Laughter is the Best Medicine

On Monday the Happy Club gathered for their monthly meal and get together.

The after lunch speaker was Kirk Estee Sr, a a retired school teacher who is now in the Happyness Business. His motto is "Laughter is the best medicine.

Collected for the Tri-City Pantry

In the second reading this past weekend, we were reminded of the greatest commandment: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

 Our parish has demonstrated this by the outpouring of support for the Tri-City Food Pantry Drive. THANK YOU TO ALL who contributed and to parishioners who stepped forward to help box, load,  and unload the hundreds of food items collected. I am overwhelmed with gratitude. The families who will benefit from these donated items have shared in the love extended from our efforts here at St. Columbkille.

God bless all who helped make this a successful drive. I met so many kind parishioners who volunteered to help; to them I say, thank you, I could not have pulled this off on my own. On behalf of the Tri-City Pantry, may all be blessed one hundred fold in return for the generous time and support given to help others in need.

In all, we filled 100 boxes with items from the list provided.

God bless each of you,

Chris Overkamp

Coordinator for this Food Drive

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

The State of St Columbkille Parish

Our annual report was mailed to all parishioners and Fr Damian spoke at every Mass this about the state of the parish in this last year. Before he spoke he pulled his annual report out from ten years ago.

When Fr. Damian looked it over, he said, "Just in the financial part of it, in 2004 the debt for this building and the school building was $4,000,000. We're under two million now, so the debt has been cut more than half.

"Our parish budget is now $1,000,000 more which speaks, I think, about you; about this parish; about this community; about its generosity and about its discipleship.

"Each year it is not only a reflection for me on the financial part, it is also a reflection on how we are doing as disciples of Jesus. I think there is here a great dynamism and an engagement that those in the church are really striving to live your faith well.

"You teach me many things in your prayer; your generosity. Just watching this morning as people brought in food for the Tri-City Pantry, the amount of food coming in to feed those who are hungry. It is an expression of your commitment to giving for others.

"As always, I truly want to say thank you. You're a great group of disciples. You make my job as pastor very easy. I am very proud of you."

Server Party

 The Server Party, held at Papio Fun Park, was a fun time for those who serve us to gather for fun together.

Tri-City Pantry Collection

This weekend we will collect food and items for the Tri-City Pantry. Items can be dropped off in the back of church. The items they are in most in need of are:

Peanut butter & jelly

Canned fruit

Canned chili beans

Canned Sloppy Joe mix

Canned chicken

Boxed Saltine crackers

Potato sides (au gratin, mashed, etc.)

Chunky or Progresso soups (not condensed, please!)

Boxed Mac & Cheese

Stuffing ix (Stove Top, etc.)

Laundry detergent

Other items needed are:

 Cereal/oatmeal

Canned /foil pack tuna

Canned tomatoes/tomato (diced, stewed, sauce or paste)

Canned chili or stews

Pancake mix & syrup

Corn muffin mix, or brownie or cake mixes

 Tuna or Chicken Helper

 Toiletries (soap, shampoo, toothpaste, deodorant, diapers)

Please check expiration dates on all food items.
Expired food items cannot be used by the pantry.

Entering into Struggles and Challenges

Several weeks ago a large spider made his home outside a window just inches from my desk at work.

I’ve continued to do my work inside the window, while the spider has done his outside, every work day, within my view. The spider’s work, of course, is grisly. And his white, lint-like web is large, messy and unsightly. But there’s not much I can do about the spider, or the view, because the window doesn’t open.

At first I thought about just keeping the blinds closed. I don’t mind spiders, but I didn’t want the up-close, all-day show. I quickly dismissed that idea, though, because I wanted sunlight and a glimpse outside.

The same window gives me a view of the wider world, too, including an apartment building across the street, where life also is busy, messy – and sometimes not-so-peaceful. People come and go, cars honk, visitors rap on windows, children run and yell. Occasionally personal arguments spill from the apartments into the street, and occasionally police follow the residents inside.

I’ve thought about closing the blinds to this view, too. It seems none of my business, and it’s not pleasant to watch. But again I resisted because I need the sunlight and the connection to the outside world.

All the things I’ve witnessed through the window remind me of something a priest recently said. I’d been talking to him about his work in a poor neighborhood, and he said that Catholics needed to be there, entering into the struggles and challenges – bringing Christ into messy, unsightly, unpleasant lives.

The priest’s message doesn’t apply exclusively to people serving in poor neighborhoods. Catholics everywhere, in all vocations, interact with and care for others in all their messy physical, emotional and spiritual needs.

