December 9, 2001

Future Priests

Read Bob Keeler's
Series on Priests
 Part One
Part Two
Part Three

Farewell to Father Augustine
Our parish is planning on having a farewell celebration for Father Augustine on Sunday, January 6th at the 1pm mass followed by a reception in Code Auditorium. More details to follow but you might want to mark your calendar so you can be part of this celebration.

Phone Fixed
Our “Moment with Jesus” message line was out of commission for about a month. The phone company has finally fixed the problem. If you’d like to hear an inspirational message each week call (516) 333-6094.

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. Lots of people tried it last week.

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
“The wolf shall be a guest of the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid...There shall be no harm or riun on all my holy mountain.”
--Isaiah 11

Technology Ministry
If you’d like togive your time and expertise at helping our parish connect its telephone systems or develop its computer networking or work on its website, you can let us know by filling in our
online form

El Salvador Trip
If you’d like to see the parish’s mission trip to
El Salvador online, you can see photos and a travelogue by
clicking here.

Want to e-mail Father Ralph?



Past Columns
Dec 2: A Grateful Thanks
Nov 24: The Grinch Who Stole Advent
Nov 18:Let Me Count the Ways:
Nov 11:Plenty of Rooms
Nov 4: Treat, Definitely Treat
Oct 28: Figuring It Out
Oct 21:Prayers for Our Time
Oct 14: Warring Words
Oct 7: Getting more from the Word
Sept 30: Saying Goodbye
Sept 23: Gray Days
Sept 16: This Week's Tragedy
Sep.9: Summer Vacation
Sep 2: I Used to be an Embryo
August 26: Holy Walking
August 19: Just Like Family
Aug 12:Incredible Forgiveness
August 5: Diocesan Doings
July 29: On A Mission
July 22: Piecing Together
July 15th: Unpacking St Brigids
July 8th: Happy to Be Here
July 1st : First Words

 Bob Keeler, who chronicled life at St. Brigid’s in the Pulitzer Prize winning series in Newsday has spent the last year of his life working on a story about priesthood on Long Island. His three-part article appeared earlier this week in Newsday and it clearly pointed out that in the years to come that the number of priests in our diocese will decrease. At the same time the involvement of lay people in the leadership of the church will necessarily increase.

At St. Brigid’s we have seen the second reality -- that lay people are very involved in the leadership and ministry of our parish. We are about to see the other reality. For the past six years our parish has been blessed by the presence of Father Augustine. Next month, Father Augustine will be returning to India. In the meantime, Father Victor (who was Father Augustine’s first pastor) has come to stay with us during a one-year sabbatical. Then he too will return home. It is most likely that there will be no priests available to take their place.

I don’t yet know what impact this will have on life in our parish. I know it will have a personal impact as these men have shared a grace and wisdom with me and with our parish that cannot be replaced. But they have also been working very hard to provide the priestly services through sacraments, counselling, and pastoral leadership. The Italian community in particular will miss the leadership of Fr. Augustine who has been so involved in this apostolate.

Being a husband or wife, mom or dad is a challenging and rewarding vocation. So too is priesthood. I know that lots of young people grow up thinking about what their lives would be like if they were married or if they were parents. (Right now a married priesthood is only permitted in the Eastern Rites of the Catholic Church and in some special cases in the Latin Rite. Thus many people automatically reject the possibility of their becoming a priest since they can’t get married too.) Still, I invite families to have conversations with their sons and daughters about living a wonderful fulfilling life as a priest, religious sister or brother. Bob Keeler interviewed people who said they didn’t think this would be a good choice for their children. I know it was a great choice for me. If God has given someone you know the gifts that would let them have a happy and fulfilling life as a priest, sister or brother, talk with them about what you see in them. Encourage them to pray about this. Let’s all pray about this.

Have you visited St. Brigid's Presepio?

Find out what it's about: Click Here

Come Visit Our Online Tour of our Youth Group's Trip To El Salvador!

For the Record..

See Father's Ralph's first spoken greeting to the community at St. Brigid..

Italian Mass
(translation provided)

 Spanish Mass
(translation provided)

Haitian Mass
(translation provided)

 Mass in English
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