Week of February 18, 2024

1) At His Feet: Women in Scripture - Monday, February 19

2) Confession Opportunities During Lent

During the season of Lent, we have scheduled the following confession opportunities:

Tuesdays: 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM

Wednesdays: 4:30 PM - 5:50 PM

Saturdays: 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

The Sacrament is celebrated in the Sr. Carol Center; signs are posted in the Gathering Place with further directions.

There will also be two communal penance services in the SERF Vicariate. These are communal penance services with individual confession. These have been scheduled for:

Wednesday, March 20 at 1 pm at Our Lady of Hope

Monday, March 25 at 7 pm at St. Joan of Arc

As we have mentioned at the weekend masses, don't worry if you've forgotten the prayers or how to go to confession because we will guide you through it. And, it doesn't matter how long it has been since you've last gone to confession. Just come and experience the Lord's awesome gift of mercy!

From Ascension Presents: Confession is a place of never-ending mercy and forgiveness, and is one of the most beautiful parts of our Catholic faith. But for many, it can also be a very daunting experience, especially if it’s been a long time since your last confession. Whether it’s the first time you’ve gone in a year, or it’s the first time you’ve gone in your life, God is ready and willing to forgive your sins. All we have to do is let him into our hearts.

In the following video, Fr. Mike Schmitz explains how to approach going to confession for the first time in a long time.

3) Lenten Challenge

HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENS AT MASS?

There are things the priest does, the things each one of us does, and the things we do as a community. 

And then, there is what God does, what he really does… 

Starting on Ash Wednesday and throughout Lent, join us for a daily trivia game to dive deeper into the Mass — turning learning into an adventure!

Join the challenge, play the daily trivia, and explore the Mass together!

4) Six Lenten Reads to Transform Your 40 Days

By Jane Scharl of Unleash the Gospel

The holy season of Lent runs from Ash Wednesday until Maundy Thursday—40 days, or approximately six weeks, of fasting, prayer and almsgiving. Lent is a time to meditate on the frailty of the human condition, on our sin and our need for redemption and on the incredible love God showed in sending his son Jesus to die for us.

Even though Lent begins with the words “dust you are and to dust you shall return,” it is a season of transformation, one in which we contemplate our own death—both the spiritual death of bondage to sin and the physical death awaiting us all—in preparation for the stunning reversal coming on Easter, when the death of Christ becomes the instrument of our eternal salvation.

Here are six readings—ranging from poems to fairy tales to devotional literature—to help guide you through the season. They are organized here to build on each other, but of course, feel free to choose one or two instead of tackling all six.

Click HERE to Read More

5) Ascension's Bible and Catechism App

6) Holy Hour on Thursdays

7) Stations of the Cross During Lent

Please join us every Friday during Lent at 7:00 PM in Church as we pray the Stations of the Cross.

In an online article by Caroline Harvey entitled, "Stations of the Cross: A Lenten Tradition of Love," she writes, "There are certain Lenten practices that are so customary or traditional that without them Lent would not be Lent. This is the same for most holidays and celebrations—what is Christmas without a Christmas tree or Nativity scene, or a birthday with a cake, candles and singing? With Lent, Catholics are used to the announcements after Mass about Friday fish fries, reconciliation services, and the praying of the Stations of the Cross.

Traditions can become so commonplace, so normal, that we may not even know why we are doing them. Why do we have a Christmas tree? Why do we use candles to show how old someone is on their birthday? Or, why do we watch the priest or deacon walk around the church as we kneel and stand during the Stations of the Cross? There is nothing wrong with upholding traditions for the sake of tradition; there is something dignified about respecting the actions and words that have been handed down to the current generations from generations past. However, with every tradition, there comes a moment when the person partaking in it recognizes the importance of the actions and the words, more than just for the sake of ancient repetition. This “coming of age”, so to speak, allows the person to enter into the mystery of the tradition and participate in it in a way that transcends time and space."

