Dear Friends in Christ,
Here are a few updates from our parish for the week of December 26, 2021.
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1) What's YOUR plan to become a Holy Family? |
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On this Feast of the Holy Family, Father Andrew gave a most beautiful homily this weekend challenging all of us to come up with a concrete plan in the New Year to become a Holy Family. By coming up with a concrete and following the example of the Holy Family, our own family CAN become holy! It is possible!
The 11-minute video below is a clip including the Gospel and Fr. Andrew's homily from the 8 AM Mass on Sunday. If you didn't hear it, please listen to it at your leisure ... and certainly pass the link around or share it on Facebook.
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2) New Year's Day Mass Schedule:
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Given that the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, New Year's Day is on a Saturday, it is NOT a holy day of obligation this year. However, since many people still like to start the New Year by participating in Mass, we will have a 10 AM Mass on New Year's Day morning.
Please note there will be NO Saturday evening vigil masses for Sunday's celebration of the Epiphany of the Lord.
Our full schedule for next weekend is as follows:
New Year's Day (Saturday, January 1):
10:00 AM
Sunday, January 2
8 AM
10 AM
12 PM
All of our masses will be live-streamed.
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3) Archbishop Vigneron's Christmas Message |
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The angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Messiah and Lord.”
(Luke 2:10-11)
Each December, our homes and hearts are filled with festive carols joyfully proclaiming the approaching Christmas season. We sing of decking the halls, trimming the tree, and exchanging gifts with loved ones. As followers of Christ, we find our greatest joy in songs proclaiming the “tidings of comfort and joy” that is the birth of Jesus, the coming of Emmanuel, our newborn King and Savior.
Emmanuel means God is with us; it means Christ is near to us in our struggles and accomplishments, in our happiness and pain. This is truly “good news of great joy.” Our Savior and Redeemer, the King of the Universe, came to live among us as a child, to begin a life of taking upon himself all the joys and sorrows of humanity. Having walked this earth as one of us, he understands what it is to be human. That choice to make himself known to us in so relatable a manner is the mystery of the Incarnation, the miracle we celebrate each Christmas.
The truth that Christ understands our joys and sorrows is particularly poignant this year, as we continue to live through a time of pandemic and mourn the lives lost and shattered in Oxford. We may find it difficult to feel festive joy, but we can be comforted by the fact that Christ is with us even now — especially now. We know that almighty God “became flesh and made his dwelling among us” so that he would be near to us always and could show us how much he loves us. Even now, amidst our struggles, this is a miracle to be celebrated.
As we gather with family and friends this season, let us find “comfort and joy” in the knowledge that Christ’s birth means we are never alone. And as we lift our voices together in song, let us joyfully proclaim our Savior: “pleased with us in flesh to dwell, Jesus, our Emmanuel.”
Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron
Archbishop of Detroit
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4) 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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5) SJA's CSA Update as of December 26, 2021 |
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WE MADE OUR GOAL!
THANK YOU!
I am grateful to those who have already contributed to CSA 2021. As of today, we have $217,503 in pledges and gifts toward our $217,002 goal ($210,556 has already been paid thus far toward our total pledged amount). This amount represents gifts from 587 families (we have 3,286 families registered). We have thus achieved 100% of our goal!
Here is a breakdown by gift range:
$2,500+ (10)
$1,000+ (34)
$500+ (50)
$250+ (109)
$100+ (221)
$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 26, 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 Feast of the Holy Family:
First Reading – Sirach 3:2-6, 12-14
Responsorial Psalm – Psalms 128:1-2, 3, 4-5
Second Reading – Colossians:12-21
Gospel – Luke 2:41-52
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8) Grow+Go for the Feast of the Holy Family |
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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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Dear Friends in Christ,
In my own name and on behalf of our entire staff, I wish to extend to you and your family my prayers and best wishes for a most blessed, joyous, and safe Christmas.
To our visitors and guests, whether present in Church or watching online, welcome to St. Joan of Arc. I am delighted you are praying with us! Know we always have a place for you at our amazing parish.
As we find ourselves wading through yet another Christmas amid the COVID pandemic, church pews may not be as full, long-standing family traditions may remain on hold, and loved ones may still be separated. Yet, despite these challenges, the hope and promise of the Nativity – when God became flesh – is everlasting.
