 Fr.
Tom's Tomes June 4, 2006
Last Sunday afternoon my aunt who had suffered a stroke and a heart attack on May 15, 2006, died. The funeral was held in St. Louis at her home parish on Wednesday, May 31, 2006. I had the privilege of celebrating her funeral Mass. I would like to thank all of the parishioners for your patience as I was gone several times during the past few weeks to be with my aunts in St. Louis. Summer time has arrived. Summer is a time when most families change their schedules and are involved in many varied activities for these weeks. It is important to remember not to forget God during the summer time. When you are traveling and on vacation make it a priority to attend Mass on the weekends. I realize it is at times hard to find a church to attend but with a little effort one can be found. It is also an important witness to your children to attend Mass when on vacation. If you miss going to Mass while on vacation what is the example you are giving to your children? Children learn not only from what parents say but also by what they do. This weekend at Mass we celebrate the Feast of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit, a gift from God the Father and God the Son, descended upon the apostles for the first time on Pentecost. In the Sacrament of Confirmation a person receives the gifts of the Holy Spirit to strengthen them in living their daily lives. The Holy Spirit guides and directs us to live in the ways of God. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are given to all members of the community to be used to build up one another. The gifts are not only for personal use but are for the good of the entire community. Each of us needs to recognize the gifts we have been given by the Holy Spirit and then to use them to build up one another. This weekend I will be sharing at the weekend Masses the direction I see we need to go at St. Columban. We, as a parish faith community need to use the gifts we have been given by God to build up the people of God. Each and every parishioner is called by God to use our talents and gifts for the good of all. I ask and encourage each of you to take time this weekend and next week to reflect what gift and talent you have been given by God and how you are going to use this to help our parish grow. We can only reach the full potential of who we are as a faith community if we all work together to build our parish faith community. We can not only reach out to our faith community but also to the people of Chillicothe and Livingston County. We must become the best we can be in using the gifts God has given us for the good of all. In next week’s bulletin I hope to put a summary of the direction where I believe we need to move as a parish. It is my hope this direction will lead us for the next year, three years and into the future. God bless you and may you have a blessed week. |