Read More by Clicking HERE

8) This Sunday's Readings: February 18, 2024 - The First Sunday of Lent

9) Sunday Reflections by Jeff Cavins

In this week’s Encountering the Word video for the First Sunday of Lent, Jeff Cavins helps us enter into Lent with not just faith in what Jesus taught, but a genuine trust in Jesus the person.

The readings are:

First Reading: Genesis 9:8-15

Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 25:4-5, 6-7, 8-9

Second Reading: 1 Peter 3:18-22

Verse Before the Gospel: Matthew 4:4B

Gospel: Mark 1:12-15

10) Bishop Barron's Sunday Sermon

Are Your Soul and Body at War?



Friends, we come now to the holy season of Lent. The Gospel for this First Sunday of Lent is Mark’s laconic version of the temptation of Jesus in the desert. Mark does not give us the details we find in Matthew and Luke, but we do hear this mysterious observation: “He was among wild beasts, and the angels ministered to him.” We are given here a kind of icon of the union of the spiritual and the material, the soul and the body, in the human being—both the glory and the agony of human life. And a really good way to pray through Lent is reflecting on our own struggles in light of that icon.

11) Grow+Go

12) Giving to SJA:

I'm truly grateful for all of your support of SJA. 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.

13) This Week's Edition of TALLER Tales

Some Advice from a Parishioner: At least once a year I publish the text from an anonymous letter I received in 2005 shortly after the First Sunday of Lent. The scripture readings each First Sunday of Lent tell the story of Jesus being led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by Satan. The letter offers timeless advice, and it warrants being reprinted frequently. Usually, I toss anonymous letters right away, but this one escaped that fatal ending. By God’s grace, this letter has touched the hearts of many people at SJA and beyond (you would be amazed how many times I’m asked for a copy of it). I encourage you to keep a copy AND to pass a copy around to your family and friends. If you want a copy of the letter, I have posted a PDF copy of it on the homepage of our parish website.

“Fr. Bugarin, I was very moved by your homily on Sunday, February 13, 2005, regarding Hell, Satan, and the response of faithful people to temptation. I am the father of an adult son and daughter, and it pains me to think of the mistakes my wife and I made in raising our children. We thought we had a clever, well thought out solution to the dangers and evils of the world, but instead we were victims of our over estimation of our own perceived abilities and power. In so doing we neglected the saving power and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the intercessory power of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

“Knowing the evils and temptations of our world, my wife and I sought to shield our children through endless activity. Like many other parents, we got our son involved in hockey and our daughter in dance; our goal was to keep our children busy and thus not give them a chance to get in trouble. However, I now realize that in engaging in a futile attempt to shield our children from battle with the Devil we were instead merely failing to equip our children for their inevitable battles with Satan. We attempted a human solution to a spiritual problem, and our human limitations and inadequacies resulted in failure. We failed to fill our children with Christ, and instead left a vacuum too easily exploited by Satan.

“In focusing our children on endless activity we created selfish, self-centered children. By failing to involve them in Catholic charitable works we taught them to believe they were the centers of their own universes. We replaced rosaries, adoration and bible study with ice time, games and recitals. We missed Sunday masses for tournaments and catechism for performances, and we rationalized it by asserting that it was ‘for the best.’ How wrong we were.

“Today, both of our children have left the Church. Our daughter is living with a man and has had an abortion; our son has experimented with drugs and regards the Church with contempt and cynicism. Our first priority should have been to pass on the faith and to teach trust in the Lord; instead, we relied on our human intellect and put our faith in schemes of this world.

“If I could only go back in time I’d make every Sunday mass as a family, lead my family in a weekly rosary, take my children to pray in front of an abortion clinic, lead them in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament and help them volunteer at a soup kitchen. For despite our best efforts and intentions there still were times my children were alone and lonely, tired and weak, hungry and desirous. I failed to anticipate and prepare my children for those inevitable times of temptation, and the Devil had been patiently waiting.

“Father, please print my letter in the church paper. If it will serve as a warning to at least one family it may help them to avoid the pain and regret my wife and I have experienced. An Anonymous St. Joan of Arc Parishioner.”

