Quite the Jack-O-Latern

Did you see this pumpkin on Fr. Vogel's porch? It has the Sacred Heart of Jesus carved into it.

Pumpkin Day

The Second Grade Classes at St. Columbkille Catholic School celebrated Pumpkin Day earlier this week.

After opening the pumpkins, students looked inside and each pod estimated how many seeds were inside.

Then each pod of removed and counted the gooey pumpkin seeds.

 Then everyone compared how many seeds were actually inside versus how many were estimated.

It was a fun and sticky way to learn about math.

Beloved: Mystery and Meaning of Marriage

What if Marriage is more than a simple contract between two people, based on romance, mutual fulfillment and basic attraction? What if, created into the very design of humanity, God has placed a purposeful desire to unite a man and a woman into something mysterious, holy and eternal?


Beloved Trailer from Augustine Institute on Vimeo.

In 6 sessions, Beloved explores the true meaning of Marriage. Here you’ll discover the deepest spiritual, emotional and practical realities of Marriage through Scripture, Tradition and Church Teaching. You’ll see first-hand how to experience the wonder, mystery and joy of this Sacrament – from that first “I do” through the rest of your lives.

Mondays November 2nd to December 14th   

At 7 p.m.in the Steinhausen Center

We will be presenting a series on Marriage running for 6 weeks.  The Beloved program will begin with a prayer and brief introduction to the evening's video (about 10 min) followed by a 30-35 minute video.  The video will be followed by a short break with refreshments and then we will pose a series of questions for each table to briefly discuss. This discussion will be followed by a fostered Q and A surrounding those discussed questions.  We'll close with a prayer and give a real quick intro (1 min or less) on the following week's topic. Weekly topics are as follows:

Session 1: Does Marriage Matter?

Session 2: Entering the Story of Marriage

Session 3: Love Revealed

Session 4: The Total Gift of Self

Session 5: A Sacramental Bond

Session 6: Real Challenges Real Love


Registration is not required. Light snacks and drinks will be provided. Basic handouts will be available and student workbooks can be ordered at a cost of $10. Please contact ncook@saintcolumbkille.org if you desire a workbook.

Soctober 2015

The two 2nd Grade classes at St. Columbkille Catholic School have been celebrating Soctober by collecting socks for those in need.

Adding a Turning Lane

Sixth Street, was closed yesterday to stripe the wider street. The first portion was to grind out the old yellow lines.

Stripes were put down so there can now be a turning lane. This should make it easier to get into the church and a help overall traffic flow along 6th street. Unfortunately we got some unforecast rain. As a result the workers will need to come back for a few finishing touches.

All of this is part of the St. Columbkille's Pave the Way project. While the city approved the project, we are paying for it to make the street better for our parishioners and our neighbors.

Mommy & Me

Last night students from Sacred Heart Preschool celebrated Mommy & Me as they has activities with their special guest.

They even got to wear costumes!

Vocations Day 2015

The 6th Grade Students from St. Columbkille Catholic School were just some of the students from cross Omaha who gathered to learn about religious vocations.

Jesus was at the center for a great celebration.

A great band was leading the enthusiastic crowd before, after and during Mass.

 It was a great chance to meet and interact with the religious and clergy.

Students were in small group sessions as they heard about religious life and vocation stories.

 Everyone was well fed, and you never know who you might run into when a crowd gathers.

Our Sixth Grade Class represented us well!

Preparing for the Fish Fry

In the Social Hall, this is a storage room which has store chairs, tables and some other items.

Now it holds a walk-in refrigerator. The Fish Fry has paid for it as the primary use will be to thaw fish before the Fish Fries in Lent.

The Hound of Heaven

In a previous blog post, I mused on how all of creation teaches us theology, lessons about God and our relation to Him.

Well, just last night a little mixed-breed dog named Laika (named after the Soviet space dog and pronounced Lie-ka) had me lying awake pondering God's love.

It all began when I woke up and realized the dog had climbed into bed and curled up for sleep with her head and fuzzy muzzle on my face.

It's her habit to sneak into beds in the middle of the night, probably because she finds little resistance from people who are asleep. Though I'm not so certain why she thinks it's okay to rest her head on my face.

I think her goal is to snuggle in as close as possible. After I gently pushed her off my face, she rested at my side -- or more like attached to my side, with every inch of her touching me.

So where's the theology lesson?

It's easy to see how dogs, renowned for their faithfulness, mirror God's love. And our Lord famously has been called "The Hound of Heaven" for the way He relentlessly pursues us.

Like Laika, He will do anything He can to get our attention. And He desires to be close to us -- as close as possible. That's why Christ became one of us and remains with us in the Eucharist.

And He not only pursues us. Like Laika and other playful pups, He wants us to chase Him, and find Him, in the adventure of a lifetime.

"Come, follow Me," Jesus says.

And in dog-like obedience, we should run to Him, our Master.

Inspired by the Year of Faith, Susan Szalewski began writing weekly columns for us. Although that year is over, we liked them so well that we asked her to keep writing. Thankfully, she said yes. So watch for these on Thursdays and see the Year of Faith Blog here.

It's Not Done But...

The new parking will be washed off with a fire hose on Friday, there's more landscaping to do, we're waiting for the permanent hand rails as well as a few other things. So it's not done yet, but they're letting us park on it now. Not Friday (while the fire hose is here), but we can today.