Dear Parishioners, Summer gets us outdoors, traveling and camping with family and friends. All these experiences can be manifestations of the goodness and beauty of God and his love for us. Creation was created good for our pleasure and enjoyment and others were created for communion and shared love and affection. This summer I have experienced both the communion of family and the goodness and beauty of God’s creation. About a month ago I flew to St. Louis where I stayed at my twin brother’s house. I got to see most of his eight children, five of whom I have married in the last four years and there are already four grandchildren and one on the way! It was so good to see my nieces and nephew in their married lives starting their own families and the love they have for each other. My twin brother and I then headed south to East Texas to where one of my sister’s lives on a large property in the country. We were joined by two other sisters. It was a great time with siblings: sharing stories about our parents, the past and catching up. As I get older I am appreciating more the time I get to spend with family because we don’t know how much longer we will have with everyone. Two weeks ago, Colby, our seminarian, and I went to Lake Sullivan for a youth retreat that was sponsored by Immaculate Conception in Colville and facilitated by the youth group volunteers from Colville and Deer Park parishes, with help from the seminarians and other priests. Two teens from our parish participated. We had Mass, Adoration and sessions on Theology of the Body at a newly constructed shelter which looks out over the lake. I celebrated mass there and I commented to the kids that this perhaps was the most beautiful place I have ever celebrated mass. The water, mountains, trees and sun all coming together in a beautiful harmony. A real manifestation of God’s goodness and beauty. We also took a hike with the teens along a trail above the lake that had some amazing views. I hope everyone has the chance this summer to experience the love and communion of family and the beauty of creation - all as manifestations of God’s goodness and his love for us. In my daily prayer time I always look back and remember and give thanks for all the experiences the Lord gives me. It’s all a foretaste of heaven where we will see the face of God and experience the loving communion of the Trinity and the all the saints.