TEEN Faith

Last week was the Kick-Off for TEEN Faith. A crowd came for food, fun and a preview of the year.

Tonight is the first Small Group Faith Sharing meeting. We begin in the Social Level at 7 p.m. to share a meal then split into small groups by grade at 7:30 and wrapup at 8:30. Although registration is required, you can register tonight.

3 on 3 basketball Tournament

Due to the rain, our 3 on 3 Basketball Tournament was moved to the gym Sunday. There were a lot of hard competition and some good games.

 

 

 

What you don't always see are players

getting their picture taken with a ref.

What was unusual were the refs. Doug McDermott, Ethan Wragge and Ross Ferrarini from the Creighton Men's Basketball Team were kind enough to referee some of our games.

 

They even had some advice:



Thank you to our refs as well as Coach Steve Merfeld, Patti Galas and Creighton Athletics for letting them help us out.

We'll close with a picture of the 8th Grade team which won their division.
Thank you to all of our players for competing.

Bathroom Renovation

 The bathrooms on the main floor of the church are being renovated.

It means these restrooms will be out of commission for a few weeks. In the meantime people will have to use the restrooms in the Social Level. But when it's done they will be better than ever. The thing that will be the hardest to get used to is that the women's restroom will become the men's and vice-versa.

We're looking forward to watching the progress.

Raffle Winners

Fr. Vogel drew the names for the Raffle winners. They are:

$ 5,000 Linda Mullen

$1,000 John Gelecki

$500 Pat Thomas
$250 Steve Dostal
$250 Duane Larchick

Congratulations to our winners!

Family Fun Festival

An optimist might be someone who sets

up a cotton candy stand in a rainstorm.

At first the weather seemed very good for ducks ...

 

 ... but everyone was still enjoying themselves.

 

Then the sun came out and the rides were able to open.

 

 

 

Thank you to everyone who helped

and worked and joined in the fun!



That Man Is You! starts Thursday

Last year, over seventy men would gather 26 Thursday morning before sunrise for That Man Is You! Although there is a weekly video presentation, the heart of the event is the table discussions as men discuss their faith in their life.

Out of curiosity, we decided to measure how the Spiritual Commitment changed among the men who attended. Using the questions identified by Gallup Faith, we had all the men answer some quick questions at the first session, the 13th session and at the end of the 26th session. We didn't explain what we were measuring or give out any preliminary results because we didn't want to influence the results.

The initial surprise was how low the men were in Spiritual Commitment in the first session. In 2010, St. Columbkille Parish measured a little higher than the national average, but the men (on average) were well below that. Typically this measurement tool is used for a parish. If we stack that against other parishes, they would have been in the bottom 25%. Part of our interpretation is that TMIY! appealed to men who hadn't been exercising their spiritual life.

Then we were really surprised by the improvement. Again if the results are compared to parishes, the final numbers would put these same men in the top 25% of the country. Steve Bollman from Paradisus Dei said that they frequently get letters or cards from men (or their wives) who have had their lives changed by the program. But he was very excited to see these results. He will be using this data as he talks to Bishops around the country.

Deacon David said, "When we started this, it was just for us to look at internally to see if this was a good use of our energy and resources. I was startled by the results. I told Steve that I probably wouldn't have shared the results with him if it hadn't been so good."

The second year of TMIY! starts next Thursday (the 22nd). Although all men are invited, the main focus is on family life. The program is designed so that someone who did not go through the first year can still jump into the second year. If you have questions you can look for the TMIY! table at the Festival Sunday. They will be between the stage and the beer garden .

Baking Day

Last week our preschool children had a baking day.

Parents came to help us out.

One group did some baking while the

other group practiced their letter “A.”

We all had a chance to bake some

 delicious German Apple Muffins.

Thank you family helpers!



The Refs can Play

There is a 3 on 3 basketball tournament

during the Family Fun Festival Sunday.

Like last year, some Creighton players will be refs for a few games. One of our refs last year was Doug McDermott who went on to be named MVC Freshman of the Year and spent the summer playing for Team USA. Find out Sunday which players are refs this year.

If you haven't signed up your team yet, get the form here as the deadline is coming up.

Rosary Procession

Saturday morning people driving through Bellevue

may have noticed people praying.

Saturday morning after Mass, Archbishop

George Lucas led a Rosary Procession.

 

It began before the Blessed Sacrament in St. Mary's Church.

It led to pray in front of the abortion site in Bellevue.

 

 People were lined up on both sides of the street praying.

We continue to pray.

Mass on 9/11

On this, the 10th anniversary of 9/11, we will celebrate Mass "In Time of War or Civil Disturbance." This means that the vestments worn will be violet rather than the green of Ordinary Time. It also means the prayers will be a little different:

Opening Prayer:
God our Father,
maker and lover of peace,
to know you is to live,
and to serve you is to reign.
All our faith is in your saving help;
protect us from men of violence
and keep us safe from weapons of hate.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

Prayer over the gifts
Lord,
remember Christ your Son who is peace itself
and who has washed away our hatred with his blood.
Because you love all men,
look with mercy on us.
Banish the violence and evil within us,
and by this offering restore tranquility and peace.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Prayer after Communion
Father,
you satisfy our hunger with one bread
that gives strength to mankind.
Help us to overcome war and violence,
and to establish your law of love and justice.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.