Dear Friends in Christ,
Here are a few updates from our parish for the week of December 19, 2021.
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1) Christmas Mass Schedule:
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Given that Christmas is on a Saturday this year, our mass schedule for Christmas and that weekend will take a bit of a change from our usual practices.
Christmas Eve:
Friday, December 24
4 PM
6 PM
10 PM
Christmas Day:
Saturday, December 25
8 AM
10 AM
12 PM
Please note there are NO Saturday evening masses on Christmas Day.
Feast of the Holy Family
Sunday, December 26
8 AM
10 AM
12 Noon
All of our masses will be live-streamed. And, as we have done in the past, we will have two 4 PM Masses. Father Andrew will be the celebrant of the 4 PM Mass in Church, and I will be the celebrant of the 4 PM Mass in the Emmaus Hall. It’s hard to know what attendance will look like this year. With the rise in COVID cases, it may not be as “back to normal” as we had hoped. And, as you will note, there will be no Midnight Mass. Instead, the Midnight Mass has been “moved” to 10 PM. This proved to be pretty popular last year … and indeed a welcomed reality for the staff who have to turn around and be back in Church first thing on Christmas morning.
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2) Christmas Giving to SJA |
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Parishes around the world rely on their parishioners' generosity ... especially at Christmas. For our parish, our pre-COVID Christmas collection was usually anywhere from $100,000 to $130,000.
With the reduction in the number of people coming to Church and not knowing what our attendance will be like at our Christmas masses, I wanted to give a gentle reminder to our parishioners that if you haven't given a Christmas gift by using your envelopes or our electronic giving platforms already, it's easy to make a one time or recurring gift electronically.
Click on the link below and there you can make a one-time or recurring gift. You can do so as a guest or by setting up an account. It couldn't be any easier! Thanks for your extraordinary generosity!
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3) Ascension Presents ... Jackie and Bobby Angel on Keeping Christmas Holy |
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The Real Meaning of Christmas
You know it, but it’s worth saying…the real meaning of Christmas isn’t presents, food, or Santa. It’s not even about kindness and sharing good memories with our families. Christmas is all about Jesus coming to save us. Jackie and Bobby remind us of the true meaning of Christmas and share ideas for helping us center ourselves and our families on what’s actually important about this season: Christ’s incarnation:
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Read a book about the true meaning of Christmas. Jackie reads one book from Scott Hahn every year at Christmastime: Joy to the World: How Christ’s Coming Changed Everything (and Still Does)
- Remind yourself (and family members) that presents and gifts are a sign of God’s selfless generosity
- Instead of falling into the materialism of the season, ask yourself what you can give to others in imitation of God’s self-donation. Can you give time, gifts, prayer?
God became flesh for the world, and while not everyone accepts or understands this, you can be a beacon of joy that reveals this mystery to your friends and family. Mother Teresa said, “Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls,” so let your Christmas joy shine a little extra this year!
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From the Detroit Catholic: ROYAL OAK — Christmas cheer was in the air Dec. 4 outside the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak as families gathered for the second annual “Light Up Shrine!” community Advent celebration.
Complete with horse-drawn carriage rides, Christmas carols, hot chocolate, and s’mores — not to mention lots of Christmas lights — clergy, parishioners and community members enjoyed one another’s company and rang in the season with the lighting of the basilica’s life-size Nativity.
“There were more than 1,000 people here,” said Fr. Mark Livingston, associate pastor of Shrine. “It’s been great letting people get comfortable being around the church and folks who go to church.”
Watch this brief 2.5-minute video of the event.
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5) SJA's CSA Update as of December 19, 2021 |
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I am grateful to those who have already contributed to CSA 2021. As of today, we have $207,283 in pledges and gifts toward our $217,002 goal ($199,980 has already been paid thus far toward our total pledged amount). This amount represents gifts from 584 families (we have 3,285 families registered). We have thus achieved 96% of our goal!
Here is a breakdown by gift range:
$2,500+ (9)
$1,000+ (34)
$500+ (50)
$250+ (109)
$100+ (2220)
$75+ (16)
$50+ (78)
$25+ (40)
$10+ (25)
$0+ (2)
As stated above, the easiest way to give is electronically by clicking on the button above. If you wish to give by check, feel free to contact the Parish Center and we will mail out an envelope and related material.
