April
29, 2007
Hearing
Voices
Marathon
Last year when the organizers of the Long Island Marathon plotted the
route for their race, they made an effort to keep Post Ave. open between
Old Country Road and the railriad crossing. That sounded fair enough
until people realized that they couldn’t actually get to that
part of Post Ave since roads to the east were shut down. I contacted
the county and explained the hardships this entailed. (Fr. Charles couldn’t
get through in time for the Italian mass, Susan , our organist also
couldn’t get through; the attendance at the family mass was cut
significantly -- I even noted that our collections for the affected
masses were cut in half!!) Unfortunately, there was no accommodation
made to change the route this year. So, please be sure to leave yourself
enough time to get to church next week if you’re coming between
8am and 10am.
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.
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.
e-mail Father Ralph:
Past Columns:
April 22:Three Stones
April 15: What a week!
April 8: Alleluia! Alleluia!
April 1: Holy Week
March 25: Climate Change
March 18: Take A Step
March 11: Cold Enough for
You?
March 4:Stocking the Shelves
Feb 25: Basket Case
Feb18: Ashes and Desert
Dust
Feb11: Get Ready, Get Set,
REST!
Feb.4: Lent Lurking
Jan.28:Catholic Schools
Week
Jan.21:Crying in Church
Jan.14: Love ahead
Jan.7:
So How Was Your Christmas?
Columns
from 2005
Columns
from 2004
Columns from
2003
Columns from 2002
I was
on a European Pilgrimage last week (being sure to offer prayers for you
in each holy place -- and being sure to add in a request for a swift rental
for our Convent...). In some places the number of pilgrims and tour groups
were so numerous that we needed to find our leader. She was short of stature,
so the only way we could really follow her was by listening for her distinctive
voice.
There were other tour guides who
were calling to the groups, but somehow we didn’t pay any attention
to them. We may have heard the voices calling, but we didn’t do
anything until we heard OUR guide. Then we moved.
So when Jesus tells his disciples
in today’s gospel, “My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and
they follow me,” I know what it is to listen to the voice of one
who we need to follow in order to get where we have to go.
There are many competing voices
which seek to lead us these days. So how do we know when it is Jesus who
is calling us to follow? Well I doubt we would have come to know the voice
of our guide as well as we did if we weren’t cooped up in the bus
with her, as we listened to her describe in detail each site along the
way. We had spent time with her alone -- not just a few minutes, but significant
hours. And over that time we got to know her voice.
There is a parallel for us in coming
to know the voice of Jesus. When we spend time alone with him, we get
to know his voice better. And I don’t just mean being alone one-on-one
in prayer. That’s important. But we were able to function as a caring,
prayerful, pilgrimage community (indeed a “family”) because
we were alone with our guide together. That’s why it’s so
important for us to celebrate the Eucharist together each week. Eucharist
isn’t simply about each person’s growth with God, but there
is the added dimension of our being a faith community, a church family
that learns to love each other and love those outside of our community
because we are experiencing Jesus’ shepherding together on the journey.
I’m glad you’re here!
