By Colby Richards.   “We just don’t want you getting bored this summer.” These words that Father Vincent spoke to me during our first phone call meeting have become a running joke throughout my time in Chewelah. Getting bored has been the least of my concerns! The summer has flown by, and was jampacked with grace after grace. Some of the highlights have been Vacation Bible School, Quo Vadis Days (our high school boys discernment camp), the Theology of the Body retreat in Ione, getting to go on pilgrimage to Lourdes, the high school Steubenville Northwest conference in Spokane, visiting a several parishioner’s houses for dinner, leading the Saturday series on prayer, and training many altar servers. Wow!

    Above all, though, the greatest grace of this summer has been getting to know the community at the parishes here in Stevens  County. Having grown up in an outdoorsy family here in eastern Washington, I’ve visited my fair share of small towns in the area. Because of this experience, I figured I knew what to expect when I arrived. I knew there would be good, faithful Catholics in the area, but I could not have anticipated how much the Holy Spirit is moving in this community. I have met some of the most prayerful parishioners that I’ve had the privilege of knowing here; I have seen the Lord break open the hearts of the high schoolers here; I have seen people’s faith rekindled. Above all, I have seen a deep hunger for the Lord.

   One trap we can easily fall into is to believe that God is doing nothing of significance in our lives. We may believe that He is active, just somewhere else. We echo the skeptical questioning of Nathaniel when Phillip tells him that they have found the messiah: “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46). The political turmoil of today leads us to ask “Can anything good come out of Washington State?” Our small-town life raises the question “Can anything good come out of Stevens County?” Our own personal sinfulness causes us to cry out “Can anything good come from my life, Lord?” God replies to our doubts with the same words that Phillip replies to Nathaniel’s skepticism with: “Come and see.”

   One of the best parts of being a seminarian is getting the see the spiritual world at work on a daily basis. I was incredibly eager to spend my summer up here in Stevens County, but even so, I could never have anticipated the outpouring of grace that the Lord is bestowing upon this community. Praise God! I have “come and seen” and can respond with a resounding “yes” to all of those above questions. Not only can good come from our State, our county, and each of your individual lives, but the Lord is already doing great good with and in them.

   It has been a tremendous blessing getting to know all of you, and my departure is bittersweet. While I intend to visit at some point, the reality is that some of us will never meet again in this life. The hope we possess as Catholic Christians is that we will be reunited in the next life, in our heavenly homeland. In spite of physical separation, we will remain spiritually united through prayer. That is to say, we will remain united in Jesus. Until we meet again, I’ll see you in the Eucharist.