Dear Friends in Christ,
Here are a few updates from the parish for the week of Sunday, November 8, 2020:
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1) Christmas Mass Survey: Our Christmas liturgies are right around the corner and we are in planning mode to ensure we bring the light of Christ to as many parishioners and visitors this season.
One piece of information that may influence your intentions is the formal obligation for mass attendance. This year, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day fall on a Thursday and Friday, respectively. Normally, the obligation would be to attend one of those Masses as well as one of the Masses from the following Saturday Vigil or Sunday morning. Archbishop Vigneron has identified that attending ONE mass on ANY of those four days will fulfill both the Christmas Day and weekend obligations.
With this information, please complete our Christmas Mass Survey by clicking on the following button.
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I am grateful to those who have already contributed to CSA 2020. As of today, we have $138,339 in gifts toward our $198,393 goal. This amount represents gifts from only 564 families. We have thus achieved 70% of our goal! THANK YOU!
I would ask that you please prayerfully consider making a one-time or a monthly gift today.
The easiest way to give is electronically. Please click on the link below to make an electronic gift. If you wish to give by check and do not have your envelope, please complete your pledge card (this is important so we get credit for your gift), make your payment payable to “Catholic Services Appeal (CSA)” and send it to:
Catholic Services Appeal
P.O. Box 44077
Detroit, MI 48244-0077
Also, if you make your payment electronically through your bank, please be sure to use this address (and mark your ID number in the memo field).
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3) Wreaths, Roping and Poinsettias: Click on the image below to place your order.
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4) Holy Hour on Thursday at 7 PM: Please consider spending some time with the Lord at Holy Hour this week. This week's Holy Hour will be silent (no music).
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5) Faith Formation Update:
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6) This Sunday's Readings - Sunday, November 8, 2020
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7) Grow+Go for the Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time:
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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. Look for Grow+Go in our weekly emails. |
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8) Sunday Reflection by Jeff Cavins:
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In this week’s Encountering the Word video for the Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Jeff Cavins explains the value of wisdom, how we can gain it, and how to practically pursue it in our everyday lives.
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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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Big Brother is Watching: During one of my recent phone calls with my parents, they started to talk about something they discovered on their Allstate app during the day. Given that I don’t have Allstate insurance and wasn’t exactly sure what they were talking about, I somewhat initialized my “selective hearing.” As a result, I tuned out part of the conversation until I realized they WANTED me to pay attention because it involved me! How it involved me, I wasn’t sure at first, but then it all came to light!
I quickly learned that Allstate insurance has an app that monitors your driving habits and “authorizes” discounts to your annual auto insurance when their app is installed on your phone. Given that auto insurance for priests in the Archdiocese of Detroit is part of our compensation package provided by the parish, I haven’t had to deal with the intricacies of auto insurance since I was in my 20s. It was news to me that an insurance carrier could act like “Big Brother,” monitor your driving habits in real-time and then authorize discounts based on those habits. It didn’t surprise me; it just wasn’t something on my horizon.
As my dad was reviewing his Allstate app that day, he shared he was quite surprised to find that it claimed there was a 72 mile stretch of road in August where he had gone over 80 mph. Anyone who knows my dad knows well that driving fast isn’t one of his fortes! It would have been an absolute miracle for my dad even to approach the speed limit. So, he quickly discounted the app’s findings … until he and my mom traced the date the app claimed he had gone over 80 mph on this 72 mile stretch of road. First, it was somewhat mind-boggling to my parents they would have been on a journey in August that involved 72 miles of road. Then, considering my dad is the car’s principal driver, going over 80 mph was even more of a stretch. My parents pulled up their calendars on their iPhones and quickly realized the app was probably accurate, given the date in question. According to their iPhones, their Ford Edge made a journey to Frankenmuth on this particular day. So, the 72 mile stretch of road was now plausible. The 80 mph claim was also most plausible because my dad wasn’t the driver that day! It was the guy in the roman collar … yours truly … who was their chauffeur that day. YIKES! One of my sisters, who was more in the know about the Allstate app than I was, piped up right away and asked, “BUT Dad, did Mike make you lose that discount?” Thankfully, he didn’t lose his discount based on MY poor driving habits! But then again, had he lost the discount, what he lost for the year would have made a great Christmas gift. As for going over 80 mph on that 72 mile stretch of road, I’m sure I was just going along with traffic! Yikes, Big Brother really is watching!
Farewell Father Bob Shafer: In April of 2016, I announced that Father Bob Shafer was taking up residence at our condo and would be helping with masses and confessions for the “foreseeable future” while he awaited a new assignment. At that time, Father Bob was coming off a medical leave of absence and was in transition from one assignment to another. Since we needed the help and had the condo available, he took up residence at SJA and filled in whenever needed.
