October 12, 2025

My dear Kirkland Catholics,  

I write this column as daily Mass has finished taking us through the narrative of Jonah over three days. I shared with HFK school kids today at Mass, that Jonah is actually a pretty humorous book in many ways, and I asked them to consider Jonah pouting and cranky that God did not in fact destroy Nineveh. I charged them to live in gratitude, because when we do that it is hard to be dissatisfied and grumble. Good message for all of us.  

I also feel called to be frank with you: I have found that, in general, our parishes can be hostile to even small changes. While this doesn’t apply to every parishioner, the level of negativity has been difficult for our staff, especially those who serve in the most public roles. The diocese has charged us with becoming one parish. Whether we like or dislike the idea, the decision itself is not up for a vote; what is up to us is how this transition takes place and who we become together. As we continue the transition to become one parish family, more changes are coming. With that in mind, I strongly encourage everyone reading this to participate in the listening sessions that will take place during each phase of the plan. More information about the One Parish Plan process is available on our parish family website.  

Jonah is a good model here. He did not like the call that God placed on his life, and so he ran away, almost brought destruction upon innocent sailors, was thrown overboard and God in His mercy sent a fish to save him from drowning. Fr. Paul Murray, O.P. wrote a book on Jonah with the subtitle “a spirituality of bewilderment.” In reference to Jonah’s three days in the belly of the fish, Murray invites us to see bewilderment (confusion, being unsettled) not as a failure but as a spiritual threshold. It’s in those moments that God can dismantle our assumptions and draw us to a deeper trust. God is free to act beyond human calculus. The book of Jonah resists our attempts to confine God to our categories (justice, punishment, “our way”). As Bishop Elizondo commented on the Partners in the Gospel process, if we are truly following the Holy Spirit then there will be some unexpected positive outcomes that catch us by surprise.  

My ask for this pastor’s column is for our parishioners to do their darndest to be positive advocates and even cheerleaders for my pastoral and administrative staffs as we are working so hard to discern well and make the changes that are necessary for us to more fully live into the mission the Lord Jesus has entrusted us with both right at this moment, and for the years ahead. 

With love in Christ,  
Fr. Brad