St. Clare Catholic Church

09/05/2026

Next weekend is our annual Combined Mass and St. Clare Picnic. The Combined Mass means we have a 10:00am Mass but not the normal 8:30 and 10:45 Masses. We will still have our Saturday evening Mass but I encourage those folks to attend the Combined Mass as well. This is our opportunity to all come together as we worship. We are the faith family of St. Clare but usually you only see the people that attend the same Mass that you attend. This is an opportunity to see everyone.

I always enjoy our big combined Mass. We will have the combined choirs leading our music and I will present the new parish theme that the Pastoral Council has chosen for the year.

After the Combined Mass we will have our huge St. Clare picnic on our school play field. Plan on joining us. We’ll have fried chicken, salads, fruit, desserts and drinks. There will be live music, carnival games and family fun. We’ll have tables and chairs there but we don’t have enough for everyone, so please bring a blanket and/or lawn chairs if you can.

We have an amazing St. Clare family. We worship together, we educate our children, we serve the less fortunate and we spread the good news of Jesus Christ. Next weekend we celebrate our St. Clare family. Please join us for the Combined Mass and St. Clare Picnic.

Our men’s ACTS retreat is only 2 weeks away. I would love to see all our men take advantage of this retreat. You won’t regret attending. I’ve heard a lot of excuses from men that I’ve invited the past few weeks, I encourage you to put the excuses aside and sign up today. You will be glad you did.

St. Clare Preschool and St. Clare School are off to a good start. We have over 300 children on campus every weekday. It’s great to have their energy and joy filling our buildings and our hearts!

~Fr. Don

08/29/2026

St. Clare School starts up again this week! The teachers were here last week getting ready, and on Tuesday the students will come and get settled in their classrooms. We have record high enrollment, many classrooms are full, others are mostly full. We have a great faculty and staff, they work well together and they know the students and their families.

Our St. Clare Preschool stays open all summer so I get to see the little ones regularly but this week it’ll feel different with the bigger children in the K-8 school returning to the classrooms. There will be over 300 children on campus weekdays, we’ll start up our school Masses again on Thursdays (everyone is welcome to those), and the playground will be full of the sound of happy children.

Last weekend we had our first annual St. Clare Car Show. It was a fun event. We ran it from 1-3:00 on Sunday afternoon and we had a wide variety of cars and trucks. Our vehicles varied from a ’37 Ford (restored to factory specs) to a highly modified newish Chevy Camaro drag racer. In between those extremes was a World War II army jeep, ’65 Corvette, vintage Jaguar and ’49 Chevrolet pickup. Miss Mac’s (our 4th grade teacher) ’74 AMC Gremlin won the People’s Choice award. It was just a fun, casual event, trying to get some of our neighbors that aren’t Catholic to come on campus and get to know us. We passed out 51 brochures about St. Clare Church.

Our big Combined Mass/St. Clare Picnic is just 2 weeks away. Our Men’s ACTS retreat is just 3 weeks away. Lotsa good stuff happening here at St. Clare!

Let's keep praying for one another,

~Fr. Don

08/22/2026

I was away the last 5 days at a family reunion. I’m exhausted, extraverted out, and happy! I am blessed with a great family. The family consists of my sister, 3 brothers, spouses, children and grandchildren. My 99 year old dad (who helped build the cabin when he was a teenager) wasn’t able to join us but we still had 15 of us sitting around the picnic table. It’s especially fun to play with the children (ages 3-8); with no electricity or cell coverage, they play the same ways that I did when I was their age at the cabin (pinecone wars, treks through the woods, swimming, Tonka trucks…). Good times!

This week our teachers will return to get ready for all the students next week. John and Malcolm (our dedicated maintenance crew) have been busy all summer giving the school and preschool a deep cleaning. They’ve painted the walls, waxed the floors, scrubbed everything, plus we’ve installed new carpet in the library and music room. It’s sparkling clean over there! This week our preschool and school teachers will all be receiving their in-service training. The preschool enrollment is full and the school has the highest enrollment in years. We are gearing up for another great year.

Enjoy these last days of summer, and let’s keep praying for one another.

~Fr. Don

08/15/2026

This weekend we celebrate the Assumption of Mary. We celebrate that at the end of her life God raised Mary body and soul into the glory of Heaven. Mary sets a great example of being surrendered to the will of God (“I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me according to your word.”) and God honors Mary for that service as God as he raises her body and soul to Heaven. We strive to follow her example of wholehearted service to God and we look forward to our ultimate home in Heaven. Last weekend we honored our patroness St. Clare, and this weekend we honor Mary. Two amazing women. Their lives can inspire us to live holy lives.

This week I will be out of town at my family’s annual get-together at our cabin. There will be 15 us there, covering 3 generations, ranging in age from 3 to 73 years old. I’ve mentioned before that the cabin is rustic, my grandfather built it over 80 years ago, it has no electricity, no running water, no road access (boat access only). Throughout my life it has always been my favorite place in the world. Lots of great family memories associated with the cabin! It’s on Mercer Lake, 5 miles from Florence. I’m blessed with a family that always enjoys being together, and so I’m looking forward to a week full of fun: lots of good conversation, eating way too much, hiking, swimming, kayaking, maybe waterskiing… I’ll be exhausted but happy when you see me next weekend.

