Dear Friends in Christ,
Here are a few updates from the parish for the week of Sunday, December 20, 2020, the 4th Sunday of Advent:
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1) Christmas Mass Schedule: Based on the Christmas Mass survey and the lived reality of what our attendance has looked like on the weekends, we’ve made some changes to the Christmas Mass schedule.
The schedule for Christmas Eve will be
4 PM, 6 PM, and 10 PM.
The schedule for Christmas Day will be
8 AM and 12 Noon.
These Masses will be live and live-streamed.
We will have two 4 PM Masses as we have done in the past. 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. The option of having Mass in the Gym presented some logistical and accessibility obstacles. It was also clear people wanted a “live” mass rather than a streamed Mass into that second location.
We also decided to create areas in both places to seat larger family units and areas to seat individuals or couples. This plan will allow us to maximize our seating as best we can.
And, as you will note, there will be no Midnight Mass. Instead, the Midnight Mass has been “moved” to 10 PM (if this weren’t 2020, I would say this move was a SURE sign your pastor is OLD).
The Mass schedule for the Feast of the Holy Family will remain the same as our current weekend mass schedule, namely 4 PM and 6 PM on Saturday and 8 AM and 12 Noon on Sunday.
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2) Christmas Giving to SJA: Parishes around the world rely on their parishioners' generosity ... especially at Christmas. For our parish, our Christmas collection is 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) The Chosen: Since I've been in quarantine for the last 14 days, I've had a chance to watch several episodes of The Chosen. The Chosen is the first-ever-multi-season TV show about the life of Jesus. Created outside of the Hollywood system, The Chosen allows us to see Him through the eyes of those who knew him.
The series is incredibly done and I have been mesmerized by each episode I have watched.
Below is the series official trailer. If you are interested in being part of the watch party and discussion group, please click on the watch party flyer below.
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4) Christmas with The Chosen: To honor the birth of Christ, and to commemorate the humble yet history-altering beginnings of The Greatest Story Ever Told, some of the most popular current Christian musicians performed their favorite Christmas songs, some on the incredible Jerusalem set of Season 2 of The Chosen. The event was live last weekend. To watch this incredible special, click on the image below. You'll not only see these performances, along with a special presentation of the Christmas short film that launched The Chosen, you'll also see a sneak peek of highlights of Season 2.
The special presentation of the Christmas short film that launched The Chosen ... THE SHEPHERD ... is at the 1:18:43 mark. If you click the SECOND image below, the video will start at that location. It's worth watching.
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Christmas with THE CHOSEN ... THE SHEPHERD short film
The video below will start at the location of the short film that started the whole THE CHOSEN project.
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5) The Funeral of Donald C. Ancypa: As was announced early this week, our beloved Mr. Ancypa went home to the Lord last week as the result of complications of COVID-19.
Mr. Ancypa began his teaching career in the Archdiocese of Detroit in 1964 at St. Mary's of Redford High School. From there he served as Principal at St. Pius in Southgate from 1971-1990. He became St. Joan of Arc School's eighth principal on July 1, 1990. He was the school's first lay principal and the longest-serving principal in the history of the school. In fact, Mr. Ancypa was the school’s principal for over a third of the school's history!
Mr. Ancypa's funeral will take place at St. Joan on Monday, December 21, 2020, at 10 a.m. It will be live-streamed at livestream.stjoan.church.
We are creating a tribute book in memory of Mr. Ancypa. If you would like to share a memory or a photo, please click on the button below.
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6) Advent 2020 Sponsorship Appeal: Each year we make a special effort to raise money to help cover the costs of items we use and the services we rely upon throughout the year. Our appeal looks a little different this year since we’ve added some COVID-related expenses while removing others pertaining to in-person events, etc. It is my great hope that next year we will add all those items back to this appeal, and our facilities will again be filled with the faithful in community and fellowship.
This sponsorship request allows you to see your generosity at work in some direct ways and it brings to light some of the daily expenses we face in our parish. I’ve listed the annual budget for each item, suggested sponsorship amounts, and the number of sponsors we need to meet that expense. This approach allows many to help in a way that best suits their abilities. Please keep in mind that all amounts are suggested. If you can’t meet the proposed sponsorship, please give what you can and know that all gifts are appreciated and necessary.
Donations can be made by completing the Sponsorship Appeal Form (click on the image above to download a PDF copy of it), on the St. Joan of Arc website (or by clicking on the button below), or at the Parish Center. Sponsors will be acknowledged unless indicated otherwise.
I cannot thank you enough for your generosity in all that you do to make St. Joan of Arc such a warm, welcoming and vibrant parish.
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7) Blessing of a Christmas Tree: As many families start to put up their Christmas tree(s), here you will find short prayer of blessing that can be done with your family. Click on the image to download a PDF copy of the blessing.
