Dear Parishioners and Friends of Ascension:

One of the most difficult experiences we face in life is the loss of someone we love. Grief can leave us feeling lonely, disoriented, and sometimes even distant from God. And grief does not follow a timetable. For some, the pain may be especially intense in the weeks and months following a death. For others, the sense of loss can return years later—in a familiar song, a birthday, a holiday, or a simple memory that suddenly brings someone we love to mind.
As a parish community, we want to be there for one another during these difficult seasons of life. To that end, Ascension is beginning a new bereavement ministry called Seasons of Hope.
Bereavement ministry is, at its heart, a ministry of accompaniment. It provides a safe and welcoming place where those who are grieving can come together, share their experiences, listen to others, pray, and discover that they do not have to walk the journey of grief alone. It is not about forgetting the person we have lost or simply “moving on.” Rather, it is about learning to live with our loss while discovering God’s presence and finding hope in the midst of our grief.
Our Christian faith does not tell us that we should not grieve. In fact, Jesus himself wept at the death of his friend Lazarus. Grief is a reflection of the love we have for those who have shared our lives. At the same time, our faith gives us a promise that reaches beyond our grief: death does not have the final word. Through the death and resurrection of Jesus, we believe that those who die in Christ are not lost to us forever. We entrust them to God's mercy and look forward in hope to the resurrection and the fullness of life with God.
This is the Christian meaning of consolation. Consolation does not mean that our sorrow disappears. Rather, it means discovering that we are not alone in our sorrow. God accompanies us, and so does the community of faith. Sometimes God's consolation comes through Scripture or prayer; sometimes through the memory of the person we have lost; and sometimes simply through another person who is willing to sit with us, listen, and understand.
Seasons of Hope will include prayer, Scripture, faith-sharing, and fellowship. Whether your loss is recent or happened many years ago, if you are mourning or simply in need of consolation and companionship, you are warmly invited to join us.
The group will meet on Wednesdays from 6:00 to 7:30 PM, beginning October 14. I hope that Seasons of Hope will become another way that Ascension lives out our calling to be a community of compassion, faith, and hope—especially during those seasons of life when we need one another most.
For more information, please call or text Andrea Hinojosa at 360-224-4078 or Dorothy Valla Lalley at 917-428-0005.
Today our 11:00 AM Mass will be our first special Mass for Creation, using a new approved Mass with special prayers and readings for the Season of Creation. Again, I invite you to join us as we give thanks for the gift of creation and ask God to deepen within us a spirit of gratitude, reverence, responsibility, and care.  I hope this Season of Creation will serve as a reminder to us that caring for our common home is not someone else's responsibility. It is part of what it means to be disciples of Jesus. 
St. Francis was a man of great peace.  Let us pray for peace in those parts of the world where people live in fear, for an end to violence in our own country and communities, and for the wisdom and courage needed to seek reconciliation rather than division. May the God who created this beautiful world help us to become people of peace—people who protect creation, care for one another, and work together to build a world worthy of the generations who will come after us.

Peace, Fr. Kearney