Blessings of a Catholic School

"...whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant."

Those Gospel words were proclaimed at a Mass Wednesday for the 100th anniversary of St. Columbkille Catholic School. And they couldn't be more fitting for the occasion.

Archbishop George J. Lucas, in his homily, said service is what has set St. Columbkille apart.

"St. Columbkille School has a great reputation," he said. "And it's not by accident. It's because ... people are trying really hard to not just think of themselves, but to think of others."

Service, Archbishop Lucas said, is one of the greatest blessings of a going to a Catholic school -- and our source of true freedom. He said that as he grew older he grew to appreciate his own Catholic education, particularly because his school taught him to serve. "I learned how to be free to live for somebody else besides myself."

We "become our best selves," he said, and experience that freedom when we use our gifts from God to help others.

Father Vogel, in his homily at the 5:30 p.m. Mass later that day, shared the archbishop's message, again tying it to the Gospel reading. In the passage, the mother of the apostles James and John asked Jesus for a privileged place for her sons in Christ's Kingdom, one sitting at His left and the other at His right. Our Lord then summoned all the apostles, who had become indignant at the two brothers, to tell them what it takes to have a privileged place in His Kingdom.

"You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and the great ones make their authority over them felt. But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave. Just so, the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many."

Let's pray for St. Columbkille School, joining in the archbishop's prayer of blessing over the congregation at the all-school Mass:

"Purify Your faithful in body, mind and spirit, O Lord we pray, so that growing as disciples of Christ they may seek to serve rather than to be served. Through Christ our Lord."

Amen.

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.

A Martyr's Last Homily

According to an Italian newspaper, the Vatican's commission on sainthood voted unanimously to recognize the 1980 assassination of Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero as martyrdom. This is a bit step towards being proclaimed a saint someday.

He was the archbishop of San Salvador at the start of El Salvador's 1979-1992 civil war. He continually called upon the country's military government to stop their crackdown of their leftist opponents. This was his last homily:

You have just heard in Christ’s gospel that one must not love oneself so much as to avoid getting involved in the risks of life that history demands of us, and that those who try to fend off the danger will lose their lives, while those who out of love for Christ give themselves to the service of others, will live, live like the grain of wheat that dies, but only apparently. If it did not die, it would remain alone. The harvest comes about only because it dies, allowing itself to be sacrificed in the earth and destroyed. Only by undoing itself does it produce the harvest....

This is the hope that inspires us as Christians. We know that every effort to better society, especially when justice and sin are so ingrained, is an effort that God blesses, that God wants, that God demands of us.... Of course, we must try to purify these ideals, Christianize them, clothe them with the hope of what lies beyond. That makes them stronger, because it gives us the assurance that all that we cultivate on earth, if we nourish it with Christian hope, will never be a failure. We will find it in a purer form in that kingdom where our merit will be found in the labor that we have done here on earth....

Dear brothers and sisters, let us all view these matters at this historic moment with that hope, that spirit of giving and of sacrifice. Let us all do what we can. We can all do something, at least have a sense of understanding and sympathy....

[I]t is worthwhile to labor, because all those longings for justice, peace, and well-being that we experience on earth become realized for us if we enlighten them with Christian hope. We know that no one can go on forever, but those who have put into their work a sense of very great faith, of love of God, of hope among human beings, find it all results in the splendors of a crown that is the sure reward of those who labor thus, cultivating truth, justice, love, and goodness on earth. Such labor does not remain here below but, purified by God’s Spirit, is harvested for our reward. 

The holy Mass, now, this Eucharist, is just such an act of faith. To Christian faith at this moment the voice of diatribe appears changed for the body of the Lord, who offered himself for the redemption of the world, and in this chalice the wine is transformed into the blood that was the price of salvation. May this body immolated and this blood sacrificed for humans nourish us also, so that we may give our body and our blood to suffering and to pain --- like Christ, not for self, but to bring about justice and peace for our people.
Let us join together, then, intimately in faith and hope at this moment of prayer....

A postscript reads: "a shot rang out in the chapel and Archbishop Romero fell mortally wounded. He died within minutes, on arriving at a nearby hospital emergency room."

Return of the Homilies

The digital recorder for our sound system had some trouble. We are delighted to let you know that it is repaired and we were able to record the homilies from last weekend. Click here for last weekend's homilies.

Homilies in Advent ... and more

Each Sunday we record the homilies and post them here.

Vocations Day Homily

Here is Archbishop Lucas' homily at Vocations Day today:

Farewell to our Transitional Deacon

I leave today to go to a retreat for then seminarians, then a family reunion, my grandparents are celebrating their 60th anniversary. Then preparing to go back to school. Then I cook for 400 new guys in the seminary for a week because I'm in charge of food for orientation.


I'll be busier when I leave. 

I would like to say thank you for a great summer. I've had a lot of great experiences here. Four baptisms, three wakes, helping with funerals and lot and lots of preaching which I think you can tell I enjoy.

Thank you,

Deacon Matt Capadano

Mastered by the Master

This year Deacon John Zurek and his wife Connie celebrated ten years since he was ordained a deacon and began serving us at St. Columbkille. He passed away last night. His wake service will be Friday at 7 pm and the funeral will be Saturday, January 5th at 10:00 am.

Here is an excerpt from his homily on Sunday, November 14, 2010 which was the 33rd week in Ordinary Time:

Nothing great is ever accomplished without prayer [and] persistence because in order to be successful our dreams must translate into work. The people who succeed in life are the people who are willing to do what they don't feel like doing. They are not mastered by their moods, they are mastered by the Master. And they establish their goals and plans according to God's will.

We know all things will come to an end. It is part of our very nature of the universe and our place in it. Seasons come and seasons go. Children are born and the elderly pass away. Mornings happens and evening falls. Its all part of the normal process of life and death. If we were called (and we have no guarantee that we won't be called today) could we dare to face our judgement?

Today we have heard Him speak to us. He has reminded us that our end is coming. That we should prepare our spiritual life and get it in order. We all need Him. Our eternal future depends on whether we listen to His call today, tomorrow may be too late.

We are all responsible for some part of life on this planet, for good or for evil. And we all know there is only so much time to accomplish all of this. Each of us is part of that experience of Life and Death around us... Today's Gospel is a great reminder that God's timing is perfect and ours is not...

So my friends, join me today as we all lift up our hearts to the Lord and entrust everything, all times and all seasons, into His loving care.

Amen and may God bless.

Did you hear the one...

We record the homilies each weekend and post them on our website. They are in an MP3 format and are typically online on Tuesday each week. That way if you want to hear one again or another perspective, you can hear it here.

A History Lesson

In the parish office, we have gotten a larger than normal number of people asking when Fr Damian's latest homily would be on the website. He gave what he called "A History Lesson" behind this weekend's Gospel. It is posted at http://www.saintcolumbkille.org/generalinfo/mp3/200903/20090322HomilyFrDamianZuerlein.mp3

St. Mark's Text Message

From Fr. Damian's March 1st Homily:

Mark's Gospel, that we're hearing this liturgical year, is very concise. Very dense. Not a wasted word. Nothing extra. Mark is like the original texter.

http://www.saintcolumbkille.org/generalinfo/mp3/200903/20090301HomilyFrDamianZuerlein.mp3