February 9, 2003
Columbia Lessons
Start
of the Appeal
Many
thanks to all who made a pledge this past weekend in response to the
appeal made by Joe and Elaine Trentacoste at all the masses. In addition
to the pledges, there were many good conversations about the state of
the church today. It’s good to keep the dialogues going. We received
notice from the diocese that there is no increase in this year’s
goal and we will receive 30% in a rebate (compared to 25% last year)
when we reach our goal.
Scripture
Quote of the Week
“ Rising very early before dawn, he left
and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed.
Simon and those who were with him pursued him
and on finding him said, "Everyone is looking for you."
-Mark 1
Away
at College?
We'd
love to stay in touch.
To receive the “letter from home”, take this bulletin with
you to college as a reminder to send in your e-mail address. Just Click
Here!
Technology Ministry
If you’d like to give your time and expertise at helping our parish
connect its telephone systems or work on its website, you can let us
know by filling in our
online form
Want
to e-mail Father Ralph?
Past Columns:
Feb2: Giving At A Difficult
Time
Jan 26: Penny Power
& Catholic Schools
Jan19: Yet Another
Year
Jan 12: Stealing Jesus
Jan5: The Wise Still Come
From Afar
Other Columns from 2002
By the time I was eleven years
of age the only people in my life who had died were a few elderly relatives.
So when the part of the mass came around when we remembered “those
who died”, my list was pretty short. But in that year, the first
disaster in the American space program occurred when a fire killed three
astronauts during a test of the Apollo space capsule. Like so many children
at the time, I was an avid follower of the space program and it felt like
a personal loss when Gus Grissom, Ed White,and Roger Chaffee died in that
accident. I remember including them in my prayers at mass each week.
In 1986 when the space shuttle
Challenger exploded, I added seven more names to my astronaut prayer list.
This past weekend, when the shuttle Columbia burned up on re-entry, I
added seven more.
I wonder what it is about the space
program that has such a hold on my imagination and my prayer. After all,
countless others die in as noble an effort of serving the public or serving
the pursuit of knowledge. Yet again and again, I feel the loss of astronauts
in a personal way.
I also examine with keen interest
the results of the investigations of why these accidents happened. Two
things seem to be common: (1) a very small event lead to the larger disaster
(a spark....a cold morning....a missing tile) and (2) people were warning
about these things ahead of time. I think there’s a life-lesson
in this for us too. Seemingly small things (a “thank you”
or a nagging put-down, for example) can have a large effect. Disaster
or salvation can be by-products of small things in life, as well as the
large. We’re also warned and encouraged to look at these things
by the prophets in our lives. How often can others see things in us that
we can’t see? How often does a person bravely offer an insight that
can save us from personal disaster? Unfortunately we discovered in the
aftermath of the space program disasters that the right people didn’t
listen to what was being said. It makes me appreciate the time people
take to share their insights into how our church, our parish is going.
I pray for the ears to listen and hear.
Let us pray for the families of
those who died returning to earth last week. And I add Rick Husband, William
McCool, Michael Anderson, Kalpana Chawla, David Brown, Laurel Clark, and
Ilan Ramon to my rembrance.
You are Person