Good Shepherd Award

The National Association of Hispanic Priests is having it's annual convention in Omaha. Last night, at a dinner, they presented Fr. Damian with the Good Shepherd Award. It was for his work as a pastor in general, but particularly for his work with the Hispanic community. This morning he is presenting a workshop.

Congratulations Fr. Damian.

Marble Party

Mrs. English says that if her class is a little loud, she may ask one of her quiet first graders to put a marble in the jar for being good. The rest of the class will hear the marble dropped in the jar and get quiet.  When the jar is full of marbles, that means there is a marble party, and the classes had their first one today.

 

 

It can be hard to choose what to get ...

 but fun to eat.

Congratulations!

From Pope Benedict Sunday

St. Vincent de Paul

Today is the feast day of St. Vincent de Paul. He was so devoted to taking care of the poor that his very name is synonymous with helping those in need.

When someone calls St. Columbkille parish needing help, they are turned over to our St. Vincent de Paul Conference. Their needs are turned over to two members of the group. Beyond working within a criteria, they go to where the people live.

They make human contact to those in need and listen to their story. Unless there is an objection, they also pray together. Then working with the budget and established criteria, they look for the best way to help. In some cases that is helping them directly, in others it means connecting them with another agency or group that can do more for them.

In any case, it is our way of reaching out to those in need.

As mentioned in all of the Masses last weekend, more help is needed to respond to the requests for help. The group is meeting tomorrow (Tuesday) at 7:00 pm in the Social Level for a more detailed explanation of how the group works for those who may feel led to help.

Formation Expectations

The Pastoral Council developed a list of what should be expected of a member of St. Columbkille Parish. Those expectations were broken down into four parts. This weekend we are going through the expectations related to "Formation."

The corresponding homilies are on our parish website.

Crusaders of the Week

Each week at St. Columbkille School students who behave like a

disciple write their name on a slip which is brought to the office.

 Then names are randomly drawn and are the

"Crusaders of the Week."

 They come to the office where their picture

 is taken and they receive some prizes.

This week "Good Sport Award" was given to Mrs. Sampson, Mrs. English & Mrs. Puszewski. Despite the chilly weather at the Festival, the three of them were among those in the Tidal Wave at the Festival last Sunday.

Congratulations to you all! 

Mass changes

Significant changes are coming to the English translation of the Mass. Although these changes will not be made for a year, the planning has already begun. The Omaha World Herald did an article on it in yesterday's paper.

The Mass as said in other languages such as Spanish, French, Italian, and German are not changing. Those translating the Latin into English used a different philosophy in ther translation. Using that same perspective for the English translation should help us be better united as a people of God. One catch phrase for the change is "Same Mass, New Words, Deeper Meaning."

Tomorrow (Saturday) the priests and liturgists from the Omaha Archdiocese are meeting with Archbishop Lucas to discuss the changes and how to implement them. Our liturgist, David Batter, is part of the group planning this change in the Archdiocese.

You will hear much more about this in the year ahead, but it's not too early to start discussing it.

That Man Is You!

This morning at 6:00 a.m. the first session of That Man Is You! has begun.

It began with a light breakfast.

130 men have signed up, but there is room for a few more.

The group watched a video presentation,

talked in small groups and prayed.

It's a great way to start Thursday!

Prayers

This morning Fr. Damian is having scheduled surgery on his leg. It is an outpatient procedure and he will be spending some time with his sister and her family until he's back on his feet.

Please keep him in your prayers.

Festival Pictures

There was fun everywhere at the Festival.

This year, there was even dancing.

Raffle Ticket Winners

The Winners for the Raffle were:

Cynthia London $5000

Lori Brennan $1000

Mary Shaw $500

Wayne & Sandy Mcnamara $250

Ben Ricceri $250

 

Congratulations to our winners!

Thank you to everyone who participated.

Happy Birthday Fr Wee!

It was a busy birthday for Fr Wee.

He took on all challengers in Ping Pong.

While no one was able to beat him, afterwards

Fr Wee did offer his opponents Reconciliation.

Afterwards he was a popular taget in the Tidal Wave.

He was serenaded with Birthday songs.

He had birthday cake ...

and shared it with his friends.

Happy Birthday Fr. Wee !

Festival Setting Up

Everything is getting set-up for the Festival Sunday.

After the Masses today (Sunday) you can still pre-buy

tickets for the carnival rides at 25% off.

Get ready for some fun!

Big Red/Baking Day at Preschool

Last Thursday and Friday the preschoolers had Red Day and Baking Day. 

Some of our parents and grandparents came to help. 

We learned about measuring.  We waited patiently for

our turn to add ingredients and stir the apple muffin mix. 

Near the end we needed a daddy to help stir the batter.  

Thank you preschool helpers!