This past Wednesday, Father Bob moved to a senior living facility in Rochester. It was a difficult decision to make, but it was timely and right, given that he doesn’t drive anymore, and he needed some consistency with his meals and attention with his medications.
When Father Bob first arrived at SJA, he was a regular at our Sunday liturgies but then quickly found his niche with our nursing home responsibilities. Before COVID, we had the responsibility of covering four nursing homes. Covering the nursing homes became Father Bob’s primary responsibility. With a traveling mass kit on hand at all times, he was always ready to cover the nursing homes for us. He loved it, and they loved him. His other niche in our parish community was hearing confessions. He loved to help with confessions, and he was a gem for ALWAYS showing up sometimes 45 minutes early just to get a jumpstart on the line. He became our local St. John Vianney. It wasn’t too uncommon for people to wait in line to go to Father Bob for confession. He also helped us handle emergency anointings at the hospitals and was just there to help wherever he could. Having an extra priest around the campus was a HUGE blessing, and I’m grateful to Father Bob for all of his help over the years. I’m also grateful to Archbishop Vigneron and the Archdiocese of Detroit, who allowed Father Bob to stay and minister here at no cost to the parish other than providing him with room and board. The Archdiocese of Detroit covered Father Bob’s salary and benefits, which tremendously helped the parish. Many people think the Archdiocese of Detroit covers the priests’ salary and benefits; that isn’t the case. Each parish is responsible for providing the compensation package of the priests assigned to that parish. So, having the presence of a third priest on campus at no cost to the parish these past four years was a HUGE blessing in so many ways.
Father Bob toured a few places and finally chose Mercy Bellbrook on West Avon Road in Rochester Hills (West Avon and Livernois area). The facility is close to his sister and family.
We are grateful to Father Bob for his priestly ministry and presence these past four years. I am also most grateful to Mary and Ron Garofalo, and Dina Ciaffone. They helped Father Bob in so many ways these past four years, whether with shopping, meals, or whatever he needed help with. I’m also grateful to a handful of people who helped drive Father Bob to his appointments when he could no longer drive! As Father Bob takes leave of our parish community, we offer this prayer for him: Father in Heaven, we thank you for the gift of Father Bob. Through him, we experienced your presence in the sacraments. Help Father Bob to be strong in his vocation and set his soul on fire with love for your people. Give him the wisdom, understanding, and strength to follow in the footsteps of your Son. Continue to inspire him with the vision of your Kingdom. Give him the words he needs to spread the Gospel and always allow him to experience joy in his ministry. Help him always to be an instrument of your divine grace. We ask this through our Lord, Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever. Amen.
If you want to drop him a note, here is his new address:
Reverend Robert J. Shafer
875 W Avon Road APT 341C
Rochester Hills, MI 48307-2783.
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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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We will remember them: “They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning, We will remember them.”
These 4 lines are the 4th stanza of Robert Laurence Binyon’s poem, “For the Fallen,” written in 1914, just a few weeks after the outbreak of WWI on the clifftops of southern England. These words have become an epitaph for veterans of war. At the time Binyon wrote these lines, he had little idea that the war would continue for 4 more years on such an immense scale and leave such a trail of destruction; or that it would have such a human cost. In all, the war cost some 17 million military deaths, and another 40 million from the resulting famine and disease.
This Wednesday, November 11th at 11am GMT, marks exactly 102 years since the end of the Great War, with the signing of the Armistice between the Allies and Germany. A 111-year-old veteran commented, “All those lives lost for a war finished over a table. Now what is the sense in that?” We remember still all those who have sacrificed their lives to the atrocities of war in the hope of bringing about a better world for the rest of us. Their offering of their lives deserves our attention and sincere gratitude and deserves passing-on in remembrance to generations to follow. We take a moment to thank all the veterans of all campaigns and I encourage you to pause this week to remember all the souls lost.
May how cheaply so many lives were thrown away be a lesson for us today – an opportunity to review our attitudes toward the value of life, at all stages. Let it especially be viewed in the context of the one who sacrificed the most for us, who gave His all, the one who was led by the spirit into a battle with the evil one and defeated him. Let us recall Jesus Christ, who willingly walked into a fight against evil, a war he did not start, and gave his life painfully on a cross for the saving of us all. No military “war to end all wars” can bring about the better world we hope for. Only our preparedness to walk into the line of fire and face the spiritual enemy - the enticement of sin and Satan’s lies – will do this. This is the battlefront of our day. Jesus has already won the war for the human race. Now we must choose for ourselves to join His army and raise His flag over our lives.
