Dear Friends in Christ,
Here are a few updates from our parish for the week of November 14, 2021.
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1) Annual Memorial Mass on Wednesday at 7 PM |
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Please join us on Wednesday at 7:00 PM, whether in person or online as we remember and commend to the Lord all those from our parish who passed away this past year. The Mass begins with a video tribute with all the names of those who have died. To watch the mass online: goto livestream.stjoan.church.
Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord,
and let perpetual light shine upon them.
May they rest in peace. Amen.
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2) SJA Giving Tree Project 2021 |
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"Giving Tree” is a special charitable project designed to match the generosity of our parishioners with the needs of our community during the Christmas holiday. The project serves 100% local individuals who may otherwise not receive a gift at this special time of the year.
After a one-year pause due to the worldwide pandemic, St. Joan of Arc Parish is proud to continue this tradition of gift-giving. Some things will be a bit different this year to accommodate social distancing and remote Mass attendance. But our commitment to the families and individuals helped by our Giving Tree project has not waivered.
HOW IT WORKS:
1) PURCHASE GIFT CARD(S): 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 $15-$30.
* tangible gift cards please, no electronic vouchers. Please make sure cards have been activated at the retailer that issued the card.
STRES ACCEPTED: Meijer, Walmart, Target, and Amazon
WHERE TO BUY: At the named retailer, at most drug & grocery stores or online.
LET US PURCHASE THE GIFT CARDS FOR YOU: You may also donate this year via our online giving platform by clicking on the button below and indicating the amount you would like to donate. We will take care of the rest.
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 December 5, 2021: 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.
WHAT HAS CHANGED FOR 2021: Unlike past years where we accepted tangible gifts such as toys and clothing, the Giving Tree will accept only gift cards 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, who are also challenged with logistics and health protocols at this time.
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3) Mercy in Action Day in the Archdiocese of Detroit |
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From the Detroit Catholic: Some cleaned up local cemeteries. Others collected diapers and formula for pregnancy centers. Still others raked leaves and painted fences for elderly neighbors.
No matter the project, hundreds of volunteers from parishes across the Archdiocese of Detroit reached out to help their neighbors in need Oct. 16 during the sixth annual Mercy in Action Day of Service.
Inspired by Pope Francis' call for a Year of Mercy in 2016, the annual service day sees volunteers mobilize to perform dozens of projects inspired by the corporal and spiritual works of mercy across Metro Detroit.
Watch the video below to see Mercy Day in Action.
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4) Priestly Vocations: Discernment Day, Saturday, November 20 |
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A Discernment Day offers a single high school man (freshman –senior) from the Archdiocese of Detroit a unique opportunity to experience the seminary and learn about the priesthood. High school students will meet new friends and grow in their understanding of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.
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5) Coordinator OPENING - Center for Exceptional Needs |
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The mission of the Center for Exceptional Needs at St. Joan of Arc is to enable persons with a variety of challenges to encounter Jesus Christ and develop a friendship with him in a supportive and caring environment. Through faith formation and Christian fellowship, students learn about the Word of God, our Catholic faith. They come together with loving cate to share faith, friendship, love for one another, and to appreciate all of God’s creation. This is a seasonal part-time position. (Oct-May.)
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6) SJA's CSA Update as of November 14, 2021 |
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I am grateful to those who have already contributed to CSA 2021. As of today, we have $182,326 in pledges and gifts toward our $217,002 goal ($173,173 has already been paid thus far toward our total pledged amount). This amount represents gifts from 562 families (we have 3,282 families registered). We have thus achieved 84% of our goal!
Here is a breakdown by gift range:
$2,500+ (6)
$1,000+ (35)
$500+ (46)
$250+ (107)
$100+ (213)
$75+ (16)
$50+ (70)
$25+ (42)
$10+ (24)
$0+ (3)
As stated above, the easiest way to give is electronically by clicking on the button above. If you wish to give by check, feel free to contact the Parish Center and we will mail out an envelope and related material.
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7) This Sunday's Readings - November 14, 2021 |
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8) Jeff Cavins: Encountering the Word - Reflections on the Sunday Readings |
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In this week’s Encountering the Word video, Jeff Cavins reflects on the readings for the Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time. The readings are:
First Reading: Daniel 12:1-3
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 16:5, 8, 9-10, 11
Second Reading: Hebrews 10:11-14, 18
Gospel: Mark 13:24-32
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9) Grow+Go for the 33rd 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.
Click on the button or image below to download a PDF copy of this Sunday's Grow+Go.
