Presents for Jesus

A Kindergarten Class at St. Columbkille Catholic School emphasized that the greatest gift we can give to Jesus is ourselves.

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.

Celebrating the Baptism

Today we remember and celebrate the baptism of Jesus, which made our baptisms possible.

Do you know when you were baptized? Do you celebrate that date?

A Lesson From the Cross

At VBS Thursday, a bright cross shone 

forth representing the light and love of God.

 Earlier in the day, the campers had written their sins.

These sins were collected in black garbage bags and...

 ... hung on the cross -- separating God's love from the people.

 Then Jesus was able to come 

and remove the sins for us.

Now we are no longer separated form God and His love.

Celebrating Easter in Preschool

There has been a lot happening at Sacred Heart Preschool during this Easter season.

 We have learned about Jesus’ Holy Week

We have had an Easter egg hunt

 We have played in our “Garden Center”

 We have done some real planting

 We have watched caterpillars turn into butterflies

 And we have set them free

Happy Easter everyone!

Jesus' Easter Game of Hide and Seek‏

Our Tabernacle doors, created by artist John Lajba, depict
the disciples recognizing Jesus in the breaking of the bread.

"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever."

    - Hebrews 13:8

Most of Jesus' life on earth is hidden from us, including His Risen Life.

Even now, He is risen and among us but chooses to remain hidden, wrote Caryll Houselander in her book The Risen Christ.

"He is 'the Way'; the Way does not change," Houselander said. "We are helped by this consistency to recognize Him in His hidden life in ourselves."

Like his disciples, we don't always recognize the Risen Lord. But His appearances in Scripture highlight Jesus' gifts to us and give us some clues on how He reveals Himself to us, the author said.

"To the stricken world in the person of Magdalene, compassion: 'Why are you weeping, for Whom are you seeking?'

"To the apostles, His first word, 'Peace!'

"To Thomas, 'Believe' because of the wounds -- 'the courage of faith.'

"To Peter, the wonderful opportunity to affirm His love.

"To the disciples who mourned Him as lost, communion with Him."

Jesus continues his hidden, daily miracles, appearing to us in the breaking of the bread and through many other "unobserved, unguessed miracles of grace, contrition, conversion, hope, forgiveness, love, taking place secretly in the human soul."

He is hidden in everyone, Houselander said, but we must have the eyes of faith to see Him.

 "He may come as a little child, making enormous demands, giving enormous consolation; He may come as a stranger, so that we must give the hospitality to a stranger that we should like to give to Christ; He may come to us in His Passion, disfigured by our sins and all sin, asking the utmost courage of us, that we may not be scandalized and may believe. He may come to us as a servant and compel us to the extreme humility which accepts His service, as Peter had to do, when He washed his feet, and as the disciples did with unquestioning joy, when He cooked their little meal on the seashore."

Perhaps the most difficult place to find the Risen Christ is in ourselves, she said, because we see ourselves as so unworthy. But we all have the means to radiate our Lord to others: "words, a human voice, sympathy, hands to serve."

Remember, the Risen Christ is appearing to us, and "the only condition for finding and recognizing the Risen Christ today is that we love Him: not power, chance, or virtue, but only love."

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.

Trying to trick Jesus

This morning the 7th Grade students in Summer Religiouse Formation did a skit for everyone.

The skit was based on some people

 who attempted to trick Jesus.

Within the skit Jesus had some of his disciples

 act out the parable of the Good Samaritan.

It was great to have those students lead

 us in understanding Jesus better.

Ascension Thursday in just 2 days

Thursday is a Holy Day that, as Fr Damian says, sneeks up on us because the date changes with Easter each year. The stained glass windows in our chapel (pictured above) remind of us of when Jesus, before he ascended, spoke the words which are the basis of our parish mission statement, "Go and Make Disciples."

There is an anticipatory Mass tomorrow night at 5:30 to celebrate the Ascension of Jesus to heaven. The Masses Thursday for this Holy Day are:

6:20 a.m.

8:15 a.m.

12:10 p.m.

5:30 p.m.

7:00 p.m.

Palm Sunday is March Madness

 Take the excitement level of Harvard's first tournament win ...

  ... or Robert Morris beating Kentucky ...

 ... or even Minnesota beating UCLA ...

... or what it will feel like if Creighton beats Duke ...

 ... and know that was the excitement

 level at the first Palm Sunday.

Maybe Jesus stopped the donkey to pick up a child?

Maybe, like Pope Francis, he dismounted

 when he saw a disabled man.

Take a moment to prayerfully image what it would like to be in a vigorous crowd as Jesus comes by. Imagine how you would feel as He rides past you. Imagine that he locks eyes with you and smiles.

Today we enter into Holy Week,

Enter it fully.

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?

Ascension Thursday

Tomorrow is a Holy Day.

There is an anticipatory Mass tonight at 5:30 to celebrate the Ascension of Jesus to heaven. The Masses tomorrow (Thursday) for this Holy Day are:

6:20 a.m.

8:15 a.m.

12:10 p.m.

5:30 p.m.

7:00 p.m.

The Baptism of the Lord

In the Church's calendar, today is the last day of the Christmas season. Today we celebrate the Baptism of Jesus. This along with the visit of the Magi and the Wedding Feast at Cana are celebrated as "Epiphany" moments where the nature of Jesus as the Christ was revealed. It is still a wonder to ponder.

O'

Starting today, the O Antiphons begin. Each night in Vespers  (or Evening Prayer) there is always an antiphon before praying the Magnificat. Each Antiphon begins with "O" and uses a distinct title to address Jesus. Each comes from prophecies of Isaias and Micah. The initials, when read backwards, form an acrostic for the Latin "Ero Cras" which means "Tomorrow I come." Those titles for Christ are:

Sapientia: Wisdom

Adonai:  Ruler of the House of Israel

Radix Jesse: Root of Jesse

Clavis David: Key of David

Oriens: Rising Dawn

Rex Gentium: King of the Gentiles

Emmanuel: God with us

Today the O Antiphons are most familiar to us in the hymn "O come, O come Emmanuel".  Each verse of the hymn parallels one of the antiphons. In addition to their use in the Liturgy of the Hours and the gospel acclamation, they have been popularly incorporated into church devotions and family prayer.

Images of Faith

St. Columbkille Catholic School is looking internally as they prepare to look moving to a higher level of accredidation. To do that, it isn't enough to say that we are a Catholic school. We must also show Indicators of the faith life present in the school.

To help with this, a tour was made through the school on Thursday, October 27th to document Images of Faith that are present in the school. We found 584 images of faith in the school (not counting our students, teachers and staff.)

We found 132 images of Jesus in the school including 39 crucifixes.

 There were 77 images of Mary.

There were three images of St. Columbkille.

 Classes had the weekly Bible verse displayed in a variety of ways.

There were numerous prayers and inspirational Bible

quotes along with statues and 27 Holy Water fonts.

These 584 Images of Faith are among the reminders

 to acknowledge God in our everyday life.