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8) Michigan’s Catholics can receive Pfizer, Moderna vaccines, state’s bishops say:
LANSING — It is morally permissible for Catholics in Michigan to receive the coronavirus vaccines developed by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna, the state’s seven Catholic bishops said Dec. 18 in a joint statement addressing ethical questions surrounding the vaccines’ development.
However, a third vaccine candidate developed by AstraZeneca, which has not yet received approval from the federal Food and Drug Administration, is morally problematic because of its close connection with cell lines derived from tissue taken from an aborted baby, the bishops said.
The Michigan bishops said Catholics have a responsibility to call for the development of vaccines without a connection to the sin of abortion.
“Abortion is a grave evil, and we must avoid complicity in abortion. Let us also pray for God’s peace, healing, and mercy for all those who have had abortions,” the bishops said. “Our consciences must not be dulled, nor may we imply in any way that abortion is acceptable.”
The vaccines developed by Pfizer, which gained approval for emergency use by the federal Food and Drug Administration on Dec. 11, and Moderna, for which approval appears imminent, have “remote” connections to such cell lines, but the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has indicated Catholics may receive the vaccines given the lack of available alternatives and the “severe health risks” associated with the pandemic.
“Neither of these vaccines have used cell lines originating in tissue taken from aborted babies in their design, development, and production,” the bishops said. “However, both the Pfizer and the Moderna vaccine did use such a cell line in the confirmatory testing. This connection to the abortion is very remote, however, and it is important to keep in mind that there are varying levels of responsibility.”
Greater moral responsibility lies with the researchers than with those who receive the vaccine, said the seven bishops, who include Detroit Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron, Lansing Bishop Earl Boyea, Saginaw Bishop Robert Gruss, Grand Rapids Bishop David Walkowiak, Kalamazoo Bishop Paul Bradley, Marquette Bishop John Doerfler and Bishop Walter Hurley, administrator for the Diocese of Gaylord.
The bishops’ statement echoes the position of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which issued its own guidance on the COVID-19 vaccines Dec. 14.
While Catholics may receive the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines as an act of charity toward others and the common good, they are not morally obligated to do so, the bishops stressed.
However, “if one were to choose not to be vaccinated, one would have a moral responsibility to embrace the necessary precautions to avoid spreading the disease to others,” they said.
The development of the AstraZeneca vaccine is a cause for greater concern because of the way it was developed, the bishops said.
“It did utilize in the design, production, development, and confirmatory testing a cell line that originated from tissue taken from an aborted baby. This vaccine may be received only if there are no other alternatives,” the bishops said. “If one does not have a choice of vaccine and a delay in immunization may bring about serious consequences for one’s health and the health of others, it would be permissible to accept the AstraZeneca vaccine.”
The AstraZeneca vaccine is “somewhat similar in production to the Rubella vaccine, which the Pontifical Academy of Life indicated could be received for grave reasons and if there are no other alternatives,” they said.
Both Pfizer and Moderna’s vaccines were developed using mRNA technology, a new style of vaccine that effectively trains a person’s immune system to detect the infamous “spike” protein of the COVID-19 virus and mount an immune response. Both companies say their final test results showed their vaccines are approximately 95% effective at preventing severe COVID-19 symptoms. Both vaccines require two shots, spaced approximately a month apart.
Pfizer’s vaccine, which is the only one so far to receive FDA approval, began shipping nationwide last week, and has already begun to arrive in limited quantities at some of southeast Michigan’s hospitals. Health care workers, including those at Catholic hospitals such as St. Joseph Mercy Oakland in Pontiac and Ascension St. John Hospital in Detroit, will be among the first to be vaccinated.
It is expected the Moderna vaccine will receive FDA approval in the coming days.
The Michigan bishops’ statement follows a lengthy analysis by the chairmen of the U.S. bishops’ doctrine and pro-life committees, who documented the vaccines’ development in greater detail.
Even though the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are permissible for Catholics to receive, those who do so must not ignore the abortion connection, however remote, said Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Ind., and Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of Kansas City, Kan.
“It is true that one can receive benefits from an evil action in the past without intending that action or approving of it,” they explained. “The association with the evil action that comes with receiving benefits from that evil action, however, can have a corrupting influence on one’s perception of the evil action, making it more difficult to recognize it as evil.
“One might become desensitized to the gravely evil nature of that action. One might become complacent about that action and ignore the obligation to do what one can to oppose the evil action,” they said, adding that others might see “one’s acceptance of benefits from an evil action” and feel the action isn’t really evil, feel less urgency “to oppose that evil” or even miss opportunities to do what they can “to oppose it.”
“We should be on guard so that the new COVID-19 vaccines do not desensitize us or weaken our determination to oppose the evil of abortion itself and the subsequent use of fetal cells in research,” Bishop Rhoades and Archbishop Naumann said.
