Preparing for Showtime

Tonight Jungle Book will be presented by Drama Club students from St. Columbkille Catholic School. This afternoon they put on their makeup and prepared for the show.

The Jungle Book

7:00 p.m.

4/6/13

Gross High School

Increasing Kindness?

Back in January, the 4th and 5th grade students at St. Columbkille Catholic School had a Kindness Retreat led by Jorge and Megan. It began with a lot of fun.

There were also small group discussions led by students from Gross High School (including some of our alumni.)

Towards the end, students were asked to write about a time where others were not kind to them and how they can be more kind to others.

Those who were comfortable, shared what they wrote.

So it's been a few months.

How are you doing?

Is anything different?

Divine Mercy & Easter

"God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ."

Ephesians 2: 4-5

It is no coincidence that we cap the Easter octave with Divine Mercy Sunday.

Jesus -- through his words and actions, life and death -- shows us the merciful love of the Father. But our Lord’s revelation of His Father’s mercy is not complete without the Resurrection. Jesus’ suffering and death revealed the depths of God’s love and mercy; His Resurrection shows us the power of that love and mercy, even over sin and death.

“He is not God of the dead, but of the living.”

Mark 12:27

Our Resurrected Lord could be considered the very definition mercy, according to Pope John Paul II, who instituted the universal celebration of Divine Mercy Sunday.

“Christ confers on the whole of the Old Testament tradition about God's mercy a definitive meaning. Not only does He speak of it and explain it by the use of comparisons and parables, but above all He Himself makes it incarnate and personifies it. He Himself, in a certain sense, is mercy. To the person who sees it in Him -- and finds it in Him -- God becomes ‘visible’ in a particular way as the Father who is rich in mercy."

During this Year of Faith we, too, are called to make God visible through our mercy to others. It is the best way to pay homage to the Divine Mercy we have all received.

“Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His mercy endures forever!”

Psalm 118:1

Inspired by this Year of Faith we will be posting columns like this from Susan Szalewski about exploring and/or deepening our faith. Watch for it on Thursdays.

Invite Other Christians

Fr. Vogel's next BASIC (Begining Apologetic Studies In Catholicism) session is tomorrow (Friday) at 7:00 p.m. in the Steinhausen Center. The topic will be Our Relationship with Other Christians. The main topic is the unity of Christians - ecumenism. Fr. Vogel is encouraging people to invite any of your non-Catholic Christian family or friends.

Fr. Vogel says, "I have invited some of my good friends, so you can assure them that there will be at least a few other non-Catholics. Be sure to let them know that the purpose for this is not to try to proselytize them (force them to be Catholic), but so that they might learn how Catholics see them as our separated brothers and sisters and how together we can work toward the unity Christ desired for us. The following might be an example of what you could say:

"'At my Church I have been going to a series of talks learning more about my Catholic faith. The next time we meet we will be talking about 'Ecumenism,' the relationship among all Christians and how we can work together to become more united. Our priest has suggested that we invite a non-Catholic Christian friend to come and learn how Catholics desire to work with our brothers and sisters in Christ to heal divisions. I think it could make our own friendship grow, as well as help us both appreciate each other's own faith background. (Don't worry we are not trying to force you to become Catholic, but so we can better learn from each other.) I would love to have you join me. It is on Friday, April 5 at 7:00 - 8:30 pm. Maybe we can meet earlier that evening for dinner...'

"Please seriously consider asking someone you know. It would be great for this to be a truly ecumenical event!"

Elevator Progress

There have been a lot of changes to the room once used by our ushers and servers as we prepare for an elevator here.

Here are some pictures taken over the last few months:

These last three pictures were taken this afternoon:

Mrs. McGuire meets our students

This morning Mrs. McGuire visited each of the classrooms at St. Columbkille Catholics School to introduce herself and meet the students. She also visited during lunch to see the students in a relaxed environment.

Mrs. McGuire has been impressed with our facilities, in particular how quiet the hallways are while students are in class. She has enjoyed meeting the parents and appreciates seeing how active they are in supporting the school. She also considers it a blessing to see how many aides we have in the classrooms.

Welcome Mrs. McGuire!

Welcome Mrs. McGuire

Due to the declining health of Dr. Blue, Fr. Damian has hired a Principal who recently retired, to lead the school for the remainder of the year. We welcome Mrs. McGuire as Interim Principal.

Mary McGuire was the Principal of St. Wenceslaus Grade School in Omaha for twenty years. She helped fill in a similar transitional role at Holy Cross a few years ago when their Principal had to step down because of family reasons. Fr. Damian said, “Just as I could step into any parish in the diocese and take on the role of pastor, Mrs. McGuire’s experience allows her to step into the role of principal and lead the school as we finish out this year strong. We are blessed to have her here.”

While some of our faculty have already suggested she be the new Principal, Mrs. McGuire is not a candidate for the principal position. She loves her retirement and spending time with her grandchildren. We are thankful that she is willing to step in and help us out during our time of need.

Fr. Damian extends his thanks to the staff and faculty of the school who have managed the school so well during Dr. Blue’s illness.

Good Friday Pictures

Good Friday is the one day of the year when Mass is not celebrated. Through the service our tabernacle is empty and it begins with our ministers prostrate on the ground praying.

With three readers, the Passion story is told.

A cross is brought in.

The cross is venerated by the faithful.