News

With partner USAID, Catholic Relief Services is in Cameroon providing nutritional support, parenting education, HIV testing, violence prevention, and educational scholarships to children. With this type of support, families can overcome the additional hardships brought on by COVID-19. Visit www.crs.org to find out more about how you can help!

Join other young adults from around the Archdiocese from October 15-17 at the Archbishop Brunett Retreat Center in Federal for a bilingual (English/Spanish) retreat. Put on with partners Maryknoll, the Ignatian Spirituality Center, Vietnamese Eucharistic Movement, Intercommunity Peace and Justice Center, La Red de Pastoral Juvenil, and United Praise, this promises to be a great weekend. Come reflect with others about life in the faith, obstacles and struggles, and ways to renew our call to missionary discipleship. Two language tracks. Click above for registration information.

Our Safe Parking ministry continues hosting guests, despite the challenges of COVID-19. One recent guest got a new job and moved to a different lot closer to work! We are currently seeking volunteers to help keep the Hospitality Hut clean and welcoming while St. Vincent de Paul keeps it stocked with food. Be part of the team and sign up for the date(s) that work for you each month. To volunteer, click above

Have you seen the Seattle Seafarers’ Center, located along the Duwamish Waterway underneath the West Seattle Bridge? This is a ministry with merchant seafarers from around the world and serves over 20,000 ship workers each year! They are currently in need of volunteers to provide hospitality with this often invisible, yet crucial population who work in one the world’s most stressful and lonely occupations. Click above to learn more.

CRS has been working to address the root causes of migration from Central America for decades. To find out more about the root causes of migration and how you can help, click above.

Walk a mile in her shoes. Lilian Mainza of Zambia has 4 children. She takes the baby to a CRS wellness clinic for children under five years old. She says, "I am so happy for the knowledge I have received; it is not only my child that will benefit but the community I live in." Click above for more information and to find out how you can support the effort!

Lutheran Community Services Northwest is working to resettle Aghan refugees in the greater Seattle area. LCSNW has settled 700 refugees with Special Immigrant Visas from around the world in the past three years, 24 Afghan refugees last week, and 17 refugees so far this week! They offer resettlement services, counseling, torture treatment, housing navigation, clothing, food, furniture and more. Click above if you would like to learn how to support their efforts.

As you likely know, Haiti was recently hit by a massive 7.2 magnitude earthquake that has killed nearly 2000 people and injured nearly 10,000 more. Adding to the devastation, a tropical storm passed over the island nation this week, making aid efforts even more difficult. Catholic Relief Services (CRS) has been serving in Haiti for many years and is on the ground working with partners and affected communities to identify the most urgent needs. Please consider donating to our parish collection to help CRS provide essential relief like clean water, sanitation, shelter, and emergency supplies. You can donate at Mass this weekend (make checks out to “OLG” with “Haiti” in the memo) or online. Click above for more information.

With extreme weather events and severe forest fires, we are witnessing the effects of climate change. What can you do to help care for creation? One step is to calculate your “Carbon Footprint”. Click above to take a 5-minute test to calculate your impact on the environment. Depending on your answers, you will learn what you are doing to help care for creation and ways you can improve even more.

We were happy to welcome two new guests into our Safe Parking lot this month. We hope that having a safe and stable place to rest each night will be a first step in each of their journeys to more reliable situations. They both expressed gratitude to our congregation. Want to get involved in this ministry? Click above to learn more.

Like many people, Marie Josée Longo, a 62-year-old widow and mother of 6, experienced the hardship of COVID-19 confinement at her home in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. CRS provided 3,000+ families like Marie’s with food or financial assistance. Click above for more information and to see how you can help! Thanks for your support!

Thank you for supporting the 8 teens who went on the Youth Migrant Project this year. With your generosity, we were able to donate a carload of food, diapers, hygiene supplies, and games to be shared with the migrant families. We served over 320 households at the Food Bank in Burlington! Your gifts went a long way in nourishing recipients and were also a tangible reminder that others are thinking of them. We also received over $1400 in monetary donations, which will be shared with St. Charles and the Catholic Farmworker Center to support their ongoing ministries. Thank you for helping to bring God’s love and care to those who put food on our tables!