The people we love and serve pull us into the webs they're stuck in. Especially when they suffer, whether from illness, injury, addictions, or self-inflicted problems brought on by bad choices or sin. We could close the blinds on their problems. We could watch from behind a window.

But no, according to the priest’s wisdom, we need to be there for them, bringing Jesus’ peace and presence. We might not have solutions for their problems. Maybe God alone can open the window and clean up the mess – and all we can do is watch – and pray.

But we shouldn’t close the blinds. We need His light and His view for our untidy, unsettled world. In fact, we might need Him more than those we try to serve.

Inspired by the Year of Faith, Susan Szalewski began writing weekly columns for us. Although that year is over, we liked them so well that we asked her to keep writing. Thankfully, she said yes. So watch for these on Thursdays and see the Year of Faith Blog here.

Curriculum Nights

Over the last week, St. Columbkille Catholic School has held a number of "Curriculum Nights" to allow parents to hear directly from the teachers and have an understanding of expectations for the students and the school year.

 It's also a chance to simply get to know one another better.

Ceili Gave Us a Sign

It was Dr. Blue who had pointed out there were no sings on the north side of the Education Center. In response, the 2013 Ceili Committee decided to make a digital sign their Helping Hands project.

The unanticipated problem with a digital sign along Cornhusker, was the question of where to locate the sign? It was soon realized that due to trees and the hill, there was no one spot where the sign could be seen from both sides.

One idea was to locate the sign on the south side of the block. The first concern with that is that it wouldn't help accomplish the original goal to identify the building. The second was that the primary readers of a sign on the south side would be parents dropping off or picking up kids -- whom we ought not distract.

So along with putting some signs on the building to identify it, the decision was made to locate the digital sign along 84th street and use it to promote the parish and all of our activities.

Labor Day Statement

Every year on Labor day the US Bishop release a statement. This year the statement was written by Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami who is the Chairman of the Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development.

This year Pope Francis canonized Saint John XXIII and Saint John Paul II. Both made immense contributions to the social teaching of the Church on the dignity of labor and its importance to human flourishing. St. John Paul II called work "probably the essential key to the whole social question" (Laborem Exercens, No. 3) and St. John XXIII stressed workers are "entitled to a wage that is determined in accordance with the precepts of justice" (Pacem in Terris, No. 20).

Pope Francis added to this tradition that work "is fundamental to the dignity of a person.... [It] 'anoints' us with dignity, fills us with dignity, makes us similar to God... gives one the ability to maintain oneself, one's family, [and] to contribute to the growth of one's own nation." Work helps us realize our humanity and is necessary for human flourishing. Work is not a punishment for sin but rather a means by which we make a gift of ourselves to each other and our communities. We simply cannot advance the common good without decent work and a strong commitment to solidarity.

Labor Day gives us the chance to see how work in America matches up to the lofty ideals of our Catholic tradition. This year, some Americans who have found stability and security are breathing a sigh of relief. Sporadic economic growth, a falling unemployment rate, and more consistent job creation suggest that the country may finally be healing economically after years of suffering and pain. For those men and women, and their children, this is good news. ...

Meaningful and decent work is vital if young adults hope to form healthy and stable families. Work and family life "must be properly united and must properly permeate each other. In a way, work is a condition for making it possible to found a family, since the family requires the means of subsistence which man normally gains through work" (Laborem Exercens, No. 10). Research is bearing out the consequences of neglecting this relationship: marriage rates have declined by close to 20 percent in the last 40 years, and the birth rate is the lowest on record. Among young adults, the decline in marriage has been steeper, at 40 percent. Although not the only reason, many young adults, because they are unable to find decent work, are delaying marriage and starting a family.

Our challenge this Labor Day is to rise to the challenge of solidarity posed by Jesus when he commanded, "[L]ove one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another" (Jn 13:34). The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches, "Socio-economic problems can be resolved only with the help of all the forms of solidarity: solidarity of the poor among themselves, between rich and poor, of workers among themselves, between employers and employees in a business, solidarity among nations and peoples" (No. 1941). Since each of us is made in the image of God and bound by His love, possessing a profound human dignity, we have an obligation to love and honor that dignity in one another, and especially in our work.
What would our communities, parishes, and country look like if we all recommitted to each other and the common good? If, instead of lamenting the dwindling hopes of our young people, we create institutions, relationships, and an economy that nurture human flourishing? If, instead of bickering about ideologies, people acknowledged the human dignity of others and worked together?

For the full statement, click here