St. Edward Catholic Church

06/26/2026

Thursday, June 25
Day 7
Final work day has arrived. The goal was to have the following completed for the week: fence, flooring, and painting. The St. Bernard Project team was impressed that our group not only stayed on task but were ahead of schedule. So, the day was a bit shorter to marvel at the progress and exchange goodbyes and farewells. The other group was sent on another duty of morning sorting and loading food in boxes at a processing warehouse. Feeding Tampa Bay has a warehouse the size of 3 football fields and supplies all the food boxes for an average of 1 million people a year in the region. It is quite impressive operation. In the afternoon, we shifted to delivering and moving of furniture into two residences. One home was for a large family of 8 and the second was for a widower. Both were quite appreciative but also overwhelmed by the size of the crew and their enthusiasm. The evening Mass was somber as we all knew that our time together was coming to a close. After Dinner we had our final reflection session in which it is tradition that we share "shout outs" for notable blessings, actions, and persons throughout the week. Many of these affirmations brought laughter and tears of joy and gratitude. There were so many to mention, but there are a few in particular, which is to Mary Beth and the staff at Franciscan Retreat Center in Tampa, thank you for hosting us and providing those little touches of hospitality of snacks such as sliced watermelon and popsicles during these hot days. All the bus drivers from Charter Up that transported us safely and even stayed with us on our various work sites just in case we needed to use the facilities on board or to get out of the heat for some relief. And finally to the parishioners, friends, and benefactors of St. Edward (North Plains), St. Francis of Assisi (Roy), St. Martin de Porres (Boston), and Visitation (Verboort) for the support spiritually and financially to help make Mission Krewe possible for our teens to see new places, to experience new friends and locations, and to be in an environment to deepen their faith. As I will explain more extensively in this weekend's Pastor's Notes in the Bulletin, it is appropriate and very fitting that after 13 years and we are retiring the name and branding of "Mission Krewe" that we do so in Tampa, FL which is the "Home of the Krewe"!

Officially signing off, please continue to pray for our safe travels.

Mission Krewe 2026 OUT!

06/25/2026

Wednesday, June 24
Day 6
Nearing the end of our Mission Krewe, we are focusing on completing the flooring and painting on one of our work sites that we have committed our largest volunteer power of 20 teens and 2 adult chaperones. With such great need and many requests, we divided the remaining teens in to 3 small groups of 6 volunteers each. With that said, the small group that provided the finishing touches on a completed home were invited to attend the dedication ceremony. They got to meet the family moving in today which was a Veteran in the Armed Forces with his wife and 6 children. It was very touching to see the end result and the impact of getting families back into their homes. This particular family has been waiting for 18 months. After the dedication, they walked across the street to work on another home which is at least one month away from completion. The other small group returned back to the ReStore to provide sorting and shelving support. In some pictures it may look like they are shopping but actually they are creating neat, orderly, and clean rows of items for shoppers to support Habitat for Humanity. Finally the last group stayed on campus for a varnishing maintenance project. Needless to say, all the groups got their hands dirty. Although, it is difficult to outdo Taco Tuesday, tonight on the menu is meatloaf which has created a debate of what are the different variations that make the best. Without a doubt, it boils down to mom's meatloaf is always the best. So, not sure if tonight's entree will meet that bar. This evening's reflection is one of my favorite devotion as Fr. Chris and I are offering Adoration/Benediction and confessions.

06/24/2026

Tuesday, June 23
Day 5
Another productive day as significant progress was made for the outdoor tasks of installing fence and exterior painting was completed enough to begin the interior job of installing flooring could begin. This project will probably continue into tomorrow and hopefully be completed. As a result, we had a small team of just 6 (4 teens and 2 adult chaperones) that was assigned to help with a nearly completed home. This group were putting the finishing touches so that the family could receive their house keys today. As you can imagine the excitement of being about to finally return back home. While a large part of our work force were working on homes, we had a placement at the Restore which through second hand sales provides resources to financial fund supplies and materials for the rebuild. Many in this group, including myself received some relief from heat and humidity. Since today is Tuesday, it is Taco Tuesday! Needless to say, a fan favorite for dinner. After dinner, reflection time will be offered to provide some introspection on the events of the day. However, Br. Brian did share with the teens where he keeps the fishing poles so some did if saying a Hail Mary would improve their chances to get a catch!

