December 16, 2001
Our Lady of Guadalupe
Get
Ready for Bethlehem
Soon our church will feel like Bethlehem 2000 years ago. There will
be hardly any room in the
"inn”. Be extra welcoming and rejoice!
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
“Say to those who are frightened, ‘Be strong, fear not! Here
is your God who comes to save you.” -- Isaiah 35
Read
Bob Keeler's
Series on Priests
Part
One
Part
Two
Part Three
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
16: Our Lady of Guadalupe
Dec
9 : Future Priests
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
The celebrations were led by our Mexican parishioners and others in the Spanish speaking community. Our Lady appeared to a Mexican man, Juan Diego, in 1531 and she asked him to convince the local bishop to build a shrine to her on the mountain in Tepeyac. The bishop resisted until Juan visited him with a gift from Mary -- when he opened his cloak, fresh flowers fell to the ground -- despite the fact that it was the midst of winter -- and the now-famous image of Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared on the cloak.
So many of our Mexican parishioners came out for this feast -- certainly because of their devotion to Our Lady, but also because this feast provides a sense of comfort and hope for people who are away from home. Many of our Mexican parishioners are young men who have come here to support their families back home and by celebrating this feast, they are re-united spiritually at this special time of the year.
I found these celebrations to be so full of life, love and hope. And I must confess that before I came to St. Brigid’s I knew so little of the tradition of Our Lady of Guadalupe. How fortunate we are in this community of faith to be able to understand Mary’s guiding presence, her caring protection, and her precious love for her people as it is revealed in the celebrations of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
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)
(translation provided)
Haitian Mass
(translation provided)