Join us for a 33-day consecration to Jesus through Mary - with the 33 Days to Morning Glory book and a weekly online retreat. Sign up online by clicking the button below.

Books will be available at the parish center (they are in now) or can be mailed. The books cost $15. Once you sign up, you will be provided a link with the Zoom information.

You begin the 33 days on January 8th for a February 11th consecration on the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes.

Information and registration can be found on the SJA website.

SJA is moderating a Facebook group for our parishioners and friends embarking on the Catechism in a Year podcast with Fr. Mike Schmitz and Ascension Press.

You can find the link to join on the SJA Facebook page or click the button below. We already have 90+ participants!

We know the Catechism of the Catholic Church is a powerful resource for understanding Church teachings, Scripture, and Tradition. Something we don’t often hear about is the absolute beauty of this work.

Bobby and Jackie Angel discuss why they love the Catechism and the poetic elements that unveil the Catholic Faith. They tell us why we should join them in listening to The Catechism in a Year podcast.

Our CSA goal this year is $211,447. Anything raised above the goal will return to the parish, while any shortfalls must be covered by the parish. Thus, your support is greatly needed and appreciated.

You can also easily give by visiting: sja.aodcsa.org or by clicking on the button below.

I am grateful to those who have already contributed to CSA 2022. As of today, we have $208,237 in pledges and gifts toward our $211,447 goal ($208,237 has been paid thus far toward our total pledged amount). This amount represents gifts from 619 families (we have 3,339 families registered). We have thus achieved 98% of our goal!

In this week’s Encountering the Word video, Jeff Cavins draws our attention to the Epiphany of the Lord and the universal significance of this wonderful celebration. The readings for The Epiphany of the Lord are:

First Reading: Isaiah 60:1-6

Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 72:1-2, 7-8, 10-11, 12-13

Second Reading: Ephesians 3:2-3A, 5-6

Alleluia: Matthew 2:2

Gospel: Matthew 2:1-12

Friends, we come today to the Feast of the Epiphany. The word “epiphany” comes from the Greek meaning “intense appearance.” It is something that not only gets our attention but also reveals something of enormous significance. For the wise men of course, it was first the star; but the real epiphany was the baby King. We should be attentive in a similar way to these moments of breakthrough that speak to us of God—and we should respond.

CHRISTMAS THANKS: I wish to extend my appreciation and thanks to all who helped with the Christmas liturgies and environment this year. The Church and the Sr. Carol Center looked AWESOME!

A ton of people helped, but I would like to single out a few individuals who went above and beyond to make it all so memorable for all of us!

First, I would like to thank the Markielewicz family, who not only took care of handling all the lights outside but were also responsible for the Christmas trees, wreaths, and other decorations inside the Church and Sr. Carol Center. Pat, Sandy, Abbie, and Zach spent countless hours as a family (often in the frigid cold) to get everything done for us! In addition, Letitia Kaiser and Joanne Kaiser helped fluff all the wreathes and bows on the night all that stuff was going into place.

I’m grateful to Fr. Rich, Dina Ciaffone, Anne Melise, and her adorable mother, Ilona Higgins, for all their work organizing and placing the poinsettias that decorated the Church and Sr. Carol Center. And then to Anne and Ilona, who painstakingly tend all our plants and flowers in Church year-round.

I’m grateful to those who contributed to the flower collection. People always ask where we get our poinsettias, plants, and flowers throughout the year. We get them from Canton Floral Gardens in Canon.

I’m grateful to Charlie Kaiser, who helped decorate the Athletic Field with lights and inflatables, which, unfortunately, didn’t stand a chance with those gale-force winds before Christmas. We tried. But we already have ideas for next year. Father Andrew will be building a few things over the summer to help us with our ideas (hint, hint).

I’m grateful to Catherine Thomas Trudell, Kristine Hass, Eleonore Ellero-Groth, the Children’s Choir, the Adult Choir, and all the musicians and accompanists who assisted with all the music during the Christmas season. The music was phenomenal and truly enhanced our Christmas liturgies!

I’m grateful to Kristine Hass, Mary Garofalo, Catherine Thomas Trudell, the parents, and, most especially, the little angels who participated in our O Holy Night children’s program and the Children’s choir on Christmas Eve. Watching the little ones sing or take part in retelling the story of Christ’s birth brings great warmth to any heart!

I’m grateful to Amy Pattie, Charlie Kaiser, our teachers, and administrators for all they did to help our school children keep focused on Christ as the reason for the season. In addition, I’m grateful to Lisa Mangan, who led our school Christmas Music Program, Ron Malabed who coordinated the Advanced Band Christmas Program, and all the students who participated in this great annual tradition at SJA School.