Next Sunday we have our first annual St. Clare car show. We have a good mix of cars registered so far: antiques, hotrods, sports cars, woodie wagon… This is an effort at evangelism, trying to get neighbors onto the parish grounds, ultimately leading them to Mass at St. Clare. Invite your neighbors friends to join us Sunday
1-3pm on the back side of the school for this fun and casual event.

Let’s keep praying for one another.

~Fr. Don

08/08/2026

Join us for the Feast of St.Clare this weekend 🌻

08/08/2026

This weekend we celebrate our patroness, St. Clare of Assisi. She lived 800 years ago, was the first woman follower of St. Francis of Assisi and then helped to establish and lead the women Franciscan order, the Poor Clares. She was an amazing woman. Her faith in God shaped everything she did.

St. Clare was a very prayerful woman. When she came out of a prayer sometimes her face radiated amazing joy.

She was an effective leader. Her leadership style is that of a servant-leader, no job was too simple or lowly for her to do. She lead with love and compassion.

St. Clare was very caring. She and her sisters nursed the sick that came to their convent, helping them to be well.

She led a simple life. The simplicity allowed her to focus her energy on God and God’s people and not be distracted by too much “stuff”.

She was wise and brave. Popes came to her for advice. When the Seracins threatened to attack the convent she bravely placed the Blessed Sacrament in the front window, trusting that God would protect them. And the Seracins backed off.

Whether we are women or men, we can all imitate St. Clare of Assisi. She sets an example of prayerfulness, dependence on God, and courageous leadership.

Let’s keep praying for one another. ~Fr. Don

08/01/2026

I am writing a book report today. I feel like I am back in middle school!
I read a book recently that has had a big impact on my life and I want to tell you about it. It’s by Matthew Kelly, we’ve used several of his books here at St. Clare: Rediscovering Jesus, Holy Moments, The Biggest Lie in the History of Christianity… He is my favorite Catholic author because he is so down-to-earth and practical. Last year he wrote Slow Down to the Speed of Joy. I have already read it 3 times cover to cover and am currently reading it again.This book has changed my life more than almost any other book.

The book jacket says, “It is a deeply personal book. It provides a rare and intimate look at the author’s own struggles with busy and urgent. By revealing his own vulnerabilities, Kelly provides us with the practical insights and timeless wisdom necessary to banish busy and urgent from our own lives.” My life has been very busy as a pastor as I oversee the church, school & preschool. I try to meet the needs of the 600+ registered families plus all the non-registered Catholics in the area that want a priest’s help. My life has had a lot of “busy and urgent”. I was often feeling overwhelmed by the workload.

A lot of our families feel overwhelmed. Lots of busy and urgent. This book has helped me to move toward slowing down to the speed of joy and it can help you to do the same. I highly recommend it if you are feeling overwhelmed with the busyness of life/work/family. Our lives can get rushed into a frantic pace that isn’t healthy or life-giving. Matthew Kelly gives practical and Godly advice on how to live life at the speed of joy. I highly recommend his book Slowing Down to the Speed of Joy.

Let’s keep praying for one another.

~ Fr. Don

07/30/2026

07/25/2026

I love summer time! Unlike a lot of native Oregonians, I love HOT weather. I also enjoy fresh produce and my garden is producing more than I can eat now. And I enjoy the wild blackberries too: I have blackberry cobbler with chocolate peanutbutter cup ice cream for dessert most nights. Good stuff!

The church schedule has slowed down some so I’m down to 40 hour weeks for a while, that feels good too. My morning prayer time at the river is especially nice, often the sun is shining on me, and I always finish with a swim in the river, the water is up to 75 degrees, very comfortable.

I hope your summer is going well. We often have very busy lives and it is important to take a break and enjoy some leisure time. I hope you are finding some leisure time this summer. It is easy to fill our lives full of activities but sometimes we just need to relax. Enjoy the “good ol’ summertime”!

Let’s keep praying for one another.

~Fr. Don

07/18/2026

A week ago we had our annual St. Clare Campout. It’s an amazing event! I came home with a big smile on my face, and exhausted too. Our St. Clare kids have SO much energy. They were riding their bikes around and around our campground loops, plus going back and forth to the lake and the ocean beach and the historic battery. The kids always ask me to bring my unicycle so I rode that a bit for them also.

There is always lots of good food. I learned the first time I attended the campout (10 years ago) that I don’t need to pack any food for myself, I will be well fed at many generous parishioners. The first night I was there I enjoyed a Filipino dinner, Italian dinner and an American dinner. It’s good I got lots of exercise or I would get fat! Lots of good food and good conversation.

The outdoor Mass at the amphitheater is always my favorite part of the campout. We had about 200 people there plus their dogs. After a day filled with fun activities we gathered to thank God for the good times. As a church, we are able to have lots of fun together but also to worship well together. The campout Mass reminds us that our biggest uniting factor is our faith in God.

This was probably my last St. Clare Campout, as next summer I expect to be semi-retired, and moving to Scappoose where my brother and I will co-pastor St. Wenceslaus Church in our senior years. The St. Clare Campout is one of the many things I will miss about serving here at St. Clare.

Let’s keep praying for one another.

~Fr. Don