The Spiritual Consequences of Living a Hurried, Busy Life (Part THREE): This is a continuation of my reflection on and quoting from an article written by Frank Powell, entitled, “7 Spiritual Consequences of Living a Hurried, Busy Life.”

Last week, I reflected on the first of the seven spiritual consequences mentioned in the article. Mr. Powell’s first point was that a hurried life destroys your relationship with God. Think about it; the devil loves it when we live hurried, busy lives because it takes our attention off God and destroys our relationship with Him. The devil LOVES busyness.

The second spiritual consequence mentioned in Mr. Powell’s article is “A hurried life feeds ‘approval addiction.’”

“When your life moves at a hurried pace, you seek validation and approval in a hurried way. This explains why social media resonates with so many people. The Instagram photos and Facebook posts give you instant validation. No need to invest in relationships where people actually know you. That’s time-consuming. Our culture is ‘in bed’ with large followings and spotlights. The short-term result is validation. But the long-term consequences are burnout, loneliness and over-commitment.”

As we all know, crowds are fickle. As Mr. Powell points out in his article, people “friend” you on Facebook until you say something controversial or something they don’t like. Election cycle time (like this year) is the worst, and it’s amazing how many friendships are suddenly on rocky ground because of what happens or is said on Facebook or other social media platforms! This is also true in Church ministry. People ‘like’ an individual church or parish until they don’t like an individual or church philosophy or teaching. They “unfriend” it by avoiding that priest/pastor, or they go to another church or even switch denominations.

As Mr. Powell notes, “Jesus never catered to the crowds. He often retreated from crowds to be alone. He gave his most controversial sermons when the largest crowds gathered around him. In fact, on one occasion in John 6, Jesus said something so controversial that many of his disciples left and never followed him again…. We love the instant validation from a packed auditorium on Sunday morning. But Jesus didn’t care about Facebook likes or packed auditoriums. Jesus knew you couldn’t point a crowd to God if you needed their approval…. You can’t preach the difficult message of self-denial if you attract people on the basis of self-interest. You can’t embrace the scandalous, radical life of Jesus if you need the approval of others. Jesus knew this. That’s why he disengaged from the crowds. He wanted to be driven by God’s desires, not the crowd’s demands.”

Here’s an essential question: Are YOU driven by God’s desires, or do you cater to the crowd’s demands? This week, focus on God’s desires for you, not the crowd’s demands. In the end, remember that God is the only one who offers you salvation and eternal life … the “crowds” can never do this!

Next week: A hurried life decreases your capacity to love others.

Enjoy the week. Know of my prayers! Happy Lent!

In Christ,

14) Along the Way with Father Adam

A Beginning Lent Again

Lent began just a few days ago on Ash Wednesday and, let’s be honest, I’ve probably already faltered with my Lenten promises. It’s possible that you have too? But… it’s never too late to begin again. Whether we falter in the first week or more than half way through we find ourselves breaking those resolutions.

Even if you’ve been giving something up for Lent for many years, it’s easy to find yourself struggling as time goes by. When that leads to breaking your Lenten promise, you might feel discouraged or that you’ve failed in your relationship with God. What should you do?

Venerable Bruno Lanteri, founder of the religious congregation of the Oblates of the Virgin Mary, reminds us that God’s love and mercy allow us to begin again. By recommitting to our Lenten sacrifice, we humbly admit our shortcomings and ask Him to strengthen us. Venerable Bruno wrote, “If I should fall even a thousand times a day, a thousand times, with peaceful repentance, I will say immediately, Nunc Coepi [Now I begin].”

Throughout Lent, prayer, fasting, almsgiving and a personal sacrifice can all help you grow closer to God and your neighbor. They help make your love for God as real as for someone standing next to you.

When you pick a thing to give up for Lent, you’re making a personal sacrifice as a sort of spiritual exercise to help you deepen your relationship with Jesus Christ. Giving something up for Lent, combined with prayer and almsgiving, can be a labor of love rather than one of discouragement—even when you think you’ve “messed up.”

