August 15th, 2004
What an assumption!
Our
Visiting Priests
We’ve been enjoying the visits of our summertime priests over
these past few months. Father Augustine finished his stay with us this
past Friday and is headed back to Rome. Father Giuseppe will be
leaving here this coming week. (This was his 19th annual visit to St.
Brigid’s.) Father Wismick will be returning to Haiti later this
month.
Father Gaspar has just arrived from Spain and will be with us for the
rest of August and we’ve had a few surprise visits from priests
who were vacationing here with their families.
I’m sure all of these comings and goings must seem like a whirlwind
for Father Jim who just finished his second week with us. But soon,
before we know it, the summer we’ll be over and we’ll be
ready to start a new year with the “regular” priests who
serve this community.
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:
August 8: Do It Anyway!
August 1: Parking Lot Joys!
July 25:"Doh!"
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
We
live our lives based on the assumption that when we breathe our last breath,
we’re going to begin living a new life after this one. This assumption
is based on the resurrection of Jesus. He once was dead. He was resurrected
(body and soul) and lives with us here (in sacraments and in our faith
community) as well as in heaven.
Sure, people could say, Jesus is
in heaven. After all, he’s God AND human. How do we know that a
person who isn’t God will go to heaven? In searching for that answer,
we come to today’s Feast of the Assumption of Mary. Our faith teaches
us that when Mary breathed her last, God took her body and soul to heaven.
For us, Mary is a sign of our destiny. In heaven we will live soul AND
body with God forever. (Remember in the Apostles Creed we pray “I
believe in the resurrection of the body and life everlasting.)
So Mary is that sign of hope for
us. Where she is, we hope to follow. Her reward for fidelity to God is
to be our reward. (Of course it helps if we’re faithful to God too!)
Did you ever have a friend or relative who ended up in a wonderful circumstance?
(For example they got their “dream job”, won a big lottery,
gave birth to the child they had been longing for,etc.) And then you were
filled with joy for them! That’s what this feast of Mary is about
for us. One of our friends (Mary), indeed one of our relatives (Mother
Mary) ended up in the most wonderful circumstance: she’s in heaven.
So we, her friends and children, rejoice for her and with her today on
this special feast.
Our rejoicing here reinforces the
assumption that one day we’ll be rejoicing forever at the heavenly
banquet!
You are Person
