I am grateful to those who have already contributed to CSA 2023. When I opened the report his morning, I had to blink and make sure my glasses were on! We currently have $208,837 in pledges and gifts toward our $208,946 goal ($165,538 has been paid thus far toward our total pledged amount). This amount represents gifts from 539 families (we have 3,303 families registered, which gives us a 16% participation rate thus far). We have achieved 99.95% of our goal! THANK YOU!

$2,500+ (13)

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As stated above, the easiest way to give is electronically by clicking on the button below. If you wish to give by check, feel free to contact the Parish Center, and we will mail out an envelope and related material. Generic pledge cards can also be found on the bookcase of the Gathering Space.

From Detroit Catholic: Expanding Catholic media ministry hosts popular shows such as 'The Patrick Madrid Show' and 'Family Rosary Across America'

DETROIT — One of America’s fastest-growing Catholic media enterprises has a new home on several Detroit-area radio stations.

Motor City Catholics stuck in rush hour traffic can now tune in to Illinois-based Relevant Radio, which earlier this year purchased an AM and four associated FM radio frequencies from Family Life Radio.

The $3.1 million deal, announced in December 2022 and finalized in February, sees Relevant Radio — home to popular programming such as “The Patrick Madrid Show” and “Family Rosary Across America” — take over WUFL-AM 1030, based in Sterling Heights, as well as 94.1 FM in Holly, 94.3 FM in Detroit, 103.1 FM in Rochester, and 104.7 FM in Detroit.

Fr. Francis “Rocky” Hoffman, chairman and CEO of Relevant Radio and host of “Family Rosary Across America,” told Detroit Catholic the radio ministry has been trying to break into the Detroit market for years.

“We like to say we’re using mass media to move the masses to the Mass,” Fr. Hoffman quipped. “We like traffic jams and big cities, and Detroit is a big motor city. In the past year and a half, we've gotten into a couple of big markets, and Detroit was the biggest market we were not in.”

Relevant Radio has more than 200 stations across the country, and the ministry’s goal is to have a presence in all top 100 markets in the United States by 2025, Fr. Hoffman said.

Relevant Radio’s foray into the Detroit market joins Ave Maria Radio, an affiliate of EWTN that operates several southeast Michigan stations, including its flagship WDEO-AM 990 in Ann Arbor, as well as 107.9 FM in Ann Arbor, 105.5 FM in Farmington Hills, 105.9 FM in Bay City, and 1440 AM in Saginaw.

While Ave Maria Radio features programming from local hosts such as Al Kresta (“Kresta in the Afternoon”), Teresa Tomeo (“Catholic Connection”) and Fr. John Riccardo (“Christ is the Answer”), Relevant Radio’s lineup does not currently include local programming — although Detroiters are certainly encouraged to call in to any of the station’s popular shows, Fr. Hoffman said.

“Our top shows are ‘The Patrick Madrid Show’ in the morning (with Catholic apologist and speaker Patrick Madrid) — three hours to learn something — ‘The Drew Mariani Show’ with the Divine Mercy Chaplet at 3 p.m.; and the ‘Family Rosary Across America,’ which we not only broadcast through our AM and FM stations, but we stream it through our website, app and on video,” Fr. Hoffman said.

Relevant Radio is guided by three main principles, Fr. Hoffman said.

“The first one is, we’re faithful to the magisterium and the Catechism of the Catholic Church. That doesn’t mean you have to be Catholic to be on our station, but if you contradict something the Church teaches, we need to correct that,” Fr. Hoffman said.

“The second principle is unity with the local bishops. What that means in practice is, we don’t criticize bishops on air, or their people or their programs, or pre-empt their prerogatives,” Fr. Hoffman continued. “We’re not in the Catholics eating Catholics business.”

And the third principle is, “We’re under the protection of Our Lady, and there’s a lot of theology behind that,” Fr. Hoffman said.