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10) 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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11) This Week's Edition of TALLer Tales |
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A Harrowing Experience: Sometimes, my brainy ideas don’t always go as planned. I map things out in my mind and often “over-engineer” them. It makes total sense in my brain, but somehow the “wires” get mixed up, or things don’t do what I want them to do when I put it all together.
Such was the case for last week’s session of A Biblical Walk Through the Mass. This is the series that Father Andrew was promoting for many weeks in Church. The actual program is by Dr. Edward Sri. Each session involves a talk by Father Andrew, some table or breakout room discussions, watching a video, and then some additional table/breakout room discussion. As part of my commitment to make all of our offerings like A Biblical Walk Through the Mass more accessible to people, individuals could join in person in the Emmaus Hall or by Zoom. This way, if people needed to stay home for whatever reason or lived too far away, they could still participate in the program. I wanted the people participating on Zoom to be part of the experience. They, too, would have “table discussions” by using separate breakout rooms on Zoom. I also wanted them to “report out” their discussions both on Zoom and on the big screen in the Emmaus Hall. I mapped it out in my little brain such that everyone in the Emmaus Hall was “one” attendee on Zoom (so they had their own little square in the Zoom experience). Father Andrew was talking, Kristine Hass handled all of the Zoom attendees, and I was at the technology and Zoom “command center” at my table in the Emmaus Hall. For the most part, session one went off without too many glitches. It was fun making both the in-person crowd and the virtual crowd feel like they all were participating together When one of the Zoom breakout rooms reported back to the crowd about their discussions, it wasn’t just broadcast for the Zoom group but I put them up on the big screen in the Emmaus Hall. By the end of session one, my brain was on overload keeping up with all the switching back and forth I had to do to make it all work.
Session Two was to have some new challenges because everything I learned from session one got thrown out the door only because session two had to take place in Church; Emmaus Hall wasn’t available that night because it was election day. On top of the technology challenges, Father Andrew came down with a nasty sinus infection which meant I had to lead the session. This quadrupled my challenges because I had to accomplish it all from the choir loft, where our camera controls are located. The technology side was one thing. But now, I had to lead a session where I had not seen the videos or even read the book or workbook. It was Tuesday morning at this point, and I figured this was great because I still had a whole nine hours to prepare and make it all happen. But then I had to write my bulletin article, celebrate the two morning masses, and a funeral. Suddenly, I no longer had nine hours to make it all happen. “Okay,” I thought to myself, “I could make it all happen in maybe four hours.” The countdown was on, and I was up for the challenge!
I started to look at the coursework and the homework the group was asked to accomplish. Session Two was all on the introductory parts of the mass (from the entrance procession to the opening prayer). I started to study the material to make it look like I was prepared, but then we had some technical issue in the parish that needed my immediate attention. After the technology issue got resolved, I received a call to do an anointing up at Sunrise. By the time I got done at Sunrise, it was 6:10 PM. Yikes, I now only had 50 minutes to make it all happen. The pressure was on; even I was starting to get a bit panicky.
At this point, I figured the priority was to make the technology work. I thought I could easily talk my way through the material even though I hadn’t looked at it. I got all my stuff and went up to the Choir Loft. What was simple in my mind about all of this wasn’t working out in reality. First, I couldn’t get sound in Church; then I couldn’t get sound on my practice Zoom session. UGH. I made a panicky call to Kristine Hass to join me in the Choir Loft. I also made a panicky call to Rob Wisnieski from RMW Productions, who installs and handles all of our video and audio needs. Thank God Rob is used to my “panicky 10 minutes before showtime” type calls. “What did you do now,” Rob immediately sked as soon as he answered the phone. He walked me through a few settings, and I at least got the camera to work. But then I lost audio in Church. By this time, people were gathered in Church and on Zoom. It was “showtime,” and I still had no clue how I was going to pull this off. I had one camera focused on me in the loft while at the same time trying to broadcast myself on the screen in the Church and on Zoom. I had to position my little podium so that I could easily access all of the video and audio controls while maneuvering my laptop and doing the presentation at the same time. My brain was completely fried even before I started. THEN, I forgot one MAJOR item you need to consider when talking or singing from the choir loft: there is a millisecond delay from the time you talk/sing vs. when you hear yourself over the church speakers. So what you are saying/singing is always ahead of what you are hearing.
By 7:10 PM, ten minutes into the program, I got most things to work and finally started my presentation. At this point, I knew I just had to get started and hope for the best. After finishing the opening prayer and thanking people for their patience, I looked around for all of the Dr. Sri material everyone would have in their hands. UGH! I didn’t bring all of it up to the choir loft. I was now in serious trouble because I REALLY had to fake it.
