Dear Friends in Christ,
Here are a few updates from our parish for the week of March 6, 2022.
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1) Ukraine Relief Efforts |
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If you are interested in supporting the Catholic Church's relief efforts for the people of Ukraine, please click here to donate through our OSV Online Giving Platform. |
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2) A Program on the Shroud of Turin at SJA both In-Person and Online starting TUESDAY |
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The Shroud of Turnin Program can be attended in person in Church AND online at livestream.stjoan.church, on our Roku Channel or on our Facebook Page.
The program will be also available on our on-demand archives after the initial airing so you do not need to watch it on Tuesday nights. Details will be posted on the homepage of our parish website (stjoan.church).
We will be streaming this program as we do our masses so it will be easily accessible from our normal streaming page.
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3) Letter from Archbishop Vigneron regarding the petition drive to include "a right to abortion" in the Michigan Constituion. |
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As you may have heard, Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union are leading a petition drive to include “a right to abortion” in the constitution of the State of Michigan.
We, as Catholics, must stand in opposition to this effort. To that end, Archbishop Vigneron has written a letter to the faithful of the Archdiocese of Detroit in which he affirms that signing such a petition would be active participation in the promotion of abortion and that we must make and maintain a firm commitment to providing alternatives for both mothers and children.
To read the Archbishop's letter, please click the button below.
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4) The Ascension Lenten Companion |
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Do You Know the Real Jesus? | First Week of Lent
The Ascension Lenten Companion
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We all have messy lives. Beautiful relationships and broken ones; joys and sorrows; ups and downs. We relate to each other this way. We can listen to one another through our shared humanity. We share this humanity with Jesus as well.
Jesus is fully divine, yes—but he is fully human. Jesus understands what you go through in this life. He listens to you through his own humanity. How amazing is that? God has a face. You can see him. God has a name. You can call him. And he wants a relationship with you—a human relationship. All we need to do is give him the time it takes to cultivate that relationship.
God wants to give you more. How will you respond this Lent?
Fr. Mark Toups, an experienced spiritual director, leads readers inward to invite the Lord to heal those areas where they need it most. He follows the same format that more than a hundred thousand people enjoyed in Advent with his popular Rejoice! journals. Readers will receive daily guidance as well as supplemental videos, to help enter more deeply into Lent and remain focused throughout the season.
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5) This Sunday's Readings - March 6, 2022 |
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6) Sunday Reflections by Jeff Cavins |
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Jeff Cavins reflects on the readings for the First Sunday of Lent:
First Reading: Deuteronomy 26:4-10
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 91:1-2, 10-11, 12-13, 14-15
Second Reading: Romans 10:8-13
Gospel: Luke 4:1-13
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7) Bishop Barron's Reflection for the 1st Sunday of Lent |
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Friends, we come now to the great and holy season of Lent, a time to get back to spiritual basics. This First Sunday of Lent, we hear Luke’s account of the temptation of Jesus. What Jesus faces in the desert are three classical substitutes for God—three levels of temptation, three types of diversion from the ultimate good. Can we look honestly and directly at those things that will cause us to deviate from the path the Lord has for us? |
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8) Grow+Go for the 1st Sunday of Lent |
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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) 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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10) This Week's Edition of TALLer Tales |
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Driving Ms. Daisy: Shortly after my dad’s death in January 2021, you may remember that Father Rich offered a challenge and a charge to me at the end of a 4 PM Saturday Mass to start taking Fridays off and spend them with my Mom. I’m grateful he planted me firmly in this direction. I have to admit, I’ve been pretty faithful to it. Granted, I usually don’t leave the parish until 11 AM or thereabouts, but it still gives us most of the day to deal with things at the condo, do some errands, and, more importantly, have lunch or dinner together.
Now that the condo renovation project is nearing completion, the number of trips to Floor and Décor, Costco, Home Depot, Lowes, and Shelby Design Center are not as frequent. Oh, I still sneak in some journey to one of the stores mentioned above, but it’s more of a casual shopping experience than rushed. Early on in the renovation project, we would cram in a ton of errands each Friday to meet the barrage of deadlines with the condo. As a result, we would fly in and out of these stores just to keep moving. If I’m not dealing with any immediate deadlines, I enjoy taking my time shopping. Of course, the worst place to rush a shopping experience is at Costco. But then again, as we all know, the longer you’re there, the bigger the bill!
Most Fridays, my Mom and I will meet up at the condo, check-in on things there, and then plot out our strategy for the rest of the day. For the rest of the day, I become her chauffeur … and thus, find myself … driving Ms. Daisy!
This one particular Friday, my Mom had an eye appointment across the street at Metropolitan Eye Center. As a result, she decided to spend the weekend with me. As it was a regular check-up exam, they dilated her eyes. But, even with dilated eyes and donning sunglasses, it didn’t stop my Mom from evaluating my exquisite driving practices that day.