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6) This Sunday's Readings - December 19, 2021 |
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7) Jeff Cavins: Encountering the Word - Reflections on the Sunday Readings |
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Jeff Cavins reflects on the readings for the Fourth Sunday of Advent:
First Reading: Micah 5:1-4A
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 80:2-3, 15-16, 18-19
Second Reading: Hebrews 10:5-10
Gospel: Luke 1:39-45
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8) Grow+Go for the 4th Sunday of Advent |
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Grow+Go, content is designed to help you understand what it means to be an evangelizing disciple of Christ. Using the Sunday Scriptures as the basis for reflection, Grow+Go offers insight into how we can all more fully GROW as disciples and then GO evangelize, fulfilling Christ's Great Commission to "Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." (Matthew 28:19) The concept behind the weekly series is to make discipleship and evangelization simple, concrete, and relatable.
Click on the button or image below to download a PDF copy of this Sunday's Grow+Go.
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9) The Chosen Season TWO Watch Party Starting Jan 11, 2022 |
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Click on the image below for more information or to register. |
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10) Walking with Purpose Starting Monday, January 10, 2022 |
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Click on the image below for more information or to register. |
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11) Giving to SJA:
I'm truly grateful for all of your support of SJA during this pandemic. Your support means so much. The increase in electronic giving has been tremendous. Giving electronically, whether on a one-time or recurring basis is pretty simple. For more information on online giving, please click on the following button.
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12) This Week's Edition of TALLer Tales |
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What FedEx or UPS Knows Stays with FedEx or UPS! The old saying “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas” can undoubtedly be changed and applied to many other aspects or circumstances of life. Considering the following story, the saying can be adapted to say, “What the FedEx person knows stays with the FedEx person!”
As a young kid growing up, I remember there would be many shopping excursions with Mom where we would find all kinds of ways to sneak packages into the house without Dad ever knowing about them. Sometimes we would play the “Distract Dad Game.” Other times we would hide the packages in the garage until Dad was gone. The “game” has certainly changed over the years. Now that so much comes by US Mail, UPS, or FedEx, people have to find “new ways” to sneak packages into the house. I’ve learned around the office and school that some of the married persons in our midst enjoy having their packages delivered to the PC! Sure, it’s convenient and safe, but I often wonder if it’s more for the sake of sneaking packages home! Just sayin’
As my sister Jackie knows, package deliveries get complicated nowadays when the non-shopping spouse arrives home much earlier than the shopping spouse most nights. It’s also complicated because package deliveries can now happen until maybe 9 PM. Jackie always dreads hearing the infamous sounds of those delivery trucks slowing down in front of their house when the two of them are watching TV in the evenings. Jackie will cringe as she hears the sound of brakes in front of her house. Lonnie will then look at her with that look and say, “WHAT did you buy now!” Being the quintessential Lucille Ball type of person, Jackie will just smile and say something to win him over. But imagine the conversation the day Jackie got deliveries from UPS, FedEx, and US Mail all in a matter of an hour of each other … and Lonnie was home for it all!
Now Jackie has her own side business as a consultant for Paparazzi Jewelry. As a result, she has packages coming and going all the time! One day, not too long ago, Lonnie was working outside on his truck. The familiar sound of a delivery truck could be heard coming down the street. Sure enough, the brakes got applied, and the truck came to a halt in front of their house. The delivery guy gathered a bunch of packages and started to walk up Jackie and Lonnie’s driveway. Lonnie met him halfway. As the handoff was happening and Lonnie was putting his signature on the electronic gizmo, the delivery guy said with some exhaustion, “Do you realize how many times I stop at this house?” “Believe me, I know,” Lonnie said with a grin. “THAT’s my wife,” he announced with a laugh. The delivery guy continued, “But, don’t you see her doing all that shopping on Amazon?” “Oh, she does all that stuff after I go to bed at night!” I can just see Jackie patiently waiting for Lonnie to go to bed at night. The moment Lonnie is off to bed, I’m sure Jackie’s iPad magically appears in her hands, much like a hummingbird magically appears at its target. But I wonder if Jackie needs to change her methodology a bit. Maybe she needs to start having those packages arrive at the Parish Center instead. But then again, based on what I know and have seen, she’d need a bigger car some days to take her stuff home! Poor Jackie!
Christmas Thoughts: As we enter into these waning days and hours of Advent and the pace of life gets rather hectic with the final preparations for Christmas, please remember to keep your priorities in mind. It’s all too easy to lose sight of what’s essential as we try to accomplish sometimes an unquestionable amount of activity this time of year. It will be another odd holiday as we forge through another COVID surge in Michigan. Let’s again use technology … and let’s be safe. Let’s do what we can to stay in touch with family and friends and still carry out many of our traditions. Many people will continue to be cautious, and gatherings might be smaller than usual once again. We may be apart, but we can still create an environment where we are together in some way or another. In the end, it’s all about the great gift that God the Father has given us in the person of Jesus Christ. May we keep our eyes fixed on Him as we celebrate His birth; may we also keep our hearts and souls fixed on the reality that Christ is still walking with us. Yes, it will be a different experience .. AGAIN. But it will still be Christmas, and we will once again celebrate the great gift that God has given us in the beautiful birth of his Son Jesus Christ. Blessed be God.
