July 25th, 2004
“Doh!”
Vacationing
I’m back from a two week vacation -- the weather was lovely, there
was time for relaxation. I’ll be taking a few more vacation days
at the end of this week too. During the first two weeks of August I’ll
be looking forward to welcoming Father Jim Mannion to St. Brigid’s
and showing him the delights of our parish..
Parking
Lot
Rumor has it that trhe long-awaited re-paving of the school parking
lot has begun with the installation of new drywells. Since I’m
writing this on Wednesday, I can’t say with certainty how far
the job will be done by the time you read this but if you attend Mass
in the chapel, you’ll knw more than me! Click
here for the latest progress
I’m grateful to Dominic Iannucci who’s donating workers
and the machines to get the job done and to the Dell’Assunta Society
for helping to raise some funds for this project.
Sommer
in the Summer
Got some things you’d like to ask a priest? Want to have a nice
conversation about God, the church, the world, the future? Like hosting
gatherings in your home? Got dessert? Then you’re a candidate
to host one of this year’s Sommer in the Summer sessions. Father
Ralph Sommer wants to visit folks throughout the parish throughout the
summer for as chance to hear what people are thinking, wondering about,
or questioning. The process is casual and simple. Pick a date with Father
Ralph (during the day...or evenings). Then invite friends or neighbors
to come. (Twelve people is a good number for this.) Tell them to prepare
some questions or topics they’d like to talk about. Get dessert.
This is a good way for a pastor to get to know folks in an informal
setting.
E-mail or call Father Ralph if you’d like to host.
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:
July 18: Taking Church Home
July 11: Seven Eleven
July 4th: Independence Day
June 27: God Bless Father
George
June 20: Our New Priests
June13:Missing you
June 6: Farewell Father
Leonard
May 30: Going & Coming
& Going
May 23: P.O.P.S.
May 16:
Celebrating
Our Parish
May 9: Facing the Future
May2: Resurrection Sequel
April 25: Chapel Design
April 18: Oh what a week!
April 11: Easter Life!
April 4: Palms & Passion
March 28: Plenty Good Room
March 21: More Passion
March 14: Reconciliation
March 7: A sequel from Mel?
Feb 29: Come to
Life!
Feb 22:
An Adventure to Life
Feb15: A rose
by another name?
Feb 8: If at first...
Feb 1: Our Patron Saint
Jan 25:A View From Inside
Jan 18: Our School
Jan 11: Baptism with Fire
Colums from 2003
Columns from 2002
(On vacation, I went to mass last weekend where the priest did the same thing with the “Martha and Mary” story -- he pointed out that the travails of a certain Martha who was recently sentenced to jail might help us to consider whether we are bust about the wrong things...)
It’s easy to see other people’s foolishness -- much harder to see our own --until we really mess up and then, like Homer Simpson, we slap our foreheads and cry out “Doh!”
The problem with Martha (I’m speaking of Jesus’ Martha) and the foolish dead man into day’s gospel is not that they were doing bad things. After all, Martha was serving dinner; this man was preparing his 401k plan. Their foolishness was that they were turned in on themselves alone. Martha was not serving in a generous, enjoyable way. She was doing so in a grudging way.
The man who had a great crop didn’t think that at least some of his windfall could be used to help others -- it was all for him. Jesus suggests that in both cases there is something wrong. The blessings of life, the work of life is not meant for ourselves alone. We live in the community of the reign of God and as such, all that we have been given, and all that we do is to be in service of God.
So this might be a good week to take inventory of our blessings and take inventory of what we’re doing with our lives. How are these being used in our lives to serve God? Any insights we might gain from this examination might keep us from being fools.
You are Person
