Dear Families,

I hope you are all having a great week. On Tuesday afternoon, unfortunately our boiler malfunctioned in the main building, and we lost heat. Of course, my first concern was the students, faculty and staff and I said a prayer that everything would be fine, and we could be back open soon. As we continue with our First Week of Lent., I would like to talk about the importance of “Prayer”. I made a commitment to pray daily and to follow some weekly Lenten Reflections. Prayer is such an important part of my life and the power of prayer can certainly lift my spirits, especially during hard times. The Seattle Archdiocese has a webpage dedicated to Lent, which will give you great insights on weekly reflections, encouragement, renewal and prayers. As we continue with Lent, I ask that each of you take a small moment in your day or week to pray. It will help encourage you to reflect and renew yourself during this Lenten season. 

As Lent calls us to conversion through the three pillars: prayer, almsgiving, and fasting, I would like to share with all of you through almsgiving, we raised over $1,400 dollars during our Ash Wednesday Rice/Beans Lunch which we are excited to gift to the New Bethlehem Programs. Thank you for all the donations and I would like to thank our Ash Wednesday helpers: Ann Marie Sweeney, Mimi Trinh, Margaret Synan, Arthi Clement, Winda Laurence, Ron Stefanus, Meredith Pokorny, Abigail Eala, Lola LeBlanc, Mr. Gallant, Mr. Walker, and the 7th Grade students. 

Annual Fund

As we kick off our Annual Fund this week, we ask that you prayerfully consider your participation and what St. Louise School means to your family. As you know, we work very hard to keep our tuition as accessible as possible for our community, yet we need to compensate our teachers for all their hard work providing the excellent education we have come to expect. Through fundraisers like the Annual Fund, we are able to make up the difference between the tuition we collect and the cost of educating our students. For you, the bonus is you get a tax deduction for your gifts to the Annual Fund, instead of paying more in tuition. Our goal this year is to raise $160,000. While we need each family to donate or pledge by the end of the school year, we are hosting a fun contest for the next couple of weeks to help us reach 100% participation this month. On Friday March 17th there will be an event in which all students will participate to celebrate the end of our contest. There will be a special surprise for the classrooms with the highest participation rates. Tomorrow at carpool you will receive a St. Patrick’s themed carpool treat as reminder to help us fill our pot with gold. To the 35 families who have already made a donation to the Annual Fund, “Thank you for your generosity and leadership!”

Send in your check today or click here to contribute now

Have a Blessed Weekend,

Mr. Mike Fuerte

Principal

Announcements

Fundraisers

Parish

Dear Friends at St. Louise, 

Jesus calls each and every one of us to follow him more closely, to love him and to serve him in the poor. We especially focus, even more intently, on our Christian discipleship during the season of Lent. 

In the Bible, the mountain is a powerful symbol of our faith journey. Moses climbed Mt Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments; in Matthew, chapter five, we read about Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, the central part of his teaching. This Sunday we hear about Jesus taking Peter, James and John up Mt. Tabor, where they witnessed his transfiguration. Each of these journeys is for our good, for our transformation, and for our salvation. When we look into our own hearts, we know that each one of us fails to live faithfully the Ten Commandments, the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount, and the complete transformation that Jesus desires for us. 

Even though we fall short, and even in serious ways at times, God constantly calls us back. He calls us back through the penitential season of Lent, when we “up our game” on what it means to be Christian with extra emphasis on prayer, fasting and giving to the poor. God calls us back sacramentally through the Rite of Penance. When I say sacramentally, I mean through a personal, physical, and spiritual encounter with the Lord. When we say our sins out loud to a priest, we are doing something that is both personal and physical. We are opening up our hearts to truly show our wounds caused by sin. This is a spiritual imitation of Jesus himself, who in his resurrected body showed his physical wounds to his disciples, after he had taken the wound of human sin to the cross. When we speak in confession we use our body, our voice, to say what we often leave unsaid. We say these things not just to anyone, but to the priest, who by ordination represents both the person of Jesus Christ in his humanity and divinity, and the community of the Church. The words of forgiveness or absolution are not just the priest’s words, they are the prayer of the Church, spoken with the priest’s body, and in addition to that they are the sign and symbol of Jesus speaking his forgiveness to us. 

Our communal Reconciliation service this year is next Thursday, March 8, at 7PM. Since Ash Wednesday we are now able to use the new Order of Penance that was approved for use by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in 2021; this form will be required for use beginning on Divine Mercy Sunday, April 16, 2023. As you come for individual confessions, we will include one of the new options for the Act of Contrition, as well as the new translation for the dismissal of the penitent, which was in the 1973 rite, but was rarely used. At the end of the confession, the priest will say, “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.” The penitent will respond, “For his mercy endures forever.” The words will be in the program and the priest will help, as always. For now, we have the new rite in English. We hope to have it in Spanish soon. 

The Reconciliation service will begin with a short Liturgy of the Word and adoration; adoration will continue as confessions are heard. Benediction will take place at 9PM, or earlier if the confessions are finished before. 

Blessings to all of you during this season of ongoing conversion to the Lord.

Fr. Gary Zender

Welcome to our former pastor, Fr. Tom Belleque, who will preach about “Standing with Haiti” at all the Masses this weekend. Fr. Gary is at his former parish, St. Anthony in Renton, doing the same. Next weekend, Fr. Fabian MacDonald will be here for confessions Saturday afternoon, the 5PM Saturday Vigil Mass and Sunday 9AM Mass while Fr. Gary is away with family for a short vacation.

“My sweetest Joy is to be in the presence of Jesus in the holy Sacrament. I beg that when obliged to withdraw in body, I may leave my heart before the holy Sacrament.”

– St. Katharine Drexel

Our 7A students lead a wonderful Ash Wednesday Prayer Service on Wednesday. 

Our fifth and sixth grade students shared their talent in the school winter concert.

Our kindergarteners celebrated 100days of school by decorating their caps with 100 items, like stickers, etc..

Our fifth graders created their own unique Snowflakes using marshmallows and toothpicks.

Widodo Karli Family

Morris/Herber Family

Antezana Garvizu Family



Coles Family