The “Family Rosary Across America,” a live, call-in program in which families take turns asking for prayers in between decades of the rosary, is one of Relevant Radio’s most popular programs for a reason, Fr. Hoffman said. In addition to the radio program, families often send in pictures that are included in the program’s video production.

“Every night, we get about 100,000 people praying the rosary. They show up like clockwork,” Fr. Hoffman said. “About 40,000 are watching on big screens in their homes. That’s absolutely huge. As far as I know, nobody is doing anything like that.”

Please remember that we will continue our Wednesday evening confessions and Mass.

Confessions will be heard from 5:00 until 5:45 PM in the Sr. Carol Center, and then Mass will be celebrated at 6:00 PM. For those who may be interested in knowing, the Wednesday evening Mass is in the daily mass format, that is, with no music. So, it is usually only about 30 minutes in length.

The word of God and the complete teachings of the Catholic Church. Answers and commentary by Fr. Mike Schmitz, Jeff Cavins, and other experts. Video, audio, and textual commentary. Right on your phone.

The Ascension App Includes:

The full text of the Great Adventure Catholic Bible with color coding interwoven throughout so you can immediately recognize where you are in the story of salvation history.

The full text of the Catechism of the Catholic Church with The Foundations of Faith color-coding built in.

Every episode of Bible in a Year with Fr. Mike Schmitz for easy access and cross-referencing with your reading plan and Scripture.

Every released episode of the Catechism in a Year podcast with Fr. Mike Schmitz so you can easily stay on top of your daily readings.

Summaries, the exact wording of Fr. Mike’s daily prayers, and extra content for every single episode of Bible in a Year.

Over 1,000 commonly asked questions about the Bible with answers right in the text from experts like Fr. Mike Schmitz, Jeff Cavins, and others.

An interactive reading plan for both podcasts that tracks your progress.

Notes and bookmarks so you can quickly pick up where you left off and write down your reflections and prayers along the way.

…And we're just getting started. More to be announced soon!

In this week’s Encountering the Word video, Jeff Cavins reflects on the readings for the Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time:

First Reading: Isaiah 56:1, 6-7

Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 67:2-3, 5, 6, 8

Second Reading: Romans 11:13-15, 29-32

Alleluia: CF. Matthew 4:23

Gospel: Matthew 15:21

Friends, our Gospel today from Matthew 15, the famous story of Jesus and the Syrophoenician woman, is one of those Gospels that bothers and unnerves people. How should we read it? It is not that Jesus was grouchy after a tough day of ministry, and this plucky woman speaks truth to power to get what she wants. We are meant to read it in a much more subtle way. This story is driving at an issue that is central to the Bible—namely, the relationship between Israel and the other nations.

Cruisin’ with Mom (Part Four): For the last several weeks, I have been sharing about my trip with my mom on-board the Viking Octantis for a Great Lakes Cruise. Doing a Great Lakes cruise was at the top of my mom’s bucket list of things to do in her senior years! Our journey began in Toronto, and from there, we traversed the Welland Canal Locks and made stops in Port Colborne, Point Pelee, Detroit, Alpena, Mackinac Island, and finally, Milwaukee.

After setting sail from Toronto, we went through the Welland Canal Locks. THAT was fascinating. A little history about the Welland Canal: it is a ship canal connecting Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. It enables ships to ascend and descend the Niagara Escarpment and bypass Niagara Falls (thankfully … otherwise, it would be a rough ride). The current canal is the fourth version. The first Welland Canal was excavated from 1824 – 1829. The existing canal’s construction took place between 1913 to 1932. The locks are 80 feet wide and 766 feet long. The canal is equipped with eight locks compared to the forty locks needed by the First Welland Canal. The lock is necessary because the southern Lake Erie terminus of the canal is 326 feet higher than the northern terminus of Lake Ontario.

