Rappin' Math

As St. Columbkille Catholic School has it's first day of school tomorrow, we recall how Mr. Cunningham said farewell to his students last year:

Open House

 Families attending the Open House for St Columbkille

 Catholic School began in the church.

Fr. Damian led the prayer service.

There students, parents and teachers pledged

 their commitments during the new year.

In the Education Center, students found their classes.

They also found ice cream.

Mary's Assumption

Today the strongest evidence for Mary's Assumption is, ironically, the complete lack of evidence.

No city ever claimed to have Mary's remains and no early Christian ever claimed to have a bodily relic of Mary. This is unlike the early veneration of the tombs of the Apostles and the other saints. Everyone knew that Peter and Paul's graves were in Rome, John and Timothy's graves were at Ephesus, Luke's grave Luke was in Greece, and Mark's grave was in Alexandria, Egypt and later moved to Venice. Furthermore, James' grave was in Jerusalem and Mary Magdalene's was in Marseille. The graves of the Old Testament saints were similarly venerated: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at Hebron; Rachel at Bethlehem (Matt 2:18), and in Jerusalem (Acts 2:29). The most logical reason to explain why NO early Christian ever spoke about a grave of the Virgin Mary was because there wasn't one.

It's also important to note that while Jesus ascended (it was His action) into heaven, Mary was assumed (God's action) into heaven.

Masses for this Holy Day of Obligation are:

Wednesday

5:30 p.m.

Thursday

6:20, 8:15 a.m., 12:10, 5:30 and 7:00 p.m.

Faith of our Fathers

In front of the 2nd St. Columbkille church in Papillion.

"Faith of our fathers, living still,

In spite of dungeon, fire and sword;

O how our hearts beat high with joy

Whenever we hear that glorious Word!

Refrain:

“Faith of our fathers, holy faith!

We will be true to thee till death."

Our faith has been handed down to us from ancient times, through numerous generations. It is amazing to think about how this precious gift was preserved, protected and lovingly given to us. In my case, a long line of Polish and Irish ancestors persevered and sacrificed for this gift of faith.

In their honor, I present a couple of traditional blessings that may have passed through their lips.

A Polish Blessing

May your hand be outstretched to all you meet.

And may all men say 'Brother' when they speak of you.

May the land be fertile beneath your feet.

May your days be gentle as the sun-kissed dew.

St. Patrick's Blessing:

May the strength of God pilot us;

May the wisdom of God instruct us,

May the hand of God protect us,

May the word of God direct us.

Be always ours this day and for evermore.

The faith was lived and remains alive in us. Now it's our turn to fan the flames in our hearts and keep the one, true faith burning for another generation. May this be part of our Lord's blessing for us.

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 and see the Year of Faith Blog here.

The Servers Celebrate

The Server Party was yesterday at Papio Fun Park. It was a chance to get together, play, have fun, and even eat some pizza.

Clergy Retreat

Last weekend our clergy was off on retreat together. Deacon Thome led the retreat as it was a chance for them to grow in their faith and as a community. It's a good thing to take some to time to pray and reflect.

Painting in Progress

Do you recognize this?

You will.

Fresh Concrete

As part of the ongoing maintenance plan, new concrete was poured for the parking lot entrances just east and south of the Steinhausen Center.

Concrete was also redone by the Education Center.

What Do You Think?

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Fr Vogel is looking for chaperones for the Server Party Tuesday August 6th from 10:00 a.m to 2:00 p.m. Please let him know if you can help.

Our Communion of Saints

"I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and life everlasting. Amen."

When I pray this last part of the Apostles Creed, I think of the beliefs listed there as the parting gifts Jesus left us when He ascended to Heaven. They all lead us to Him, with the last one -- the resurrection of the body and life everlasting -- as the final reward, an eternal union with Him in the Trinity.

Summertime leads me to dwell specifically on the communion of saints. In every season and throughout the liturgical calendar, the Church highlights the witness of extraordinary saints. But it seems we celebrate some especially great ones during the summer. In July we remembered Saints Thomas, Benedict, Bonaventure, Mary Magdalene, James,  Joachim and Anne, Martha and Ignatius of Loyola.

Every saint has a treasure chest filled with heavenly riches they want to share with us. Just one gem St. Thomas offers us: the reassurance that  Jesus wants us to approach Him with our doubts. "Do not be unbelieving, but believe."

Even in their mistakes and faults, maybe especially in them, the saints pass on their wisdom. St. Mary Magdalene opens for us the great love of a repentant sinner who faithfully stood by the cross and then witnessed the Resurrection. Our Lord teaches St. Martha, and us, to let go of our worries and focus on what is truly important. We should, like St. Martha, welcome Jesus into our homes, especially the inner sanctuary of our souls. With St. Martha, we can profess that our Lord has power over everything, even death. "I am the resurrection and the life.; whoever believes in Me, even if he dies, will live, and anyone who lives and believes in me will never die." Jesus asks Martha and us: "Do you believe this?"

The month of August begins today, and the Church turns our attention to St. Alphonsus Marie Liguori.

One of my sons has a special devotion to St. Alphonsus. So naturally as a mother, I too have become fond of this saint. A mother loves anyone who helps lead her children to Heaven. But I have other reasons to be drawn to St. Alphonsus, who was a bishop, Doctor of the Church and founder of the Redemptorist Congregation. His birth name is the first reason to like him: Alphonsus Marie Antony John Cosmos Damien Michael Gaspard de Liguori. But the saint's special devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and Our Blessed Mother make me like him more.

I have had only a brief exposure to the wisdom contained in St. Alphonsus' writings, but one jewel has stuck with me, his urging us to pray for three things: divine love, final perseverance and the forgiveness of sins. If God grants us just these three gifts, we have everything, we have salvation. They cut to the core of our faith: to love as God loves, to be faithful to the end as He is and to forgive as He forgives. We have to pray for these gifts because we cannot get them on our own. They emanate from God.

Thank you, Lord, for the gift of St. Alphonsus and all your saints.

"Blessed be God in His angels and in His saints." - The Divine Praises.

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 and see the Year of Faith Blog here.