Week of November 19, 2023

1) Thanksgiving Day Masses

Please consider starting your Thanksgiving Day celebrations by joining us for mass at either 7:00 AM or 9:00 AM. The 9:00 AM Mass will be celebrated with the parishioners of the parishes in our Family of Parishes (St. Joan, St. Lucy, Star of the Sea, St. Veronica, and St. Basil).

You can also join us online at livestream.stjoan.church.

2) Annual Catholic Charities of Southeast Michigan Collection

Every November, Catholic Charities of Southeast Michigan (CCSEM) reaches out to the faithful in the parishes of the Archdiocese of Detroit through its annual appeal. Won’t you help CCSEM care for the least ones who are the images of Jesus Christ among us? Please give generously to the 2023 November appeal in support of our ministries. CCSEM annually brings help and hope to more than 20,000 persons, regardless of their race or religion, culture or creed, and serves families from all walks of life through our 14 locations in the six counties of southeast Michigan.

3) Giving Tree Project

“Giving Tree” is a special charitable project designed to match the generosity of our parishioners with the needs of our community during the Christmas holidays. The project serves 100% local individuals who may otherwise not receive a gift at this special time of the year.

HOW IT WORKS:

1) PURCHASE GIFT CARD(S): Unlike past years when we accepted tangible gifts such as toys and clothing, the Giving Tree will accept only gift cards again this year. This decision is to make it safer and easier for our parishioners to participate. It will also make the program more flexible for our charity agencies.

Buy plastic* gift card(s) valued from $15-30 (per card). You may purchase more than one, but please make sure limits fall within per-card limits of $15-$30.

* tangible gift cards please, no electronic vouchers. Please make sure cards have been activated at the retailer that issued the card.

STORES ACCEPTED: Meijer, Kroger, Walmart, Target, and Amazon

WHERE TO BUY: At the named retailer, at most drug & and grocery stores, or online.

2) PLACE GIFT CARD(s) IN AN ENVELOPE: Place the gift card(s) in an envelope. The envelope may include a Christmas greeting card, but this is not required. Mark on the envelope (directly or with a pasted note) “GIVING TREE” along with the quantity, store name, and value of the gift card(s).

3) TAKE THE GIFT ENVELOPE(S) TO A DESIGNATED DROP SPOT: DEADLINE: Monday, December 4, 2023: Bring your marked envelope(s) to the Parish Center Office during office hours, or place it in the locked collection boxes in the Sr. Carol Center or the Parish Center Lobby.

OR

LET US PURCHASE THE GIFT CARDS FOR YOU: You may also donate this year via our online giving platform (by clicking the button below) and indicate the amount you would like to donate. We will take care of the rest.

4) Presence: The Mystery of the Eucharist

If you missed the first session, you can watch the first video by clicking on the image below.

The whole series can be viewed on FORMED.ORG. If you don't already have a FORMED.ORG account, create one; it's free to you because we have a parish subscription.

5) Ascension's Bible and Catechism App

6) This Sunday's Readings: November 19, 2023, 2023 - The Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time

7) Sunday Reflections by Jeff Cavins

"The Joy of the Master" + The Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time

In this week’s Encountering the Word video for the Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Jeff Cavins reflects on Jesus’ parable of the talents found in this Sunday’s Gospel. The readings are:

First Reading: Proverbs 31:10-13, 19-20, 30-31

Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 128:1-2, 3, 4-5

Second Reading: 1 Thessalonians 5:1-6

Alleluia: John 15:4A, 5B

Gospel: Matthew 25:14-30

8) Bishop Barron's Sunday Sermon

Classic Sunday Sermon: The Enemy of Melancholy



Friends, we must develop a theology and spirituality of work. Meaningful labor awakens our desire to collaborate in God’s creativity. Viewing work in this way—as spiritual and moral action—conquers our melancholy, gives us dignity, and brings us into unity with the purposes of the Lord.

9) Grow+Go

10) 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.

11) This Week's Edition of TALLER Tales

Thanksgiving Day (Part One): Of all holidays, Thanksgiving Day is at the top of my list. While Christmas and Easter are up there too, this one, as far as a national holiday, is one of my favorites. It’s one of my favorites because I usually have only one liturgy (a rarity with holidays), and more importantly, it’s a day to celebrate with family and friends. There’s no gift-giving; you simply get to “be” with family and friends. And I dare say we need to spend more time with family and friends.

As with all holidays and holy days, we need to reflect upon them in their proper context. Thanksgiving Day isn’t just about parades, turkey, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, and football! It’s about being thankful to God for all he has given us.