Christmas Greetings: Since next weekend’s bulletin will be our special Christmas edition, I want to take the opportunity now to extend my Christmas greetings and prayers to you, our faithful and regular parishioners. I am truly grateful for the many ways you share your time, talent, and treasure around the parish. Through your extraordinary generosity, we are changing many lives and doing so much to deepen people’s relationship with the Lord! It’s incredible to realize all the great work and ministry that is being done at our parish. Thank you for all that you do that makes us such an amazing parish!
May the Christ child, the Prince of Peace, enlighten your hearts and homes with the warmth of his light and love! Know you will be remembered in my prayers and masses this Christmas.
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Happy Advent. Enjoy the week. Know of my prayers!
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
In Christ,
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13) Tire Tracks in the d’Arc |
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Writing On The Wall: From time to time, and maybe this happens to all priests, someone will come to me and recount a dream they’ve had and ask if I thought there was any spiritual significance to it. My answer is usually about the same, something along the lines of, “Well, if it’s helpful to you then that’s a blessing, but I wouldn’t make any life-changing decisions on that alone without running it by someone else first.” Can God speak to us in our dreams? Sure He can! Are most of our dreams more likely to be a crazy collision of the inner thoughts of our minds and the events of the day? Yes, probably most of them. Sometimes, if I thought too hard about my dreams I would question my own sanity….. Exploding hamsters and existential dreams about the existence of a shoe….
But sometimes maybe there is a hint of something true lurking in the background. You tell me if you spot this one…. I had to tell Msgr. Mike this week about a dream I had. Parish dreams or liturgical nightmares are probably a reality for most priests since we are often going in so many directions thinking about those things that sometimes they get jumbled-up, with reality and fiction all mingled together. I dreamed that I was up north on vacation with my parents (odd to begin with, since they live 3,500 miles away) and I realized I was not too far from Marquette. I thought perhaps I could go and visit my friend Jack who lives in Marquette and then return to resume my vacation with my parents. It was raining really hard so it didn’t sound like a fun drive, so I was mulling over the idea, when Msgr texted me. He was busy gathering bids from companies to build a new “security wall” on campus, (whenever that is) and had received a number of different proposals. Msgr asked if I could spend some time looking over the bids and give some feedback. However, he asked that I pay particular attention to one specific proposal that he thought might be the one. He said he was a little unsure about the plans for the inner part of this construction, because it was brick rather than concrete, which may not be as solid, but the outside of the wall was made of milk chocolate, and he thought that was a good idea….
So…. Any ideas where the nugget of truth might have found its way into my crazy brain waves? Monsignor…. We’re onto you! If anyone sees a new “security wall” anywhere on campus soon, please let me know and I will begin to research caramel paint products.
So, maybe I have my doubts about all that occurred in that dream, and maybe not all our dreams are profound messages from God, but at other times the Lord speaks his word very clearly. And many times, that word comes in the form of actions. In our Gospel today, Elizabeth says to Mary,
“Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.” The Lord spoke to Mary through the angel Gabriel and both Elizabeth and the unborn John the Baptist in her womb confirm that what the Lord has spoken has come to pass. They are aware of the presence of Jesus in the womb of the Blessed Mother. Elizabeth cries out with joy and amazement that she has received this blessing of the visitation from Mary, the mother of her Lord, and from Jesus Himself, through the generosity, humility and abandonment of Mary’s “yes” to God. What an example for us of how our “yes” to God can be such a blessing not only to us but to others. When God speaks clearly… when He speaks by His actions, we do well to listen and to trust. God’s Word is the best “security wall” we can ever hope for in our parish.
Hot, Purple, Holy Chaos: Last Week we had our Advent Taizé Holy Hour. I am usually not around on Thursday when the regular Holy Hour takes place with Eucharistic Adoration so I’m not quite sure of exactly how the deacons do everything. I am familiar with Exposition, of course, but the setting-up off camera I haven’t seen here at St. Joan. As I was setting-up, I was questioning how they ensure the charcoal will last an hour until Benediction at the end. Some charcoal coals will last an hour, others burn out more quickly. I thought I could be clever and light two charcoals in the thurible before the start and put a third up against the side, inside the thurible so it would be there to light just before Benediction. Well, I knew I was in trouble at the start of adoration when I went to incense the Blessed Sacrament in the monstrance on the altar. I picked up the thurible and all 3 coals were well aglow. Apparently I learned nothing from the 1666 Great Fire of London that destroyed the city. You can’t put flammable objects too close together! Fortunately, as I tried to ignore this problem for the rest of the hour, the coals kept burning and were still lit for Benediction.
