Last Day of Christmas

Today's celebration of the Baptism of the Lord marks the last day of the Christmas season. For some homilies on the subject, click here.

Fr Wee teaches

On a regular basis Fr. visits the classes

in the school and Religious Formation.

On Wednesday he was in Mrs. Pulte's class discussing & illustrating the Gospel for the day - Mark 6:45-52.

Thank you Fr. Wee! 

Praying for Millard South

Dear St. Columbkille Teens & Families,

We join the Millard South High School community in prayer and support in the midst of the tragic incident yesterday. Please continue to keep them in your thoughts and prayers. Even though you might not have been directly impacted by this incident, it is normal to have questions and feelings of sadness about this.

If you would like to talk to someone, please know that our Parish Staff and Community are here for you. Feel free to reach out to Fr. Damian, myself or Nicole (contact information for each below).

God gives us the gifts of each other to talk with and reach out to, so please don’t be afraid to make use of the help available.

God Bless,
Fr. Wee

Fr. Damian Zuerlein – dzuerlein@saintcolumbkille.org, 339-3285, ext. 103
*please note that Fr. Damian is out of the office until mid-January
Fr. Damien Wee - dwee@saintcolumbkille.org, 339-3285, ext. 106
Nicole Cook – ncook@saintcolumbkille.org, 339-0990, ext. 112

Youth Ministry

Every month the Archdiocese distirbutes a newsletter on youth ministry. The latest one is here.

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

"We must pray without ceasing, in every occurrence and employment of our lives - that prayer which is rather a habit of lifting up the heart to God as in a constant communication with Him." - Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton was the first US born citizen to be canonized a saint. She was a convert to Catholicism after her husband died of tubercolosis. To support her family, and educate her own children, she opened a school in Boston. From the beginning she ran it like a religious community. At the invitation of the archbishop, she established a Catholic girl’s school in Baltimore, Maryland which initiated the parochial school system in America. To run the system she founded the Sisters of Charity in 1809, the first native American religious community for women.

Today the teachers at St. Columbkille Catholic School have a work day to prepare for the return of the students tomorrow. It was appropriate that they began the day with Mass celebrating St. Elizabeth Ann Seton.

Rats

 In Science the 7th grade students got to dissect rats.

 

It was a good hands-on experience.

Renaissance Weekend

Last week was the 30th anniversary of the Charleston based Renaissance Weekend, a five-day meeting of the minds that runs through New Year's. Event founder Phil Lader and his wife, Linda, founded the retreat in 1981 to bring together innovative leaders from diverse fields to share and expand upon ideas and challenges facing society and the world today.


The guest list this year includes Physics Nobel laureate Bill Phillips, HIV virus discoverer and biologist Flossie Wong-Stahl and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists Charles Savage and Alex Jones, Dr. Ruth Westheimer, space shuttle commander Mark Kelly and Fr. Damian.


One of the things they did was to see the movie recent film Fair Game.

The film is based on Valerie Plame's memoir, Fair Game: My Life as a Spy, My Betrayal by the White House. Plame and her husband, Joe Wilson, face the fallout when her cover is blown as a covert CIA agent. Plame's status as a CIA agent was revealed by White House officials allegedly out to discredit her husband after he wrote a 2003 New York Times op-ed piece saying that the Bush administration had manipulated intelligence about weapons of mass destruction to justify the invasion of Iraq.


Afterwards Valerie Plame and Joe Wilson were there to answer questions.


One of the presentations Fr Damian found interesting was by Dr. Dan Ariely. He teaches at Duke University and is the founder of The Center for Advanced Hindsight. He studies Irrational Behavior and spoke on some of his studies on cheating. Below are a couple of YouTube videos

Happy New Year!

Following the 11:00 pm Mass on New Year's Eve for the Solemnity of Mary, there was a reception in the Social Level. Deacon Lauber toasted in the new year.

Happy New Year!

Mary Mother of God

A prayer recited at Compline or the Night Prayer of the Divine Office is:

We fly to your patronage,
O Holy Mother of God;
Despise not our petitions in our necessities,
But deliver us always from all dangers,
O glorious and blessed Virgin

In 1917 an ancient, Egyption was discovered using this prayer. This was a surprise as many didn't realize how old the prayer was. Because the prayer uses the term "Mother of God" it was assumed that it could be from just after 431 because that's when the Council of Ephesus declared that Mary was the Mother of God or Theotokos. But scientific tests showed the papyrus dated form no later than the 3rd century. Further research showed that Alexandrian Christians were already calling Mary the Mother of God in the third century.

This is an example of how the people of God experienced Mary and grew from her before the Church officially recognized that dogma. The same was true with calling Mary the Immaculate Conception, which was a widespread practise before the Church officially recognized the term. As a Church we grow through our experiences.

Romance Without Regret

Today’s teens experience greater temptations than ever before. In the midst of this cultural assault against innocence and virtue, young people need convincing reasons to practice the virtue of chastity. Some think that "chastity" simply means "not having sex." But that's mere abstinence: what you can't do and can't have. Chastity is more than that, it is about what you can do and have—right now: a lifestyle that brings freedom, respect, peace, and romance without regret. By addressing the issues that teens struggle with most, such as sexual pressure, pornography, modesty, and starting over, Jason Evert offers encouragement for teens to maintain their purity or begin again if they’ve made mistakes in the past.

Through the generous sponsorship of the Knights of Columbus, we are delighted that Jason Evert will be speaking at St. Columbkille on Thursday, February 3rd. Jason earned a master's degree in theology, and undergraduate degrees in counseling and theology, with a minor in philosophy at Franciscan University of Steubenville. He is the author of ten books, including If You Really Loved Me, Pure Love, and Theology of the Body for Teens, which challenge young people to be pure. Jason speaks at seminars, participates in debates, and responds to thousands of questions about chastity and Catholicism from people around the world.

So mark it on your calendar:

Romance Without Regret

Jason Evert

Thursday, February 3rd

7:00 p.m.