Catholic News Service contributed to this report.
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9) This Sunday's Readings - Sunday, December 20, 2020
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10) Grow+Go for the Fourth 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. Look for Grow+Go in our weekly emails. |
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11) Sunday Reflection by Jeff Cavins:
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In this Encountering the Word video for the Fourth Sunday of Advent, Jeff Cavins marvels at the mystery of the Incarnation as we draw closer to the day God draws close to us. |
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12) 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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13) This week's edition of TALLer Tales:
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There’s No Such Thing as a Free Lunch … or Free Cookies: Recently, my sister Jackie mentioned on one of our phone calls with our parents that she purchased this awesome package of David’s Ready to Bake Cookies from QVC. She ordered and received something similar three months before, and they were the rave of the family. There’s nothing like pure butter, sugar, and chocolate to make people happy. And, given these things are ready to bake, it couldn’t be any easier. When the first package arrived, Jackie was surprised by the quantity that was in the box. There was something like 120 cookies in a variety of recipes that made up the package. She only made a portion of them and put the rest in the freezer.
It was when the second batch arrived that she mentioned them on the phone. She thought the order was in error but hadn’t had the time to call QVC yet to figure out what happened. Her original purchase was about three months before this; she was really confused about this new package. She also realized that given they were ready to bake cookies, they probably couldn’t and shouldn’t be returned. This could only mean it was time to enjoy them again. This time, however, the package contained a different variety of cookies.
When the details of this were being discussed on our call, most of us realized at the same time what was happening. It was apparent to us, and now Jackie, that she accidentally made a recurring cookie purchase (my type of gift … but in my case, it wouldn’t have been a mistake). At first, we thought it was a monthly purchase. To figure things out, Jackie went onto her QVC account and found she had committed to a quarterly purchase of David’s Ready to Bake Cookies until the order was canceled (yikes)! She thought it was a one time purchase! She went ahead and made all the cookies she had on hand, and we all delighted in the cookie extravaganza. Those cookies were AWESOME. I started to have visions of partaking in those delicacies every so many months for a year! My big dream came to a crashing halt when my sister announced she would cancel the order. She began to calculate the costs and the fact that she would be adding 120 more cookies every three months for a year to her stash. That’s a lot of cookies, and a lot of dough (pardon the pun), as in bucks. She then realized the delivery wasn’t “free” or a mistake on QVC’s part after all. There’s no such thing as a free lunch … or, in this case, free cookies! But the thought of 120 ready to bake cookies a month or even every three months had me dreaming. I could see my credit card statement: one charge for QVC and an equal monthly charge for Weight Watchers!
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 ever in mind. It’s all too easy to lose sight of what’s important as we try to accomplish sometimes an unquestionable amount of activity. It will be yet another odd holiday as we forge through our COVID world. Let’s again use technology. Let’s do what we can to stay in touch with family and friends and still carry out many of our traditions. They may be very different. Gatherings will undoubtedly be small. 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. But it will still be Christmas. 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 sit back and 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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Enjoy the week. Know of my prayers. Merry Christmas!
In Christ,
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14) Tire Tracks in the d’Arc |
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A Miracle?: I’ve been a huge fan of Formula One auto-racing for about 35 years. Before my middle-aged memory arrived, I could rattle of the names of the winners, and who finished 12th in some random Grand Prix half-way around the world, sometime in 1988 and endless technical and aerodynamic details of the cars or the rules to bore you. I still watch every qualifying session and race on TV. I love it. It’s exciting and its endlessly fascinating to me.
A few weeks ago, there was a crash in a race the likes of which I have rarely seen before. It looked like something from a bygone era, when the cars were far less safe. In years past the fatality rate was sadly very high. In recent decades it has become easy to feel complacent. The technology means that the cars do an incredible job of protecting their driver from injury in a crash. But this time, surely that was not going to be the case, I thought. The car hit a metal armco-barrier head-on at 140mph and split into two about an inch behind where the driver sits. The accident did not look survivable. The front of the car, with the driver strapped-in, decelerated from 140mph to 0 in a distance of not more than 5 yards and was engulfed in a fireball, caught-up in the metal barrier. The safety crew arrived and could not see where the driver was in all the smoke and fire. They sprayed extinguishant on the flames and somehow, out of the dark, emerged the driver. After about 30 seconds in the fire, he had managed to unstrap his seat-belts, disconnect his radio and drink bottle from his helmet and extract himself through a small opening above the cockpit. He somehow pryed himself through the twisted metal barrier over his head to jump clear of the remains of his car and scramble over the barrier into the arms of the safety crew. It was quite astounding and a huge relief to see.
Many things went wrong to lead to such a potentially devastating accident. The driver sustained minor burns to his hands and feet, but survived g-forces of 53g without a single broken bone.
