April 27, 2003
One Heart and Mind
Father
Marty
Father
Marty Klein, who was a former associate pastor at St. Brigid’s,
suffered a heart attack last weekend and is currently recuperating in
the hospital. (People are asked not to call the hospital, because a
new federal law prohibits them from giving out information.) Prayers
ARE accepted and if you want to drop him a card, you can mail it
Our Lady of Perpetual Help
210 So. Wellwood Ave
Lindenhurst NY 11757.
Bishop
Dunne
When
Bishop John Dunne was here a few weekends ago he invited people to contact
him if they wished to share any issues with him.
His address is:
PO Box 39
Farmingdale NY 11735
Easter
Collection
It
takes a while to fully report the Easter Fund collection because people
mail in their contributions as well as drop them in the collection on
Easter Sunday. But here’s a quick report from last weekend alone:
$57,983 (compared to last year: $57,909).
Thank you so much for your generosity.
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:
April 20: Amazingly Graced
Days
April 13: Ashes to Palms
April 6:
God Embedded
March 30:
Pastoral Visits
March 23:
Turning Tables
March
16: Transfiguring Imagination
March
9: Beasts and Angels
March 2:
Lent and Imagination
Feb 23: Sorrow
Far and Wide
Feb 16: Saints
Feb 9: Columbia Lessons
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
Columns from 2002
“The community of believers was of one
heart and mind,
and no one claimed that any of his possessions was his own,
but they had everything in common.
With great power the apostles bore witness
to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus,
and great favor was accorded them all.
There was no needy person among them,
for those who owned property or houses would sell them,
bring the proceeds of the sale,
and put them at the feet of the apostles,
and they were distributed to each according to need. “
-Acts of the Apostles 4
Aah, the idyllic days of the early church
where all the believers shared everything with each other and everyone
got along in peace and love! Unfortunately, this passage of scripture
that we read on this second Sunday of Easter was not quite accurate. All
we have to do is read further in the Acts of the Apostles to see that
there were quarrels among the disciples, that people didn’t share
with each other, that it was hard to live together in peace and love.
So I’m not surprised that we struggle in today’s church to be
an “Easter people”. There are hurts and angers and misunderstandings.
There are “in groups” and “out groups” -- not by design
of course, but that’s the way people feel at times. But rather than
despair, I think we’re always given a chance to be the “new
church” all over again.
What can each of us do to fulfill the scripture
which describes the early church? Two thousand years from now, I hope
someone will remember that we could really reach this point:
“The community of believers at St. Brigid’s
was of one heart and mind,
....they had everything in common.
With great power the apostles bore witness
to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus,
and great favor was accorded them all.”
Over the years we’ve done a good job
of walking toward this way of living, but we’ve got more walking-together
to do.
Happy Easter!
You are Person
