2010-11 Annual Report

The Annual Report was mailed earlier this week. If you don't have your's yet, you can see it online here.

This weekend Fr. Damian will speak at all the Masses as we celbrate the past fiscal year and look forward to the future.

Mass with Archbishop Lucas

Tomorrow morning Archbishop Lucas will peside at the Vigil for Life Mass at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Bellevue. This will be followed by Eucharistic Adoration and a prayerful Rosary procession to the abortion facility in Bellevue under the supervision of the Bellevue Police Department. After the Mass and procession there will be a reception in the basement of St. Mary's Church.

Happy Birthday Mary

The Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary was celebrated at least by the sixth century, when St. Romanos the Melodist composed a hymn for the feast. The feast spread to Rome in the seventh century, but it was centuries before it was celebrated throughout the West.

The source for the story of the birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary is the Protoevangelium of James, an apocryphal gospel written about A.D. 150. From it, we learn the names of Mary's parents, Joachim and Anna, as well as the tradition that the couple was childless until an angel appeared to Anna and told her that she would conceive. (Many of the same details appear also in the later apocryphal Gospel of the Nativity of Mary.)

The traditional date of the feast, September 8, falls exactly nine months after the feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. It is an important feast, because it prepares the way for the birth of Christ.

Happy Birthday Mary!

 

The above information was taken from about.com

Remembering 9/11

An Instrument of Peace at Ground Zero"I did not see the devil's face at Ground Zero. I saw the face of God in the people working, caring, sweating, crying, rescuing, recovering and being very spiritual in their very humanness."
-Franciscan Father Joseph Bayne, chief chaplain of New York's Erie County Emergency Services

One Firefighter Spared Twice That Day"I still try to figure out what God was thinking and why I deserved to be spared twice that day."
-Kenneth Zaveckas, New York City firefighter

The Parable of Ground Zero
"I thought 'what is God like? God is like the firefighter who rushes into a burning building to save someone. That's how much God loves us."
-Jesuit Father James Martin, culture editor of America magazine

Choosing Action in the Face of Evil
"Tom was a hero on Flight 93. He and his fellow passengers were drafted unknowingly as the first citizen-soldiers in the war on terrorism."
-Beverly and Thomas Burnett, Sr., parents of Tom Burnett

We Stood Together on September 11
"People came together in unity that day. We can all remember where we were on 9/11 because we were all together."
-Paulist Father Paul Wierichs, a former chaplain to the Federal Bureau of Investigation

 These are just some of the stories at the US Bishop's Site

Singing the New Roman Missal

In Advent some of the words during Mass will change with the arrival of the New Roman Missal. The change in words also means a change in music. Thursday the group of musicians gathered to get a preview and sing some of the music together. Here is a sneak look at that:

A course on the biblical background to the texts of the Mass, using the New Roman Missal translations will begin soon.

Practically every part of the Mass finds inspiration from Scripture. It makes sense, then, that the better we understand the biblical background to the texts of the Mass, the better we will be able to appreciate and enter into all that we say at Mass.

Anticipating our welcoming of the new English translation of the Mass, we will offer a five-week scriptural tour through the prayers, hymns, and rituals of the Mass.

The method of study will include home preparation of reading and answering questions in the workbook. Video instruction and small group discussion will take place at the sessions.

The course will take place on Mondays, September 19 through October 17 at the Steinhausen Center. Morning (9:00-10:30 am) and evening (7:00-8:00 pm) will be offered.

Session Date Lesson

Sept 19 Introduction to the Study
Sept 26 Introductory Rites
Oct 3 The Liturgy of the Word
Oct 10 The Liturgy of the Eucharist: Preparation of the Gifts and Eucharistic Prayer
Oct 17 The Liturgy of the Eucharist: Communion Rite and Concluding Rites

You can register here

Human Costs and Moral Challenges of a Broken Economy

Each Labor Day the US Bishops release a reflection. This year it was written by Bishop Stephen E. Blaire who is the Bishop of Stockton, California:

Human Costs and Moral Challenges of a Broken Economy

Each year Americans celebrate Labor Day as a national holiday to honor working people. This year, however, is less a time for celebration and more a time for reflection and action on current economic turmoil and hardships experienced by workers and their families. For Catholics, it is also an opportunity to recall the traditional teaching of the Church on dignity of work and the rights of workers. This Labor Day, the economic facts are stark and the human costs are real: millions of our sisters and brothers are without work, raising children in poverty and haunted by fears about their economic security. These are not just economic problems, but also human tragedies, moral challenges, and tests of our faith.

To read the rest, click here

Thank, but no thanks

Google recently contacted us. Due to the amount of traffic to our sites, they wanted to pay us to put their ads on our site. Since we would have no control over what would be advertised, we said no very quickly. But it was nice to be noticed.

It was the Pastoral Council's idea to have a blog. Many of us have been pleasantly surprised by how many people look at it and how they really are from al over the world. We're still learning, but it's been a very good experience.

We've been on Facebook for awhile but we changed the focus a few years ago from just youth towards the whole parish.(http://facebook.com/columbkille)

For years the Pastoral Council has been suggesting that we get involved with Twitter as well. While we've been reluctant, never say never.

Wildlife Encoutered

Monday was the first Pack Meeting for all Cub Scouts.

 

Part of the fun was a visit from Wildlife Encounters.

Wildlife Encounters offers interaction with some of the worlds most amazing animals while learning about different environments, the animals within them, and our impact upon them.

 

Thank you to Wildlife Encouters for visiting!

A Seminarian Speaks

Since he's been studying in Rome, we haven't seen much of John Norman, one of our seminarians. This summer he stopped by during Religious Formation and spoke to the students there. He will speak at the end of all oru Masses this weekend and he will be visiting some of the school classes next week. Here is video of his visit this summer:

First Teachers

Parents are the first teachers of their children. So last night they rightfully went to Curriculum Night at St. Columbkille Catholic School to see how the school will assit them in educating their children and to make certain the parents and teachers can work together.

Our principal, Dr. Blue, was also meeting with parents to explain the reading program. It was used in some classrooms last year and is now implemented throughout the school.