Protect The Unborn

Senate Bill 6452 and House Bill 2837 target Pregnancy Centers with excessive regulation, unless they provide abortions and/or abortion referrals. SB 6452 and HB 2837 are part of a nationwide campaign by abortion advocacy groups to steer women to abortion providers instead of pregnancy centers for assistance with an unwanted pregnancy. These bills threaten the Pregnancy Centers ability to stay open.

The lives of thousands of unborn children are at stake!

Click here for more information, or you may receive updates via Twitter. The legislature is meeting TOMORROW, Wednesday, January 27th at 8am. There is still time to email your legislators. You may click here to find out who your legislators are and to get their contact information. 

And above all else, please pray that ALL HUMAN LIFE will one day (soon!) be seen for the true gift from God that it is.  

We love AJ (and Sarah, too)!

We invite you all to support our friends and fellow parishioners, AJ and Sarah Steinbrecher. Please pray for them as they walk together on AJ's cancer journey. AJ was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma on Halloween of 2009 and is now half-way through chemo treatment. You can read more about AJ and Sarah's journey on their blog, West Coast Steins, and you may become a fan of AJ's support group, "We Love AJ" on Facebook, too! We also invite you to support AJ's efforts for the Livestrong Challenge as part of Team Livestrong. 

Please keep AJ and Sarah in your daily prayers! 

Veritas

Just a reminder, all are welcome to join us for Veritas - a study group focusing on encyclicals and writings of the Church.  We are currently reading and discussing "Gaudium et Spes", the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World from the Second Vatican Council.  Join us Thursdays from 7:30pm - 9:00pm in the Siena Room at the UW Newman Center.

** Please note, unlike previously announced Veritas WILL BE meeting this week! Come check it out!

Drinks with the Dominicans - The Centrality of Jesus Christ

The Centrality of Jesus Christ

Why are there so many religions in the world and what are we to make of them?  As we look at the sheer diversity of religious belief all around us, we can be tempted to throw up our hands and simply try to find a lowest common denominator.  "Well, maybe it doesn't matter so much which religion you belong to as long as you try to be a good person and live a good life."  Many people want to believe that the different religions out there are just different paths to God.  As Catholics, what are we to make of these ideas that are so present all around us?  Should we just say that everyone who isn't Catholic is going to hell?  Should we agree that Catholicism is just "our truth"?

Join Father Raphael Mary Salzillo, OP, and your fellow Blessed Sacrament Young Adults as we chat about this important topic - Wednesday, January 28th at 7pm at the Blue Star Cafe and Pub.

Memorial Mass for Father Tom

Friday, Jan 22nd is the Anniversary of Fr. Tom's death (and birth to eternal life). Please join the Blessed Sacrament Parish community for a rosary at 6:30pm and a candlelight Mass at 7pm at the Prince of Peace Newman Center. Reception to Follow.

In honor of Fr. Tom and his passion to help the poor, we are asking people to bring a can of food for Northwest Harvest.

Haiti Earthquake Support

Seattle IPA would like to encourage all of you to pray for the victims and their families of the Haiti earthquake and make a donation if possible at www.crs.org.

A Place of Prayer for the victims of the earthquake has been established in St. James Cathedral’s Chapel at the image of Mary known as Our Lady of Seattle. This 19th century statue was shipped from Italy around the horn of South America to Seattle via the Caribbean.

A special ecumenical prayer service will be held in St. James Cathedral TODAY Friday, January 15th at 6:30 pm. This service of songs from Taize will include prayers and readings.

You can read the full letter from CRS in response to the Haiti earthquake at the Seattle IPA blog.

Dinner with the Dominicans

Join us this upcoming Sunday, January 17th 5:45pm Mass and then meet us in the back of the church. We will be carpooling to Tutta Bella for Dinner with the Dominicans. Father Raphael Mary, OP will be our guest-Dominican this month.

Young Adult Women's Retreat - Spa for the Soul!

Spa for the Soul

Weekend for Women January 15-17, 2010

Retreat Guide: Fr. Raymond Cleaveland.

