St. Damien & 4 others canonized

Pope Benedict XVI canonized five new saints Sunday, including a 19th-century priest whose work with leprosy patients on a Hawaiian island has been hailed by U.S. President Barack Obama as inspiring those helping AIDS sufferers in today's world.

The pontiff said the newly canonized had given of themselves totally without "calculation or personal gain."

"Their perfection, in the logic of a faith that is humanly incomprehensible at times, consists in no longer placing themselves at the center, but choosing to go against the flow and live according to the Gospel," Benedict said in his homily.

Among those in Rome for the canonization are two priest from our diocese who were named after, now, St. Damien. They are our own Fr. Damien Wee and Fr. Damien Cook from St. Peter's. As mentioned in the bulletin, it's a great day to invoke the help fo St. Damien.

Hopefully Fr. Wee will have some pictures and stories to share with us.

5 years ago

It was just five years ago today that the bell tower and the courtyard were dedicated.

Ceili Kick-Off Party

It’s time to plan the 2010 Columb’s Ceili!
Columb’s Ceili is St. Columbkille’s biggest

Parish Celebration and Fundraiser of the year.
Everyone is invited to attend the Ceili Kick-Off party

for a social hour and preperation of the upcoming annual event.
Ceili Kick-Off Party
Monday, October 12, 2009
7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Steinhausen Center
Cocktails and Hors d’oeuvres

Hosted by
Tom and Cecilia Wortmann ~ Chairs of the 2010 Columb’s Ceili
RSVP at ceili@saintcolumbkille.org

Prayer Shawl Ministry tonight

The Prayer Shawl ministry meets at 6:30 p.m. tonight and the second Thursday of each month in the Brides Room (room 3) of the Social Level.

Come pray or stitch with us. If you know anyone who would like the group’s prayers and a prayer shawl (a symbol of those prayers), please contact Gretchen Reid at 592-0726.

Who's that at McDonalds?

If you went to McDonald's last night, you may

have been surprised by some of the workers.

As an HSA fundraiser, the teachers agreed to help serve

at McDonalds. A percentage of the sales went to HSA ...

... and the class who had the most people attend won a "Treats Party."

It was a good deal for everyone.
And the winning class is 3B

Congratulations!

From Archbishop Lucas

Dear Friends in Christ,

Ever since I was installed as Archbishop of Omaha in July, I have been working hard to learn as much as I can about the blessings and challenges of Catholic life here in northeast Nebraska. It is evident that we are blessed by God and by the generous faith of so many Catholics. These blessings are experienced in our parishes, schools and apostolates across the 23 counties of this archdiocese.

We are challenged every day to follow more completely the great command of Jesus, to love God and to love our neighbors. It is God’s plan that we meet the challenge of gospel living together, as members of the church founded by Jesus Himself.

Our primary experience of Catholic life takes place in our parishes. Your generous support of your parish is an expression of your faith. However, there are other needs, larger responsibilities that are ours as Catholics that cannot be met adequately in any one parish. They are met in part each year by your contributions in faith to the Annual Appeal.

I do not hesitate to ask your support for this year's Annual Appeal. I see the many needs, and I believe the Lord wants us to work together, across parish lines, to meet them. Your contribution this year will be used to:

• Assist our most vulnerable neighbors through the good work of Catholic Charities,
• Assist Catholic families with scholarships,
• Support the faith of young Catholics through campus ministry programs,
• Help prepare lay catechists to teach in parish religious education programs,
• Offer archdiocesan support and coordination for inner-city schools, youth programs, retired priests and Hispanic, Native American, African-American apostolates.

Please join me in praying for the success of the Annual Appeal. I ask you to consider making a donation as an expression of thanksgiving for the gift of our Catholic faith. Payments may be made over ten months.

Many in our rural, suburban and urban communities are depending on us to meet our $3 million goal this year. Please help me reach out to them in the name of Jesus Christ.

With gratitude for your generosity, I am
Sincerely yours in Christ,





Most Reverend George J. Lucas
Archbishop of Omaha

Preparing for DTS

In order to prepare worship space for the Dead Theologian Society (DTS) which began last night, the storage space in the office basement was transformed from the picture above to the picture below.

Much of the credit for the change belongs to members of the Lend-A-Hand ministry who built shelving that allowed us to store some items more effectively (after we threw away a lot of other things). A few of those guys are pictured below. Thank You!

Stewardship Renewal

Next weekend will be our stewardship renewal. It is a time for us to reflect on the gifts God has given you and consider how you might share them with others.

So how will you?

October Prayer Intentions

Pope Benedict XVI has a General Prayer Intention and Mission Prayer Intention for every month. In October these are:

General: "That Sunday may be lived as the day on which Christians gather to celebrate the risen Lord, participating in the Eucharist."

Mission: "That the entire People of God, to whom Christ entrusted the mandate to go and preach the Gospel to every creature, may eagerly assume their own missionary responsibility and consider it the highest service they can offer humanity."

Firetruck Visit

Today some Firemen brought their Firetrucks to the school for a visit. It was a chance to learn some fire safety like making certain you have a fire detector that works and what to do if there is a fire. They got to look around the tuck and the ambulance to see everything they carry.

They also got a chance to chat with the firemen and ask questions.

We thank the Papillion Firemen for visiting us today!