August
28 , 2005
World
Youth Day Words
Church
Update
As you can see this weekend, most of the painting has been completed,
the floors have been finished and we’re awaiting the return of
the rest of the pews. The church looks bright and clean and we’ve
added a bit more color to bring out the details of the architecture.
We expect to be back in the church fulltime during the week of Labor
Day. If you’ve been trying to get an idea of how to invite people
to come to church with you, here’s an easy one :”Have you
seen the new paint job at St Brigid’s? Do you want to come with
me Sunday to check it out?” Perhaps they’ll come for the
paint and stay for our God!
We’re done just in time as the new housing units downtown Westbury
and in New Cassel and in the raceway are starting to receive our new
neighbors. Over the next few months, as you see new people in church,
be sure to welcome them.
e-mail Father Ralph:
Past Columns:
August 21: Dressing Up
August 14: Harsh
Words
August 7: Tiny Whispering
Sound
July31:
Welcoming Rob
July 24:Wedding Bells
July 17: Summer Weeding
July 10: Ministry to Seniors
July 3: The Painters are
Coming!
June 26: The Last 25%
June19: Sommer in the
Summer
June 12: Great News Anoying
News
June 5: What's Essential
May 29: Setting Priorities
May 22: Painting Project
May 15: We are the Church
May 8:Mother of the Church
May 1: On Life and Death
April 24: Habemus Papam
April 17: The Spirit Abounds
April 10: Two men on a journey
April 3: He's baaack!
March 27th: Not the best
news...yet
March 20th: What are You
Doing For Easter?
March 13th: The Stench
March 6: To Tell or Not
To Tell
February 27: Dry Mouth Dry
Soul
February 20: Good to Be
Here
February 13: And he was
hungry?
Ash Wednesday '05
February 6: Ashes Already?
January 23: Catholic Schools
Week
January 16: Continued Charity
January 9: Migration
January 2:All is bright?
Columns from 2004
Columns from 2003
Columns from 2002
Since
I’m off on vacation, I figured I’d let Pope Benedict XVI have
this space today. Here are some quotes from his addresses and homilies
at World Youth Day...
• • •“Today,
sadly, we are witnessing the rise of new signs of anti-Semitism and various
forms of a general hostility towards foreigners. How can we fail to see
in this a reason for concern and vigilance? The Catholic Church is committed
- I reaffirm this again today - to tolerance, respect, friendship and
peace between all peoples, cultures and religions.” • • •
• • • “If
the Church tells us that the Eucharist is an essential part of Sunday,
this is no mere positivism or thirst for power. On Easter morning, first
the women and then the disciples had the grace of seeing the Lord. From
that moment on, they knew that the first day of the week, Sunday, would
be his day, the day of Christ the Lord. The day when creation began became
the day when creation was renewed. Creation and redemption belong together.
That is why Sunday is so important.
It is good that today, in many cultures,
Sunday is a free day, and is often combined with Saturday so as to constitute
a "week-end" of free time. Yet this free time is empty if God
is not present.
Dear friends! Sometimes, our initial
impression is that having to include time for Mass on a Sunday is rather
inconvenient. But if you make the effort, you will realize that this is
what gives a proper focus to your free time.
Do not be deterred
from taking part in Sunday Mass, and help others to discover it too. This
is because the Eucharist releases the joy that we need so much, and we
must learn to grasp it ever more deeply, we must learn to love it.
Let us pledge ourselves to do this
- it is worth the effort! Let us discover the intimate riches of the Church's
liturgy and its true greatness: it is not we who are celebrating
for ourselves, but it is the living God himself who is preparing a banquet
for us.”
You can read more of what the Holy Father said online at:
www.vatican.va/gmg/documents/gmg_2005_en.html