This “Spa for the Soul” weekend, held at the Brannan House, Christ the King, is geared toward women who would not consider themselves to be “retreat going types.” The casual atmosphere & lively presentations will provide a renewed excitement about the Faith as well as an increased appreciation for our Christian Spirituality. Suggested donation: $50 for room & board.

This retreat will challenge you to reflect & pray about the most important things in life: God, your relationship with God, family, friends, & eternity.

Starts at 6 pm (show up anytime after 5), and ends at 10:30 am on Sunday.

For more information or to register, please email Lauren White at Christ the King Parish.

New Year - New Testament

Fellow YAYA, Kevin Birnbaum just started a new project and blog for the New Year. His plan is to read one chapter of the New Testament every weekday through out the year. He will blog about it. His hope is to get people to follow along, to comment, and to discuss the readings.

Here's Kevin's first post: My New Testament Reading Plan

From time to time I'll develop an ambition to read through the entire Bible in a year. But it never lasts long. At least for me, that's just way too much daily reading. I need a more modest goal.

Then I realized that the New Testament is only 260 chapters long, which means that if I start today (Jan. 4) and read just one chapter each weekday, I'll finish the last chapter on Dec. 31. Very tidy. Very manageable.

So I'm going to do it. And I'm going to blog about it, writing a very brief reflection on each chapter as I read it. I'm neither a Scripture expert nor a saint, so I'll try to avoid pontificating and stick, rather, to viewing this as an opportunity for intellectual and (especially) spiritual growth.

A couple of procedural notes: 1) I plan to read the English Standard Version of the Bible, a revision of the Revised Standard Version that is both (as I understand) fairly literal and quite beautiful. 2) I'll be reading the books of the New Testament in their normal order, with the exception that the four Gospels will be interspersed throughout the year; I'm starting with the Gospel of Luke because Luke and the Acts of the Apostles are two volumes of the same extended work, and they stay together this way.

Below is my reading schedule, with the name of each book, the number of chapters it has, and the date it should be finished. I invite anyone who's interested to read along with me and leave your own comments.

UPDATE: The question was asked whether commenters should stick to discussing whatever theme I point out in a given chapter. The answer is no: Feel free to bring up any aspect of a chapter that you find worthy of comment.

Luke - 24 chapters - Feb. 4
Acts - 28 chapters - March 16
Romans - 16 chapters - April 7
Mark - 16 chapters - April 29
1 Corinthians - 16 chapters - May 21
2 Corinthians - 13 chapters - June 9
Galatians - 6 chapters - June 17
Ephesians - 6 chapters - June 25
Philippians - 4 chapters - July 1
Colossians - 4 chapters - July 7
1 Thessalonians - 5 chapters - July 14
2 Thessalonians - 3 chapters - July 19
1 Timothy - 6 chapters - July 27
2 Timothy - 4 chapters - Aug. 2
Titus - 3 chapters - Aug. 5
Philemon - 1 chapter - Aug. 6
Matthew - 28 chapters - Sept. 15
Hebrews - 13 chapters - Oct. 4
James - 5 chapters - Oct. 11
1 Peter - 5 chapters - Oct. 18
2 Peter - 3 chapters - Oct. 21
1 John - 5 chapters - Oct. 28
2 John - 1 chapter - Oct. 29
3 John - 1 chapter - Nov. 1
Jude - 1 chapter - Nov. 2
Revelation - 22 chapters - Dec. 2
John - 21 chapters - Dec. 31

Holy Hour

Come, start off the New Year with some quiet time in front of our Lord... THIS FRIDAY, January 8th at 7pm at the Newman Center. Join your fellow Young Adults for adoration, rosary recitation, and some quiet, contemplative music.

Meditation of St. Francis of Assisi

Let everyone be struck with fear,

the whole world tremble,

and the heavens exult

when Christ, the Son of the living God,

is present on the altar in the hands of a priest!

O wonderful loftiness

and stupendous dignity!

O sublime humility!

O humble sublimity!

The Lord of the universe,

God and the Son of God,

so humbles Himself

that He hides Himself

for our salvation

under and ordinary piece of bread!

See the humility of God, brothers,

and pour out your hearts before Him!

Humble yourselves that you may be exalted by Him!

Hold back nothing of yourselves for yourselves,

that He Who gives Himself totally to you

may receive you totally!