 Fr.
Tom's Tomes July 24, 2005
This coming Tuesday, July 26, 2005 at 6:00 pm the members of the Altar Society will gather in Church for Mass. An Altar Society of a parish is an important committee. The dedicated women of the Altar Society help with the needs of the altar as well as providing for items needed in the Church. It would be my hope all women of the Altar Society be present for Mass. If you are not a member of the Altar Society I would encourage you to come to Mass and be a part of the Altar Society. Our goal is to have every woman of the parish to help the parish through the ministry of the Altar Society.
During the past few weeks I have had the opportunity to begin to learn a lot about St. Columban. Every place I have been assigned since being ordained have had an uniqueness about them. As I meet and listen to people I am discovering more all the time about this great parish. I am very pleased with the warmth and love of the people of the parish. Next weekend I would invite you to make a special effort to be at St. Columban’s for Mass. If you know of someone who is not always attending Mass here you may want to call them or invite them to come for Mass. I will be sharing with the people of St. Columban how I will be directing my time and effort for the first year I am here. I believe it is important to let you know what I see and how I would like to invest my energy and time during this first year.
As I begin to look at my time and energy for the first year I do want to let parishioners know I plan to take Friday’s off. In the past I have not taken a day a week off but I know my health and energy level will be better if I take a day of the week off and rest. When I am in town I do plan to have Mass on Friday mornings. First Friday Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament will continue if I am in town or through the help of trained individuals. Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is important because we need to make time to pray before Christ and to give God time to work in our lives. On First Friday I would encourage all parishioners to make time to come and pray before the Blessed Sacrament. If you are working you could stop by on your lunch hour and spend time with God. Who is a better friend to us than God? Spending time with God strengthens our relationship with God.
I will be gone Sunday, July 31st through August 5 to take my mom back to Dallas. Chillicothe is further away from my mom’s home than where I was previously. I will have to find out how long it will take to drive back and forth. Also the first two weeks of October I will be gone for vacation. With my transfer this year I have rescheduled my vacation a couple of times. I plan to stick with the current dates. In the past several years I have gone on vacation with my mom and one of my sisters.
Bishop Hogan School and Early Learning Center Pre-School will be opening in August. The first day of Bishop Hogan School is August 17, 2005. Bishop Hogan Early Learning Center Pre-School will be offering their services beginning about a week later. If you have a child and have not enrolled them either in the Early Childhood Center or the catholic elementary school please do. I am aware that the class structure of the school will be changing but I have 13 years experience in multi-age classrooms and they work well. I have the feeling some may be uncomfortable because of the change. I know the great benefits of having multi aged classes and the students will continue to excel.
Please join me at Mass on the weekend of July 30 and 31, 2005 for my thoughts and ideas on the direction of St. Columban. |