Dear Friends in Christ,

In my own name and on behalf of Father Andrew, Father Rich, Deacon Tom, Deacon Dominick, and our entire staff, I wish to extend to you and your family my prayers and best wishes for a most blessed, joyous, and safe Christmas.

I also extend my grateful appreciation for all you do for our Parish and School. We are an amazing parish because of you! Our mission to be radically hospitable, to boldly make disciples, and to be truly transformative in all that we do are being fully realized because of our collective efforts. We could not do all that we do without your involvement. Thank you!

Yes, the Lord is born for us this day, and a light has shone upon us. We need to cherish this precious gift of God in every moment of every day. May we become beacons of light ourselves, lighting the way for others to experience this wondrous gift of God, the Prince of Peace.

With best wishes and prayers for you and your family during this Christmas season and throughout the coming New Year, I remain,

Sincerely yours in Christ,

4 PM

8 AM, 10 AM, and 12 PM

This three-day online retreat with Jeff Cavins, Fr. Mike Schmitz, and Dr. Marcellino D'Ambrosio will help attendees embrace their rich inheritance as sons and daughters of God. The standard ticket price is $78.95, BUT if you purchase early, you'll receive a discount! (read full description for details) We have a limited number of spots available, and last year's retreat sold out, so we highly encourage you to get your tickets soon!

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

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

I am grateful to those who have already contributed to CSA 2022. As of today, we have $203,144 in pledges and gifts toward our $211,447 goal ($203,144 has been paid thus far toward our total pledged amount). This amount represents gifts from 610 families (we have 3,333 families registered). We have thus achieved 96% of our goal!

“All the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.” —Isaiah 52:10

On behalf of everyone at Ascension, Jeff Cavins would like to wish all our viewers and readers a Merry Christmas. In this week’s special Encountering the Word video, Jeff opens up the readings for Christmas and encourages us to bring the gift of our Savior into our lives and the lives of all around us. The readings for the Christmas Masses are:

Vigil Mass

First Reading: Isaiah 62:1-5

Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 89:4-5, 16-17, 27, 29

Second Reading: Acts 13:16-17, 22-25

Gospel: Matthew 1:1-25

Mass During the Night

First Reading: Isaiah 9:1-6

Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 96: 1-2, 2-3, 11-12, 13

Second Reading: Titus 2:11-14

Alleluia: Luke 2:10-11

Gospel: Luke 2:1-14

Mass at Dawn

First Reading: Isaiah 62:11-12

Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 97:1, 6, 11-12

Second Reading: Titus 3:4-7

Alleluia: Luke 2:14

Gospel: Luke 2:15-20

Mass During the Day

First Reading:Isaiah 52:7-10

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 98:1, 2-3, 3-4, 5-6

Second Reading: Hebrews 1:1-6

Gospel: John 1:1-18, or John 1:1-5, 9-14

Merry Christmas friends! As you gather today with family and friends, it is likely that someone, at some point, will bring in a newborn. And everybody will want to see the baby. The whole room will stop whatever they are doing to see this child. There is something irresistibly charming about babies; they bring out the best in us and call forth love from us. Well, at the center of our Christmas celebration is a strange, astonishing fact: God became a baby. The all-powerful Creator of the universe, the reason why there is something rather than nothing, became a baby too weak even to raise his own head. This was a stroke of divine genius. Again and again the Hound of Heaven sought us out, and again and again we ran away. But who can finally resist the baby who is God?

Christmas Every Day: I have mentioned before that when it comes to her simple and sincere young faith and understanding, my little god-daughter, Annie, “gets it.” She has very good, faith-filled parents. Recently, her mom was putting her to bed for the night and Annie has a pamphlet in her room from the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist in Ann Arbor. She took it out of the recycling about a year ago to look at it and she kept it. Before bed that night, she wanted to look at it and read it with mom. She had many questions.

