Feast of St. Columbkille

Today is the Feast Day of St. Columbkille. While his feast isn't on the US liturgical calendar, it is in Ireland and Scotland.

He was born in December of 521 and died on June 9, 597. He was born into a royal family and was sometimes known as St. Columba or Columb Cille which means "Dove of the Church." He entered religious life as a youth and started a number of monasteries in Ireland before bringing the faith to Scotland. He is considered second only to St. Patrick among Irish Saints and is the Patron Saint of Scotland. He is the patron saint of bookbinders, poets and navigators as well.

The following was taken from the Derry Diocesan Organizing Committee for the Columban Centenary Celebration 1997:

Columbkille was a man of outstanding gentleness and empathy. He was a kindly individual with a practical concern for people. He helped the unfortunate: interesting himself in the plight of a hostage; rehabilitating a reformed robber; curing a nun with a broken hip; assisting a woman in the pangs of child-birth with his prayers; providing destitute men with means of feeding themselves; and even at his death approached comforting others rather than seeking to be comforted. He had a profound sense of the worth of human beings and of the contribution they were making to society.

Above all, Columbkille was a man of prayer. Coming from a princely background with a commanding and practical personality he was bound to make an impact on his generation. His real greatness was that he was able to combine the advantages given him by temperament and birth with the ambition of sainthood.

Parish Website

The parish website (www.saintcolumbkille.org) has now passed 150,000 hits. It is often complimented for being fresh and the credit goes to our webmaster Jim Dennis who has faithfully maintained the site as a gift of stewardship. Each week he makes changes in keeping with the parish bulletin and gets the latest homilies posted to the site. He is also happy to help parish organizations who want to update their information on the site. Thanks Jim!

Worlds of Fun

Early Tuesday morning Jr. High & High School students

gathered at the parish for a trip to Worlds of Fun.

We hope you had a great time. We hope you continue to be involved in TEEN Faith activities. Add a comment on what you enjoyed the most. There are more photos on Facebook.

3,291 Rosaries

The Rosary Maker Group has made 3,291 rosaries since September 2009. They have been given to the Columban Fathers. These will be distributed, through the Columban missions, all over the world.

The group doesn’t just make the rosaries, they also pray for those who will use them. Those involved are Rosemary Orin, Eileen Wilson, Barbara Metz, Laura Sarajurjo, Barbara Berkes, Lorraine Lechtenberg, Elvira Stone, Donna Schamp, Agnes Kelly, Shirley Paulsen, Lek Psota and Barbara Gray. We are very grateful for their faithful stewardship of talent & prayer.

If you would like to get involved in this ministry, please contact Barbara Gray.

A Wee Conversation

Last night the priests, diaconate community, religious and seminarians were invited to the Cathedral to pray with Archbishop Designate George J. Lucas and to a reception afterwards. Fr. Damian and Fr. Wee were among those representing St. Columbkille.

In his homily Archbishop Lucas said that many people in the diocese must have been wondering, "Who are we getting?" just as he had been wondering, "What am I getting?" But he proposed the better question is, "Who are we in the sight of God?"

Since being asked by Pope Benedict to become our Archbishop "a few weeks ago," and while he had to keep it a secret, he had many confirmations in the Springfield diocese. As he drove to the confirmations he would pray the rosary for those in both dioceses and the work ahead.

He will be installed as Archbishop on Wednesday July 22nd. He looks forward to meeting everyone in the diocese and working together. We look forward to that as well.

New Archbishop

Today His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI appointed The Most Reverend George J. Lucas, Bishop of the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois, as Archbishop of Omaha. He will be the fifth Archbishop of Omaha and the tenth to lead the archdiocese when he is installed on July 22, 2009. The Most Reverend George J. Lucas comes to Omaha after serving nearly 10 years in the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois, where he was ordained a bishop on December 14, 1999.

Archbishop-Designate Lucas, born June 12, 1949 in Saint Louis, Missouri, is the eldest son of George J. Lucas and Mary Catherine Kelly, now deceased. He has one sister and two brothers. He completed studies at Cardinal Glennon College and Kenrick-Glennon Seminary in Saint Louis. He was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of St. Louis on May 24, 1975, by Cardinal John Joseph Carberry. As a priest, he served as associate pastor in parishes in Sunset Hills, Florissant, St. Louis, Normandy and Kirkwood, Missouri.

Archbishop-Designate Lucas took advanced studies at Saint Louis University. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy and Master of Arts degree in history.

