September
18, 2005
Welcome
Gonzalo
Hurricane
Collection
Many thanks to all who were so generous in the special collection for
Hurricane Relief. In one weekend parishioners donated $21,000 to be
sent to Catholic Charities USA for the victims of the Hurricane in the
gulf states. This was a most generous response!
Bishop
Giuseppe
I heard from Father Giuseppe who will be ordained a bishop in the Cathedral
of Fossano, Italy on October 15th. Please pray for him as he begins
this new ministry as Bishop of two diocese: Fossano and Cuneo.
College
Letters
If you’ve sent your child off to school but haven't sent me his/her
e-mail address, please do so so I can put them on our “Letters
from Home”
e-mail list.
Sign up here!
e-mail Father Ralph:
Past Columns:
Sept 11: New Beginnings
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
As
I mentioned last week, we’re happy to welcome Gonzalo Oajaca-Lopez,
a seminarian from our Diocesan seminary in Huntington, to St. Brigid’s.
He will be spending this academic year with us to learn first-hand what
the life of a diocesan priest is like and to learn about the 
ministries
of a parish.
Gonzalo was born in Guatemala --
the third of thirteen brothers and sisters. When he was in his twenties
he went to Spain for a dozen years where he was a student and where he
worked in a nursing home, and he also worked with disabled children and
people suffering from drug addictions.
He came to the United States for
two years where he studied philosophy and worked as a waiter in a restaurant.
He then went to Italy to study theology. Since then, he has returned to
the United States where he enrolled in the Seminary of the Immaculate
Conception in Huntington. He has been studying there for the past two
years and is now in his Pastoral Year at St. Brigid’s.
Gonzalo has a wonderful ability
with languages -- speaking English, Spanish and Italian, with some knowledge
of French and Portuguese as well. He loves to play soccer.
We’re very glad to welcome
Gonzalo to our parish. Father John will be his supervisor during his time
here and Gonzalo is eager to meet parishioners and get involved in the
life of our parish. May I suggest that you cut out his photo from this
bulletin and put it on your refrigerator (or some other “sacred”
place in your house) so that you are reminded to pray for him each day
as he listens to God’s call and grows in faith and love, here at
St. Brigid’s.