This particular Friday, I was a bit more rushed than usual (who am I kidding, this is a daily occurrence), and was feeling it, so I found myself trying to cut corners and hurrying along to get a ton of stuff done that day. But, as my family and staff will tell you, when I get in one of these moods, it’s better to “move over to the right and let me fly by.” I’m told, my pace and the “thud” of my feet hitting the floor give it away!
As we were driving down Hayes Road toward the condo, I got too close to a car in front of me. My car (which is equipped with all the tech you can imagine) wasn’t giving me a collision alert, but a yellow car icon appeared on my dashboard to let me know I was too close to the car. Before I could even take corrective action, Ms. Daisy spoke up! Yikes, I knew I was in trouble. “You know, you’re awfully close to that car. You should slow down a bit.” I paused a moment and replied, “I don’t think you’re seeing too well; after all, your eyes are dilated, and you’re wearing sunglasses.” Without missing a beat, my Mom came back and said with a smile, “YES, my eyes are dilated, and YES, I’m wearing sunglasses. BUT that’s not preventing me from seeing CLEARLY how close you are to that car. Slow down!” So much for Driving Ms. Daisy. “Yes, Mom!” The little car icon on my dashboard returned to a green color. I was clearly outnumbered and got the message both electronically and from Mom. There was no winning this discussion! As I think about it, I wonder how much she really saw that day!
Led into the Desert: Every year, as I reflect on this weekend’s Gospel, I’m always struck by one line: “Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert ….” Matthew and Luke’s version says “led;” Mark’s version says, “The Spirit drove Jesus into the desert …” Just as the Spirit LED Jesus into the desert, we too find ourselves being led into our own deserts probably more often than we wish. Here we are called to face our temptations and strive to turn our lives and hearts more completely to God. And, just as much as Jesus emerged from the 40 days in the desert and went and proclaimed the Gospel in Galilee, we too are called to emerge from the desert as Easter people ready and willing to proclaim the Gospel to all we meet on our journey.
While many of us have never been in a desert and don’t comprehend the harsh environment it entails, we know that if you remain still, your chances of survival are minimal. In order to survive, you must traverse the desert. You cannot remain still.
During this Lenten season, we enter our own desert(s). Sometimes the deserts we face are frightening and overwhelming, like dealing with a terminal illness or helping a spouse or parent with Alzheimer’s. Some deserts might be the fear of losing a job or health care. Some deserts might be the reality that a college education for our child may no longer be a possibility because of finances. Some deserts might be the same as those in years past; it might be the desert of addiction or sinful behavior. It could be the desert of isolation caused by the pandemic. Whatever the desert, we are called to traverse it with God’s help and emerge from it as risen people!
Too often in the deserts of our lives, we lose sight of the “promised land” or the oasis we seek. Sometimes, we even forget that God NEVER leaves us orphaned or abandoned. We need to realize that God is present in our desert experiences and that it is only with his help that we get the courage and strength to keep moving toward better land.
Yes, we may have been led into a desert we didn’t expect. We may wonder why we were led down this road. Lent is about facing the deserts of our lives. It is not about asking the question WHY but rather HOW this desert experience might be calling us to conversion and repentance. Lent is about doing something to traverse the desert in order to emerge as changed people.
The question remains then what helps us traverse the desert. First, we must realize that the Spirit is present, and much like with Jesus, angels are present to minister to us. Second, we need to orient our hearts and minds toward God. You need a strong compass/GPS, and you need to keep focused. You need to know where you are going. Without a compass or focus, you can wander for a long time. If you want to go someplace, if you truly want to emerge from your desert, you need the proper tools. For Christians, the ultimate tool is a relationship with God. Without THAT relationship, without THAT prayer, without THAT compass, we may never find our oasis. Prayer then becomes our GPS to help us get out of the deserts of our lives.
Happy Lent.
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Enjoy the week.
Know of my prayers.
In Christ,
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11) Tire Tracks in the d’Arc |
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Lots to Pray About: Like all of us, I have been sickened to see the images on the news recently of the war in Ukraine. Those images can trick us into thinking it’s a conflict so far away, but it’s really not, especially not if you have friends in Europe, and some who have experienced living behind the Iron Curtain.
I was reminded of a visit to the Holocaust Memorial Center in Farmington Hills a few years ago. I was accompanying a group of 8th graders on a school field-trip. There’s no dressing-up what occurred in the Holocaust and in the death camps. It was the worst of human evil, human sin, of the power of the strong over the weak, of nationalism over natural law.
