To all our parishioners with young children,

I wanted to take a moment today to thank you for being a part of our parish and for teaching your children how to live our faith, either at home or through our local religious education classes. I also want to acknowledge that communication from me to all of you and your families is overdue, and I hope you will forgive me for taking so long to reach out to you.

I know that the Coronavirus has not hit our area very hard, but the economic challenges certainly have. If any of you are struggling right now, I want to assure you of my prayers and support. Please do not hesitate to call our parishes if there is anything I can do to help support you through these challenges. Our parish phone number is 360-425-4660.

It might seem surprising, but moments like the one we are currently in can strengthen our faith a great deal. A lot of people are stressed out due to rapid change and uncertainty, but this is not the first time in history that humanity has been through this and in fact, we’ve been through a lot worse. In my grandparent’s lifetime I think of the depression and World War II. Those were uncertain periods, but men and women who lived through those times grew old to be known for generosity, kindness, patience and many other good things.

Of course, many of those kind, generous, and patient people also relied on God in those times of uncertainty, and I believe that this moment will do that for us as well. This is actually a moment that will make us more hopeful, patient, generous, and kind if we let it and if we turn to God to lead us. With that in mind, I want to encourage you to continue to form your children in our faith during this period of time.

For those who participate in religious education, we have your child’s workbooks, and if you would like for us to mail them to you, we certainly can. Please call or email Sister Tita and Sister Naty to arrange this. They can be reached at re@strose-longview.org or the above telephone number.

There are also many good online resources to share with your children.

• The Archdiocese of Seattle’s office of Marriage and Family life has some resources that can help you. Please visit their website here: https://marriagefamilylife.seattlearchdiocese.org/athomewithfaith

• Our parish has a subscription to Formed.org. Just visit the website and click that you belong to a parish or organization, and type in St. Rose de Viterbo. You should see the St. Rose address there. Enter it and you should be able to enter your name and email address. There are children’s shows to watch, but there is also some good materials for adults as well.

• There are also some good Catholic podcasts for children. Parishioners have recommended, Saints Stories for Kids and Catholic Sprouts. You can find the website for Catholic Sprouts here: https://catholicsprouts.com/

• There are also many other resources you can find on your own. If you have found any resources to use, please let us know! We would love to make use of them!

Again, if you have any questions or needs we want to do our best to help you. We know that these are crazy times for every single one of you but we can make it through these times together.

God Bless,

Fr. Bryan