Because we live in such a busy and fast-paced world, it would be easy to breeze through Thanksgiving Day without pausing to thank God for all he has given us. Going around the dinner table and asking people to share what they are thankful for would be a great way to start or end your gathering.

Thanksgiving Day (Part Two): Please consider starting your Thanksgiving Day celebrations by joining us for mass at 7:00 am or 9:00 a.m., whether in person or online (livestream.stjoan.church).  It’s a great way to celebrate Thanksgiving Day with your “church” family! For the 9:00 a.m. Mass parishioners from St. Lucy, Our Lady Star of the Sea, St. Veronica, and St. Basil parishes will also join us. As is our custom, the collection taken up at the 9:00 a.m. mass will be given to our local St. Vincent DePaul Society Conference. Your contributions help our local Vincentians assist the poor and needy who live within our parish boundaries!

Thanksgiving Day (Part Three): Over the years, Mitch Albom has written several thought-provoking columns about Thanksgiving. I wanted to mention two of those columns here. The first column was written in 2010; it was entitled “The Turkey Shrinks as the Absences Grow.” In this column, Mitch spoke about how missing Thanksgiving Day with family and friends was once unthinkable. Years ago, Thanksgiving with family encompassed the whole weekend. In recent years, he writes, “the holiday has been shaved, like one of those giant wedding cakes that slowly gets sliced away.” Today, however, the turkey “shrinks” as the excuses trickle in. People have all kinds of excuses why they can’t attend the usual family Thanksgiving Day (weekend) celebrations. The saddest reality, as Mitch points out, is that people are missing the best part of Thanksgiving … being with family! Mitch’s article is a great read and worth sharing with family and friends. You can find this column at Mitch Albom’s website: mitchalbom.com; search for “The Turkey Shrinks.”

The second Mitch Albom column I wanted to call your attention to was written four years ago. It’s entitled, “Empty chairs, empty table, but still Thanksgiving.” In this column, Mitch mentioned how he decided to set an extra table for Thanksgiving. It wasn’t for the kids or the extra desserts. It wasn’t for the out-of-towners. Rather, this table was for all those who “are no longer coming, all those who filled the house with laughter and stories and singing and arguments, and who, sadly, will never walk through the door again.” That year was the first time Mitch hosted his Thanksgiving Day celebrations without his parents. We can all relate to Mitch’s thoughts as it seems that as we age, every Thanksgiving now brings about more people who sadly fill those “empty chairs.” As I write this, I was thinking how cool it would be if we could actually revisit those Thanksgiving Day gatherings of, say 10 years, 20 years, or 40 years ago and see and hear those beautiful people who have already gone home to the Lord.

Mitch writes, “Now, like so many of my older relatives, my parents are gone. But I can still see them. Hear them. So I’m setting a table. Empty chairs.” Mitch then walks down memory lane and recalls the family members who once filled the seats at his family Thanksgiving Day dinners. He recalls their stories and what they often wore or brought. Mitch profoundly recalls how Thanksgiving for his family was a once-a-year opportunity to gather both immediate and extended family for a long weekend. It’s different now, he writes. It’s not the same as it once was. He also recalls how the absentees grow as he himself grows older. “One by one, they disappeared from the Thanksgiving table, and each year we mourned the latest absentee, until the absentees outnumbered the original attendees…. You can’t keep things alive. I’m learning that, painfully. No matter how much you love something, or someone, their existence is out of your control. You can weep. You can wail. But you can’t summon them back. All you can do is carry on and remember. So I pull out the furniture and move it around, if only in my mind, which is where so much of this holiday lives. Empty chairs. Missing loved one. Lord, how their voices once filled the room, as their echoes fill it now.” I encourage you to read the whole column. It can be found at Mitch Albom’s website: mitchalbom.com; search for “Empty Chairs.”

