Catholic Schools Week - And Donuts

The first three days this week St. Columbkille Catholic School is inviting families to attend Mass with their student. Then, after Mass there are donuts.

Pope Francis is in Africa

"For their sake, and for the good of society, our faith in God’s word calls us to support families in their mission in society, to accept children as a blessing for our world, and to defend the dignity of each man and woman, for all of us are brothers and sisters in the one human family.”

Pope Francis

Pizza Night

Last night was Pizza Night!

 The teachers and staff of St. Columbkille Catholic School put together a fun evening for the whole family. It was full of food, activities and simply getting to spend time together.

Big Gifts - Small Packages

Big gifts come in small packages.

I rediscovered that lesson this past weekend – two days filled with many small blessings as family members gathered together.

Those blessing included soccer victories for kids, sharing laughs with relatives visiting from out of town, celebrating a brother’s 50th birthday and honoring my father for decades of work as a bricklayer.

Sometimes a weekend with extended family seems to cause more burdens than blessings. This weekend, however, was mostly relaxed, a chance to hang out with siblings like we used to do.

We grew up in a tight pack, six kids born within seven years, and we spent a lot of time together. We were just grades apart in school, we shared similar interests and our circles of friends overlapped, so we often ended up at the same places together. We had a lot of fun and a lot of fights, especially the four sisters who shared the same bedroom and the same clothes sizes.

The past weekend was a chance to relive some of that sibling closeness, minus the fights. The highlight for me, though, was Sunday, when my dad marked 65 years since he became a bricklayer. He and some fellow retirees were honored at their union’s picnic.

When it was his turn to come forward and receive a plaque, he struggled to get up from his chair and relied on his cane for help. He hobbled up a few feet, received his award and was handed the microphone to speak. He choked up, though, when he tried to express his thanks to all the friends he met over the years. His speech was maybe two sentences, but it was punctuated with coughs and teary eyes. I teared up, too, as I took pictures. And so did other people, including the bricklayer who presented the award, whose father also was a bricklayer and worked with my father.

My dad never received a lot of awards, and this one could be his last, my mother reminded me just days before, when she urged me to go.

And I’m glad I went. My father was grateful for years of blessings, and I was happy he shared them with us.

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.

Soup & Stations

On Monday or Wednesday nights, families involved with Religious Formation attended Soup & Stations.

They began with a meal of soup and sandwiches.

Then they moved to the church for Stations of the Cross.

Wednesday night it was held just hours

 after the crucifix was in place.

We'll have Stations of the Cross

 again tonight at 6 p.m.

The Holy Family

Today is the Feast of the Holy Family. Pope Paul VI said:

Nazareth is a kind of school where we may begin to discover what Christ's life was like and even to understand his Gospel. ... First we learn from its silence. ... The silence of Nazareth should teach us how to meditate in peace and quiet, to reflect on the deeply spiritual, and to be open to the voice of God's inner wisdom ... Second, we learn about family life. May Nazareth serve as a model of what the family should be. ...  

Finally, in Nazareth, the home of the craftsman's son, we learn about work and the discipline it entails. i would especially like to recognize its value -- demanding yet redeeming -- and to give it proper respect.

During the construction, Fr Damian has been reminded of when he helped his father, a bricklayer, in his work. One of his tasks was to carry the bricks to the workers.

He recalled how he often had a difficult time keeping up with the men who could lay bricks so quickly and how he used to mix the mud for them.

As you have learned values from your family, what might Jesus have learned from His?