October 16, 2011
Notre Dame football and Boston College and Blessed Trinity and Pius and Mercy and Marist. Lenten Fish Fries and fasting and abstinence on Fridays. Forty Day devotion. The beads. The Stations. The kneeler. Listening in the silence. St. Vincent de Paul. The morning offering. The scapular. Covecrest, EDGE and Life Teen.
Everything that is associated with the Catholic Church is connected…rests upon…THE cornerstone of the Kingdom of God. Every good memory we have of anything Catholic was experienced and is experienced because of Him. The Catholic Church exists because the Lord Jesus, the Father’s Son, formed us and called us to exist…to prosper…to continue His ministry of reconciliation. The entire enterprise that is the Catholic Church is…through the authority of the Son of God, in the blessing of His light and life and Spirit (Matthew 28.18-20, John 20.19-23, Ephesians 1.3-10).
The ongoing spiritual renewal that John Paul the Great called the new evangelization begins with an encounter, an intentional encounter with this cornerstone, this reason-for-being, this son of Mary. As a way to begin this personal renewal of your heart, I urge you to make plans to attend this Tuesday’s Mark’s Gospel LIVE, at 7 PM. Fr. Joseph Morris, a frequent presider at our Sunday liturgies, has memorized the entire Gospel of Mark; and during his performance of Mark’s Gospel LIVE this Tuesday (18 October), he will show us the power and magnetism of the story of Jesus. I brought this performance to St. John Neumann some years back, and that parish was amazed at what the Spirit did for us through this one-man performance…the telling of the story of this man of Nazareth…the cornerstone…the door…the Light for our darkness. Please join me on the 18th, at 7 PM, in the church. The Lord lives, and desires our hearts. The Lord is calling us to renewal. Come and see!
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Our beloved Msgr. Reynolds prayed for the renewal of Saint Brigid…to be the best parish we could be…to be happily and joyfully holy, in serving one another’s needs. For this reason, he brought in the instrument of renewal…the retreat movement of Christ Renews His Parish (“chirp”). CRHP is a weekend retreat experience for men and women. It has been here at Saint Brigid, from Msgr. Reynolds’ invitation to this weekend. As I am urging you to come and see the one-man performance of Mark’s Gospel LIVE, I am urging you to consider giving a weekend of your life to this encounter with Christ, on one of our CRHP weekends. Contact me for information about this wonderful opportunity for refreshment and renewal in God’s love for us (dtalley@saintbrigid.org).
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October is a traditional month to rejoice in the love that the Mother of God has for us. On the Cross, the Lord Jesus offered His mother to the apostle John and to us. She is our mother and the mother of the Church. Check our bulletin and web-page for all things Mary this month. Honor her by remembering these words she says to our parish family… do whatever He tells you (John 2.5).
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A bit of news: Most members of the parish know that we are in desperate need of meeting space at Saint Brigid. I’ve heard about this issue ever since my first day with you. There are many steps that we will need to take if we conclude that we need to expand the plant of Saint Brigid. One of these steps would be the acquisition of additional property.
Please know that the parish is seeking to purchase a piece of property on Brumbelow Road, the plot of land between the rectory and the Bank of America property. We are hoping to purchase this property for a possible future expansion (not yet planned). One advantage to the purchase of this property would be the additional entrance-exit access we would gain, allowing for a better traffic flow for parish and school.
I have discussed this proposed purchase with our clergy, with the members of the Finance Council, with the staff, with key school personnel and with many of the coordinators of our ministries. In addition, many in the Archbishop’s curia have been consulted and are assisting in this effort. All the consulted members of the parish are excited about beginning a serious discussion of the long-term ministerial needs of the parish (meeting space) and the project of expanding the plant to accommodate our needs; and all are in agreement that the purchase of this piece of property is a good first step.
If our request for a re-zoning of the proposed property is successful, we will purchase the property from the savings we have managed…savings managed for just such a project….savings that you made possible through your generous stewardship, the sharing of a portion of your treasure.
All that we do at the parish…all that we hope to be…everything attached to the wonderful family of Saint Brigid…is…. in order to give greater glory to God…in loving God and loving neighbor…just as the Lord Jesus teaches us, day by day.
AMDG