She and her mom talked about what the Sisters do and how someone becomes a religious sister. Annie mentioned that she wants to see their chapel at the Mother House. Then she and mom prayed their usual bed-time prayers. Annie then said, “Mom, stop praying…. I need to ask Jesus something.” And then she prayed, “Jesus, will you make me a sister please?”

Such a great and generous heart in one so young, although her mom says she can’t share with her little brother yet (!) but we’re all a work in progress!

Last Sunday Annie was at Mass with her parents and a parishioner approached and asked her, “Are you enjoying this Christmas time?” And Annie responded, “Well... it’s still Advent.” And right she was. This Advent has been as long as it can be, four full weeks this year, but still it goes by so quickly. I always wish it was longer because it’s my favorite Season. I never like the rush to Christmas that the stores want to engage us in so they can empty our pockets.

But today, Christmas is here. The Christmas season begins now. Hopefully we have been waiting for more than gifts, lights, music, good food and Santa. Hopefully it’s for Christ we have been waiting—waiting to celebrate in a new way something that is not new—the arrival of a Savior, a child, but a King—to use the words of the prophet Isaiah, 800 years before the fulfilment of God’s promise that he prophesied, the arrival of the Wonder-Counselor, the God-Hero, the Father Forever, the Prince of Peace. Advent is over and His advent is here…. His coming is a present reality.

We come together today to celebrate this, the second greatest day in our church year, second only to the celebration of Easter. It is a day filled with so many beautiful images and sounds and smells, not only in church but in our homes. It is a day spent with family and friends and often so many good memories and feelings. But it’s not just supposed to be that way today and today only. Advent is more than a name for a season—it’s an action and a promise. Advent, adventus in Latin, it’s an arrival, a coming to. The to is us. Jesus was coming to us. And if He came us to, it wasn't just for one day.

What and Who was to come, has already come that first Christmas, has come today as we begin the season of Christmas, will come again to rule over the entire world, and comes to us every day in the minutia of our lives. The question for us to ponder this Christmas season is what is coming for us in our relationship with Jesus? There is always the opportunity to allow Jesus to come closer and for us to step closer to Him, so that every day of our lives become a new Christmas celebration.

Why do we like this Christmas season so much? I think we all see the good in it. Even if we have been less engaged in our faith for much of the year than we know we ought to have been, there is something about this time of year that draws us back to church. And I think it’s deeper than just “this is the thing we do to make Christmas feel right.” If we have really prepared ourselves adequately during Advent, prayed, been to confession, reflected on what this season means, reaffirmed our desire to allow Jesus an even bigger space in our hearts, that maybe hasn’t found room for Him in the last year, then it truly will do that—this celebration of Mass will make Christmas feel right. Why would we want to celebrate the coming of the Savior and not invite Him to be a part of the celebration? But beyond that, I would suggest there is more. There is something we all yearn for that we find here, even if we are unaware that we are looking for it and finding it here. The atmosphere at Christmas exudes joy, as we hear so many familiar hymns and Christmas carols, as we hear the readings from scripture recounting the familiar story of Jesus’ birth, the sight of the Nativity, the decorated trees and lights, the wreathes, the candles, the wrapped gifts, the flowers decorating the church, the smiling faces of excited kids.

Hopefully we can all remember the Christmases of our childhood and have some good memories that we hold on to. I remember being sick on Christmas day four years in a row! In those days, doctors in the UK could be called upon to do home visits out-of-hours, and I remember my parents having to do that… poor doctor! Small town, always the same poor Dr. Warner.

But I have good memories too. Even on those Christmases when I was sick—that meant being up through the night on Christmas Eve and getting to hear the Carol Singers who knocked on the door (they took requests too!). And then opening my gifts in the morning—listening to my new Dukes of Hazzard story audio cassette; my roller boots that I couldn’t try because it was the first Christmas in years to get snow; my grandfather setting fire to the Christmas pudding (he was supposed to—it’s what you do to Christmas pudding!); my mom’s thousands of mince pies she would bake—they were amazing, but she could never get the tops of the pies to stay on! That was always a funny part of the tradition; the chocolate yule log my dad insisted on, as he didn’t like Christmas pudding; “Angel Punk– Rocker,” my sister’s angel that she made at school as a 6 year old, that sat atop the family tree for decades, and even today, somewhat worse for the wear, still sits on my sister’s tree, some 38 years later! The Queen’s speech on TV at 3pm; the turkey left-overs grabbed whenever you feel like it later in the evening.