I had felt quite proud of myself for figuring out how to set-up the spotlights that flood Jesus on the sanctuary wall in light for the holy hours. But just at 6:59pm, with a minute to go, Kristine Hass came running into the sacristy, (having presumably jumped over the wall of the choir loft to save time?). She’d just discovered that Msgr. Mike wasn't going to be operating the cameras this week, so she was in the midst of multi-tasking cameras and singing. But now she appeared in the sacristy with one of the spotlights in hand. “I’m just going to set this to purple for Advent,” she said. But she'd misread her watch and had now just realized there was literally a minute to go. I was confused. “That wasn't purple?” I asked. “No, it’s red!” she replied. “Oh!” I said, “That’s what happens when the colorblind guy sets up the lights. It looked the same as last week to me!” It wasn't working for Kristine, so the lights stayed whatever color they were!
As the holy hour got underway, the computer displaying the words on the screen crashed and had to be rebooted. Then as Catherine Thomas was singing the Latin refrains of “ubi caritas” she texted Kristine (I don’t know how Catherine is able to text and play piano at the same time, but she is!) and asked, “Do you have this in English?” So Kristine, while singing ubi caritas, got onto the computer, creating slides of the English words before those verses came up.
And so somehow, by the grace of God (that I’d just preached about) we made it to Benediction time. I kneel to incense the blessed Sacrament… there is smoke... all is well, so I go to put the thurible back on its stand and it swings into my arm. After an hour on fire, let’s just a brass thurible is hot…. I flinched from burning my arm, but I’m not sure I had enough of my voice back yet for my high-pitched “yelp” to be audible.
And apparently, none of these calamities were visible to anyone but us. As I always said, “when in doubt, look devout, and all just seems to work out!” Roll with it!
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You are in my prayers this week.
Fr. Andrew
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14) Words on the Word: December 19, 2021 - Christmas is Close!
The countdown to Christmas is picking up speed. Weeks dwindle to days, and days to hours, as we make our final preparations for the big holiday.
One internet portal posted a slightly tongue-in-cheek summary several years ago of the emotional stages that people go through as they anticipate and experience the day then adjust to its aftermath. The stages start with “anticipation,” and progress through “excitement,” “satisfaction,” “weakness” (related mostly to our propensity to eat too many cookies), and, finally, depression when it’s all done.
It's worth noting that even our Blessed Mother, and those closest to her, had their own version of pre-Christmas anticipation:
“Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth,” we hear in today’s gospel passage from St. Luke. “When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb…”
Clearly, John was the first child to be giddy with Christmas anticipation.
The events surrounding and following that first Christmas, of course, were much more profound than the events surrounding and following our own Christmas celebrations. But just as Mary and the entire early Christian community would have experienced their own feelings of anticipation, excitement, satisfaction, and concern – and became the better for them – so too can we use the events of this upcoming Christmas season to make us better disciples of Jesus Christ. Even if it hasn’t already started during Advent, it’s not too late to use those feelings of anticipation to sharpen our prayer lives. And then to use Christmas day as a starting point for more profound prayer and service.
Christmas is less than a week away. How are we making use of the heightened emotions of the season to bring about the Kingdom?
2021 Words on the Word
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15) Ascension Presents with Father Mike Schmitz:
When You Don’t Understand the Bible
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Have you ever read the Bible and thought to yourself, “wait… what?”
Oftentimes in Christian media we see what Fr. Mike dubs a “Hallmark” version of following Christ. There’s struggle and hardship, but then God’s grace comes in and cures everything, making everything nearly perfect for the characters in the story. While these types of stories make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, they’re not very realistic. And while God’s grace is essential, it’s not a magic wand that makes everything bad go away.
This was something that St. Augustine struggled with before his conversion. It wasn’t until after he had accepted the faith and began to intentionally practice it that he realized it’s not God’s word that’s wrong, it’s our interpretation of it. He gives us 7 things to do when trying to understand a passage we’re unsure of:
1. Read the text in the original language. Or, if you’re not a scholar of Greek or Latin (more than likely), at least realize that a lot can be lost in translation, like idioms and turns of phrase, or context and foreign references.
