December
10, 2006
To
whom
do we look?
Online
Masses
We are now going to be able to stream masses and other events live over
the internet to homebound folks and to relatives who live in other lands.
If you’re interested in this, in this, click
here.
Prayers
Needed
Father Fitz’s 13 year old niece had recently recovered from cancer
in the Philippines and had returned to school. Everyone was so glad
she had her life ahead of her now. Yet tragedy happened this past week
when Maryann (her nickname was “Ayen”) was struck and killed
by a car. The shock of this has hospitalized Father Fitz’s mother.
So prayers are needed for Father Fitz and Ayen’s family in the
Philippines. Father Fitz will be going home for a few weeks to be with
his family. Our prayers go with him.
Changing
Chaplians
The diocese has changed chaplains at Nassau University Medical Center.
Father Luke, who was in residence at St. Brigid’s is leaving and
will be going to Fargo, North Dakota. We welcome Father Raymond who
will be the new chaplain at the hospital and who will be in residence
here.
Away
at 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:
December 3: Drowsy Hearts
November 26: Looking Ahead
November
19: Giving Thanks
November12: Putting Our
Two Cents Worth
November 5: Our Youth, Our
Hope
October 29: A Dark and Stormy
Night
October 22: Washington Trip
October 15: Marriage Help
October 8: Fall Fix Up
October 1: Cut Off Week
Sept 24:War Begins At Home
Sept 17: Who Do You Think
You Are?
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
Tiberius
Caesar, Pontius Pilate, Herod and his brother Philip, Lysanias,Annas and
Caiaphas...these are the names of people who are mentioned in today’s
gospel. Luke “name drops” both the Roman and Jewish leaders
because he wants his readers to know that Jesus lived at a real time in
history and that he wasn’t some fable. Today we would have given
dates, but back then there were different calendars so it was easier to
say who was alive and “in charge” at the time. (Plus, they
didn’t have a clue they were living “BC”!)
But there’s something more
important about considering these people as more than a list of names.
You see, many people at the time looked to these leaders for “salvation”.
Indeed the Romans considered their emperor to be a god. The Jewish people
looked to their kings as “God’s favored” and their priests
to show them the way to God. Yet Luke begins to unfold the story of Jesus
by telling us of an obscure prophet named John who told people to reform
their lives. He then baptized them in the Jordan River. But he wasn’t
the Messiah -- he was the voice getting things ready for the messiah to
come.
This brings us to our Advent questions:
to whom do we look for “salvation”? Yes of course we ultimately
answer “God,” but really, in our day to day living, are there
competing “messiahs”?
Our work, our money, our stuff,
food, ceaseless activity, -- we can easily be caught up in personal obsessions
that keep us from knowing the true Messiah
A second question is, “How are we making the world ready for the
coming of Jesus this year?” Last week Jesus cautioned us against
having “drowsy hearts” and forgetting that he IS coming back
-- not as the babe of Bethlehem, but as the Lord of our lives. What can
we do this day, this week to make our lives ready for his coming? One
most excellent way is to spend some time in prayer, telling Jesus how
much we long for him to come -- and then discovering his presence in the
stillness.
Caesar is gone and so are the others. Jesus remains.