Over these past 18 months, we made it through the difficulty of limited access to Masses and funerals. We sprayed disinfectant on pews and used color-coded seating. We modified our music, lector, and eucharistic minister ministries and moved meetings, programs, and prayer groups to Zoom. We expanded our video ministry to host simultaneous in-person and live-streamed events and continue to learn how this ministry is reaching people near and far.
Sadly, we also shed and shared tears and prayers for beloved friends and family who passed this year.
Through it all, you – dear parishioners and friends of St. Joan of Arc Parish – remain patient, helpful, supportive, and kind. I extend my grateful appreciation for all you do for our parish and school. Allow me to humbly thank you for your countless offers and efforts. Because of you, our parish remains strong and vibrant, living by its anchors of being transformative and radically hospitable while boldly making disciples. I appreciate your support in words and prayers and the generous sharing of your many gifts and talents.
There is no doubt the Holy Spirit continues to move in profound and previously unknown ways at St. Joan of Arc – all in the midst of what were once unimaginable difficulties and challenges.
Yes, the Lord is born for us this day, and a light has shone upon us! We need to cherish this precious gift of God in every moment of every day. May we become beacons of light ourselves, illuminating the way for others to experience this wondrous gift of God, the Prince of Peace.
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Know of my best wishes and prayers for you and your family during this Christmas season and throughout the coming New Year.
In Christ,
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13) Tire Tracks in the d’Arc |
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Today, the first Sunday after Christmas, we celebrate the feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. God chose to come among us, not as a lone ranger, but instead placing Himself within the nurturing and loving context of a human family. By so doing, God signaled to mankind that of all human communities, the family is to be regarded with the highest dignity and that public authority has an obligation to recognize and protect it. The family is the foundation of a well-formed society because it is the natural environment of the well-formed child, who participates in and perpetuates that society as they grow into an adult. When the institution of the family is torn down, the fabric of society begins to come unstitched and falls apart at the seams. Between 1960 and 2016, the percentage of children living in families with two parents fell from 88 to 69.
Growing-up in England, with two siblings, I always considered my immediate family of five a “big” family. Most of my friends seemed to have just one sibling.
Someone in my family always seemed to be eating something different to everyone else. My mom would always say, “I can’t buy for five. It has to be either four or six people. Nothing is packaged for 5!” My parents both have just one sibling each. I have two aunts. Each of those aunts had just two children. So, I have just four cousins. My dad’s parents had both passed away by the time he was 12 or 13 years old, so I only knew one set of grandparents. When I added up my entire extended family members a few years ago, the number totaled only about 20. Now cousins and siblings have children, so extending- out, there are a handful more … about 25 in all! Still, I recognize that I was very blessed to be raised in a traditional family. I recall at the age of 11 one of my classmates coming to school with a new last name after his mother had remarried. I remember finding this so odd.
But as we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family, we take the opportunity also to recognize the many families and extended families, who often, despite very difficult circumstances, pour themselves into creating a cohesive family that might not exactly model the Holy Family. There are so many loving parents who, regardless of separation from a spouse or divorce, have maintained wonderful and nurturing family environments in which to raise their children; balancing work responsibilities with being present to their children. We honor you for your dedication. There are many grandparents and extended families who step-in to help raise children, after a family tragedy or when one spouse or the other is called away for an extended period, such as military service.
None of these circumstances are easy. We give thanks for the stability and strength and love you provide for your children. They are God’s precious gift and whatever circumstances may have formed the family, it honors God by its nurturing of the child.
Of the Holy Family, St. Therese of Lisieux once said: “What does me a lot of good when I think of the Holy Family is to imagine a life that was very ordinary. It wasn’t everything that they have told us or imagined. For example, that the child Jesus, after having formed some birds out of clay, breathed upon them and gave them life. Ah! No! Little Jesus didn’t perform useless miracles like that, even to please His Mother.
Why weren’t they transported into Egypt by a miracle which would have been necessary and so easy for God? In the twinkling of an eye, they could have been brought there. No, everything in their life was done just as in our own. How many troubles, disappointments! How many times did others make complaints to good St. Joseph! How many times did they refuse to pay him for his work! Oh! How astonished we would be if we only knew how much they had to suffer!”
