News from the Pews

St. Hubert Green Bag Team
(a fully connected chapter of Green Bag Lady)

Every month, a small sewing circle gathers in Read Hall at St. Hubert Church to make fabric shopping bags. The fabric is donated. The labor is donated. The bags are given out at Farmers’ Markets, street fairs, and other gatherings. Inspired by Pope Francis’s encouragement for us to care for our common home, Earth, this effort has become lovingly known as the Green Bag Team.

Bell Moore, Barbara Colby, and Mary Beth Clark cut, sewed, ironed, and labeled bags in June, using fabric donated through a co-worker of Barbara’s husband. When the former quilter, who had hung up her frame, learned of the Green Bag Lady project, she gave all the remaining fabric—enough for some 600 bags. Recycling and reusing leads to reducing.

Bell Moore initiated the St. Hubert Green Bag team after learning of the international effort started by Theresa VanHatten-Grathan in Nashville, TN. Barbara Colby had lived in Nashville and connected with Theresa who began this eco-friendly art project. Colorful, fun fabric shopping bags are both useful and conversation starters. We throw away fewer bags, reduce trash piles, and Voilá – we’re caring for our earthly home better.

After Barbara moved to Edmonds, she learned of Bell’s interest in the Green Bag Lady’s work. They connected and the St. Hubert Team came into being in January 2016. The team’s commitment is to make at least 10/month. They make at least that many and have the fun of giving away, surprising people at public gatherings with the thoughtful gesture. When asked why she does it, Bell answers that ‘Pope Francis inspired her.’

Great, gentle evangelization effort!

Bell speaks of this work as ‘Saving the world, one bag at a time.’ Each bag is numbered and has the website of the Green Bag Lady in its label. Worldwide, more than 41,500 have been made and distributed.

There’s plenty of room to be part of the team. There’s a lot of laughter woven into and around the making of bags and a lot of joy in the giving them away. For more information, come check out the team in action. They generally meet on Wednesdays and it’s really a party.

To learn more about the background, www.greenbaglady.org.

On Wednesday, May 24, St. Hubert welcomed Imam Jamal Rahman for two presentations covering the basics of Islam. A total of 93 people attended, some 50 in the afternoon session and 43 in the evening.
Jamal told the story of Mohammed and the revealing of the Q’uran, the Sunni/Shia division within Islam that happened following Mohammed’s death, and how the wisdom tradition developed that informs daily decision making. He explained that Islam is the religion and that Muslim is the word for a believer. In about two hours, Jamal presented an overview of main themes of both theology and practice spanning the 1300 years since Mohammed. It is a tradition filled with human insights and human conflicts.

The questions asked generally reflected the interest of people to understand more. It was clear that many are confused by what they read in the public media and wish to hear from credible sources. During and following, attendees spoke about Jamal’s manner and acceptance of others’ beliefs even when challenged by disrespectful questions and comments.

Multiple times, Jamal reiterated that we are called to be the best person we can be. That can be Muslim, Jew, Christian, Buddhist, Hindu or other. He made it clear that the rich tradition of Islam is loving and supportive of other ways to find healing and wholeness. For Catholics, with our deep devotion to Mary, it was especially interesting to know that Mary is spoken about more in the Q’uran than in the Bible.

Jamal Rahman is co-founder Muslim Sufi minister at Seattle’s the Interfaith Community Sanctuary and adjunct faculty at Seattle University. He is one of three Interfaith Amigos (along with Rabbi Ted Falcon and Pastor Don MacKenzie), an active spokesman for respectful interfaith dialogue and the joy of working together.

Most who attended came from outside the St. Hubert parish community. It was a wonderful opportunity to share together an interest in learning more about another faith tradition.
To learn more, please go to www.Interfaithcommunitysanctuary.org or www.jamalrahman.com or www.interfaithamigos.com

On April 29, more than 400 people walked through Langley as part of a national day of awareness and concern regarding climate change. Carrying flags and holding banners and signs, St. Hubert parishioners participated with enthusiasm.
Taking seriously the words of Pope Francis in Laudato Si, these hardy souls took a stand and a walk to express their concern about how we are caring for this, our common home of Earth. As a Greening Congregation affiliated with Earth Ministry, St. Hubert parish has made a commitment to look for ways to become more environmentally sensitive in its practices and to educate people as we can to the need for greater environmental concern.
Please read the whole story in the South Whidbey Record http://www.southwhidbeyrecord.com/news/hundreds-participate-in-climate-march-through-streets-of-langley/

Thank you to all who participated in this landmark study for the archdiocese of Seattle. Your responses will help archdiocesan leadership better plan to address the needs of our faith family.

It is an exciting time to be a Catholic in Western Washington as we move ahead with an archdiocesan-wide campaign. This major fundraising effort will help us make significant investments in our priests, our women religious, our parishes and, ultimately, our faith. Look for more information in the coming months regarding campaign leadership and goal details.

Archdiocese Planning Page: http://www.seattlearchdiocese.org/Archdiocese/Alert.aspx

Here it is again, that time in the church year when we are asked to pare down, give up something and gather a few coins for the poor: all in preparation for Easter? How is it that we Catholics can breathe new life into these practices and grow as people of God from them?

On February 12 we took a look at Lenten practices of fasting, prayer and almsgiving. Eighteen people gathered to talk about how we enter the wilderness with Jesus for 40 days and 40 nights when we commit to fasting. This can be like a sweatlodge experience from which we emerge, more clear and more focused about our lives. We know, especially from past experience, that we will be tempted to abandon our fast, just as Jesus was tempted in the wilderness. People shared new ideas about what we can fast from. Consider fasting from sarcasm or gossip, or perhaps take a break from Facebook or other social media. People were wonderfully creative in their thoughts.

Enter prayer. Jesus leaned on the word of God and Fr. Rick offered us several options for encountering the word including Liturgy of the Hours and Lectio Divina. Fr. even offered to coach anyone who wanted to learn more and practice the Liturgy of the Hours. By carving out time to pray, we undergird our lives against temptation and strengthen our commitment to God’s guidance.

Finally, we looked at almsgiving as a way to share from our abundance and to relieve some of the suffering we see around us. Ideas included reaching out to others who might be lonely or just feeling overlooked, sending notes, greeting people with smiles, and praying for individuals.

Lent is a great time to grow spiritually and if we give it some time and effort, these practices might offer us a way to do that. People left with a renewed sense of possibilities and insights about the traditional practices of Lent – fasting, prayer, and almsgiving.