August 11, 2002
Taking the Time to See
Going
Away to College?
WSome
families are getting ready to pack the car and drive their sons and
daughters off to college -- some for the first time, some back to continue
what they started. Being away from home is a little less difficult these
days because of e-mail. Most colleges provide their students with an
e-mail account, and families and friends can stay in touch. For the
past year I’ve been sending a “letter from home” almost
every week to our parishioners who are away at college. The feedback
on this was great as our college students felt really connected to parish
life here.
To receive the “letter from home”, take this bulleting with
you to college as a reminder to send in your e-mail address. Just Click
Here!
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.
Today’s Bible Quote
"’Lord, if it is really you, tell me to come to you across
the water.’ ‘Come’, Jesus said.”
-Matthew 14
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:
August 4: Moving
Music
July 28:Meet
the Missionaries
July 21:
Press One Now
July 14: Having
Our Say
July 6: One
Nation Under God
June 30: Anointing
the Sick
June 23: Giving Thanks
to God
June 16: Father's
Day
June 9: Fall Mass
Schedule
June 2: Summer Plans
May 26: Spreading
the Faith
May 19: Passing Grace
May 12: Changing
Times
May 5: Reason for Hope
April 28: Changing
Ministry
April 21: The Poor Are Hurt
Again
April 14: Celebrating
50 Days
April 7: Where have
they put him?
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
During the hazy, hot and humid days that
I’ve been on vacation, I often had no energy to do more than take
a warm afternoon nap in my hammock. Oh I tried to read a bit, but within
a few pages, my eyes slowly closed and I enjoyed a siesta.
But there were some days when it was too hot for even a nap. So I’d
put on the air conditioner, and reach for a video of St. Brigid’s.
Now you may have noticed during my first year here, that I’ve often
showed up to events with my camera and sometimes people would ask, “What
do you do with the tapes?” Til now, nothing much. But during the
air-cooled afternoons of my vacation, I have had a chance to re-appreciate
what my first year here was like.
I relived processions and pageants, masses
and music, gatherings and celebrations of all kinds. And I noticed things
that I hadn’t seen the “first time”, and I was reminded
of things that I had already forgotten. It was a joyful, rather spiritual
experience to revisit this last year of our life together and I got a
sense that while it took me some quiet afternoons to review this life,
God sees each of our lives in “real time” noticing things that
we fail to appreciate, rejoicing in the abundant goodness that we sometimes
miss because we’re fearful or worried or bothered. See these tapes
was as if God was pointing out the things that God noticed, but I missed.
If this hot weather continues, you might
want to spend an air-conditioned moment with your past, to see what gifts
you can re-appreciate. Whether it is looking at a video of a family wedding,
or going through shoe-boxes of photos, a few relaxing hours of appreciating
the gifts of the people in your life is a joyful time well spent.
I realized that I’d like to share my
first year of videos with you. So I’m putting together an edited
version of this remarkable year. Check the bulletin next week for a schedule
of the premiere of this video. I think you’ll enjoy it (you’re
probably in it!) as a way of really seeing the gifts that abound in our
community. Life happens too fast and these warm days of summer can help
us to slow down and appreciate the goodness God has blessed us with.
