St Barnabas Parish

06/02/2026

Surely we have some talented decorators in our Parish that would like to keep our Church looking beautiful during the Liturgical Seasons and put their talents to work. It takes a village!! Please pass the word around.

06/01/2026

Deacon Andy's Monday Minute:
DaVinci’s Advice
It is well-documented that Leonardo daVinci excelled as a painter, sculptor, poet, architect, engineer, city planner, scientist, inventor, and philosopher. Talk about a resume!!
He once said… “Every now and then go away, have a little relaxation, for when you come back to your work your judgment will be surer, since to remain constantly at work will cause you to lose your power of judgment... Go some distance away and take a look at what you've been so busy about because then the work will appear smaller, and more of it can be taken in, surrounded by its context, and any lack of harmony or proportion is more readily seen."

DaVinci was talking about taking his paintings out of the studio once in a while, in order to see them in a different light, and in their true context. So, you can imagine him putting his most famous painting under his arm and carrying it out into the countryside, and contemplating how she looked in her natural setting. The Mona Lisa is a relatively small, intimate portrait… only 21 x 30 inches. But DaVinci set her in a vast landscape, so it made sense to him to take her out to where he could see her from a distance and in a much larger setting… a setting larger than himself.
To see harmony and proportion in our spiritual lives, occasionally we need to go some distance away, and take a look at ourselves in the context of our faith. Afterall, God is not just in the details, he’s in the Big Picture too.

Monday Minutes are going to go away for a little while, but we’ll be back in August, rested, relaxed, regrouped, and ready to spread more good news. In the meantime, this Monday Minute is from Deacon Andy Neu, currently listening to Gonna Be Alright by Matt Maher. Listen in at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66jeCK6lL0A

05/26/2026

Deacon Andy's Monday Minute:
Memorial Day
This day of remembrance traces its history back to the end of the Civil War, when many communities set aside a time to decorate the graves of loved ones who died in a war that divided a nation and cost 750,000 lives. It also helped to end America’s greatest sin… the sin of slavery.

On the very first Memorial Day on May 1, 1865, several hundred African-American former slaves chose to honor those who had died in the war that led to their freedom. They created a cemetery outside a Confederate prison camp near Charleston, South Carolina, where several hundred Union soldiers had been buried in unmarked graves. These former slaves created an enclosure for the cemetery and cleaned up the graves so that the fallen soldiers could be honored. Their long lost, humble work is the foundation for what we do today, as we honor those who have died in the years since the end of that war.

One way to honor those who have died in service to our country is by committing ourselves to being peacemakers and bridgebuilders, standard bearers for moral rights and the responsibility to preserve the human dignity of all people, thereby honoring the ultimate sacrifice made by so many others.
True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever the cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost. – Arthur Ashe

05/21/2026

Happy birthday Father Jim!

05/18/2026

Deacon Andy's Monday Minute:
Children Learn What They Live
If a child lives with criticism, they learn to condemn.
If a child lives with hostility, they learn to fight.
If a child lives with ridicule, they learn to be shy.
If a child lives with shame, they learn to feel guilty.

If a child lives with tolerance, they learn to be patient.
If a child lives with encouragement, they learn confidence.
If a child lives with praise, they learn to appreciate.
If a child lives with fairness, they learn justice.
If a child lives with security, they learn to have faith.
If a child lives with approval, they learn to like themself.
If a child lives with acceptance and friendship, they learn to find love in the world.

And if a child learns a little Hebrew, they learn that the primary Hebrew word for compassion is "racham" which is linked to “rechem” which is the Hebrew word for a mother's womb.
The connection highlights the deep, nurturing, and protective feeling of a mother's love for her child. Thank God for mothers.

This Monday Minute is from Dorothy Law Nolte and Deacon Andy Neu, currently listening to Mother by Michael Bubl'e. Listen in at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ao7OfLZHZBM

05/13/2026

05/11/2026

Deacon Andy's Monday Minute:
A teacher once gave her class of second graders a lesson on the magnet and what it does. She brought in a collection of magnets of different shapes, sizes, and strengths and had her students ‘play’ with them while she explained a magnet’s properties of attraction and repulsion. The next day on a worksheet, she included the following question… "My full name has six letters. The first one is M. I pick up things. What am I?" When the papers were turned in, the teacher was surprised to find that more than half the students answered the question with the word “Mother.”
Even before they know how to say any actual words, a child knows how to say “Pick me up.” It’s their way of saying Help me. Hold me. Protect me. See me. Every child instinctively knows this. And a mother instinctively knows how to respond. That instinct is called Love.

This Monday Minute is from Deacon Andy Neu, currently listening to Lift Me Up by Maverick City Music, featuring Dante Bowe, GRAHAM. Listen in at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uY7F59C8z-0

05/10/2026

Happy Mother’s Day! What a beautiful and blessed day!

05/06/2026

This will be the last Taize before taking a summer break. Please join us.