06/23/2026

Monday, June 22
Day 4
Over 100 degrees and a humidity index over 80% with various outdoor and thankfully some afternoon projects in the cool AC, our teens soldiered through it admirably. With such a large work crew, we had to split the group into two. One group had the outdoor efforts of tearing down and rebuilding a fence as well as taping for painting. The site supervisor reminded the teens every 20 minutes if needed to take a water break with some requiring to go to the AC bus to lay down. At another work site, we decided to provide some volunteerism to our hosting location of Franciscan Retreat Center. In preparation for the conclusion of the Franciscan Jubilee Year, they are planning a closing Mass in January 2027. Due to the mild weather in Florida, they are hosting an outdoor Mass. A group was tasked of creating a curated flat area. The last person to connect the plastic grid was Br. Brian which seemed fitting. Another group helped served 82 meals at the Faith Cafe in Tampa. The site coordinator said out of the 30 years she has been supervising youth, ours were the best (which is a huge compliment). Finally, we had one more project of Metro Ministries. Predominantly funded by private donors like the founder of Outback Steak House and Ashley Furniture, the campus is 4 blocks long which includes housing for up to 100 families who are transitioning out of homelessness, a kitchen and dining room that serves on average 3000 meals a day, child care, job/career training, and spiritual support the impact is far reaching. This group was broken up into 3 with some helping with their day care, others doing a deep clean of the dining room and the last group working in the thrift store. With the tasks completed, the teens returned home to clean up for Mass and an evening reflection. We made sure that the teens were in their rooms by 10:00pm as there is another full day of work, heat and humidity for tomorrow.

06/22/2026

Sunday, June 21
Day 3 Mission Krewe (Father's Day)
Blessed Father's Day! We reminded all the teens to send a message to their dads. Since we had an opportunity for some souvenir shopping, to purchase a gift for dad too! Some did just that and some with gifts for mom and siblings. There is no better Father's Day than to acknowledge how much father's sacrifice and I would like to give a shout out to two of our dad chaperones, Alex Funk and Mark VanhHoomissen who both were on the 2024 Mission Krewe Trip in Anchorage and returned again this year. As a result, both were not with their sons on Father's Day. So, it seemed appropriate to thank you, they were both treated with soft serve Dole pineapple whip!. Tomorrow, we begin our week-long service projects with St. Bernard Project and social outreach agencies in the Diocese of St. Petersburg.

06/21/2026

Day 2 Mission Krewe
With last night/early morning arrival due to 1 hour delay to avoiding the thunderstorms, we did not arrive at the retreat center till 1:15am. We had pizza awaiting us from Papa John's but some just wanted to go to bed. Due to the long day of travel, we did not start the Orientation till later in the morning after a hearty breakfast. Brother Brian provided the group a history of the Franciscan Retreat center that included the original convent of the Franciscan sisters replaced with a care facility for those who have been impacted by PTSD. In fact, the chalice and paten that we are using for the daily Masses offered was donated by a Franciscan who served a tour in the Afghanistan as a military chaplain. With Fr. Chris Palladino, who is pastor of St. Martin de Porres, accepting the Judical Vicar position for the Archdiocese of Military Services this July 2026, it was very special that we are celebrating Masses for the week with this chalice and paten. Fr. Chris explained that after he returns from Mission Krewe, he will have to pack up and say goodbye to his parish as he needs to move to Washington, DC to begin his new assignment for a term of 5 years. Without a parish, our partnership with the youth from the St. Martin de Porres parish in Boston will cease.

Brother Brian reminded us that in this Franciscan Jubilee Year, as we are using the Franciscan Retreat Center as our home base, we are receiving an indulgence. With those special graces, we continued to bond as a Portland and Boston group by visiting Clearwater Beach on the Gulf of Mexico. We were able to enjoy the white sands and warm waters by playing volleyball and wading in the waters of the Bay. Needless to say, everyone agreed that the warm waters of Tampa Bay was much different than the water temperature on the Oregon coast. It was a recovery day after a long day of travel as we ended the day with Vigil Mass and dinner. The teens went to bed as we have another day of sightseeing tomorrow before the work begins the next week rebuilding homes with St. Bernard Project as well as social outreach agencies in the Diocese of St. Petersburg.

06/19/2026

Mission Krewe 2026
Friday, June 19
Day 1 Mission Krewe (Travel Day)
Despite the initial grumblings of departing O Dark 430, for those who were not sleeping on the airport shuttle, we were blessed with a majestic morning light. The Southwest Airlines ticket counter staff were amazing as they printed out 30+ boarding passes and checked in luggage for those who packed generously. As we settled at our gate, the Tillamook Cheese Van must have had a "Red Bull" as the teens noticed that it grew some wings. Unfortunately, that is not the plane that will be taking us to Florida. A short flight to Denver left us with a very lengthy layover. However, the teens found ways to pass the time with spike ball and hacky-sack (while making new friends along the way). Our friends from Boston left early this morning but their flight path is more direct and half the time. Fr. Chris promised us that while his group will arrive a few hours earlier, he will do the Costco run to make sure that there are plenty of snacks, drinks, sunscreen, and bug spray for the week. We are slated to arrive 10:15pm East Coast time which will only be 7:15pm Pacific time but for sure bedtime for the Boston group. Thank for all the prayers especially for safe travels to our destination.

06/09/2026

Commemorative Brick Sale
https://stedwardnp.org/commemorative-brick-sale

06/06/2026

05/02/2026