Did you give something up for Lent and haven’t been able to follow through? It’s not uncommon to pick a sacrifice that’s more than you can handle, and it’s especially challenging when you feel like it’s a burden you need to carry all alone.

In this situation, call on the words of Venerable Bruno, who wrote that “First desires are generally strong and hasty, we must guard against coming to ruin on account of them.” We can easily get discouraged and be tempted to abandon the good we set out to do, but “in this regard one must not seek to fly if one does not have wings.”

Put simply, breaking your Lenten promise like sneaking a piece of chocolate that you swore to give up is not the end. Practicing humility and honesty about yourself before God is also a way to strengthen your relationship with Him.

The discipline of Lent makes us depend more on God, not on ourselves. Venerable Bruno reminds us that “Holiness does not consist in never failing, but in rising immediately, recognizing our weakness and asking God’s forgiveness, and in doing this with peace of heart, without letting ourselves be troubled.”

God’s closeness and mercy are what give us the strength to get up and make a new beginning. Rather than finding a new thing to give up for Lent, stick to what you’re already doing—but with love rather than thoughtlessly. 

Perhaps make some simple adjustments, like slowing down your meals, thanking God and savoring the food you’re eating. Or putting down your phone and being present in the moment. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to come out of Lent more connected to God and one another? That would be a great victory, and something worth carrying over into Easter and beyond.

Venerable Bruno advises us, “Do not let yourself be troubled by anything, not even by your own failings, taking care to overcome them immediately by an act of love of God.” In other words, if giving something up for Lent is starting to go sideways, remember that our failings, no matter how big or small, can become a place where we meet God. In turn, God touches us with his healing strength.

Don’t let Lent turn into a period where you hide from God, ashamed of your struggles with prayer, fasting or almsgiving. You can always begin again and overcome spiritual discouragement. After all, Lent is meant to show us how close God comes to us, no matter what. It teaches us to ask and offer forgiveness, and to discover the unfailing power and joy of mercy. Lent doesn’t make us heroes. It makes us friends—friends of God and one another.

 I pray you have a blessed (and penitential) Lent, always remembering the mercy of God.

Blessings!

Fr. Adam

anowak@sjascs.org

15) Ascension Presents: Father Mike Schmitz

The Symptoms of Vanity (and the Surprising Cure)

“Vanity of vanities! All is vanity!” Okay maybe not everything, but probably more than you thought.

Vanity isn’t just looking the mirror too much (although it could be). Vanity isn’t just too much plastic surgery (although it could be). Vanity is “the inordinate preoccupation with what other people think.”

Fr. Mike suggests we look at our lives a little more closely with this new definition—and to look at Jesus for the solution.

16) Words on the Word: February 18, 2024 - Bowing Upwards  

It doesn’t take a meteorologist to know that when it rains, it pours. 

And lately, when it pours around here, it really, really, pours.

Local news outlets reported extensively a few weeks ago on how bad things got when a midwinter storm produced a whole lot of rain.

Particularly close to home, the Clinton River near Mt. Clemens was expected to have crested at more than a foot above normal flood stage, according to a story in The Detroit News. In Wayne County meanwhile, the Rouge River was expected to exceed its flood stage by two feet.

The rain was the biggest part of the problem, according to a meteorologist quoted in the story, but the entire situation was exacerbated by snowpack and snowmelt.

It’s a considerable threat, to be sure, especially for those who live in particularly vulnerable areas.

But the good news is that the entire situation can serve as a very tangible reminder not only of the fact that we’re in God’s very capable hands when it comes to the vagaries of nature, but also that God has promised he has a larger, more important reality in mind for his people.

“This is the sign that I am giving for all ages to come, of the covenant between me and you and every living creature with you,” God says in today’s first reading from Genesis. “I set my bow in the clouds to serve as a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 

“When I bring clouds over the earth, and the bow appears in the clouds, I will recall the covenant I have made between me and you and all living beings, so that the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all mortal beings.”

It doesn’t mean there won’t be rain, but the sun will always shine again.

