Greetings to my fellow parishioners at St. Andrew and SS Cosmas & Damian…

Father Jack asked me to write this week’s letter and share with you all a little about some of the work your young people have been doing this summer:

On July 7^th, thirteen 7-9^th graders from our two communities traveled to Forks, WA to participate in a week-long service project sponsored by the Archdiocese, called ONE Week. They folded baby clothes and painted shelves at a pregnancy clinic and washed windows and pulled weeds at a local community center, to name just a few of their activities. The youth were generous with their time and energy and even made some new friends along the way.

From July 15^th through the 19^th, eight of your high school students attended a leadership retreat called Ascend where they discussed their God-given talents and learned strategies for sharing those with others in youth group, the parish as a whole, and the wider community. The Archbishop Brunett Retreat Center at the Palisades was a beautiful and hospitable place for this retreat, and, while our young people enjoyed themselves a great deal, they also re-committed themselves to growing and sharing their leadership abilities; watch for them in the months and years to come.

Twelve 10^th-12^th graders from St. Andrew and SS Cosmas & Damian joined more than 80 other youth from Washington, Oregon, and California in Yakima from July 21^st-27^th to do service work for the people there through an organization called Young Neighbors in Action. Our youth were involved in running a sports camp for underprivileged children and sorting, packing, and distributing literally TONS of food. They all worked very hard without complaint in temperatures of over 100 degrees. What a joy it was to witness such selfless service!

58 middle school and high school youth helped out with this year’s Vacation Bible School, helping our littlest parishioners learn to “Stand Strong” for the faith! The enthusiasm and example of the “big kids” (and, of course, of all of our adult volunteers) make VBS a success every year, and I am always pleased at the dedication, hard work, and JOY our youth are willing to share. One new parishioner visiting for the first time one day that week felt the excitement and knew this was the place she wanted to be.

The final adventure for this summer was participation by ten of our high school students in the Ignite Your Torch conference, held at The Evergreen State College in Olympia. Our youth (and hundreds of others) spent time with priests and religious, attended amazing workshops explaining the beauty of our Catholic faith, and had powerful prayer experiences, including a rosary procession, Adoration, and praying in front of Planned Parenthood. The “work” of this conference was for each teen to enter into a deeper relationship with Christ, allowing Him to enter their hearts more completely than ever before. There were tears, laughter, music, commitments, and life-changing moments of healing. We are so grateful to all who helped with our fundraising efforts and especially to the Men’s Club who made a most generous contribution so that our youth could attend!

As we celebrate this weekend the anniversary of the dedication of the church at St. Andrew, I am quite proud of the youth, the “living stones” of our Church, working day by day to build up the kingdom here and now. They are listening and obeying our Holy Father who told them (and all of us) at World Youth Day, “Go, do not be afraid, and serve.”

I would like to offer heartfelt thanks to those who served as chaperones and/or drivers for our youth this summer! Thank you, too, to the parents who encourage this kind of participation from their kids.

Blessings to you all,

Monica Rodrigues, Pastoral Assistant for Faith Formation