In the Holy Family, it is intended that we see a reflection of our God – a community based on a relationship of love: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In the Holy Family, too, we should see a reflection of our own families – a family that knew suffering and struggle. Being the “Holy Family” did not exclude them from suffering. There has been so much suffering for so many these almost two years. We remember particularly as we close out 2021, those members of our families and our community we have since handed over to the Lord before reaching this coming New Year. We hold them dear and they remain intimately connected to the heart of our families – those to whom we are thankful for the ways they helped to form us.
I first got a sense of how my family was not a “big family” when I joined the Catholic Church, which was here in Michigan back in 2006. By then I had begun to meet more Catholic families. Some of you may have recently seen a story in the Free Press about a family that has 14 boys and just had a baby girl. I know their extended family and that their mom’s brother also has 10 children, all boys! One of my priest friends is one of eight children. He claims to be a middle child, “the middle of eight,” and I frequently have to remind him that that’s not possible. Initially, his parents had been unable to conceive. They concluded that God may be calling them to be adoptive parents and so they went through the process and adopted a son. Maybe their discernment was correct on that occasion, but God wasn’t done with them yet. Maybe it was that act of faith in God’s Providence for the nature of their family, but shortly after adopting, they became pregnant and had 7 more children of their own. In reality, have eight children meant sacrifices? I’m sure it has, but do they see it that way? I’m sure they don’t. Having spent much time with them, the love and affection for each other is obvious.
It’s fun to spend time with them – the house is always full and loud and busy. My friend tells me he eats fast because he and his siblings learned they had to! Or else someone else would eat it for them! The children are all out of the house now and several are married with children of their own. One is a priest, two are in the military. It’s just beautiful to see the unity of the family when they get together. They started on a solid base, a solid foundation, and it worked.
But the foundation was poured with faith. That’s the essential ingredient to building a family as God intended it to be. Scripture and sociology both point to the advantages and the intent of the family consisting of a husband, a wife and their children, but no matter the people or the number, the essential person is God. God needs to be the Father-figure around whom our families are built. He is the stable rock we can all return home to. Any family with God at the center will be a blessing to itself and to the community.
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You are in my prayers this week.
Fr. Andrew
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14) Words on the Word: December 26, 2021 - Family First
Much has been written about the so-called “cancel culture,” in which people are encouraged to turn away from people, places or things that may have unwarranted power over them.
Setting aside the politics or merits of that movement, it’s worth noting today that some of the thought behind that dynamic now seems to be working its way into the family setting.
An opinion piece in the Detroit Free Press a few weeks ago, written by a psychoanalyst and author, noted that some adults are now starting to “cancel” parents that they perceive to be – or to have been in the past – abusive of their relative power.
The author is quick to caution her patients, and readers overall, against rushing to do so.
“What I see in my practice are cases of family conflict mismanaged, power dynamics inverted rather than negotiated,” she writes. “I see scenarios with no winners, only isolated humans who long to be known and feel safe in the presence of the other.”
Sobering words, to be sure. Are there legitimate instances where parents are abusive in one way or another? Of course, but it’s also true, as we hear in today’s first reading from Sirach, that “God sets a father in honor over his children; a mother’s authority he confirms over her sons. Whoever honors his father atones for sins, and preserves himself from them.”
What all of us, imperfect as we are, should strive to create in our families is an environment of mutual respect.
“Put on, as God’s chosen ones … heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another,” St. Paul writes in today’s second reading to the Colossians. “If one has a grievance against another, as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do.”
© 2021, Words on the Word
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15) 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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16) 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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18) RSV Study through Ascension Health |
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19) 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 27):
7:00 AM - Mass
Tuesday (December 28):
7:00 AM - Mass
Wednesday (December 29):
7:00 AM - Mass
12:00 PM - Funeral for Lee Fallieres
Thursday (December 30):
7:00 AM - Mass
7:00 PM - Holy Hour (Silent Holy Hour)
Friday (December 31):
7:00 AM - Mass
Saturday (January 1, 2022):
10:00 AM - Mass for New Year's Day (NOT a Holy Day of Obligation this year)
Sunday (January 2):
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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20) SJA's Bulletin for Christmas Weekend 2021 |
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Click on the image below
to download a copy of our
Christmas Bulletin
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21) 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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