Putting Into Action Concept of Mission or Equality and Justice, Not Charity
The committee has accepted the challenge of putting into action the Vatican II concept of mission: that the whole church is missionary and that outreach activities must be a relationship between equals, in which the mutual sharing of Christianity and culture is encouraged. The financial component of a relationship with another group is therefore primarily about equality and justice, not charity.
The Sister Parish Committee realizes that Saint Patrick Catholic Church is promoting a relationship between faith communities with distinctly different socio-economic and cultural characteristics. St. Pat’s strives to do so not only through our financial support, but also through the development of a long-term commitment to share the Good News in a variety of mutually respectful ways.
Service Beyond the Parish Boundary
The US Bishops exhort parishes to be bridge builders, reminding parishioners that they are part of a Universal Church with ties of faith and humanity to sisters and brothers all over the world. A key test of a parish’s catholicity is its “willingness to go beyond its boundaries to serve those in need and work for justice and peace.”
In seeking to understand and put into practice the meaning of being a MISSIONARY we are developing relationships with the Parish of Saint Wenceslaus in Bogotá, Colombia, the Colegio Anexo San Francisco de Asis (CASFA), a primary school and high school for the disadvantaged in Bogotá, Colombia and the Loyola Jesuit School (LJSS) in Malawi, Africa.
Sister Parish Committee Goals
- To connect our mission ideals within Saint Patrick Catholic Church and Saint Patrick Catholic School
- To learn about our sister parishioners, the faith we share, and the different ways in which we practice it
- To learn about the students and the families of the students that we help with tuition assistance, and to encouraging the students to see the value of education, and see it as a means to better themselves and their country
Sister Parish Committee Activities & Accomplishments
The Sister Parish committee continues to develop meanigful interactions with Saint Wenceslaus. The committees exchanges correspondence and photos about the two parishes and the communities they each serve. Ideas are shared and so are customs for celebrating the sacraments in the respective churches. In recent years, the Sister Parish committee in Tacoma has incorporated a Saint Wenceslaus Parish novena prayer into Advent celebrations. In addtion, the Sister Parish Committee has accomplished the following:
- Providing tuition support for seven students to attend the CASFA grade school in Bogotá and writing letters of encouragement and praise recognizing their scholarship
- Engaging in fundraising activities within the parish to support Sister Parish committee projects on an as-needed basis
- Planned and sponsored celebrations within the parish that showcase the cultures of Latin American countries, especially those representative of Saint Patrick Catholic Church parishioners
- In September 2008, the committee sponsored and hosted a visit from Father Omar Bernal, the Pastor of Saint Wenceslaus
- Two members of the committee visited Bogotá in 2010 to continue to grow the relationship between the parishioners of our parishes
- Father Libardo, current Pastor of the Saint Wenceslaus Parish, and two parishioners visited St. Patrick parish in September 2013
- Sister Tierney Trueman, a Franciscan of Rochester, Minn visited St. Patrick parish in February 2014, providing updates on the CASFA school in Bogotá, Colombia. Sister Tierney, was the person who originally suggested the parish of Saint Wenceslaus as the sister parish for St. Patrick
- In January of 2015, parishioners visited the Sister Parish and the CASFA school in Bogotá, Colombia
- Sponsored several exchange visits with parishioners in the sister parish, Saint Wenceslaus in Bogotá, Colombia
A Glimpse into the January 2015 Mission Trip to San Wenceslaus
Parish delegates traveled to San Wenceslaus, our sister parish in Bogotá, Colombia. Each delegate kept a daily journal about their experiences. Read about their experiences and learn about the day to day activities from each delegates perspective through their unedited journal entries.
Click on the links to read the unedited journals of each of the St. Pat’s delegates on the trip including a photo essay, plus a pre trip commentary from delegate Jim O’Neill .
Jim O’Neill’s Pre Trip Commentary
Deacon Bill Eckert’s Photo Essay
Daily Journal of Deacon Bill Eckert
Daily Journal of Enrique Llanos
Updates from the Sister Parish
CASFA Newsletters
The issue highlights the celebration surrounding CASFA’s 3oth Anniversary
The issue shares how St. Pat’s parish leaders— Deacon Bill Eckert, Enrique Llanas, Jim O’Neill and Dr. Jim Rooks spent time with the students at CASFA and visited Saint Wenceslas, our Sister Parish in Bogotá, Colombia
Parish Outreach Provides Financial Support
In addition to the Sister Parish support described above, Saint Patrick Catholic Church has a Foreign Missions Outreach program that provides financial support to:
- The Sister Parish, Saint Wenceslaus in Bogotá, Colombia
- The Colegio Anexo San Francisco de Asis (CASFA) a school in Bogotá sponsored by the Sisters of St. Francis of Rochester, Minn
- Mother Teresa’s missions in Bopal, India
- The Loyola Jesuit Secondary School (LJSS) in Malawi, Africa under the supervision of Father Pete Henriot S.J.,— the school’s Director of Development
How do I share my talents?
The Foreign Mission Outreach Ministry meets at 7:30 P.M. on the first Monday of each month in the Parish Center. All are welcome.
I am interested in Foreign Outreach
253-383-2783