As mentioned above, the eight locks are 80 feet wide and 766 feet long. The Viking Octantis and her sister ship, the Polaris, are 77 feet wide and 665 feet long! Imagine navigating these ships through these locks with only 3 feet of clearance! Watching the precision in maneuvering the Octantis through these locks was unbelievable. I could touch the lock fences once I put our stateroom window down. While I have a picture here, I will post a 30-second video of the experience in my Sunday email (click on the image below).

It took about 8 hours to pass through all the locks; most of this occurred while we slept that first night. I’m glad most of it happened at night because I was bored after the third lock. The first one caught my attention, but then it became too routine. At one point, I stopped looking out the window, flopped on the bed, and streamed the ship’s bow camera on our TV to see what was happening. There was only one time during that lock journey that the ship bounced up against the wall of the locks. This happened in the middle of the night, waking my mom and me. I looked out the window and realized we were still in the locks, so I rolled over, unphased by the experience.

What was fun was watching all the people on land watch us as we passed through the locks. It was a Friday night, so as dusk was falling on this beautiful Canadian landscape, plenty of gawkers enjoyed watching the mighty Octantis pass through the locks (they must not have had anything more exciting to do on this Friday night). I have no idea how many on-board the ship were looking out their stateroom windows, but plenty of people on land were waving at us. My mom and I enjoyed looking out our lowered stateroom balcony window, enjoying the beautiful scenery, and pretending we were the only ones on board that all these people were waving to. We just kept waving back as if we were the Queen Mum and her son cruising on some royal yacht!

Sacrament of the Sick (Part Three): I began this series on the Sacrament of the Sick a few weeks ago by looking at how Extreme Unction gave way to our current understanding of the Sacrament of the Sick. The change in the theological understanding of the sacrament (namely that it’s not only for the dying) was the work of the Second Vatican Council and Pope Saint Paul VI. This week, I want to begin by looking at the redemptive value of our sufferings.

Christ had enormous compassion for the sick. Christ’s many healings were not only a sign that God had visited his people but were a sign of the very nearness of the Kingdom of God. Christ was so moved by those who suffer that he not only allowed himself to be touched by the sick but also made their miseries his own. The prophet Isaiah reminds us that the suffering servant would take on our infirmities and bare our diseases and weaknesses. “By his passion and death on the cross, Christ has given a new meaning to suffering: it can henceforth configure us to him and unite us with his redemptive Passion” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 1505).

Uniting our sufferings to the sufferings of Christ is often an overlooked practice in our human experience (okay, reread that sentence). Looking beyond ourselves or our situation when we are sick is hard. Yet, there is incredible value in seeing how our sufferings unite us with Christ’s redemptive Passion. Our sufferings have a redemptive value, and we must awaken ourselves to such a reality.

Before we go any further, let’s deal with this notion of redemption. The word “redeem” literally means to buy out. Specifically, it meant the purchase of a slave’s freedom. In the Christian context, it means that we have been freed from our slavery to sin and death by Christ’s cross. Yes, by the wood of the cross, we have been redeemed! Yet, there are ways along our life journey that bring about little redemptions. Our crosses and sufferings, as long as we endure them with the proper attitude of faith, can be great sources of blessing for us.

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus told his disciples, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me (Matt. 16:24).” To follow in the footsteps of Christ means that suffering, and even the acceptance of crosses, are part and parcel of our life. Some may see sufferings and crosses as nothing but negative realities. However, a person of faith sees the redemptive value in every suffering and cross they are called to embrace.

In the book Mother Teresa: In My Own Words, Mother Teresa tells an often-quoted story about suffering: “Suffering will never be completely absent from our lives. If we accept it with faith, we are given the opportunity to share the passion of Jesus and show him our love. One day I went to visit a lady who had terminal cancer. Her pain was tremendous. I told her, ‘This is nothing but Jesus’ kiss, a sign that you are so close to him on the cross that he can kiss you.’ She joined her hands and said, ‘Mother, ask Jesus not to stop kissing me.’” I wonder if we would say the same if we were in a moment of suffering.