3. Weigh what you’re reading with all of scripture (it’s ALL connected!)
4. Be humble and accept that you don’t know everything needed to fully understand God’s word (and that’s okay).
5. Sacred tradition always trumps our own interpretations.
6. Don’t take figurative language literally.
7. Don’t universalize a parable to be relevant for all situations in life.
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16) The Bible in a Year Podcast by Father Mike Schmitz |
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Join us for Day 1 on January 1st, 2022!
If you’ve struggled to read the Bible, this podcast is for you.
Ascension’s Bible in a Year Podcast, hosted by Fr. Mike Schmitz and featuring Jeff Cavins, guides Catholics through the Bible in 365 daily episodes starting January 1st, 2021.
Each 20-25 minute episode includes:
- two to three scripture readings
- a reflection from Fr. Mike Schmitz
- and guided prayer to help you hear God’s voice in his Word.
Unlike any other Bible podcast, Ascension’s Bible in a Year Podcast for Catholics follows a reading plan inspired by the Great Adventure Bible Timeline® learning system, a groundbreaking approach to understanding Salvation History developed by renowned Catholic Bible teacher Jeff Cavins.
Tune in and live your daily life through the lens of God’s word!
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17) FORMED Pick of the Week: |
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Our parish has a subscription to FORMED, a premier online platform filled with over 4,000 Catholic studies, movies, audio dramas, talks, e-books, and even cartoons for our children. FORMED has content from over 60 apostolates, including Augustine Institute, Ignatius Press, and the Knights of Columbus, with material that is professionally produced, engaging, and solid in its catechism. Best of all, this material is free to you because of our parish subscription.
You have easy access to all of the material on FORMED to support your own faith journey and that of your family members.
You can enjoy FORMED on your computer or on your television with an inexpensive Roku device or Apple TV. You can even listen on your phone as you commute to work or do chores.
To gain access to all of FORMED’s content, follow these simple steps:
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Go to https://signup.formed.org/
- Enter our parish’s zip code 48080 or enter St. Joan of Arc
- Enter your name and your email address
That’s it! You’re in. Now you can get the free FORMED app for your phone by searching FORMED Catholic in your app store.
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Are you looking for a one-stop app for prayer and meditation? Look no further than Hallow. Hallow is an awesome prayer app. Hallow is a Catholic prayer and meditation app that helps users deepen their relationship with God through audio-guided contemplative prayer sessions. The app launched 2 years ago and is already the #1 Catholic app in the world.
We have a number of parishioners who are already using the app and loving it (my mom being one of them and she is on the app most of the day). Great for praying alone or together with your spouse/family, Hallow truly has something for everyone, no matter what you are going through (see below for their different content categories).
Hallow is free to download and has tons of permanently free content, as well as a premium subscription, Hallow Plus.
To get started, simply click the button above/below to activate your free account on the Hallow website. Make sure to select “Sign Up with Email” when registering. For step-by-step instructions, you can visit this process guide. Enter the code stjoanofarcmi to obtain a discount on individual pro plans.
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19) RSV Study through Ascension Health |
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20) This Week on St. Joan of Arc LIVE: |
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This week's LIVE Stream
Schedule at St. Joan of Arc:
Monday (December 20):
7:00 AM - Mass
10:00 AM - Funeral for Patricia Kohlitz
Tuesday (December 21):
7:00 AM - Mass
8:30 AM - School Mass
Wednesday (December 22):
7:00 AM - Mass
Thursday (December 23):
7:00 AM - Mass
7:00 PM - Holy Hour (Silent Holy Hour)
Friday (December 24):
7:00 AM - Mass
4:00 PM - Mass
6:00 PM - Mass
10:00 PM - Mass
Saturday (December 25):
8:00 AM - Mass
10:00 AM - Mass
12:00 PM - Mass
Sunday (December 26):
8:00 AM - Mass
10:00 AM - Mass
12:00 PM - Mass
Please note that all of our masses and events can be accessed through the ARCHIVE section of our Live stream page if you are not able to watch it live!
We also have our own ROKU Channel. Search for "CATHOLIC" in the ROKU channel store, and you will find SJA's channel. A Fire TV Channel is also available.
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21) SJA's Bulletin for December 19, 2021 |
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Click on the image below
to download a copy of our
Bulletin for December 19, 2021
The 4th Sunday of Advent
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22) Weekly Bulletin Mailing List |
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Sending the bulletin has been greatly received by so many people. If you are getting the bulletin online and would prefer that it not be mailed to your home, please click on the button below to be removed from the mailing list.
At the same time, if you are NOT getting the bulletin and would prefer to get it, click on the same button and ask to be ADDED to the list.
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Read the latest from the DETROIT CATHOLIC
Click on the image below.
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