Whatever the details of the good memories you hold on to, it was probably a simpler time in your life, shielded from the responsibilities that come as we age. It was a special time of wonder to enjoy. Our young hearts were free to be filled with a joy and peace that maybe we could not have put into words—but it felt good.

Those feelings, that sense of joy and peace and happiness is something we all still desire as adults, and I think that’s why Christmas is such a special time still—why it still conjures-up so much nostalgia and craving to experience that inner peace once more.

Jesus’ advent, His coming to us this Christmas, and every day, offers a way to find that peace and that joy, once more. But only if we don’t put Him back in the crib after Christmas and fail to take-up the relationship He came to offer us. Every day can be, and should be, a new Christmas day, when we welcome Him into our lives, making room for Him to stay with us. He won’t take away our adult responsibilities, but He will make it easier for us to maintain our sense of peace and joy in the midst of the craziness and busyness of the world around us. Merry Christmas!

adawson@sjascs.org 

How do we give God everything? It’s obvious from the stories throughout the Scriptures that God is asking us to give him everything but is He also calling us to “sell everything and give alms to the poor” as he asks of the rich young man?

Today, Fr. Mike helps us make the distinction between the sometimes particular call to “give everything away” and the universal call to give God everything. It is certainly the case that each and every one of us is called to relinquish all that we have and all that we are to God’s service and to trust Him with everything.

20) Words on the Word: December 25, 2022 - To Give or Receive? 

Sometimes, given the joy of Christmas, the light can be found in the unlikeliest of places. Industry publications, for example. A trade publication for those in the materials handling and logistics industry, for example, ran an article in the days leading up to Christmas with the headline “Practicing Kindness At Work.”

The article, which itself cited a piece in the Harvard Business Review, indicated that “recognizing a colleague’s accomplishment, offering a compliment or praise can ‘help individuals feel more fulfilled, boost their self-esteem, improve their self evaluations, and trigger positive emotions, decades of research have shown.’”

The brief article went on to quote the authors of the research as observing, “giving compliments actually made people happier than receiving them.”

In other words, this study confirms what so many people learned early in life, and which is resoundingly reinforced on Christmas – that it is better to give than to receive.

“Behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people,” the angel says to the shepherds in the Midnight Mass gospel passage from St. Luke. “For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Christ and Lord.”

And after explaining where the infant can be found, the passage concludes:

“And suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying: ‘Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.’”

The joy of Christmas, the joy of Jesus’ birth in the world, is profoundly more important than just a so-called “happy” feeling. But, at its heart, the love of Christmas is perfectly expressed in the notion of giving to others.

Christmas Day is here! Gloria in Excelsis Deo!

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7:00 a.m., Clara M. Champine and Stephen & Nancy Fattore

7:00 a.m., Jesse F. Champine & Art Titus

7:00 a.m., Karen Jones & Hugo Calisi

7:00 a.m., Francisco Aquilera Jr.

7:00 a.m., Donnie Hunsucker

4:00 p.m., Blair Zernick, George Wietecha, Charles Miller, Rose Ferreri, Mark DeKoekkoek, Bonnie Batche, Bernard Champine, and Special Intentions for the Champine Family, and the Thomas Family

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

10:00 a.m., George J. Bugarin

12:00 p.m., Joseph Paluzzi Jr., Father Leo Ramer and Gregory Knoff

Wednesday (December 28):

12:00 PM - Funeral for Nancy Dzon (Read Obituary HERE)

Thursday (December 29):

Friday (December 30):

Saturday (December 31):

12:30 PM - Baptism of Luca Maxwell Umles