John Smith at the Talent Show

We'll be posting more about the Talent Show tomorrow, but here, due to popular demand, is John Smith:

Finding Joy and Awe in Snow

Snow!  Yay!

I wrote that sarcastically.

I’m like a lot of adults who don’t like snow because we have to drive in it, shovel it and sometimes slip and fall in it. But I’ve decided to take a more positive look at snow, to marvel at it, and try to become more childlike in my view.  Snow is, of course, part of God’s creation, which glorifies Him and teaches us something about His Kingdom and His endless glories.

This is how the snow speaks to me of God:

The grandeur of His beauty. The magnificence of a glistening snow over everything in sight is undeniably beautiful, even if we shiver while we admire it.

His perfection, even in the smallest things. How amazing in detail is a tiny snowflake. But we tend to overlook it because it is so small. We have to stop and take a look or we miss out. That is true about most of the little things in life. We need to pause to appreciate them. The snowflake also is under appreciated because it becomes lost among the millions of other flakes that fall with it. Yet it is unique. No other is like it.  The snowflake is our reminder of our uniqueness in the eyes of God. We have a special beauty, goodness and importance -- our unique way to glorify God.

His hidden mysteries. The cold starkness of snow and winter hides deeper realities.  Winter is a season of our lives, especially our spiritual lives. The sunshine, like God’s consolations, sometimes seems far away. He may ask us to go dormant for a while, to rest in Him. But during this time, He makes us grow and refreshes us. There can still be peace and beauty in this part of our lives, just as there is peace and beauty in the bare trees and sharp air of winter. And when everything in nature is stripped bare, we can see things we never noticed before.

His closeness to children. Spend some time with children in the snow. They will remind you that snow can be fun and teach you how to wonder in His creation.

My kids always love the snow mountain that plow trucks create at the center of our cul-de-sac. One son discovered that the snow was shaped into a chair at the top, his throne as king of the mountain. Moments earlier he showed me a spot in our yard where the snow looked like dragon scales.

Lord, give me the eyes of a child, to find awe and joy in everything! Help me to see You!

Inspired by this Year of Faith we will be posting columns like this from Susan Szalewski about exploring and/or deepening our faith. Watch for it on Thursdays.

Pancakes at School

In celebration of Catholic Schools Week the Knights of Columbus made breakfast for all of the students at St. Columbkille Catholic School.

That's means over 1,000

 pancakes to feed everyone.

Students sat with their Mass Buddies

 who helped them with the meals.

Thank you to the Knights

for supporting our school!

(and not just with pancakes.)

Pancakes at Preschool

Due to the wind chills, the students at Sacred Heart Preschool weren't able to walk to the Social Level for the pancakes the Knights of Columbus were serving to celebrate Catholic Schools Week.

But they got a nice surprise. The Knights delivered pancakes for them.

Thank you Knights of Columbus!

Working on a Snow Day

Some may have had today as a snow day, but work continued on the baptismal font ...

... the new storage room ...

... converting the old Usher's/Server's

 Room to hold the elevator ...

... and the new crucifix.

So for some, it was a very busy day.

Pizza Night

Last night was Pizza Night. It was part of the celebration of Catholic Schools Week here at St. Columbkille Catholic School.

It wasn't just about the pizza as there

 was face painting and a cupcake walk.

 Cards were also made for Dr. Blue.

It was also a great chance to support Santa Eulalia, our sister school in Huehuetenango, Guatemala.

Bible Bowls

There were three Bible Bowls held today at St. Columbkille Catholic School as students competed in different age groups. The class champions in the older groups would read the question on the screen ...

 ... write out their answer ...

 ... then hold it up. Students were eliminated as they got two wrong.

 In the younger grades the class representatives lined up and answered the questions one by one.

 As the contest continued, there were less and less contestants ...

... until the champion was determined.

Through the experience the students were able to show that they know a lot about the Bible and the Church.

PS -- If you happened to notice that a number of students were wearing pink today, know that it was part of an effort to promote awareness of breast cancer.

Learning About Relics

Yesterday St. Columbkille Catholic School began Catholic Schools Week with a guest speaker on mismatch day. Mr. Zavaletta from Skutt High School came to tell us about relics.

A relic is something connected with a saint. In the Bible, sometimes people were healed when touched by relics of Jesus (Matt 9:20-22), St. Paul (Acts 19:11-12) and even Elisha (2 Kings 13:20-21). The relics are special for us because they remind us of a saint.

Relics are not magic and, as St. Jerome said, "We do not worship, we do not adore, for fear that we should bow down to the creature rather than to the creator, but we venerate the relics of the martyrs in order the better to adore Him whose martyrs they are."

Mr. Zav brought along some relics he has as well as some Fr. Dan Lenz, OSB was kind enough to lend.

Students each had a chance to venerate a first class relic of St. Francis of Assisi, St. Clare, St. Francis Xavier or St. Teresa of Avila.

Thank you to Mr. Zav for visiting us!

Inspected

Above Jess Long from Boyd Jones Construction presented Fr. Damian with the Certificate of Occupancy from the City of Papillion and let him know that the Fire Marshall has approved the new chapel and sacristy for use.

Archbishop Lucas has advised us that when we move the Eucharist to the new tabernacle it ought to be done within a Eucharistic Procession when many of the faithful can be in attendance. The plan is to close the 5 p.m. Mass on Saturday with that Eucharistic Procession. This means that the chapel will be used for private, silent Eucharistic Adoration starting around 6 p.m. on Saturday.

Hitting Free Throws

Friday night the gym was full of kids competing in the Knights of Columbus Free Throw Contest.

 The results were all posted and counted. Then the winners we announced.

Congratulations to our winners who will go on to compete on February 3rd and the runner ups who will take their place if they are unable to attend.

Thank you to the Knights who put on this event and ...

... the parents who brought the kids.

 (A few of whom even got in on the action.)