April 7, 2002 • The Feast of Easter!
Where have they put him?
Welcome
to our Church!
This Easter Vigil we joyfully welcomed new brothers and sisters into
our church family.
Laurence Eisenberg
Mario Fuentes
Dwayne Wells
Antonio López
Wilmer Grande
Carolina Argueta
were baptized, confirmed and welcomed to communion for the first time.
Clever Bonilla
Michaelle Camille
Evrett Galindo
Plutarco Galindo
Jennifer Kiernan
Leigh Levchenko
Alexis Perez
Amy Perez
Ana Laura Perez
Keith Romano
Stuart Salembier
were confirmed and fed with communion for the first time.
Let us pray for these Neophytes as they continue their holy journey
with us.
Own
A Father Augustine Original
Outreach is planning on purchasing a bus to be used for transporting
Senior Citizens. To fund this project, we’ve been selling mugs.
Did you know that the artwork on the mugs (a drawing of St.Brigid’s
church) is the work of Father Augustine. Though he has returned to India,
his legacy lives on here. You too can own a “Father Augustine”
original -- or share this little work of art with others by including
it in an Easter basket or two!
Have
You Pledged?
We're still collecting pledges for our Bishop's Annual Appeal which
supports the work of the church throughout Long Island and in our parish.
To pledge online
Cool Way to Pray
If you’d like to try out a new interactive prayer site online,
go to the St. Brigid’s home page and click on the “Church
Interactive” link.
Away
at College?
If you know of a St. Brigid parishioner who
is away at college, you can help us stay in touch through our parish’s
weekly “letter from home”. Send in their name and e-mail address
just click here.
Today’s Bible Quote
"now
for a little while
you may have to suffer through various trials,
so that the genuineness of your faith,
more precious than gold that is perishable even though tested by fire,
may prove to be for praise, glory, and honor
at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
-1 Peter 1
Technology Ministry
If you’d like to give your time and expertise at helping our parish
connect its telephone systems or work on its website, you can let us
know by filling in our
online form
Want
to e-mail Father Ralph?
Past Columns:
March 31: Alleluia!
Alleluia!
March 24: Hardly
Hosanna
March 17: Roll The
Stone Back
March 10: Here's
Mud In Your Eye
March 3: Our Local
Drought
Feb 24: Welcoming
Bishop Murphy
Feb 17: We Will Rise
Again
Feb 10: Very
Good Now
Feb 3: The Multi
Cultural Church
Jan 27: Appealing
Words
Jan 20:Our
Wonderful School
Jan 13: Changing
Times
Jan 6: Farewell Father
Augustine
There are a hundred funny stories woven throughout my first Holy Week at St. Brigid’s. (At the time, things might not have seemed funny, but a few days later, in the light of Easter we can laugh.) Here’s one:
Some of the hundreds of people who helped in some way during Holy Week were here on Holy Saturday morning to set up the shrine of the Risen Lord -- the one where we were going to incorporate all the “rubble” from Lent that people were returning. Jesus would appear to be standing on top of this pile of rubble reminding us that no matter what troubles we face in life, we will rise again. The problem was that we couldn’t find the statue of the Risen Christ! So we were starting to quote from the gospel of last Sunday as Mary Magdalene said to Peter, "They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don't know where they put him.” We diligently searched for the “Risen Lord”. We found the angel statue and feared that we’d receive the same message as the disciples did on that first Easter: “Why are you looking for the living one among the dead? He is not here.”
But then we found him. We should have known -- remember in the apostles creed where it says, “he descended into hell and on the third days rose again....”? So we looked below and found him nearest the flames -- the boiler room!
Much relieved, the decorating crew finished up. And there’s a lesson in that for us. Sometimes we expect to see Jesus where we want him to be, but he’s waiting for us in a new place to discover something new about our relationship with him.
I had no trouble finding Jesus during Holy Week -- all I had to do is stand still and look around me and the Body of Christ was so tangibly present in all the people who came to minister and be ministered to.
Thank you to all who gave their time and talents to making Holy Week such a profound and moving experience for so many.
If you get a chance to make a visit to church during the fifty days of Easter, take a moment to stop by the shrine of the Risen Lord. You can leave your Lenten stone there. And stop over at the Blessed Sacrament chapel to say a prayer for peace in our troubled world. Enjoy the beauty of the church, the gardens and the people you will meet along the way.
Happy Easter!