The Nazis' first victims were the weakest members of society: disabled children. Officially, they were known as "life unworthy of life"; a cruder term was Ausschusskinder—"garbage children." Physicians administered overdoses of sedatives which "put them to sleep," as one physician who participated in the euthanasia of children put it.
Our group was blessed to hear the testimony of an 83 year-old survivor of the Holocaust. His entire family went into hiding, in safe-houses. His mother arranged for him to live with other families in their native Holland for months at a time and would return periodically to move him to another host family. Each time he would take on a new name and learn to follow whichever religion the family belonged to, so that no-one would discover his Jewish identity. He would listen to and study their prayers and learn how they prayed grace before meals. He was just 4 years old when his family had fled the Nazi’s who were rounding-up Jews in his town.
After the war, his family became US citizens and he continued a normal childhood. He eventually married and had a family of his own. But 40 years later, he realized that neither he nor any of the other survivors ever seemed to talk about what they had experienced in the Holocaust. He was curious about this reaction, so he studied and became a psychologist so he could understand the reasons better. And he realized how profoundly he and others were affected by Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Why, he wondered, was the most educated and technologically advanced society of its day, in Germany, able to carry out such a campaign of horror, a genocide, against fellow human beings? He posed an open-ended question to our 8th graders: If this can happen in the most educated and advanced society on earth, what difference does education make to our moral behavior?
One answer to the question might be to differentiate between worldly knowledge and knowledge of God, from whom all moral teachings come, even if these teachings are only known to some people by natural law. Knowledge of God is not purely on an intellectual level, however – this is not sufficient to form a morally up-right person. What is needed is knowledge of God in the heart – acceptance of His law based on God’s sovereignty. Hardness of heart is a friend of immorality.
So what of today? What of our highly-educated, technologically-advanced society. Do the same “Holocaustal” attitudes exist here? Watch what is happening in our country and in many other nations. So many lessons have been forgotten in the last 80 years. In China today, conservative estimates report that a million people are being held in unofficial “Re-education Camps” to “correct” their faith beliefs. Some reports say as many as 3 million have been imprisoned behind barbed-wire fences.
In the US, there is still much support for our own nation’s campaign against our society’s Ausschusskinder—"garbage children." It is a deep stain on our way of life, described by St. Mother Teresa as “the greatest poverty I have ever seen.” We need to take seriously St. John Paul II’s assertion that “A nation that kills its own children has no future.”
As we begin this Lenten season, and as we are asked to deepen our prayer, to gain a greater knowledge of the heart of God, I can think of no greater need in our country and world than prayer for a conversion of heart. There is no way to dress-up or justify what is the Holocaust of today. Whatever else we are called to do this Lent, prayer would be a great place to begin.
God’s New Beginnings: The 7th and 8th graders at my school door last Monday did not look happy. They all seemed to be wearing their “Monday faces.” So I stopped most of them and wouldn't let them into school until they had listened to my impromptu presentation on how Monday in the “Hero Day of Our Week.” I ranted on about how Monday is the day that steps-up before all the other weekdays and says, “Okay, I’ll be the one! I’ll do it. I’ll go first. I’ll put myself out there to face whatever’s coming… get behind me Tuesday, Wednesday, Thurs…” And week after week it does this when all the other days hang back and want to stay in bed. And Monday never gets credit for it’s brave efforts, poor Monday! The students Climb from their parents’ vehicles looking like Monday stole their weekend, rather than brought them a new beginning.
I’m not sure they bought it, but they were at least kind enough to humor me.
Lent is God’s ongoing offering of a new beginning to you and me in our day and time. Once again, we are invited to renew and to live in covenant relationship with God who is present in word and in sacraments and who desires to be active in our lives.
Psalm 91 today offers us perhaps a most timely reassurance that we need to hear at this moment in history: “You who dwell in the shelter of the Most High, who abide in the shadow of the Almighty, say to the LORD, “My refuge and fortress, my God in whom I trust.”
And St. Paul in his letter to the Romans consoles us with the words, “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
When Jesus enters the desert for 40 days it is not for a vacation or a life of ease. He invites us to join him in the battle of prayer and fasting. The desert is the place where Jesus is prepared for his mission to suffer for our faults and weaknesses, the righteous-one suffering and dying for the sake of his beloved people, the unrighteous, that he might lead us to God.
The desert is the place where Jesus stakes his claim on the victory over Satan that will be won on the cross. Here he gives warning of his intent and his will, that he will not be overcome by evil.
Our Lenten observances are daily paths to grow in the life of grace we received at baptism when we were first made new creations in Jesus Christ. Should there be a challenge involved? Absolutely. It’s through our willingness to endure trial that we give notice to our intent to rise from the ashes of Ash Wednesday and show Satan that he holds no power over us.
