Holy Thursday

Part of the Holy Thursday Mass is the reception of the Holy Oils which were blessed by Archbishop Lucas at the Chrism Mass in St. Cecilia's Cathedral on Thursday.

Fr. Dave kissed the feet after washing them.

Food was collected for the Tri-City Pantry. Money

 collected  was given to the St. Vincent de Paul Society.

Need to Do Some Shopping?

Profits from the St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store in Tara Plaza help those in need in our community. Last week Fr. Dave took a look at the store. If you have any shopping to do, be sure to stop by.

Previewing the Late Night Catechism

This afternoon Fr. Dave got together with Sister to learn more about the Late Night Catechism Show on Saturday. The 7:30 show benefits the St. Vincent de Paul Society at St. Columbkille Parish. Although the show is at the Omaha Community Playhouse, tickets are only available from St. Columbkille Parish.

Just an Ordinary table? Or a Relic?

For year in the parish office we've used a table for meeting and activities like counting money each week. It's even been used for a few meals.

As we are unable to fit everything from the old office into the new one, this is among the items to be left behind. Our St. Vincent de Paul Society has taken up the task of selling these items. Some are being sold online while others will be part of a yard sale. To make certain they get the best possible price, they've been researching a number of items.

They discovered that this table as well as a buffet each have a metal inventory tag from Boystown.

Boystown was contacted. They need to do a bit more research, but they believe these items were used by Fr. Flannigan in his second rectory.

If so, this table was used by Fr. Flanagan when he hosted guests like Babe Ruth or Presidents.

Fr. Flanagan's cause for sainthood is being sealed and sent to Rome today. If he is canonized, his furniture would be considered a second class relic. Relics can not be bought or sold.

After a visit, Boystown asked if we would be willing to donate these items and Fr. Damian agreed. Boystown will be making a donation to our St. Vincent de Paul Society in gratitude for their research and appreciation for contacting them.

 So the table and buffet are now at Boystown.

The Rummage Sale is in Progress

The St. Vincent de Paul Rummage sale began yesterday at 807 Tara Plaza, continues today until 5:00 and finishes tomorrow at 3:00.

All the funds raised go to our St. Vincent de Paul Society. They work to help those in need in our community regardless of their faith.

 So stop by and check it all out in person.

A Saint on Skis

As Pier Giorgio Frassati was declared Blessed by St. John Paul II, a banner of him was unfurled. Traditionally such banners depict an icon of the saint. But instead it showed a young, strong mountain climber with one foot firmly resting on rock.

"With every passing day," Pier Giorgio wrote, "I fall madly in love with the mountains; their fascination attracts me." He was a member of the Italian Alpine Club and scaled a number of mountains. He once spent a sleepless night in a hole dug in snow and a descent in a snowstorm. The mountains allowed him to test his athletic body. With contagious joy he experienced the spirit of emulation.

With others, he would sometimes say his foot hurt so he needed to rest in order to not humiliate those who really did need to rest. He would also go back and forth between the mountains and plain in order to lighten the backpacks of those who were a little weaker. He had a spirit not even fatigue could destroy. Despite his off-key voice, he would sing for the group or invite everyone to pray before sleep.

He had a deep spiritual life with the Holy Eucharist and the Blessed Virgin as the two poles of his prayer life. While only 17, he joined the St. Vincent de Paul Society serving the sick and needy, caring for orphans and assisting the servicemen back from World War I. He would run home from school so he could give his bus fare to others. His charity was not simply giving to others, but fully giving himself. He often gave up vacations at the family summer home because "If everyone leaves Turin, who will take care of the poor?"

He told a friend he had decided to become a mining engineer (studying at the Royal Polytechnic University of Turin) so he could "serve Christ better among the miners." He joined the Catholic Student Foundation and Catholic Action promoting the Church's social teaching based on the principles Pope Leo XIII set in his encyclical Rerum Novarum.

Pier Giorgio contracted polio just before graduating form the university. Doctors suspected he caught the disease from the sick whom he tended. Still, he neglected his own health because his grandmother was dying. After six days of great suffering, he died on July 4, 1925 at the age of 24. The day before he died, with a paralyzed hand, he wrote to a friend asking him to take medicine to a poor man he had been visiting.

Upon his death, his family was stunned by the multitude of poor and needy who came to do him homage. They, in turn, were shocked to learn that he had been the heir to a wealthy family.

St John Paul II  said, "I wanted to pay homage to a young man who was able to witness to Christ with singular effectiveness in this century of ours. When I was a young man, I, too, felt the beneficial influence of his example and, as a student, I was impressed by the force of his testimony."

His remains, found incorrupt and completely intact in 1981, were moved from the family tomb to the cathedral in Turin. In 1990, at the beatification, St. John Paul II called him the "Man of the Eight Beatitudes." He was also named a Patron Saint of World Youth Days.

A Late Nite Lesson on the Catechism

 An full crowd gathered last night as a 

fundraiser for our St. Vincent de Paul Society. 

While the show was good on it's own, what made it special was the way Sister interacted with our parishioners: teaching and scolding them as needed.

Funds were also raised through a raffle

 as well as some silent auction items.

Sister also raised some money for

 the Notre Dame Sisters as well.