© 2024 Words on the Word

17) This WEEK on FORMED:

18) 52 Stories: Good News from Spirit Juice Studios

Prepare to be Inspired

Spirit Juice Studios is blessed to work with countless Catholic organizations, dioceses, parishes, and schools. We get to help them tell their powerful stories about all the good stuff that is happening within the Church. Sign up for 52 Stories so we can share them with you! You’ll meet the unsung heroes of the Catholic Church, discover the stories of holy women and men around the world, and witness miraculous moments of God’s grace in everyday life.

In a world full of bad news, these stories will give you 52 reasons to believe that God is working through the Catholic faith to transform lives through His love and mercy. Sign up today!

A Super Bowl Champion's Faith Journey

Four years ago, Spirit Juice Studios had the privilege of producing this short film with the Knights of Columbus on Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker. In the film, he details the deepening of his Catholic faith during his college years and how it continues to guide him today as a Super Bowl champion and a member of the Knights of Columbus.

19) Hallow App:

20) Holy Trinity Apostolate Lenten Symposium

21) Trivia Night to Benefit Blessings in a Backpack

22) Mass Intentions for the Week:

Monday, February 19, 2024, Lenten Weekday (Purple)

7:00 am, For the deceased members of the Calisi Family who died in the month of February

Tuesday, February 20, 2024, Lenten Weekday (Purple)

7:00 am, A Special Intention for Joe Schotthoefer

Wednesday February 21, 2024, Lenten Weekday; Saint Peter Damian, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Purple)

7:00 am, John, Lucy, Tom and John Pellerito,

6:00 pm, Thomas Amori

Thursday, February 22, 2024, The Chair of Saint Peter the Apostle (White)

7:00 am, Marian Gorde

Friday, February 23, 2024, Lenten Weekday; Saint Polycarp, Bishop and Martyr (Purple)

7:00 am, A Special Intention for the Benedis Family

Saturday, February 24, 2024, Vigil for the Second Sunday of Lent (Purple)

4:00 pm, Grace & Sam Valenti, the deceased members of the Krolikowski Family, George Rupinski, Joes Basiricio, Rosemary Mieras, Paula Nagel, Robert Joseph Pierce, Robert Fannon, Pat Hirschberg, Pam Michaels, George Lombardi, Janice Reeb, Bonnie Batche, Michael Pore, and Special Intentions for the Delores Fikany, J. Champine Family, the Thomas Family, for Alison Reslow, Pam Haisenleder, Lorraine Jonas, and Linda Frank.

6:00 pm, Virginia Mette

Sunday, February 25, 2024, The Second Sunday of Lent (Purple)

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

10:00 am, Michael Forrester

12:00 pm, Joseph Paluzzi Jr., George J. Bugarin, Terry Manwell, Michael & Ann Beaupre, Shirley Beaupre, Douglas Beaupre, Doris Beaupre and Special Intentions for Nick, Ann Marie, Joanna and Lainey Cantrell, Alison Reslow, Pam Haisenleder, Lorraine Jonas, and Linda Frank.

23) This Week on St. Joan of Arc LIVE:

This week's LIVE Stream

Schedule at St. Joan of Arc:

Monday (February 19)

7:00 AM - Mass

Tuesday (February 20):

7:00 AM - Mass

8:30 AM - School Mass

Wednesday (February 21):

7:00 AM - Mass

6:00 PM - Mass

Thursday (February 22):

7:00 AM - Mass

7:00 PM - Holy Hour

Friday (February 23):

7:00 AM - Mass

7:00 PM - Stations of the Cross

Saturday (February 24):

10:00 AM - Funeral for Elizabeth Susan Miller (Read Obituary HERE)

12:30 PM - Baptism of London Mae Seiderling

4:00 PM - Mass

6:00 PM - Mass

Sunday (February 25):

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 cannot 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.

24) SJA's Latest Parish Bulletin

Click on the image below

to download a copy of the bulletin

for February 18, 2024

25) Weekly Bulletin Mailing List

26) Detroit Catholic