Next week, I’ll continue reflecting on the redemptive value of our sufferings.

Last week I wrote about the Year of Jubilee for St. Thomas Aquinas and the possibility of an indulgence that is granted for those who visit and pray at a church, shrine, or other holy place connected to the Dominican Order. To attain the plenary indulgence, one must pray the Lord’s Prayer, recite the Creed, and invoke the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Thomas Aquinas (as well as the other conditions necessary—read on). The special graces offered during the Jubilee end on Jan. 28, 2025.

But what is an indulgence?

The word “indulgence” may make some feel uncomfortable. But this is mostly because it is misunderstood. You might think that indulgences were just something Martin Luther got upset about when he separated himself from the Catholic Church back in 1517. But the reality is that the Church’s practices of granting indulgences are a great gift to us, are part of the living Tradition of the Church, and are Scripturally backed! And Martin Luther? His complaint about the giving of indulgences happened at a time when people were using them wrongly—trying to sell them for profit.

Indulgences. The very word stirs up more misconceptions than perhaps any other teaching in Catholic theology. Those who attack the Church for its use of indulgences rely upon – and take advantage of – the ignorance of both Catholics and non-Catholics.

What is an indulgence? The Church explains, “An indulgence is a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven, which the faithful Christian who is duly disposed gains under certain defined conditions through the Church’s help when, as a minister of redemption, she dispenses and applies with authority the treasury of the satisfactions won by Christ and the saints” (Indulgentarium Doctrina, 1).

The word indulgence originally meant kindness or favor; in post-classic Latin it came to mean the remission of a tax or debt. In Roman law it was used to express release from captivity or punishment. In theological language the word is sometimes employed in its primary sense to signify the kindness and mercy of God.

Because the Apostles, and thus the Church, have been given the power to forgive sins by Our Lord, Jesus Christ, there is a logical inference that the Church also has the power to grant indulgences. Since the sacramental forgiveness of sins extends both to the guilt experienced at the time and to the eternal punishment, it follows that the Church can also free the penitent from the temporal penalty, what we call Purgatory. (Again, I’m giving myself more homework because I’ll probably need to write an article on Purgatory too!) From the very foundations of the Church, indulgences have been a theological point of consideration. Tertullian, St. Cyprian, St. Basil, and St. Gregory of Nyssa wrote about indulgences in the 2nd to 4th Centuries.

As I said, this is not to say that indulgences haven’t been abused in the past, and the Church recognizes that. Leading up to the Protestant Reformation indulgences were being “sold” to fund many Church projects. I remember reading about this in my undergraduate studies at the University of Detroit Mercy. There was a German Dominican priest, Fr. Johann Tetzel, who is famous for saying (whether he actually said it or not, we do not know): "As soon as the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs.” The image shared here is painted by Ludovico Carracci. Painted in 1610 it depicts an angel releasing souls from purgatory.

Nonetheless, despite past abuses, indulgences remain a teaching of the Church. There are two types of indulgences available in the Church, a plenary indulgence and a partial indulgence. 

An indulgence is partial or plenary according as it removes either part or all of the temporal punishment due to sin. Only God knows exactly how efficacious any particular partial indulgence is or whether a plenary indulgence was received at all.

To gain any indulgence you must be a Catholic and in a state of grace. You also must have at least the habitual intention of gaining an indulgence by the act performed.

To gain a partial indulgence, you must perform with a contrite heart the act to which the indulgence is attached. To gain a plenary indulgence you must perform the act with a contrite heart, plus you must go to confession (one confession may suffice for several plenary indulgences), receive Holy Communion, and pray for the pope’s intentions. The final condition is that you must be free from all attachments to sin, including venial sin. If you attempt to receive a plenary indulgence, but are unable to meet the last condition, a partial indulgence is received instead.

