October 26, 2025
My dear Kirkland Catholics,
Our Parish Mission “Fully Alive in Christ” is coming up here in just a few short weeks over the evenings of November 19-21, the week before Thanksgiving. I booked our keynote speaker over a year ago as she books out that far, and this mission has been our top pastoral initiative since I have been here. Don’t miss out!
I have had several people ask me what a Parish Mission is, and what to expect. A tradition of having a parish mission essentially goes back to the 17th Century, in which a parish priest would invite an outside speaker (usually a priest) to come and preach and present to his parishioners over several evenings to renew the zeal of the community. This phenomenon in many ways is a continuation of the rise of the mendicant orders (Franciscans and Dominicans) who were roaming preachers who were a great counterweight to the lukewarmness and outright corruption of the “average” parish priest in the middle ages up through the Reformation. After the Reformation, seminaries were established and the “average” parish priest was much better formed and spiritually healthy than in previous centuries. Nonetheless, having an outside acclaimed speaker who does this “for a living” come in was seen as a huge advantage. The Redemptorists, for example, embrace putting on parish missions as one of their central charisms.
Barbara Heil is our primary keynote speaker. She has a national platform and is excellent at what she does. Barbara is salt of the earth, very funny, and deeply on fire with the love of the Lord. I am personally very much looking forward to her talks, as I have heard her give several and have always been super edified.
Fr. Frankie Cicero is also a nationally sought speaker, and featured on the Hallow App, though we have yet to discern if he will give a talk or simply assist in other ways.
Our praise leader, Mary Fransen, is also nationally recognized as she is the primary Praise Leader for the ministry “Blessed is She.”
Each night will begin with an introduction and some praise, followed by the keynote speech, and concluding with some prayer experience to be determined each night. I highly encourage you to register, to plan to come to at least the first night, but to have the second and third nights blocked off too, because I am nearly certain that everyone will want to come back after experiencing the first night. The talks will be livestreamed, but if you are able to be there in person you will be able to fully enter into the “prayer experience” which is not likely to be impactful virtually. We hope to see you there.
With love in Christ, Fr. Brad