August 31, 2003
Where the summer went
Going
Off to College?
Hundreds of our parishioners will be soon going off to college -- either
for the first time or as returning students. At St. Brigid’s we
like to stay in touch through
e-mail “letters from home.”
Once a person has an e-mail address at school (or if he/she uses a personal
address), please let us know what it is so we can include them when
we write.
Here's a handy college link so you
can send this info online.
God
Bless Gaspar
Father Gaspar finished his first visit to the United States (and St.
Brigid’s) and has returned to Spain. It was great to see our country
and parish through his eyes. He helped all of us speak Spanish more
and he even celebrated Mass in English for the first time during the
week. (We all learned from each other.)
May God bless him in his parish work at home.
e-mail Father Ralph:
Past Columns:
August 24: Lessons from
the Blackout
August 17: Here and
There
August 10: Surrender
August 3: Reaping Rewards
July 27: What's your
mission?
July 20: From a Deserted
Place
July 13: Nothing for the
Journey
July 6: God at Home
June 29: Going in Stages
June 22: Sommer in the Summer
June 15: Our Newest Priest
Ordained
June 8: The Feast of Pentecost
June 1: Beyond First Communion
May 24: Felicidades Manuel
May 18: Twenty Years Later
May 11: Bows for Peace
May 4: Upcoming Ordinations
April 27: One Heart One
Mind
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
Labor Day snuck up quickly this year (doesn’t
it always?) and the perennial words “where did the summer go?”
are bouncing around. I have my annual desire to buy looseleaf paper (I
don’t actually use looseleaf paper) but there’s something about
a new school year that sets off memories of nearly 21 years in my younger
life of “going back to school” and the routine of buying school
supplies and new school clothes, etc. still tugs at me.
This time of year is a new beginning. Everyone
on St. Brigid’s staff is back from vacation after Labor Day and we’ll
begin again to look at how we minister here -- a number of our pastoral
staff are beginning their second year here and that’s a more comfortable
position to be in because there’s some perspective that a new job
can’t give in the first months. We’ll be sharing and striving
toward our hopes together.
Our school starts again this week and our religious education program
starts in the weeks ahead. So much of our energy goes into sharing our
faith with our children. I hope this new beginning will re-commit families
to regularly coming to church each weekend. If people have been distracted
from doing this, this time of year is a good time to build in time to
worship God along with the other fall routines.
Celebrating Eucharist of course is meant
to be a year-round, lifelong way of growing closer to God and thanking
God for our blessings. But sometimes we need a little pull to get us back
into this wonderful community prayer with God. (If you know someone who
needs a little encouragement, please reach out to them-- you could cut
out this column and share it with them -- or better, agree to bring them
or meet them at a specific mass on the weekend.)
Our summer may have fled by, and sometimes
our lives go by too quickly. The opportunity to observe a “day of
rest” (or at least an hour of rest with the Lord) each week brings
refreshment, time for reflection, a change to renew ourselves weekly.
P.S. If you are having trouble getting through to our phones, it’s because the phone system was “fried” by the electric storm we had a couple of weeks ago. We're working on getting the replacement parts and re-programming the system. And we regret any inconvenience this technical difficulty may have caused.
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