I’m grateful to Maria and Larry Krzesowski, Debbie Bigham, and Jeanne Van Egmond for all their work in making the annual Memorial Tree a reality. Maria and Debbie spend countless hours machine embroidering the many ornaments that decorate the annual memorial tree to honor those who have gone home to the Lord over the past year. Rachel Gerard and Jeanne Van Egmond ensure all the names and dates are super accurate before and after the ornaments are made.

I’m grateful to Dina Ciaffone, Vern Dave, John Benoit, and Pete Ciaravino for their extraordinary work in getting the outdoor Nativity set into place and for ensuring the Church and Sr. Carol Center are spotless for all of our Christmas liturgies. So many behind-the-scenes and last-minute requests are made of them, and I’m grateful for all they do to get it done!

I’m grateful to Mary Garofalo and her team, who helped in the Kitchen and ensured all our Advent and Christmas receptions and gatherings were extra special. We have plenty of additional gatherings this time of year on top of our regular events and funeral luncheons.

I’m grateful to Dina Ciaffone, Rachel Gerard, Jackie Bugarin-Scheuer, Kathy Kalich, and Mary Pat Brennan for their hard work and efforts in taking care of the flurry of requests that came through the Parish Center during Advent and especially during the days leading up to Christmas. It’s hard to keep track of the comings and goings of people (and boxes) and all the requests, but they do a phenomenal job and always do it with warm hearts and great smiles.

I’m grateful to all those who participated in the Giving Tree Project or helped sponsor a family for Christmas. Because of your generosity, we raised around $21,000 that was then used to purchase gifts or gift cards for Father Murray Nursing Center, Nativity of the Lord Church, St. Raymond Church, We Care Foster Care, St. Mary Center in Centerline, the Orchards of Roseville Senior Living Facility, the Orchards of Harper Woods Senior Living Facility and Munger Elementary School in Detroit. On top of these groups, we also adopted three families for Christmas. I want to single out our SJA 6th graders, who bought $350 in gift cards from the money they raised wrapping gifts.

I’m grateful to my team of family members who, before our Christmas Eve dinner, helped place all those tea lights outside along the sidewalks during the 6 PM mass. We’ve done this now for three years in a row. Despite the sub-zero windchills on Christmas Eve, they placed close to 2,000 tea lights outside. And those little tea lights were still going strong on January 2!

I’m grateful to Kristine Hass and Dina Ciaffone for all their hard work and dedication in creating and editing the special Christmas edition of the bulletin. Of course, creating all that content isn’t so easy … but it is fun!

Our liturgies were prayerful and beautiful and led us to a deeper relationship with the Lord; it took a lot of people working together to make it all happen. It was another extraordinarily beautiful Christmas at SJA! THANK YOU!

Now, of course, and because we are SJA, there were plenty of behind-the-scenes funny moments, blunders, and issues. Just wait … I probably have enough content from my perspective to fill TALLer Tales for the rest of January. Stay tuned.

New Year: 2023 is upon us. How shall we approach it? So many of us look for a New Year’s Resolution to take on some way in which we can improve ourselves. I noticed in the news that a man from the UK set upon his New Year’s Resolution on January 1, 2022, and successfully completed it on December 31st. He determined that his resolution would be to run a complete marathon….. EVERY DAY OF THE YEAR!! And he did. He was successful in completing his resolution, and in the process raised £1 million ($1.21 million) for a cancer charity.

Since that one has already been taken, I’m going to take on something different, I think.

Before seminary I practiced Kung Fu for a few years. It was a mental as well as a physical discipline. I recall the teacher talking one day about the problem with our New Year’s Resolutions, that it isn’t so much in the resolutions being wrong, but our decision-making. We make a good decision for good reasons, but then we allow ourselves too much latitude when maybe we’re not having a great day.

It might be day two or day thirty-two. It might be the 4th month or the 7th month. But we allow ourselves to make a second decision, ignoring that the first one was more carefully considered and made after thought and reflection and with good intention and motivation.

The first decision to do that thing is the better one. But the second decision is the easier one to make because it generally means breaking the resolution and giving ourselves a break. But the second decision only provides a temporary reprieve, and ultimately leaves us feeling defeated once again.

No two people enter into the new year with exactly the same emotions. Some enter with fear and reluctance while others enter with optimism and enthusiasm.

None of us can look into the future, for God in his great mercy and wisdom has kept the future veiled from our eyes. And so we must make our entrance into 2023 in faith. St. Paul stated, ”For we walk by faith, not by sight”

(2 Corinthians 5:7).

There must have been some interesting camel-back conversations on the journey the Magi made to Bethlehem. That would have been a torturous trip over the course of several months, following a star, not knowing exactly where it would lead them or what they would find. But they pressed-on.

I’m sure Mary and Joseph had some interesting conversations on their way to Bethlehem and later, most unexpectedly, as they fled for their lives and the life of their son, Jesus, heading for Egypt. It was foreign to them, with a different language and culture and without the support of friends and family. It was not what they were expecting, but they were stepping-out in faith and following the Lord’s Will.