Thanksgiving Day (Part Four): Several years ago, I found a great editorial column about Thanksgiving Day posted in the archives section of the New York Times website. The piece was originally published on November 18, 1869. Here are a few snippets: “Thanksgiving is the Home Holiday. We have no sweeter festival in the calendar…. We need more holidays in our American life. We have many anniversaries, but few days sacred to friendship (and) faith …. This is the feast day of Family and of Friendship. Many a truant son and daughter will cross seas and travel weary miles to sit in the old pew, and hear the familiar psalms, and gather around the fireside with those they love. The real meaning of this day is Coming Home. There are no traditional glories, no memories of sacred adventure or suffering to divide it. It has but one embracing sentiment. ‘God has blessed us,’ we say, ‘and we thank Him in our homes.’ While we come together and thank God for his manifold kindness … let us remember that with our privileges there comes a duty always present, but in seasons like this, commanding and imperative. In the fullness of our own joy we must not forget those who are poor and sick and cast down by bitter fortune. The Master to whom so many praises will be sung this morning showed no holier attribute of divinity than when he taught us that true Christianity gave clothing to the naked and food to the hungry, and opened the prison doors to those in bonds. We have many prisons around us, where poverty and misfortune and hard necessity hold their victims with sterner grasp than with chains and bars. It is for us to open these doors and break these bonds, to spread our substance and store, to lend the helping hand and bless the day with deeds of charity. As we do to others so may we hope that others will do to us and our children. This is the lesson of the day. By its full observance we can make a true Thanksgiving, and show that the gifts we have received from the Father of all have not fallen upon hard and stony ground.”

Enjoy the week. Know of my prayers!

A blessed Thanksgiving to you and your family!

In Christ,

12) Along the Way with Father Adam

Rome: Part V

One of my favorite churches in Rome that I love showing people is Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem or Basilica di Santa Croce in Gerusalemme. 

The (minor) basilica is located near the Basilica of St. John Lateran, that I wrote about last week. The Basilica of the Holy Cross is part of the route of the “Seven Churches” that ancient pilgrims used to visit on foot. 

The building containing the basilica was originally a palace for the Roman Emperors, but after Constantine moved the capital of the empire to Constantinople in 324, the residence remained property of his mother Helena and underwent many changes, the most important was the transformation of part of the residential complex into a chapel designed to contain the relics of the Cross found by the Empress on Mount Calvary. 

The basilica would undergo many changes throughout the 7th and 8th Centuries and the current appearance of the building dates back to the 18th Century.

This is by far not the most beautiful church, but the true treasures are inside, in a museum-like section of the basilica. The Chapel of the Holy Relics is the focal point, housing Helena's finds. Here are the reliquaries containing the relics said to have been found on Mt. Calvary: fragments of the cross of Christ; two thorns from the crown placed on his head; one of the nails used in the crucifixion; a large piece of the cross of the repentant thief; and stone fragments of the scourging pillar.

There is also in index finger St. Thomas, the one dubbed the "doubting apostle" who put his finger in the wounds of the risen Jesus to confirm his identity. 

One of the most striking relics, however, is a wooden plaque known as the Titulus Crucis. It is the crucifixion sign – the one that hung above Jesus when He was crucified and read in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin: Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.

To think that nearly 2000 years later we still have relics from the crucifixion is amazing. For me, it is a reminder of the reality and the gravity of such a life-altering event. It should remind us of Jesus’ salvific work of grace then and each day in our own lives. 

As we prepare for Thanksgiving, let us make sure to give thanks to God for the gift of salvation.

Prayer at the Holy Cross

Oh, Adorable Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, You have suffered death on the Cross for our sins.

Oh, Holy Cross of Jesus, be my true light!

Oh, Holy Cross, fill my soul with good thoughts.

Oh, Holy Cross, ward off from me all things that are evil.

Oh, Holy Cross, ward off from me all dangers and deaths and give me life everlasting!

Oh, Crucified Jesus of Nazareth, have mercy on me now and forever.

In honor of the Precious Blood of Jesus, His death, resurrection and ascension which leads to everlasting life; true as Jesus was born on Christmas Day; true as Jesus was crucified on Good Friday; true as Joseph and Nicodemus took Jesus down from the cross and buried Him; true as Jesus ascended into Heaven; may He preserve me from my enemies visible and invisible forever.

Oh, Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on me! Mary and Joseph pray for me.

Lord Jesus Christ, through Your suffering the Cross grant me strength to bear my Cross without fear or dread and give me the grace that I may follow You. Amen.

Blessings!

Fr. Adam

anowak@sjascs.org

13) Ascension Presents: Father Mike Schmitz

Why You’ll Never Be Strong Enough

If you’ve ever planned to become so holy that you don’t need God’s help anymore, then this video is for you.

Self-reliance is a virtue lauded by modern society in the west. But not only does Jesus warn against it, self-reliance… just… doesn’t even work.

Today, Fr. Mike proposes an alternative that will change your life. Spoiler: it involves relying on someone else…

14) Words on the Word: November 19, 2023 - A World of Hurt

We are keenly aware, of course, that death is inevitable. That’s not a grim fact, or a sad one. It’s just a fact.

