Invitation to cook for Nightwatch!

In response to Deacon Frank’s personal stories of encountering people on the margins of our society, a group of parishioners from St. Monica has recently committed to cooking and serving a meal at Operation Nightwatch on the fourth Saturday of every even month. The group cooked their first meal on June 28 and were very happy with the results. Nightwatch guests were very appreciative, and volunteers were delighted to put smiles on their faces. The next meal they are scheduled to cook will be on August 23, and more cooks and servers are needed! Parishioners from Sacred Heart and St. Monica are invited to join and volunteer for this project (must be at least 18 years of age). For more information, please click here.

Vacation Bible School Recap

Many thanks to all who helped make our 2025 Vacation Bible School a huge success! Our campers learned about Joseph’s journey with the One True God, and how we are all part of God’s family. Click here (or use the embedded player below) to watch our Egyptian adventurers perform their favorite song! Thank you to all who joined us in Egypt, may you have a blessed summer!

Under Mary's Mantle of Hope

Join Fr. Lawrence Lew, O.P. - author, evangelist, EWTN host, and Promoter General of the Holy Rosary - for a powerful Marian Talk! In this Marian talk, rediscover the theological depth of the Rosary, its vital connection to the virtue of hope, and how it can rekindle hope in your heart, especially this year during the Jubilee of Hope. Whether you are a Marian devotee or simply curious about her role in the church, this is an opportunity to strengthen your relationship with God through her guidance.

Fr. Lawrence will be speaking at multiple parishes in our area!

• July 10 - St. Philomena (Des Moines)
• July 13 - Our Lady Star of the Sea (Bremerton)
• July 16 - Mary Queen of Peace (Sammamish)
• July 17 - St. Theresa of Calcutta (Woodinville)
• July 19 - Blessed Sacrament (Seattle)

Visit shrineformary.org for the complete information for these events, more background about Fr. Lawrence and to register!

Two More Fr. Lawrence Events!

St. Monica Church is excited to be the host location for two additional events featuring Fr. Lawrence. These events will vary in format from the main list and are intended for specific audiences.

• July 14 - St. Monica (Mercer Island) - Young Catholic Professionals: Catholics in their 20s and 30s are invited to join the next YCP Executive Speaker Series with Fr. Lawrence. Click here to register for this event.
• July 15- St. Monica (Mercer Island) - Catholics in Technology Community: The Catholics at Microsoft and Amazon are sponsoring an evening with Fr. Lawrence which will focus on "The Path to a Deeper Friendship with Christ as a Tech Professional". Click here to register for this event.

Washington Bishops sue the State of Washington

Please read this letter from the bishops of Washington to the lay faithful regarding the recent developments with State Law:

WSCC - Update on State Law

Additionally, you can read a feature story covering these developments on NWCatholic.org: Bishops of Washington sue state, say new law violates the Constitution

Clergy: Answerable to God or State

Archbishop Paul D. Etienne

May 4, 2025

Towards the end of this year’s legislative session, the Washington State Legislature passed a bill (SB5375) making all clergy mandatory reporters of abuse, with no exemptions for the privileged communication between priest and penitent during the Sacrament of Reconciliation. This means that by Washington State Law, Catholic clergy are now required to violate the seal of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, better known to many as confession. On Friday, May 2, 2025, Governor Ferguson signed the bill into law.

This weekend at Mass, the first reading was from the Acts of the Apostles. After the apostles were arrested and thrown into jail for preaching the name of Jesus Christ, St. Peter responds to the Sanhedrin:

“We must obey God rather than men.” (Acts 5:29)

This is our stance now in the face of this new law. Catholic clergy may not violate the seal of confession – or they will be excommunicated from the Church. All Catholics must know and be assured that their confessions remain sacred, secure, confidential and protected by the law of the Church.

The Catholic Church agrees with the goal of protecting children and preventing child abuse. The Archdiocese of Seattle remains committed to reporting child sexual abuse, working with victim survivors towards healing and protecting all minors and vulnerable people. Our policies already require priests to be mandatory reporters, but not if this information is obtained during confession.

Click here to read the archbishop’s full statement online.

For the latest news and statement from the Archdiocese of Seattle please visit their newsroom webpage at archseattle.org/news-and-events.

Congratulations to Fr. Joseph!

Join us in congratulating Fr. Joseph on his recent Graduation! He has obtained his Licentiate in Sacred Theology (STL) degree in the New Evangelization from the Angelicum, Rome, affiliated with Sacred Heart Seminary, Detroit, Michigan. The STL degree is positioned between a Master’s and a Doctorate Degree. As a parish family, the Sacred Heart and St. Monica communities celebrate this significant accomplishment!

The 2025 Annual Catholic Appeal

Together In Faith is the theme of this year’s Annual Catholic Appeal. The Annual Catholic Appeal funds ministries and services for your local Catholic community across Western Washington. This combined effort of parishes and the Archdiocese of Seattle ensures the availability of outreach ministries, Catholic education, faith formation, administrative services for parishes and much more! Please prayerfully consider how you can participate in helping our parish be a light to others.

The archdiocese has set our parish 2025 ACA Goal as $185,639. Donations received over this amount will be returned to the parish as a rebate for the parish project. This year our parish project will be Grounds Maintenance and Beautification. Our parish 2025 ACA Stretch Goal is $250,000.

By now, most of you will have received a letter from our Archbishop about the ACA. Thank you to those of you who have already replied with your 2025 ACA gift or pledge! If you are ready to make an ACA gift, you can do so today by visiting archseattle.org/GiveACA.

Upcoming Events and Opportunities

We've put together a page of our upcoming events and other Catholic events from around the Archdiocese of Seattle. Click here to check out what's going on in our community and discover new ways to engage in parish life!

Scam Email Warning

The parish staff wants to warn parishioners that someone has been sending emails pretending to be Father Nagel, parish staff members, and our former pastor, Father Freitag. Scam emails typically say that Father is "in need of help" ask if "you are available for an errand" or just asks the recipient to "please respond concerning a sensitive matter". These emails (or texts) are a scam and should be deleted whenever they are received. Legitimate emails from parish staff members will always be sent from an email address ending with "@stmonicami.org". If you have any questions, feel free to contact the parish office directly at parishoffice@stmonicami.org

Sunday Homily Video Recordings

Did you have trouble hearing father's homily at Mass? Or maybe you'd just like to listen to it again? For convenience, we re-upload our Sunday Mass homilies as videos. Each Sunday's homily is typically uploaded by the Wednesday following the weekend Masses. All homily videos are uploaded to youtube, and on our website’s homily page. Looking for a past homily? Our homily page also features an index of our previous Sunday Homilies.

What about weekday Masses? While we don't process separate videos for our daily Mass homilies, they can be watched within the full recordings of our daily Mass livestreams. Browse past livestreams on our Youtube page: www.youtube.com/@stmonicami/streams.

Mass Livestreams? St. Monica livestreams one Mass each day of the week. It can be beneficial to watch weekday Masses via livestream when your schedule does not allow you attend in person. Sunday Mass livestreams are a great resource for parishioners who’s health prevents them from attending Mass. We also recommend watching the livestream if you are unable to attend Mass due to illness. For more information about Mass livestreams, visit our livestream page.

Please note that the general obligation to attend Mass on Sundays (or Saturday Vigil Mass) and Holy Days of Obligation was reinstated (CIC, can. 1247), as of December 8, 2021.