In seminary I used to choose a scripture passage, usually just a verse or two, to focus on each year and haven’t really done that in several years, but I think I might try to do that this year and I would encourage you to think about doing the same. Choose a passage and write it out and place it in a prominent place where you will see it daily. Then as you ponder it, see how it applies to you throughout the year – scripture is the living Word of God and always has something new to teach us.

As we go into this year, looking to the future will be governed by the way we look at the present and continuing to place our every moment in God’s hands.

Looking around us today we must not allow the failures of the past to defeat us in living a faith-filled life in the here and now. Neither must we allow the fear of the future to rob us of contentment today. The prayer of serenity should express our attitude: “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; the courage to change the things I can; and the wisdom to know the difference.” It’s a prayer of Abandonment to the Will of God.

Similarly, we must not allow our successes of the past to allow us to fall into complacency and trick us into thinking we can consider God an accessory to our lives. Rather that when life is going well for us, it is God who is maintaining us in that grace and we must be thankful and give thanks to God for this grace.

Today is all we have. The past is gone. The future never comes because it is always made up of todays. Thus, to insure that all of our todays are worthwhile we must be people of faith. The writer of Proverbs admonishes us: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6).

There are endless resolutions we can choose, and the old standbys of course. But consider choosing one that will draw you closer to the Lord by next New Year’s Eve. The Lord will bless any deliberate step toward Him.

Don’t try to climb the mountain in one step. But maybe you can read the readings before mass each Sunday if you don’t already. It can make a huge difference to your understanding of what God is saying. Maybe choose to pray with your spouse every night or every morning. Maybe decide to be attentive to the stirrings of the conscience and come to confession more regularly, rather than just waiting until Lent or Advent. Try the Catechism in a Year or Bible in a Year programs. Resolve to make sure you make it to Mass all 52 Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation this year. Maybe try to make it to daily Mass whenever you are able.

Even if 2023 is unexpected, even if it offers surprises and challenges, as it surely will, and even if it isn’t the year we hoped for, it will no doubt come with its share of joys and blessings too.

Psalm 118 reminds us: “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118:24).

adawson@sjascs.org 

“If not everyone is going to heaven, then I don’t want to be there.” Is this sentiment honorable? Or misguided? Fr. Mike addresses the mystery of heaven and hell and gets to the core of what it means to be with God… or without him.

Local basketball fans know this was supposed to have been an exciting year for the Detroit Pistons, in which a number of loose ends were projected to start coming together.

Alas, pro sports, like so many other things in life, don’t always go according to the clipboard plan.

It was particularly gratifying then, when the team’s owner made headlines a few weeks ago by announcing a $350,000 donation to SAY Detroit, a well-known philanthropic organization that helps some of the city’s neediest people with things like shelter, food, medicine and education.

Specifically, a story in The Detroit News noted, the contribution will be used toward a technology and media center.

That’s a very gratifying development and serves as a great reminder for all of us that, even as another Christmas season draws to a close with today’s observance of the Epiphany, there still is much joy and celebration to share, thanks to the birth of the Christ child in the world.

And, even more importantly, as we pause once more to reflect on the blessings that each of us has experienced during this holiday season, we might be reminded that it all pales in comparison to the infinite blessings awaiting us in the Kingdom of heaven.

That, after all, always has been and always will be the reason for the season.

“Then you shall be radiant at what you see, your heart shall throb and overflow, for the riches of the sea shall be emptied out before you, the wealth of nations shall be brought to you,” we hear in today’s first reading from the Prophet Isaiah.

“Caravans of camels shall fill you, dromedaries from Midian and Ephah; all from Sheba shall come bearing gold and frankincense, and proclaiming the praises of the Lord.”

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7:00 a.m., A Special Intention for the Family of Tina Calisi

7:00 a.m., Anna Fazi

7:00 a.m., George J. Bugarin

7:00 a.m., Kenneth A. Smith

7:00 a.m., Joseph Allemon

4:00 p.m., Steve Divirgil, Theresa & Chuck Divirgil, Bonnie Batche, Rose Ferreri, Sophie Rupinski, Mark DeKoekkoek, and a Special Intention for the J. Champine Family

6:00 p.m., A Special Intention for Sally Cabot

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

10:00 a.m., A Special Intention for Aaron Rupp

12:00 p.m., Johnny Spath, Frank Doetsch, Robert Boesiger, Helen Zukoff, Ms. Braveheart, Philomene Wolschlager, and Kathy Meyer

10:00 AM - Funeral for Virginia Vonderwerth (Read Obituary HERE)

Wednesday (January 11):

Thursday (January 12):

Friday (January 13):

Saturday (January 14):

10:00 AM - Funeral for Yolanda Alicandro