shea Foundations, to support our effort.

This week I will be sending a quarterly report (July 1 through September 29) to all parish donors. Along with this quarterly report, you will receive a summary of parish and school income and expenses for the 2005-2006 fiscal year. It also includes a list of the projects achieved by the Capital Campaign - and those which still remain to be accomplished. With your continued help, we can build a better parish. I want to say a special thanks to the members of our Filipino community who provided the delicious lunch last Sunday. They collected a total of $2,105 which will go to the Campaign. Thank you!

This weekend we have a presentation on something which by and large remains hidden but which affects our entire society: the devastation women and men feel as a result of a procured abortion. We will have testimonies at all of our Masses. If you desire confidential information on post-abortion healing, call 1-800-822-HOPE.

Certain groups are trying to downplay the spiritual consequences of an abortion. Ms. Magazine has collected the signatures of women who have had abortions. Day Gardner, President of the Washington, DC based, National Black Pro-Life Union, made a very blunt comment:

“It's interesting, because it seems that the women who signed the petition felt that in order to have productive lives they had to kill one or several of their children. My heart aches for them. I also think it's very sad that in the entertainment industry we hear about all the things women think they have to do to get that next role. We’ve heard about the casting couch, nudity in films, etc., and that many of them say they felt very uncomfortable, but did it anyway to secure a role. I guess for some of those women killing their child was lumped in there with the rest of the things they just had to do to become famous and yes, I do feel sadness for them. People in all professions step on the backs of other people in order to rise to lofty positions. The unfortunate thing here is that many women have stepped on and 'crushed' the backs of very tiny people--people who also happen to have been their own children. Now, they have to tell themselves it was the right thing to. My heart aches for them.”

Widespread abortion - and the attempt to justify the crime - is the bitter fruit of a breakdown in our society. This Sunday Jesus shows us the only way out of this trap: respect for God’s purpose in creating us male and female. Jesus says, “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and join himself to his wife - and the two shall become one flesh. What God has joined, let no man divide.” All of us need to ask God’s grace to live according to the meaning our sexuality, namely, that the gift be used only in the sacred context of marriage.

Finally, I would like to recommend a movie and a book. The movie called, The Ninth Day, is based on the true story of a Luxemburg priest condemned to the Dachau concentration camp. The book is also about a twentieth century priest, Fr. George Lemaitre. An obscure Belgian Jesuit, he proposed the theory of an expanding universe, sometimes referred to as “the Big Bang.” In The Day Without Yesterday, John Farrell tells the story in a way even a non-scientist like myself could understand. Both the book and DVD movie are available through the King County Library.

Este domingo "Francisca" dará una presentación en las misas de español. Ella es parte de Proyecto Raquel, un ministerio de sanación de la Iglesia católica para aquellas personas que han participado en un aborto. Su nombre viene de la Sagrada Escritura:

En Rama se sienten unos quejidos
y un amargo lamento; 
Es Raquel que llora a sus hijos 
Y no quiere que la consuelen, 
pues ya no están. 

Así dice Yavé: 
Deja de lamentarte, 
y seca el llanto de tus ojos,
ya que hay un arreglo para tu pena.... 
Que tu descendencia no pierda la esperanza