During my 30-day silent retreat a few years ago, following the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola, I was asked to pray through the meditation of the “Two-Standards.” In part of this meditation, St. Ignatius advises the retreatant to “ask for what I want: and it will be here to ask for knowledge of the deceits of the bad chief and help to guard myself against them, and for knowledge of the true life which the supreme and true Captain shows and grace to imitate Him.” He goes on to describe a battlefield with two leaders, God and Satan, each holding their flag and calling their “troops,” either demons, or Apostles and disciples to come stand with him with different promises and tasks. The purpose of the mediation is to ask God for the grace to recognize the deceit of Satan, to see his tactics and for the grace to imitate Christ, the true Commander in the spiritual battle.
In the course of this meditation I had the image of myself up in the air, off the ground holding on for all I was worth between the two flag poles, having grabbed the standard of Christ, but not yet having let go of that of Satan. Below me was a deep gorge, too dark to see the bottom and I was swinging over it dangerously, clinging on to both poles.
Here is an image of the spiritual life. There are two leaders competing for your attention. Most of us don’t actively choose to follow Satan. But we might be failing to fully embrace the standard of Christ. Perhaps in some area of our life, a truly Christ-like attitude or belief is still a challenge for us to claim as our own. A part of us is still clinging to the standard of Satan, even if it’s just by a couple of fingers. It’s still enough to swing us back into danger because it’s at least a small claim to us that Satan retains. It’s still an opening for him to exploit where he can encourage us to get an even firmer grip on his standard—to accept a little more of what he’s suggesting.
This is where the battle is most fierce for most of us — where modern warfare is played out in our daily lives. Each choice that lies before us is a call to reach for, or firmly grip on to the standard that Christ holds high above the battlefield. And it’s through our commitment to receiving the sacraments worthily that we are given the grace to keep fighting. We must not be caught unprepared, found drowsy like the virgins in today’s Gospel, when Christ comes to claim His people and His world. We need to be constantly asking the Lord for that grace, for that constant awareness of His presence within us and around us.
We should not be surprised if there is struggle in life. Tuesday is the feast day of St. Leo the Great, Pope in the 5th Century. Pope Leo wrote: “Virtue is nothing without the trial of temptation, for there is no conflict without an enemy, no victory without strife.” Our struggle is a participation in the cross — in the struggle Christ endured for us. It was worth it to Him, so let us never consider it beneath us. At the end of our lives, we will all be considered veterans of a deadly war. But may we be remembered as those on the side of the victor. It’ll be worth it.
Remembering to say “Thanks”: I’ve been at St. Joan of Arc now for 4 months and in our Covid circumstances, I have still not been able to meet very many of you face-to-face, other than mask-to-mask! However, I’ve been very thankful for the many greetings by letter, by cards, by email, etc. I have been meaning to offer a particular thank you to the family who made and brought to the office a tractor pillow as a gift. I was unable to read the name on the card and really wanted to send a “thank-you” but after so many weeks, it was time to at least offer my thanks here. “Thank you!”
Remembering the Souls in Purgatory: In November, the Church pays special attention to the Church’s Suffering, otherwise known as the Church Expectant or the Church Penitent. These are the ones who have died and gone before us, those who died in God’s friendship, in a state of grace, but whose souls are still in need of some purification. A priest once described these as the happiest and the saddest of people. They are happy because they are guaranteed to one day be with God, but the saddest because they haven’t yet reached him. That will be many of us one day. How are these souls released from Purgatory? By our prayers, by our acts of penance and almsgiving. May we offer some suitable gift like this for the souls in Purgatory this November.
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You are in my prayers this week.
Fr. Andrew
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12) Families of Parishes:
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13) SJA's Livestream Page and Schedule:
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This week's LIVE Stream
Schedule at St. Joan of Arc:
Monday (November 9):
7 AM - Mass
10 AM - Funeral for Fred Kappaz
Tuesday (November 10):
7 AM - Mass
8:30 AM - School Mass
Wednesday (November 11):
7 AM - Mass
8:30 AM - School Mass
Thursday (November 12):
7 AM - Mass
7 PM - Holy Hour (Silent No Music)
Friday (November 13):
7 AM - Mass
Saturday (November 14):
10 AM - Memorial Mass for Geraldine VanderHagen, (Mother of Ann Radatz)
12 PM - Baptism of Ava Hoste
1:30 PM - Baptism of Noah J. James
4 PM - Mass
6 PM - Mass
Sunday (November 15):
8 AM - Mass
12 Noon - 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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Click on the image below
to download a copy of our Sunday Bulletin
for November 8, 2020
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Weekly bulletin: 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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