Our parish recently joined St. James Cathedral Seattle, St. Joseph Seattle, and St. Leo the Great Tacoma parishes in signing on to the “God is on your Side” statement. The statement, signed by 14 U.S. Catholic Bishops, stands with at-risk LGBT youth in our country. The letter states, in part, “As we see in the Gospels, Jesus Christ taught love, mercy, and welcome for all people, especially for those who felt persecuted or marginalized in any way…The Catholic Church values the God-given dignity of all human life and we take this opportunity to say to our LGBT friends, especially young people, that we stand with you and oppose any form of violence, bullying or harassment directed at you. Most of all, know that God created you, God loves you and God is on your side.” Click above to read the full statement.

When neighbors in need call, our wonderful Vincentian volunteers are there to respond with caring support and tangible assistance. They help with rent and utilities as well as bring bags of food to those experiencing hunger. Unfortunately, our pantry is very low on food and supplies, limiting their ability to help. Please consider donating non-perishable food, hygiene items (shampoo, toothpaste, etc.), diapers, and cleaning supplies. We are now able to resume our collection of items at in-person Masses (look for the basket by the baptismal font) and continue to accept donations at the Pastoral Center. Thank you for your ongoing generosity!

With some COVID restrictions still in place, 7 teens will be doing an abbreviated version of the Youth Migrant Project this summer. While much has changed about the trip this year, the need has not. We may not be able to do everything, but we can still collect items to help the migrant workers and families living in the Skagit Valley. We will be collecting non-perishable food items (canned goods, pasta, oatmeal, cereal, etc.), toiletries for arriving migrant families (shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrushes, etc.), diaper wipes, and diapers size 5 and 6. Click above for more information.

Did you know that OLG has a Life, Justice, and Peace Commission? In its 8th year, the LJP Commission aims to integrate Catholic social teaching into the life of the parish and seeks to offer parishioners a way to live out their call to love God and neighbor by providing opportunities for service, advocacy, and education. This year, we will focus on racial justice and the upcoming Seattle City Council elections in addition to other efforts. To learn more about joining our efforts, click above.

As people of faith, we are called to work for justice and change the system that resulted in the death of George Floyd.  Since his death, according to Mapping Police Violence at least 1,068 people have died at the hands of the police in the U.S, with alarming racial disparities.  In March, the U.S. House of Representatives passed The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act.  Now we call on the Senate to do the same.  The bill provides more oversight to hold states and city police accountable, restricts the use of force, improves data collection, adds a new lynching offense to the criminal code, and more.  Click above to learn more.

Water is the foundation of human and ecological health and covers 70% of our world.  It is essential for agriculture, sanitation, industry, recreation, energy, and maintaining natural ecosystems.  Currently, the lack of sustainable use planning, combined with population changes and climate change, has led to a lack of sufficient water supply to meet the water usage demands for different areas in the U.S. and across the globe.  Click above to visit the Environmental Protection Agency’s website and learn how to start saving more water in your home.

Through the USAID Gikuriro project, Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is working to end malnutrition in Rwanda. Since the program began, children under the age of 2 getting the right amount of nutritious food went from 14.5% to 29% in target districts. Additionally, over the last 5 years in Rwanda, working with USAID Rwanda, CRS has supported Rwanda Health as they help families grow nutritious food and improve hygiene and sanitation to reduce malnutrition and transform lives and the country. So far, we have reached 2.5 million people together! Click above to learn more.

The Welcome Table serves lunch to neighbors in need in White Center every Saturday at noon. In addition to the meal, food and supplies are handed out. Support the meal by donating non-perishable food (cereal, shelf-stable milk, etc.), tp, Depends, dish and laundry soap, reading glasses, shoes, etc. Each week guests say they could not get through the week/month without the many things provided for them. Drop off donations between 11-11:30am in the back parking lot before guests arrive. Volunteers will unload it for you!