In the News: Our Groundbreaking

Mayor David Black and the City of Papillion included a segment on our groundbreaking ceremony in their "City Happenings."

The story is here, starting at about 1:32.

Stepping Out - Fighting Hunger

Another of our Step Out and Serve Projects this Discipleship Weekend was to pack meals at Kids Against Hunger.

This group packaged 15,076 meals which are destined for Haiti. Thank you for your work!

Stepping Out and Serving

One of the "Step Out & Serve" project this weekend was serving brunch at Monarch Villa this morning. They enjoyed it and expressed their appreciation.

We hope we get more pictures from all the work this weekend.

Theology Lessons Abound

Earlier this week a certain sixth-grader asked me: "Mom, what's your definition of theology?"

"The study of God?" was my hesitant answer.

Paul, the sixth-grader, hadn't been happy with some of the dictionary definitions he found for his homework which mentioned neither God nor study. I'm not sure what he wrote down for his homework answer, but his question got me thinking, especially because St. Columbkille Parish began offering an eight-week course on St. John Paul II's Theology of the Body.

If God reveals so much to us through His creation of the human body, what about the rest of creation? Aren't there lessons from God everywhere for us?

And even beyond the physical world -- the Earth, the sun and moon and stars, the flowers and plants and creatures -- what does God reveal to us in our experiences, the passing of time, in our relations with others?

At each moment, God is everywhere, waiting to communicate with us and teach us.

We need to be like the saints, who were perceptive enough to listen.

"Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart," St. Luke tells us.

Our Lord provided St. John Paul with enough insights on the human body to span five years of teaching during his Wednesday audiences. And that was just one aspect of the pope's teaching legacy. He taught on a wide range of topics, including what God reveals to us in Mary, the family and the lives of saints.

St. John Paul canonized more than 450 saints, each one a lesson in theology, reflecting something unique and beautiful about God.

Indeed, every person we encounter is theology lesson for us.

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.

Construction Continues

For our Pave the Way project, 

work continues on our second phase. 

Brick on the south side of this 

building will match the church.

One of the first steps is calculating

where the future light poles will go.

Weather permitting, we'll start to see some

 concrete on the ground starting next week.

Smells & Bells

What is incense for? Why don’t I still hear bells at Mass? Is Purgatory still in vogue? Should I genuflect when I enter a Catholic Church? Is confession really important? Should Nebraska be ranked #1? Is Limbo a dance or a place? Can Baptists use Holy Water or will it burn their skin? When incense is used at Mass, may I request a nonsmoking section? Is Catholic Heaven different from Protestant Heaven? Will Jews, Muslims or Texas Longhorn fans go to heaven? What are the seven Sacraments all about? Should Catholics read the Bible? Are Catholics Christian? Where & when did the Catholic Church begin?

You’re invited to learn the answers to these and other questions regarding the Catholic faith. This brief session is ideal for anyone who is Catholic and wants an quick update, anyone that is married to a Catholic and wants to understand what their partner believes, or anyone that just wants to know what the Catholic Church is all about.

This basic overview of the Catholic Faith called Smells and Bells, will be presented on Thursday, August 27, at 7:00 p.m. as part of our Faith Enhancement Program. This 50-minute presentation will take place in the church, and will be followed by potluck social with snacks and hors d’oeuvres in the Steinhausen Center. Participants are asked to bring a little something to share.

If not totally satisfied with this Catholic Update you will receive double your money back. Admission price – FREE! This may answer every question you ever had, or you may then be interested in participating in a Catholic Inquiry known as the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) which explores the Catholic faith in more depth. RCIA classes will begin after Labor Day.

Catholics and non-Catholics are welcome.

3 on 3 Soccer Tournament

On Saturday, our Athletic Council put on a great 3 on 3 Soccer Tournament on our athletic fields.

It was only possible because of all the people working behind the scene.

 

There were a lot of great, close games.

Why the Cot?

This is the 100th year of at what is now called St. Columbkille Catholic School. When the Benedictine sisters arrived for the first year of school, the building wasn’t ready yet. So Sr. Celestine, Sr. Victoria and Sr. Amelourga stayed in the rectory while Fr Holheisel moved into the sacristy. The sisters taught in the church with the kids sitting on the kneelers and using the pew as a desk from August until October 12th when the school was done (the furnace would be added in November.)

Imagine sleeping on a cot like this from August to October! (It might not have been this nice,) We have it in the entryway of the parish to help the students imagine it.

Here is a picture of Fr. Henry Holheisel who was out pastor from 1897 until 1940. While he was pastor the school was begun. About seven years later the new (second) church was built on the same block as well as a rectory.

Festival Help

The Family Fun Festival is September 20th and we need your help. This year you can sign up to help at a booth at this link. By using this, you can sign up and you will get an email reminding you of it closer to the Festival.

It's always fun because so many 

great people get involved!

Ella's Crusade.

Ella is one of our parishioners and she is battling leukemia. There is a spaghetti benefit for her this Sunday at VFW Post 2503 from noon to 6 p.m.

Help Ella in her crusade!