September
11, 2005
New
Beginnings
Phone
System Works
After a week with a broken parsh phone system, all is well again. If
you tried to get through and couldn’t or if you left messages
that weren’t returned, please try again this week. While we’re
not sure of the reason for the equipment failure, we’re happy
to say it’s all fixed.
College
Letters
So you sent your child off to college for the first time (or perhaps
they are returning students)? There’s one last thing to do before
you can rest -- send me their e-mail address. Throughout the semester
I send “letters from home” and occasional photos so that
our college-bound parishioners know we still love them and are thinking
of them. If you live next door to parishioners who have kids away at
school, please be sure to show them this invitation.
Sign up here!
e-mail Father Ralph:
Past Columns:
Sept 4: Spreading the Faith
August 28:World Youth Day
Words
August 21: Dressing Up
August 14: Harsh
Words
August 7: Tiny Whispering
Sound
July 31: 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
Four
years ago our country and our parish were devastated by the terrorist
attacks on the Pentagon, the plane in Pennsylvania and, closest to home,
the twin towers in New York City. We had funerals for eight of our parishioners
and we mourned for many relatives of other parishioners.
Last week Hurricane Katrina killed
and displaced more people than the terrorist attacks and we’re still
reeling from seeing the photos of devastation, especially as more dead
are being recovered.
So this weekend is a solemn one
for us. We remember September 11th 2001 and we continue to pray for and
reach out to the victims of the latest disaster. Thank you to all who
are joining in this weekend’s efforts to raise money for hurricane
victims. In addition to our collection -- all of which will be sent to
Catholic Charities USA for direct aid in the cities and towns affected
by Hurricane Katrina -- our own Diocesan Catholic Charities is housing
several hundred families from the affected region and our seminary has
invited the seminary affected by the storm to send their seminarians here.
Thanks to everyone who contributed to the Catholic Ministries Appeal in
the past months because the appeal supports both the work of our local
Catholic Charities and the Seminary.
In addition to the new beginnings
after tragedies, we had a couple of other new beginnings of a more joyful
nature this week. Our school opened again on a beautiful September Wednesday
morning and it was a joy to stand at the doors to greet all the smiling
children and their equally happy parents as the new school year got underway.
And we have added another resident
to the rectory -- Seminarian Gonzalo Lopez will be spending the coming
academic year in our parish, as he prepares to be ordained a priest in
our diocese. I’ll tell you more about him next week. In the meantime
we’re glad to welcome him to Saint Brigid’s.