As the world continues to struggle through so many crises, this Lent is a graced time to bring to God our fears, anxieties and weaknesses in the confident hope we will receive an abundance of mercy.
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You are in my prayers this week.
Fr. Andrew
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12) Ascension Presents: Father Mike Schmitz |
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Lent is a Process NOT an Event
Lent has begun and with it our season of penance and fasting. What are you planning on giving up or adding to your spiritual life?
Today, Fr. Mike helps us understand that Lent is less like a crockpot, which you can set and forget but an ongoing iterative process that requires our continual discernment about how we are drawing closer to Jesus.
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13) Words on the Word: March 6, 2022 - Peak Performance
The winter Olympics have been finished for a few weeks, so snow-covered mountaintops are off the radar for most folks.
But not, alas, for a Dominican priest from Oregon who climbed 19,347-foot Mt. Kilimanjaro, where he celebrated mass in February.
According to a story that appeared in an online Catholic newsletter before the climb, the priest planned to bring “a 19-pound portable altar, metal chalice and paten, vestments, stoles and altar cloths” up the summit.
A tweet by a well-known nun on Twitter appeared shortly after the climb had been completed, verifying its success, and including a picture of the 20,000-foot-high place of worship.
Among other benefits, the accomplishment provides a contemporary reflection for today’s gospel passage from St. Luke, in which the devil takes Jesus to a mountainous setting “and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a single instant.
“The devil said to him, ‘I shall give you all this power and glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I may give it to whomever I wish. All this will be yours, if you worship me.’
“Jesus said to him in reply, ‘It is written, you shall worship the Lord, your God, and him alone shall you serve.’”
And that, alas, is what the Dominican priest demonstrated with his climb; God should be our highest pursuit.
“I am very serious about bringing everything I possibly can…,” the priest is quoted in the article. “The kids ask, ‘Why do you bring all that?’ I tell them, ‘Because I love the Lord, and this is the way I show affection.’”
He then puts the challenge in the context of peer pressure, an echo, perhaps, of the pressure exerted by the devil on Jesus: “I ask them what they are willing to do for our Lord.”
© 2022, Words on the Word
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14) Vocations Evening Prayer and Dinner with Archbishop Vigneron |
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Do you know of someone that might be thinking of a priestly vocation? If so, ask them to consider attending the March 23, 2022, evening prayer and dinner with Archbishop Vigneron. Click on the image below for further details. |
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15) The Bible in a Year Podcast by Father Mike Schmitz |
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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.
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) Mass Intentions for the Week: |
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Monday, March 7, 2022, Lenten Weekday Saints Perpetua and Felicity, Martyrs
7:00 a.m. , Antonietta Mazzella and Jerrie Savin
Tuesday, March 8, 2022, Lenten Weekday, Saint John of God, Religious
7:00 a.m., David Pochmara and Carol Krolikowski
Wednesday, March 9, 2022, Lenten Weekday, Saint Francis of Rome, Religious
7:00 a.m., Katherine Titus
Thursday, March 10, 2022, Lenten Weekday
7:00 a.m., Robert Bidigare
Friday, March 11, 2022, Lenten Weekday
7:00 a.m., Phyllis DeMars
Saturday, March 12, 2022, Second Sunday of Lent, Vigil
4:00 p.m., Josephine Lucchese, Marie Champine, Salvatore & Antonietta Urso, Bonnie Batche, Joan Linden, Lee Fallieres, Joan Jakubiec, Nancy Kwatera and Special Intentions for the Thomas Family, for the J. Champine Family and for Adrienne Weidenbach
6:00 p.m., Janice Altadonna
Sunday, March 13, 2022, The Second Sunday in Lent
8:00 a.m., For the Intentions of Saint Joan of Arc Parishioners
10:00 a.m., Dorothy Shuder
12:00 p.m., Thomas Weinbeck, Peter & Louisa Sarra, Madeline Howell, Dee Misuraca, Felix Chua, and Special Intention for Katelyn Tomasello, for Patrick Driscoll, and for Adrienne Weidenbach.
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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 (March 7):
7:00 AM - Mass
Tuesday (March 8):
7:00 AM - Mass
8:30 AM - School Mass
7:00 PM - Program on the Shroud of Turin (Part I)
Wednesday (March 9):
7:00 AM - Mass
8:30 AM - School Mass
Thursday (March 10):
7:00 AM - Mass
6:00 PM - Holy Hour (Praise and Worship Music)
Friday (March 11):
7:00 AM - Mass
7:00 PM - Stations of the Cross
Saturday (March 12):
4:00 PM - Mass
6:00 PM - Mass
Sunday (March 13):
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 Sunday, March 6, 2022 |
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Click on the image below
to download a copy of the bulletin
for March 6, 2022
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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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