Here are some other examples of indulgences listed in the Handbook of Indulgences:

—A partial indulgence is granted the Christian faithful who devoutly spend time in mental prayer.

—A plenary indulgence is granted when the rosary is recited in a church or oratory or when it is recited in a family, a religious community, or a pious association. A partial indulgence is granted for its recitation in all other circumstances.

—A partial indulgence is granted the Christian faithful who read sacred Scripture with the veneration due God’s word and as a form of spiritual reading. The indulgence will be a plenary one when such reading is done for at least one-half hour [provided the other conditions are met].

—A partial indulgence is granted to the Christian faithful who devoutly sign themselves with the Cross while saying the customary formula: “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.”

I know, there is a lot here, probably too much for just one article. Stay tuned for next weeks follow up!

Blessings!

Fr .Adam

When things don’t go the way we expect, it’s hard not to be frustrated and disappointed. How do we move on after unmet expectations? And how do we break the vicious cycle?

Today, Fr. Mike tells us how to keep it real.

20) Words on the Word: August 20, 2023 - Here First  

Some faithful Christians are probably biting their tongues so as not to be uncharitable towards others by exhibiting an I-told-you-so sort of attitude. A recent article in Newsweek pointed out the growing popularity of Christianity in media, referencing the phenomenal popularity of “The Chosen,” the crowd-funded miniseries about the ministry of Jesus and its impact.

Aside from that, the story noted how some Hollywood powerhouses have launched faith-based studios to pursue such projects, along with plans by at least one of the primary streaming services to offer more faith-based programming, and a large advertising campaign intended to leverage the trend.

“There’s a tremendously powerful movement toward Jesus right now that most people aren’t aware of,” one industry expert was quoted as saying in the story. “The nature of man is to be hostile to Christianity and to salvation. But there’s more and more people in Hollywood moving in the other direction.”

Thus, at least for some folks, comes the selfish “we were here first” feeling.

After all, people of good faith could rightly say, we have been striving our whole lives to spread the gospel, and now people are, potentially, coming into the fold because it’s the trendy thing to do. But it’s worth remembering that wherever and however God finds an opening to more hearts, he will take it. And if that brings more people salvation, all the better.

It’s probably a dynamic similar to what St. Paul describes in today’s second reading to the Romans, in which he speaks of the importance of welcoming the heretofore unsaved Gentiles.

“Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I glory in my ministry in order to make my race jealous and thus save some of them,” he writes. “For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?”

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7:00 a.m., Robert Bidigare

7:00 a.m., Thomas Gillette

7:00 a.m., Antonietta Mazzella

6:00 p.m., Special Intention for Andrew Varrasse & Molly Burnett

7:00 a.m., Pedro Silva

7:00 a.m., A Special Intention for all those affected by the fires in Maui

4:00 p.m., Deacon Robert Busch, Bonnie Batche, Rita Pomante, Paul T. Daudlin, Marie Rogier, Grace & Sam Valenti, Shirlene Frech, Mr. & Mrs. Casimir Wojcik and Special Intentions for the J. Champine Family, the Thomas Family, for Alison Reslow, Pam Haisenleder, Lorraine Jonas and Sally Cabot 

6:00 p.m., Pio Alberti

8:00 a.m., For the Intentions for St. Joan of Arc Parishioners

10:00 a.m., David Pochmara

12:00 p.m. Peter Sarra, Allen Baumgart, David Henry Peacock, Florence Semany, Marguerite Joseph, Joan Hardy, Feliciana King, Joseph DiTrapani, Mikie T. Artley, and Special Intentions for Alison Reslow, and Sally Cabot

12:00 PM - Funeral for Thomas Pollack (Read Obituary Here)

Thursday (August 24):

Friday (August 25):

9:00 AM - Wedding of Lynne D. Hackathorn / Edward J. Bono

12:30 PM- Baptism of Sadie Eloise Hacias

1:30 PM - Baptism of Emilio Jahziel Martinez