St. Clare Catholic Church

05/30/2026

Our St. Clare 8th Grade class has been in the Washington D.C. area this week learning all about our federal government and national history. Years ago our school used to take the 7th and 8th graders to Washington, D.C. and now our principal, Mr. Harris, has resumed that tradition. Their flight left early (6:30am) on Tuesday and they return this weekend and then finish their last week of school before gradua-tion. Besides the students, two teachers and Mr. Harris and parent chaperones and a professional tour guide have been leading the students.

They had a full schedule of activities. They visited all the big sights and learned lots of history. It’s one thing to talk about these things in the classroom but it’s a com-
pletely different experience to see the sights first-hand. Most of the students had never been to Washington, D.C. before. Now, having been there, when they listen to the national news, it means a lot more to them.

This Washington, D.C. trip is just one more way that our St. Clare School is prepar-
ing our students to excel.

This weekend we have our Support-A-Student event. This is an annual fundraiser to provide funds for tuition assistance for our school. It’s expensive to enroll students in our school (approximately $10,000/year) and tuition assistance helps our families a great deal. We usually give out around $100,000 in tuition assistance each year. Your donations to Support-A-Student helps families be able to have their children learn here at St. Clare School. All gifts are generously matched by the Joseph E. Weston Foundation, doubling your impact.

Thank you for helping our parish families and our parish school!

~Fr. Don

05/28/2026

05/28/2026

the Rosary pictured is NOT the traditional 5-decade version.
There are other Rosaries, too -- like the 7-sorrows version with 7 sections of 7 beads each, and instead of the Mysteries, we recite the Seven Sorrows of our Mother Mary.
Then there is also the Divine Mercy -- where the sequencing is the same, but the prayers are different.
What other Rosaries do you know or pray?

05/28/2026

https://www.ewtnnews.com/world/us/vatican-announces-global-rosary-for-peace-with-pope-leo-xiv?fbclid=IwY2xjawSEfNZleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFqdkN1T1Q3NFU1eDRjcjN1c3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHv1xFrlWHvuYjYK3rf1vrVQlY1WMq8Ramu-NAf1qNnPe6WfsXzpomOx5yWM4_aem_4efojf5OHgu7j14lPd3KYA

A worldwide rosary, coordinated by the Dicastery for Evangelization, will be prayed at the Lourdes Grotto in the Vatican Gardens on May 30.

05/23/2026

Late post: a couple of Thursdays ago, Archbishop Sample presided over the school Mass, and later on checked in on our students on campus.

05/23/2026

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR CATHOLIC CHURCH!!!

05/20/2026

This weekend we celebrate Pentecost. Pentecost commemorates Jesus pouring out his Holy Spirit on the believers 50 days after the resurrection. This Sunday is 50 days after Easter, so we celebrate Pentecost this weekend. We celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit. It is the spirit of Jesus living right inside us. The Holy Spirit empowers us to be disciples, to live the Gospel and to spread the Gospel to others. Without the Holy Spirit we are wimpy Christians. Jesus doesn’t need wimpy Chris-tians, he needs disciples. Disciples are active, on-fire Christians who want to love God and spread that love to others.

Let’s all pray for a continued openness to the Holy Spirit.

In two weeks (June 7) we will celebrate the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ, Corpus Christi. Our archdiocese will have a special Mass and procession and I encourage you to consider joining it. There will be special Mass at the Cathedral at 2pm. The Mass will include the consecration of the archdiocese to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Following the Mass there will be a Eucharistic Procession through the neighborhood starting at 3:30. Last year about 3,000 Catholics joined the procession, and I encourage you to come and make that number even more impres-sive! The Procession will finish about 4:30.

Happy Pentecost everyone. I pray that you are filled with the Holy Spirit!

05/16/2026

This weekend we celebrate the feast of the Ascension. We remember Jesus’ ascension/rising to heaven 40 days after the resurrection. I can’t help but think about St. Clare Church and how we are ascending. We aren’t ascending up to heaven, but our congregation and ministries are certainly on the rise.

Here’s some things happening at St. Clare recently: Our Easter Mass attendance was up over 10% above last year, this year approximately 1,350 people attended our Easter Sunday Masses (last year was about 1,200). You did a good job of inviting your family and friends to join us! Also, we welcomed about 20 people into our Catholic faith.

Several new ministries have developed this year: We started the ACTS weekend retreats with great success. We did our pilgrimage to Rome and Assisi in the Fall, that was an inspirational time for the participants. We recently started Walking with Purpose (a women’s Bible study), we have revamped Sisters in the Spirit and it is going well. Brothers in the Spirit started last fall and has been a very supportive and encouraging weekly gathering for the men. We have a new dads group and have added another moms group as well. Our St. Clare Campout has expanded from 75 campsites to 90 campsites this year. We recently had 39 children receiving their 1st Holy Communion, and 29 older students receive their Confirmation. Our school is looking at the highest enrollment in 20 years, our Preschool is full as usual.

St. Clare Church/School/Preschool is booming. That’s because of you! Thank you for stepping up to lead or participate in these ministries. Thank you for your financial support to allow us to do this important work. Thank you for your on-going prayers for our church. It’s a joy to serve with all of you here at St. Clare. –Fr. Don

05/09/2026

Happy Mother’s Day! This is a great day to honor all the dedication, love and sacrifice of our mothers. St. Clare Church has lots of strong families and moms make up a big part of that strength. THANK YOU mothers!

My mom passed away 4 years ago at 93 years old. She was a great mom. Charleen Helmbrecht was born in Buffalo, NY just two weeks after the Great Depression hit. She had a sister one year older than her, and as I look at childhood pictures of them, they look like twins. They were a strong Catholic family, mom attended Catholic schools and then went to college at the University of Rochester Eastman School of Music. There she met my dad. They completed their studies in ’52, were married by Mom’s cousin who was a priest, and their honeymoon was driving cross-country back to Oregon where Dad would become a music teacher at Hillsboro High School. Over the next five years mom gave birth to five children, finishing up with my twin and me. (I like to think she saved the best for last!)

Mom and Dad were an adventurous couple. In ’61 my parents and the 3 older children (ages 5-7) flew to South America and back in our single engine airplane. In ’63 the whole family moved to Germany for a year while Dad was attending studies there. Besides traveling they always raised a huge garden and Mom canned and froze lots of fruit and veggies to feed her hungry family through the winter months. Mom and Dad had a loving marriage for 69 years before her passing.

I was blessed with a really good mom. A lot of us have been blessed with our amazing moms. Today we celebrate our moms. We thank them for all their love and care for us and we pray for them whether they are still with us here on earth or up in Heaven with God. May God bless our moms!

Happy Mother’s Day everyone! - Fr. Don