Fr Dave has been Installed

Today Archbishop George Lucas celebrated our noon Mass.

During Mass, Archbishop Lucas installed Fr Dave Reeson as our pastor. Fr Dave said it feels good to be legitimate now.

In his homily, Archbishop  Lucas said we have gotten to know Fr Dave well enough to realize that he did not send us the perfect pastor. But he also said he did not send Fr Dave to the perfect parish.

Fr Dave had a few comments after Mass.

The Women's Guild had a great reception dinner afterwards which was enjoyed by everyone!

Prayer Service & Open House

Yesterday our school families gathered for a prayer service and open house.

Then families headed to the school ...

 ... bringing their supplies.

Students found their rooms, discovered their teachers and learned who else is in their classroom.

In a few classes, they 

began their homework.

There was even ice cream.

By the end of the night, there

 were a lot of supplies left behind.

Trench Work

Not only our our chillers (air conditioners) past their lifespan, they are loud. Part of the Pave the Way plan is to replace them in Phase Three of construction AND put them further away so people can talk outside church.

Part of Phase Two, which is underway right now, is to put the insulated pipes underground which the pavement will cover. They will then be in place when we add the new chillers later.

As you can see, the pipes are in the trenches and the trenches are filled in. We keep moving forward on this project.

How Does One Serve?

It's spectacular that 84 of our youth have gone through training to become new servers. It's also causing Fr Vogel and Mrs. Gries to consider how to use so many servers.

With the difficulty of training so many servers, servers appreciate that Fr Vogel has made multiple videos on how to serve at our Masses. All of the servers also receive a playbook showing what to do. You may also notice Fr Capadano in these videos from the summer he was with us as a transitional deacon.

Thank you new servers!

More than Locks, Leaks, Lights and Loans

The following is from a Facebook post by the Omaha Archdiocese in July:

New pastors are not given keys to the parish and turned loosed on the freeway. They participate in a "New Pastor Orientation" day at the chancery. During this day they learn about human resources, business management, finance, insurance, law, etc. In the picture, new pastors Fathers Marc Lim, Dave Reeson, and Christopher Onuaha meet with Tim Hogan of Catholic Mutual Group to talk about insurance issues.

The Perfect Pastor

The perfect pastor preaches exactly 10 minutes. He condemns sin roundly but never hurts anyone’s feelings. He works from 8 a.m. until midnight, and is also the church janitor.

The perfect pastor makes $40 a week, wears good clothes, drives a good car, buys good books, and donates $30 a week to the parish. He is 29 years old and has 40 years experience. Above all, he is handsome.

The perfect pastor has a burning desire to work with teenagers, and he spends most of his time with senior citizens. He smiles all the time with a straight face because he has a sense of humor that keeps him seriously dedicated to his parish. He makes 15 home visits a day and is always in his office to be handy when needed.

The perfect pastor always has time for the parish council and all of its committees. He never misses the meeting of any parish organization, and is always busy evangelizing the un-churched.

The perfect pastor is always in the next parish over.

If your pastor does not measure up, simply send this notice to six other parishes that are tired of their pastor, too. Then bundle up your pastor and send him to the parish at the top of your list. If everyone cooperates, in one week you will receive 1,643 pastors. One of them should be perfect.

Have faith in this letter. One parish broke the chain and got its old pastor back in less than three months.

Lastly, being a pastor is more than locks, leaks, lights and loans. It’s about Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

We'll add that Fr. Dave will officially be installed as our pastor by Archbishop Lucas during the noon Mass on Sunday. The Women's Guild will have a reception afterwards in the Social Hall.

Novena for Students

The school year is about to begin.

And whether you are sad or happy about this development, it's a good occasion for prayer.

I'd like to pass along a suggestion from Father Damien Cook, pastor of Christ the King Parish for his parishioners: a novena of prayers from Aug. 6, the Feast of the Transfiguration, through Aug. 14, the Vigil of the Assumption.

Please consider praying a rosary or other prayers each day for all students in the parish and their families; for our five-day school and religious education program; for public and home schools; for teachers, catechists, administrators and other staff members; for people entering RCIA and their sponsors and catechists; and for all those receiving Sacraments of Initiation this year.

Christ the King provided some specific novena prayers, which can be found here.

Or you could select your own prayers for a novena.

Let's start the school year right, by entrusting it into the hands of God.

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.

Our Groundbreaking Ceremony for Pave the Way

This morning we held a ground breaking ceremony for Pave the Way. We're in our second phase now, but this was our first chance to do it. Above Fr. Dave meets Papillion Fire Chief Bill Bowes who oversaw the burning of three houses to make way for our project. Police Chief Scott A. Lyons was also on hand for the ceremony.

Sarpy County Chamber of Commerce President Karen Gibler briefed our parishioners Dick Van Haute and RME President Rick Egermier on the ceremony.

Troy Meyersick represented Lund Ross Construction which is handling this project. A significant portion of the street is widening the street. St. Columbkille is donating the land to widen it as well as paying for the construction. We think it will improve the traffic flow for the whole neighborhood.

We were also delighted to hear from Doug Dreesen, President of TD2, who grew up in Papillion and is delighted to contribute to the city's growth.

Fr. Dave was a little nervous about the actual groundbreaking saying that his hands "were made for chalices not calluses."

It was a great event. We thank the Sarpy County Chamber of Commerce for coordinating it all.

2015 Clergy Retreat

Once a year the clergy from St. Columbkille Parish gather over a weekend for a retreat. It also gives a chance for the priests and deacons from St. Columbkille to spend time together.

This year the retreat was based on the book Falling Upward by Fr. Richard Rohr.

It was largely about the paradigm shift that often takes place in the lives of people as they realize that what they once thought was important isn't anymore. It was pointed out that when clergy have had the privilege of walking through the process of dying, their values change.

The retreat was led by Deacon Duane Thome. Incidentally, it was realized that Dcn Thome was ordained before Fr. Vogel was born.

Once of the traditions of the group, which has been meeting at the Benedictine Retreat House in Schuyler since 1998, is a four mile walk around the section.

One of the great things about the retreat is the slow pace which allows everyone time to think and pray ...

 ... or sneak off to check email.

It was a very good retreat. 

The View From the Steps

From the north door of the church, we've always needed these steps to get to the north parking lot. Recently, the view from these steps has changed as the Pave the Way project has progressed.

Now those steps are gone.