In the years leading to his ordination as a bishop in Springfield, he served as on the faculty of St. Louis Preparatory Seminary-North and St. Louis Preparatory Seminary, the chancellor and vicar general of the Archdiocese of St. Louis and rector of Kenrick-Glennon Seminary. He was named Honorary Prelate of His Holiness in 1994.

He holds the following appointments of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops: Committee for the Protection of Children and Young People, Subcommittee on the Catechism and Task Force for the 2010 Special Assembly.

Archbishop-Designate Lucas selected the phrase "Grace and Mercy" as his episcopal motto. This phrase, which is taken from the Book of Wisdom (3:9), is part of the passage that reads, "Because grace and mercy are with his holy ones, and his care is with his elect." By the use of this phrase, therefore, His Excellency expresses the profound Christian belief that in and through Jesus Christ, God gives to all of his children and that we need to sustain us on our life’s journey, and to bring us to full life in heaven.

At St. Columbkille we welcome Archbishop Lucas to the diocese and look forward to serving with him.

Pope Benedict on Pentecost

Here is a translation of the address Benedict XVI gave on Pentecost before praying the midday Regina Caeli in St. Peter's Square. (Zenit.org)
* * *
Dear Brothers and Sisters!

The Church throughout the world relives to today the Solemnity of Pentecost, the mystery of her own birth, of her own "baptism" in the Holy Spirit (cf. Acts 1:5), which took place in Jerusalem, 50 days after Easter, precisely on the Jewish feast of Pentecost. The risen Jesus told his disciples: "Remain in the city until you are given power from on high" (Luke 24:49). This happened in a perceptible way in the Cenacle, while they were gathered together with Mary, the Virgin Mother, in prayer. As we read in the Acts of the Apostles, suddenly that place was invaded by a strong driving wind, and tongues like fire came to rest on the heads of all those present. The Apostles went out then and began to proclaim in different languages that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, dead and risen (cf. Acts 2:1-4). The Holy Spirit, who with the Father and the Son created the universe, guided the history of the people of Israel and spoke through the prophets, who in the fullness of time cooperated in our redemption, who at Pentecost descended upon the nascent Church and made it missionary, sending it to proclaim to all peoples the victory of divine love over sin and death.

The Holy Spirit is the soul of the Church. Without him to what would it be reduced? It would certainly be a great historical movement, a complex and solid social institution, perhaps a kind of humanitarian agency. And in truth this is how it is considered by those who look upon it from outside the perspective of faith. In reality, however, in its true nature and also in its most authentic historical presence, the Church is unceasingly formed and guided by the Spirit of the Lord. It is a living body, whose vitality is precisely the invisible divine Spirit.

Dear friends, this year Pentecost falls on the last day of the month of May on which the beautiful Marian Feast of the Visitation is usually celebrated. This fact invites us to let ourselves be inspired and taught by the Virgin Mary, who was a protagonist in both events. In Nazareth she received the annunciation of her singular maternity and, immediately after she conceived Jesus by the working of the Holy Spirit, was moved by the same Spirit of love to go to help her elderly relative Elizabeth, who was in the sixth month of a similarly miraculous pregnancy. The young Mary, who carried Jesus in her womb and, forgetting herself, goes to help her neighbor, is a stupendous icon of the Church in the perennial youth of the Spirit, of the missionary Church of the Incarnate Word, called to bring [this Word] to the world and to testify to him especially in the service of charity. We invoke the intercession of Mary Most Holy, that the Church in our time may be powerfully strengthened by the Holy Spirit. The comforting presence of the Holy Spirit is felt in a special way by the ecclesial communities that suffer persecution for Christ's name, because, participating in his sufferings, they receive the Holy Spirit in the abundance of glory (cf. 1 Peter 4:13-14).

Teacher Appreciation Lunch

On Friday the Home School Association prepared a luncheon to thank the teachers & staff for their dediation to St. Columbkille School this year. Thank you!

Come Holy Spirit

As we celebrate Pentecost today, we hear how the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit.

You can experience Pentecost and know who the Holy Spirit is and receive His gifts. We will be led by the Intercessors of the Lamb in the Empowerment of the Holy Spirit on June 2, 9 and 16 at 7 p.m. in the Steinhausen Center.

“Come to me all who are weary and find life burdensome.”
Matthew 11:28

Pray for Priests

In this year when there will not be any priests ordained in the Archdiocese, St. Columbkille will be having an all night prayer service focusing on prayer for vocations. We will have Benediction and Exposition and prayers for priestly vocations starting at 9:00 pm tonight and conclude at 06:00 May 31st with Benediction and retirement of the Blessed Sacrament. While it would be great to come for an hour, stop by for 5 or 15 minutes if that works.