September
17,2006
Who
Do You Think You Are?
Coming
to Church
I always imagined that Joseph and Mary had the best excuse NOT to go
to temple to pray: they had God at home with them! Yet, the bible tells
us again and again that they went to the temple; Jesus did too -- not
only as a child, but as an adult too. The Holy Family realized that
even though God was living at home, they needed to be with their whole
family of faith. That’s good for us to know too. Even though we
pray at home, it’s important to come and pray in the whole community.
The third commandment “Keep holy the Lord’s day” is
one of those joyful commandments that sets our lives right -- every
blessing we have (especially our children) is from God and on Sundays
we bring our children whom we love to “God’s house”
so that they (and we) can be in the presence of our God who loves us.
It’s time to come back and keep on coming back.
Off
to College?
Are you or your child away at college? At St. Brigid’s we like
to stay in touch via occasional e-mails as we send photos and news from
“home”. College students wishing to be connected through
our “Letters from home” can sign up online here
or you can mail or
e-mail thecollege names and e-mail addresses to Father Ralph and he’ll
put them on the list.
Census
Continues
Of the approximate 6,000 families we usually send mail to, we’ve
received completed Census booklets from over 4,000. So we’ve got
a ways to go.
Is your booklet in?
e-mail Father Ralph:
Past Columns:
Sept
10:God Be With You
Sept 3: Back to
School
August 27: Merry Christmas
August 20: Wine or No Wine
August 13: Mangia...
August 6: Mixed News
July 30: Impossibly Little
July 23: Come away!
July 16: Got a Mission?
July 9:Missing God
July 2: Jesus Interrupted
June 25: One Here, One to
Come
June 18: A Father's Gift
June 11: Charity Begins
At Home
June 4: Turning Silver
May 28: Eight Years •
Eight Months
May 21: If Any
May14: Celebrating Mothers
May 6: Celebrating Priests
April30: Baked Fish
April 23: What we hear
April 16: Out of the Tomb
April 9: Jesus, Our Source
of Peace
April 2: NOW, Can you Hear
Me?
Mar 26: Can You Hear Me
Again?
Mar 19: Can You Hear Me
Now?
Mar 12: Now Take 4Steps
March 5: Take A Step
Feb 26:Coming Home
Feb19: Visiting Heros
Feb 12: Passing Pastor
Feb 4: Annual Appeal
Jan 22: Abandoned Nets
Jan 15: Everlasting Life
Jan 8: I'm not going to
jail..
Jan 1: Happy New Year
Columns
from 2005
Columns
from 2004
Columns from
2003
Columns from 2002
The
question, “Who do you think you are?” is not usually spoken
in a comfortable moment. Usually the person asking thinks that the other
person has done something inappropriate and the question is really a scolding.
But it’s actually not a bad question for us, who are disciples of
Jesus, to consider. In fact in today’s gospel, Jesus turns the question
a bit and asks his disciples “Who do people say that I am?”
Jesus is taking stock of how his ministry has been going so far and desires
some feedback.
As we were getting ready for Catechetical
Sunday (today), we asked families to answer two questions in an online
survey: “List five things you admire and respect about Jesus”
and “List five things that people admire about your family.”
Here are some of the many answers we received...
Jesus: •always
forgiving, •always loving,, •always believes in you, •will
not doubt you, •lives in our hearts, • died for us, •
loves everyone • when some dies he takes care of them • he
was kind to all people, • he was selfless, • he loves ALL
children no matter what their faults should be •he is not a hypocrite,
• he would stop and assist anyone who's in need, • he's forgiving
of human mistakes • people still look to him for guidance after
two thousand years, • he is always there to comfort us and give
us peace.
Our Families: •
loving, •supportive, •helpful, •strong beliefs, •fun,
• friendly, •nice, • we love each other, • take
care of each other, •kind to everyone, •we are respectful,
•we welcome and accept all newcomers, •we share, •we
are faithful, •giving, •thoughtful, we love to laugh, •we
help others in need, •we care about our community, •we work
hard.
One thing you might notice -- the
words used to describe the goodness of families could ALSO be used to
describe Jesus. And we try to live the words that describe Jesus in our
families. That’s what makes our families holy. So let’s stay
close to Jesus, especially by coming to church each week, hearing his
word, receiving communion and praying together. Jesus will grow in our
families.
