St. Elizabeth Ann Seton 

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Community is a welcoming and active, Roman Catholic parish serving the community of Mill Creek / Bothell, Washington. Our parish is served by the Religious Congregation of the Missionaries of the Holy Spirit under the Catholic Archdiocese of Seattle. We are a diverse community of believers, guided by the Holy Spirit and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We are a community that welcomes all people, inviting them into our spiritual home as we deepen our relationship with God. We are one faith family, united by our Lord and Savior,  Jesus Christ. Welcome to our faith community. We invite you to join us for liturgy and fellowship.

Click here to view  the Parish Calendar

"Lent is the time to free ourselves from the illusion of chasing after dust. Lent is for rediscovering that we are created for the inextinguishable flame, not for ashes that immediately disappear"   

- Pope Francis

“Lent is the time to rediscover the direction of life.  Because in life’s journey, as in every journey, what really matters is not to lose sight of the goal”  - Pope Francis

The first reading reminds us that our vocation as Christians is to be holy, "Be holy, for I, the Lord, your God, am holy". God wants us to be holy because He is Holy and created us for this purpose. We can say that we have the ability to be holy. All we have to do is to make the decision to live a holy life. We know that He wouldn't ask for something we can't do if we're not able to do it. In baptism, God gives us sanctifying grace, which enables us to live the vocation to holiness. So, if we choose to live a holy life, we can do it with God’s help. We know that we cannot be holy through our own efforts. To be holy doesn’t mean that we have to be praying all day. Yes, prayer is important but what helps us to grow in holiness is God’s grace and the practice of charity, that is, to love our brothers and sisters and to do good to them. 

Love is the foundation of holiness and charity. The beauty of God's love is that it perfects and frees the person from all sin and strengthens him or her to choose holiness. How do we measure holiness? The answer is love. Love is the measure of holiness.   

If God is love, there is no hatred in Him. It will be a contradiction. He says, "You shall not bear hatred for your brother or sister in your heart". How beautiful the world would be if we chose to love rather than to hate. The world would be different, nations would be at peace, and families would be living in harmony. Hate poisons man's heart, so God warns us, “you shall not bear hatred in your heart”. However, sometimes we let ourselves  be moved by hatred rather than by love. Hatred generates violence, wars and death. We witness all of this in our world today. How many people die every day as a result of hatred? The reality is that we treat each other with indifference as if we were not brothers and sisters. A life of love and holiness is the solution to end hatred in the world.

In the gospel  Jesus remind us of the importance to practice the law of love. "You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your brother’. But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father. For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? What is unusual about that? So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect." Living the commandment of love helps us not only to love our neighbor but also to do God’s will, which is to be perfect as God is perfect.

Love must be the foundation of our actions and decisions. Jesus teaches us that love has the power to transform us; this is the new vision of his teaching. We could say, who can accomplish this unattainable goal! However, love and holiness are the true hallmark of our Christian identity.  

In the second reading St Paul also reminds us that our vocation as Christians is to be holy. "Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for the temple of God, which you are, is holy." Again, we can say, it's an unattainable goal and who could do it? The truth is that we are temples, tabernacles, where God resides. If the Spirit of God is in us, we could be holy. We have the example of many saints, people like you and me, of flesh and blood, who decided to live a life of holiness.  They are great examples of holiness. People wonder if  holiness is a boring life, but it's quite the opposite. If we read the lives of saints, one can discover that it is not so. They experienced great joy. God was with them and they were with God. Holiness is living divine life in our human nature. The Spirit of God transforms our human nature into a life of joy and freedom. This is the experience of Jesus and many saints; they lived the Spirit of God. 

Our call to be holy and perfect has to be God’s initiative, which needs a response from us. God does not force us to be holy and perfect if we don’t want to.  God respects our freedom. However, as baptized, holiness is our Christian vocation. Prayer, reading and meditating God’s Word helps to respond to God’s call to holiness.   

Prayer of Abandonment

Father,

I abandon myself into your hands;

do with me what you will.

Whatever you may do, I thank you:

I am ready for all, I accept all.

 Let only your will be done in me,

and in all your creatures –

I wish no more than this, O Lord.

 Into your hands I commend my soul:

I offer it to you with all the love of my heart,

for I love you, Lord, and so need to give myself,

to surrender myself into your hands without reserve,

and with boundless confidence,

for you are my Father.

Amen.

[Charles de Foucauld]

We are St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish.  A diverse Catholic family guided by the Holy Spirit, committed to serve others and deepen our relationship with the Heart of Jesus. 

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church is served by the Religious Congregation of the Missionaries of the Holy Spirit from
Christ the Priest Province under the
Catholic Archdiocese of Seattle.

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(United States Conference of Catholic Bishops) 

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