January 25, 2004
A View From Inside
Busted
Pipes
The cold of last weekend wreaked havok on two radiators in the
Parish Center. Pipes froze and burst and a steady stream of water inundated
an upstairs office, came through the ceiling of a first floor office
and then ran into the basement storage area where we keep mny of thebanners
and other decorations for the church. Many papers in the office got
wet and we’re inthe process of peeling them apart and drying them.
At this time it does not appear that any essential records were lost.
We have contacted the insurance company and expect to have restoration
experts in soon to replaster and repaint the ceilings and walls and
to replace the carpeting.
Such a mini-disaster reminds us to pray for people whose homes were
damaged by similar freezing problems andof course for people who do
not havethe warmth of a home at all.
At College?
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.
e-mail Father Ralph:
Past Columns:
Jan 18: Our
School
Jan 11: Baptism with Fire
Dec28: Our Holy
Family
Dec 21: Home
For Christmas
Dec14: Meddling
Grace
Dec7:
Moving Mountains
Other Colums from 2003
Columns from 2002
“So how was the meeting with the Bishop?”
It’s the number one question asked by my family, friends and parishioners.
I want to share with you my experience of a remarkable gathering of nearly
half the priests of the diocese with Bishop Murphy last Monday .
The first thing that struck me was that hundreds
of people were praying for us. When we began to pray together, I was caught
by the sensation that we were not alone, but that so many of you were
united with us in prayer. That was a comforting and powerful way to start
our time together. Indeed the whole day weas conducted in a spirit of
prayerful search for the Lord’s will for the good of our church.
Bishop Murphy then spoke for 25 minutes and
shared a very personal, almost ‘confessional’ assessment of
his actions as our bishop these past 2+ years. I found him very honest,
humble and true. So much of what he said calls me to evaluate my own ministry
as a priest and a pastor in light of how I’m serving the Lord and
others.
We then had a “working lunch” during
which we reflected in small groups on what we heard the Bishop say, how
we felt in response and what further explanation we’d like to hear.
Then “spokes-priests” for different table shared our comments
with everyone. And here was the best part for me: While the meeting seemed
to be about priests and bishop, each speaker inevitably spoke about the
laity -- the people we’ve come to know in our parishes and in our
ministries. We spoke of how we appreciate the gifts of people, their talents,
their faith, their dedication. We spoke of the pain we know people feel
and we shared our own pain. We spoke of people’s hopes for the future,
and added our own hopes.
We’re hoping to see some real change
in the future because of our meeting, but even if we accomplished nothing
else, this spontaneous affirmation of you was an important moment to witness.
What could have turned into a meeting about priests and their bishop instead
was a proclamation in our love and appreciation of you. We DO love you!
You are Person