That day has put a lot of things into perspective for a lot of people, reminded that this is a sport, but that every day people’s lives are on the line. Many people immediately labelled it “a miracle” that he survived. And I don’t necessarily discount that. The driver himself said that as he sat in the flames, “I saw death coming. But then I saw my kids and knew I had to get out.” Certainly God was merciful that day. But there was also evidence that the improvements to the cars helped explain his light injuries. Just two years ago, he almost certainly would not have survived.
A Certain Miracle: Why this long and frightening tale? Was it a miracle or was it science? Only God knows, but it put in perspective for me, in another ways, the miracle that we celebrate this Christmas—God coming to dwell among us, as one of us, through a virgin birth, announced by an angel, to a woman conceived without sin—an incredible and indisputable miracle that science cannot explain. An incredible and indisputable display of God’s mercy toward the human race. This was a plan foretold for thousands of years and discernable through scriptures written thousands of years before the birth of Jesus. A story evidenced by secular records of history. A story to which we are all more than merely viewers or spectators. God has intimately involved us in this story, His-story. It was for our benefit and for all His people. For the human race, collectively, “we saw death coming,” but God wouldn’t allow that and He rescued us. After so many things had gone wrong for us, He invited the Blessed Mother, Mary, to participate in His plan for our salvation. And though the plan seemed impossible, all things are possible for God. And so Mary simply offered her obedience: “I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.”
A Sacrifice: There had been much discussion that race weekend over the huge salaries of some of the race drivers and are they being paid too much. One of the results of the accident was that those discussions stopped. Some commentators noted that the drivers have made so many sacrifices in their lives to reach the pinnacle of their sport and sacrifice so much to stay there, so they justify these huge salaries. But I could only reflect on how today’s culture misunderstands the concept of sacrifice. A sacrifice should be understood as someone relinquished on behalf of another. Making a “sacrifice” in order to be rewarded with success, fame and financial reward is not a concept you will find in any Catholic resource. Parents understand this. The sacrifices you make for your children are great and noble and praiseworthy,. But you don’t make them in order to be rewarded financially or for your own success. It’s done out of love for the children God gifted to you. The result, hopefully is their success, not your own, and in that, is found its own reward.
It is an incredible witness to God’s love for us, that every year, even in as strange and difficult a year as this has been, we have the opportunity before it closes to once again experience the amazing humility of our Lord. If our faith didn’t allow us to confess it, that God would humble Himself to become a little child, born in a food tough, in a stable, and live for 30 years in a backwater village in an occupied land, not for Himself, but for our sake, so that He might one day sacrifice His own human life for out redemption – if it were for our faith, we could surely never believe such a sacrifice was possible.
Giving Thanks in Return: It was very important to the mental recovery of that race driver that after a brief stay in hospital, that he returned to thank the safety crew who were on scene to assist him. This Christmas, may we return often, whether to Mass, or watching online. Perhaps even just mentally throughout our day, and throughout the year, go to that moment when God stepped into our world in the little town of Bethlehem. Let us return our thanks, for the Christmas gift of a baby named Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us. May we thank God’s sacrifice, the gift of the miracle of the Eucharist, the way in which God is with us at every altar in every Catholic church, every day.
’Twas the Night after Christmas: Growing up in England, one of the joys of Christmas was the day after Christmas Day: “Boxing Day!” For kids it was like a second Christmas Day—great leftovers, visiting with “the other side of the family” you hadn’t see the day before, Christmas movies on TV, the surprise gift Santa left, but that mom had lost until the next day. Boxing Day doesn’t not derive its name from the sport of boxing. The day after Christmas in England was traditionally the day that the wealthy would allow their servants to take a rest day. The servants were given a small box, which they would use to visit the homes of the rich and be given coins or food items, hence “Boxing Day.” Let’s remember those less fortunate that ourselves this Christmas and offer them what we are able to from our gifts.
Merry Christmas!
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You are in my prayers this week.
Fr. Andrew
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This week's LIVE Stream
Schedule at St. Joan of Arc:
Monday (December 21):
7 AM - Mass
10 AM - Funeral for Donald C. Ancypa
Tuesday (December 22):
7 AM - Mass
10 AM - Funeral for William Scanlan
Wednesday (December 23):
7 AM - Mass
Thursday (December 24 - Christmas Eve):
7 AM - Mass
4 PM - Mass
6 PM - Mass
10 PM - Mass
Friday (December 25 - Christmas Day):
8 AM - Mass
12 Noon - Mass
Saturday (December 26):
4 PM - Mass
6 PM - Mass
Sunday (December 27):
8 AM - Mass
12 Noon - 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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Click on the image below
to download a copy of our Sunday Bulletin
for December 20, 2020
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Weekly bulletin: 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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