As all of this was going on, I had a few people (like Kristine Hass, Dina Ciaffone, and my mom) let me know of the issues they saw on Zoom. I tried to correct the problems in real-time while still talking, but I failed miserably trying to make it all happen. This one needed more than the presenter controlling all the technology.
When all was said and done, it wasn’t so bad after all. Most people wouldn’t have had a clue about all the issues behind the scenes. The peanut gallery kept cheering me on through it all. One thing was clear: I was bound and determined to make it all work for both the Zoom and the in-person crowd. As for the presentation part of the evening, someone texted me, “Not bad for faking it all the way!” TRUE! And, yes, I learned that only so many neurons can connect at once in our little brains. Father Andrew’s advice was the best, “When in doubt, just look devout, and it will all work out.”
After the last person left Church, I turned off all the lights, said a prayer of thanksgiving it was finally all over, locked the doors, and immediately started to plot what kind of chocolate and, more importantly, how much chocolate this night deserved!
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Enjoy the week. Know of my prayers!
In Christ,
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12) Tire Tracks in the d’Arc |
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Planting the Word: I recently found a series on Amazon Prime called Clarkson’s Farm. It’s very entertaining (but not for sensitive ears). The premise is that Jeremy Clarkson, a former BBC presenter on the Top Gear show, who owns 1,000 acres in the English countryside, gets a phone call from the farmer who managed his estate saying that he is retiring. Clarkson decides that rather than look for anyone else to manage the estate for him, he will take it on himself. Clarkson has no idea how to be a farmer, so reverts to what he knows best — anything with wheels. “I have no idea how to plant wheat and barley,” he says, “but I’m sure it starts with tractoring.” So he sets off to buy a tractor and comes back with the least appropriate tractor he could find…. An enormous silver Lamborghini.
Lamborghini tractors are not made in the UK and Clarkson quickly discovers that all the buttons and switches in the cab are labelled in Italian and German, which he can’t read. To add to the comedy of errors, the local farmer Clarkson persuades to help him points out that his new Lamborghini doesn't share the universal hitches of all the available implements he’ll need to use. Nor does it fit into his barn, or through the field gates.
The show begins in the Summer of 2019 and into the Winter and Spring of 2020. Clarkson has to begin his farming apprenticeship in the wettest summer in the UK in 400 years. Floods render the ground unplantable and unusable for weeks at a time. The locals object to some of his methods. His business manager keeps bringing him bad news about his poor financial decisions. Then the pandemic interrupts all his best plans. Through it all, Clarkson tries to employ his best corner-cutting ideas, his “Executive Decisions” as he calls them, ignoring the advice of his hired experts.
Weeks after the foundations of his new “farm shop” turn into a lake, he finally get this new barn building up, only to discover that the entrance gate from the main road, 10ft from the end of the field, is not on his property and he doesn't have permission to park cars there. The delay is critical because the produce he planned to sell was already grown before the shop is finished. So Clarkson finds the owner of the neighboring land and gets permission and decides the unfinished farm shop needs to open…. “tomorrow!” he says, despite the bare walls, illegal roof, porta-potty outside and mud bog for a parking lot. Oh, and the fact that all he had to sell was potatoes and the 5 eggs his hens had managed to produce!
In one episode, Clarkson decides to turn some of his fields over to the wild and create a wetland nature area. Of course, he decides the only way to do this is to bring in the heaviest 4x4 machinery he can find, and he creates an environmental disaster, which his farmer has to fix for him.
And so the series goes on. Clarkson buys 78 sheep but decides that a sheep dog is too expensive to train, so he buys a drone with a recording of a dog barking and sets about moving his sheep around…. “I mastered sheeping in 25 minutes!” he announces. Then he quickly recovers from the tragedy of losing 3 of his sheep to illness. “I didn’t think I could eat them, but they really are quite tasty!”
Okay, Fr. Andrew, turn this collections of debacles into something profound and spiritual….. Okay, tall order, but….
Simultaneously, as I have been watching this very entertaining series, I have been reading along with the material for the Biblical Walk Through the Mass. Session 3 of this series takes a look at the Liturgy of the Word, which incorporates the readings, the Responsorial Psalm, the Gospel, the Homily, the Creed and the Prayers of the Faithful. The Readings we hear at mass are truly the inspired Word of God, Who has something to say to us every time we hear them read. The question is, do we hear the readings. Sure, we hear them, but are we prepared to hear them. As I was watching Clarkson’s Farm, there was much discussion on the need to prepare the ground before the seed could be planted or it would not grow. And I couldn't help but notice the relation between the two. Here’s an analogy to explain what I mean.