It’s one reason, among others, that we fervently pray the Hail Mary, in which we beseech our Blessed Mother to be with us “now and at the hour of our death.”

It’s also why Jesus reminds us, as we hear in today’s gospel passage from St. Matthew, “therefore, stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”

Still, we cannot help but marvel sometimes at the seeming randomness of death.

Recent headlines, for example, included a couple particularly noteworthy stories.

In St. Clair Shores, a 7-year-old girl was struck and killed by a car in the middle of the afternoon. At the time of this writing, the details of the incident were still being investigated. Seven years old, we note; how tragic.

By contrast, another recent story told of a 116-year-old Spanish woman, believed perhaps to be the oldest person in the world, who not only has survived Covid, a major earthquake, a civil war, and a fire, but is completely lucid and suffers from no cardiovascular problems of any kind.

A woman happily working her way toward 120, we note; how wonderful.

The good news is that, in both cases, God has a plan, both for the people involved and for their loved ones.

And also, a message for us.

“We do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, about those who have fallen asleep, so that you may not grieve like the rest, who have no hope,” St. Paul writes to the Thessalonians, and to us, in today’s second reading.

“For if we believe that Jesus died and rose, so too will God, through Jesus, bring with him those who have fallen asleep.”

© 2023, Words on the Word

15) This WEEK on FORMED:

16) Hallow App:

17) Mass Intentions for the Week:

Monday, November 20, 2023, Weekday (Green) 

7:00 a.m., Msgr. Ferdinand J. DeCneudt and a Special Intention for the Garvin Family in remembrance of Nick.

Tuesday, November 21, 2023, The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (White)

7:00 a.m., The deceased members of the Rogier and Dettloff Families

Wednesday, November 22, 2023, Saint Cecilia, Virgin and Martyr (Red)

7:00 a.m., Roger F. Joseph

6:00 p.m., Sicilia Grego

Thursday, November 23, 2023, Weekday, Saint Clement, Pope & Martyr; Saint Columban, Abbott; Blessed Miguel Agustin Pro, Priest & Martyr (Green/Red/White/Red/White)

7:00 a.m., Sally Cabot

9:00 a.m., The deceased members of the Allor & Petrella Families, John L. & Marguerite Joseph, Jaclyn Maul, the deceased members of the McQuillan, Zaranek, Walters and Gaidis Families, Dorothy Taylor, Dr. Beongchun Yu, 

Friday, November 24, 2023, Saint Andrew Dung-Lac, Priest and Companions, Martyrs (Red)

7:00 a.m. , Pedro Silva

Saturday, November 25, 2023, Vigil of the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ (Green)

4:00 p.m., Shelly A. Nowak, Sally Cabot, Bonnie Batche, Blair Zernick, Michael DePetro, Joseph & Angeline Calus, the deceased members of the Gore Family, Frank Nagy, and special intentions for the Thomas Family, the J. Champine Family, for Joan DeDene, for Alison Reslow, Pam Haisenleder, Lorraine Jonas, and Ray DeFrates

6:00 p.m., Peter Sarra

Sunday, November 26, 2023, The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe (Green)

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

10:00 a.m., Jay Finn

12:00 p.m., Roland & Gerry Doak, Mary T. Hobig, C. Pat Walters, Jose Medina, Rosario Medina, Jeffrey Hardy, Joan Hardy, Feliciana Punzalan, Dini Hamm, Daisy Marie Buena Vista, Dorothy Lubinski, Janice Burns and special intentions for Pam Haisenleder, Alison Reslow, Lorraine Jonas and Ray Defrates

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

This week's LIVE Stream

Schedule at St. Joan of Arc:

Monday (November 20)

7:00 AM - Mass

Tuesday (November 21):

7:00 AM - Mass

7:00 PM - Presence Series

Wednesday (November 22):

7:00 AM - Mass

6:00 PM - Mass

Thursday (November 23):

7:00 AM- Mass

9:00 AM - Mass

Friday (November 24):

7:00 AM - Mass

Saturday (November 25):

10:00 AM - Funeral for Stephen McGratty (Read Obituary HERE)

12:30 PM - Baptism of Rocco Paul Russo

2:30 PM - Baptism of Alvin John Susick

4:00 PM - Mass

6:00 PM - Mass

Sunday (November 26):

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.

19) SJA's Latest Parish Bulletin

Click on the image below

to download a copy of the bulletin

for November 19, 2023

20) Weekly Bulletin Mailing List

21) Detroit Catholic