October 31st, 2004
Candy Good...Saints Better
Days
of "Obligation"
Many people remember from their childhood that there are certain Holy
Days when Catholics are “obligated” to go to mass. It surprises
many to learn that there are different days of obligation in different
countries. (For example, in Mexico, Dec.12th is a Holy Day of Obligation
-- it’s the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe --yet there is no obligation
to celebrate mass here.)
Similarly, there are days we celebrate in the US that are not obligation
days in other countries. Some celebrate the Feast of the Ascension on
Thursdays...some on Sundays. Since 1992 in the US if a Holy Day of Obligation
falls on a Saturday or Monday it is still a holy day, but not a holy
of obligation.
So this Monday is the Feast of All Saints. A feast day for sure, but
not a day of obligation.
We’ll have a regular Monday mass schedule: 7am/9am/12:10.
There's no evening mass.
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:
October 24: Flu Shots
October 17: Aaron &
Hur
October 10: Heritage Celebration
October 3: Is it safe?
September 26: Up and coming...
September 19: New Year Resolutions?
September 12:Our New Priests
September 5: Got Two Hours?
August 29: In My Humble
Opinion
August
22nd: Hot Asphalt, Cool Church
August 15: A Big Assumption
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
It’s
Halloween and it’s easy to get caught up in the candy and the ghosts
and goblins and forget the root of this festive day. Halloween means “The
Eve of All Hallows” -- that is, the Eve of All Saints Day. Hidden
beyond the bats and bobbing apples, cobwebs and cauldrons are heroic men,
women and children who were disciples of Jesus in the lives. We now are
confident that they live with God forever in eternal life.
Just as we fondly remember relatives
who were influential in our lives, on this Feast of Saints we fondly recall
the lives of our heros in faith. Many of the saints lived centuries ago
and all we have is the stories of their lives -- which can be quite inspiring.
But recently a wonderful priest from Italy was canonized a saint -- we
know him as Padre Pio. Many people in our parish either knew Padre Pio
personally or knew his family or neighbors. It’s very exciting to
be able to celebrate someone who we know.
So recently, a group of parishioners who have a devotion and friendship
with Padre Pio created a prayer area between the rectory are the church
which features a Statue of Padre Pio and a cross.
I’d like to thank those who
volunteered their time and talent to design and construct this shrine
-- all of the materials and labor were donated. Many people from our Italian
Community and from our Spanish Young Adult Group volunteered their time
to make this prayer area possible -- so many that I can’t list them
all here. But I do want to publically thank three people in particular:
Giuseppe Sposito who was the inspiration for this project and worked hard
in raising funds, getting volunteers, and designing the project. Tony
Ianucci spent many days working on the project with his men -- using his
trucks and donating much of the material and helping with the design.
Paul Montelbano handcrafted the cross that stands behind the statue of
Padre Pio. To them and to all who helped or donated time and material,
I express the thanks and gratitude of our parish.
You are Person