In preparing a homily, I generally will print out the Sunday readings on the Monday before and have them sitting on my desk. I’ll pray with the readings, but them just let them sit. And I’ll glance at them periodically and remind myself, or notice something that might not have caught my attention before.
If the ground in the field has been prepared well, once the seed is planted it slowly begins to interact with its environment. On it’s own it remains seed, but put it in the ground with the right nutrients and the right moisture content and the seed begins to germinate and to grow and produce fruit.
The same growth happens with the Word of God. If you leave it alone all week and just hear it read on Sunday morning and expect it to produce bountifully, you’ve missed a key opportunity to let it grow. The Word of God is like a seed that needs to be planted in well-prepared ground. It needs time to interact with the environment that is your week and all that happens during it. If you read the Sunday readings early in the week and just have a good sense of them in your mind…. maybe not all the details or a total understanding of what they mean, but a sense of them, remembering perhaps a familiar gospel story and the people who appear in it, it’s amazing what can happen. Suddenly, as you go about your week, something from the readings may occur to you as similar and relatable to what you are experiencing. This is what God wants to say to you. In this way the readings will mean so much more.
If you show up to mass and hear the readings for the first time, and just once, you’ll be listening to what it said. But if you are already familiar with what the readings are about, what you’ll be hearing at mass is what the readings are saying to us. This is not the same thing. It’s the difference between the words and the meaning.
Plant the Sunday readings in the good soil of your week and let the Word interact with all tht will water it and nourish it. Let the Word of God grow in you as it pushes its way to the surface and begins to sprout as you approach the weekend. Then you’ll find that the Word of God you hear proclaimed at Mass will really nourish you. But you must prepare the ground and you can’t do that by cutting corners like Clarkson. It takes time and care. But it doesn't have to take much time! Read the readings for mass before you go to bed. Look them up in your missal or in the bulletin, or google “USCCB readings” online, or use an app on your phone. The let them work for you through your week.
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You are in my prayers this week.
Fr. Andrew
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13) Words on the Word: November 14, 2021 - End Times
The words in today’s gospel from St. Mark sound almost apocalyptic:
“In those days after that tribulation the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken,” Jesus tells his disciples.
Strong language, to be sure.
It’s almost the way certain news stories regarding the weather tend to sound these days. One recent story on a weather website described an upcoming event that had been anticipated on the east coast.
“A powerful storm off the Atlantic coast will bring miserable weather conditions … just the first of multiple storms that will take aim at the Northeast,” the story said. “The nor’easter is expected to quickly strengthen as it moves along the Eastern Seaboard (and) could undergo a period of rapid intensification known as bombogenesis…known as a bomb cyclone.”
Holy smokes; that sounds intense.
We know, of course, everything that happens in our world is either willed by God or allowed by him to happen. That being the case, we might note that such dramatic events – and others like it – can serve to help us keep in perspective what is most important in life.
Yes, there are storms we all have to face. Literal storms and figurative storms – sometimes both – impact everyone at some point, or several points, in their lives.
But we know, as today’s gospel passage goes on to describe, that Jesus will be there throughout, and, most importantly, in the end.
“And then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming the clouds,’ with great power and glory,” Jesus says, “and then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the end of the earth to the end of the sky.”
© 2021 Words on the Word
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14) Ascension Presents with Father Mike Schmitz: |
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The “Little Things” Are Actually Most Things
Saint Teresa of Calcutta once said, “We cannot all do great things. But we can do small things with great love.” The reality is that most of our lives are made up of seemingly small decisions and yet they do truly matter in how we are to be judged.
Today, Fr. Mike shares how our faithfulness to God in the small daily decisions actually amounts to the sum of our spiritual life and the growth in our holiness.
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15) 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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17) This Week on St. Joan of Arc LIVE: |
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This week's LIVE Stream
Schedule at St. Joan of Arc:
Monday (November 15):
7:00 AM - Mass
Tuesday (November 16):
7:00 AM - Mass
Wednesday (November 17):
7:00 AM - Mass
10:00 AM - Memorial Mass Dawn Patricia LaGrasso-Cichoski
7:00 PM - Annual Memorial Mass
Thursday (November 18):
7:00 AM - Mass
7:00 PM - Holy Hour (Praise and Worship Music)
Friday (November 19):
7:00 AM - Mass
12:00 PM - Funeral of Paul Shovlin
Saturday (November 20):
12:30 PM - Baptism of Emerson Mutrynowski
1:30 PM - Baptism of Delilah A. Dechy
4:00 PM - Mass
6:00 PM - Mass
Sunday (November 21):
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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18) SJA's Bulletin for November 14, 2021 |
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Click on the image below
to download a copy of our
Bulletin for November 14, 2021
The 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
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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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