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

STORES 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 going to givingtree.stjoan.church and indicating the amount you would like to donate. We will take care of the rest.

2)  PLACE GIFT CARD(s) IN AN ENVELOPE:

3)  TAKE THE GIFT ENVELOPE(S) TO A DESIGNATED DROP SPOT:

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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 $190,075 in pledges and gifts toward our $211,447 goal ($185,728 has been paid thus far toward our total pledged amount). This amount represents gifts from 600 families (we have 3,335 families registered). We have thus achieved 90% of our goal!

“At an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come” (Matthew 24:44).

In this first week of Advent, Jeff Cavins reminds us to prepare our souls for the coming of Christ.

First Reading: Isaiah 2:1-5

Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 122:1-9

Second Reading: Romans 13:11-14

Alleluia: Psalms 85:8

Gospel: Matthew 24:37-44

Friends, Happy New Year’s Day! We come today to the beginning of a liturgical year—the first Sunday of Advent. There is a sort of a permanent Advent quality, a vigil quality, to the Christian life. We are waiting, watching; we want something we don’t fully have. And as we prepare for the coming of the Lord, our Advent challenge is this: What is our “highest mountain”? Where do we offer worship? If it is not the mountain of the Lord—if we have fallen into a spiritual sleep—now is the time to wake up and stay awake, to get our lives in order, to stop making excuses.

I DON’T Snore: I’m sure EVERY family has to deal with this. There are some that snore and some that don’t. Then there are those who absolutely positively irrefutably unquestionably deny they snore even though everyone else in the family would engage with them in a heated debate to the contrary.

For our family, the debate usually happens when we’re on vacation together. Not too long ago, I got into a discussion with one of my sisters about her “light” snoring. After she questioned whether MY hearing was good, I decided to record some of the snoring one night, so I had proof when I engaged in a conversation with her the next day. I enjoyed pulling out my phone during the conversation the following morning and saying, “SO, do you want to HEAR what you sound like in the middle of the night?” I’m a big brother, and that’s what big brothers do!

Recently, the snoring focus has turned on me! It has come up a couple of times that I supposedly snore, but so far, only my sisters have challenged me. But then MOM, of all people, started to agree with the “Council of Sisters.” It’s one thing when your siblings poke fun at you, but when momma engages in the conversation and attests to the veracity of what you are accused of doing, you stop and think about it. But I have remained adamant that I don’t snore. PERIOD! I may breathe heavily, but I don’t snore.

Furthermore, I contend that if my body is so accustomed to waking up from even the slightest noise from my phone, like when a text arrives in the middle of the night or when someone is knocking on my door, I would most assuredly wake myself up from the sound of my own snoring! When you’re on call 24/7, you are VERY attentive to the critical noises in the middle of the night that might signal you are needed someplace … and sometimes this need comes through text. But I have never woken up from any type of snoring noise, and at this point, no one has ever produced ANY evidence to win me over to accept that I may snore. It just doesn’t happen! I, of all people, would know! So, the case was closed … until recently by accident.

Last Saturday, my nephew J.J. and his new wife, Kerry, got married. It was a grand, beautiful, big, and typical country wedding. Of course, I have a few stories for future editions of TALLer Tales!

As part of my usual prep work with wedding couples, I always have them retell the story of their first meeting and highlights of their time together leading up to their engagement, and then I like to hear the details of their engagement again. I’m old and can’t always remember the details, and if I were lucky enough to write down some notes of my meetings, finding those notes when I need them would constitute a miracle. Unfortunately, I can never find my handwritten notes when I need them. They often get torn out of my folder and dumped on the bottomless pit of my desk. Even regular interventions by staff with my desk have never helped cure my “dump and run” routine. I go from meeting to meeting. I’m sure I could come up with a solution, but I don’t have time to figure that out. I’ve had some ideas, but I’ve never tried to make them work. So be it.

So, when I met with J.J. and Kerry, which had to be by Zoom because we were running out of time before the wedding, I decided to use my phone to record the conversation so I could get that recording transcribed so I could gather notes for my homily. I’ve used this fantastic transcription service at rev.com for years to handle all of my transcriptions. They have an automated transcription service and a human transcription service. So, depending on the need for accuracy, I will decide whether to use the human transcription service or the auto/machine service. Since I only needed notes to help with my homily, I decided only to use the auto-transcription service. This way, I wouldn’t have to worry about where the notes landed because I could go to my rev.com account and find what I needed there.

When I went to my phone to grab the audio file to upload it to the rev.com site, I was confused because the file was huge and showed it was several hours long (like 9 hours long). I couldn’t imagine what was in that file. So I opened the file in my audio editing app to cut out the part where J.J., Kerry, and I talked, but then I was flabbergasted because it showed audio rhythms during the entire file. When you open an audio file in an audio editing app, you see a graph that looks like an EKG. At this point, I grabbed the segment of my conversation with J.J. and Kerry. But what else was on that file was still a mystery. Well, as it turns out, I forgot to turn off the recorder after my conversation with them. So it recorded the next eight hours or so of activity. My conversation with them happened late that night (like 9:30 or so), and it recorded everything I did after talking with them until the following morning (and so it recorded while I slept). As I listened, I started to laugh out loud. OH MY! It was ME … SNORING …. and breathing quite heavily … THROUGHOUT the WHOLE night. Boy, that recorder app on my phone is super sensitive. If I had the time, I’d count how many snoring episodes I had throughout the night. Sadly, I now have to report to the family and admit … that I snore! Who would have thought? I guess the case is now officially and forever closed. I can’t wait ‘til they hear the recording. It’s pretty funny!

Advent Resources: Yikes! I can’t believe we’re already into the season of Advent! Even though the sights and sounds of Christmas are all around us, we still need to remember the beautiful and grace-filled season of Advent. Amid all the hustle and bustle, Advent calls us to embrace stillness and quiet as we prepare for the birth of Christ the King. And, we have a bonus this year in that we have four FULL weeks of Advent since Christmas is on a Sunday this year.

There are MANY things you can do to help your Advent journey. You can read the reflections in the Little Blue Book from the Diocese of Saginaw or the daily devotional Word Among Us. You could pick up a spiritual book. You could spend time before the Blessed Sacrament during adoration on Thursdays. You could get the Magnificat Advent Companion, download the Hallow App, start listening to Fr. Mike Schmitz’s The Bible in a Year daily podcast, or take a look at the offerings from FORMED.ORG. You could attend one of our reconciliation services. You could make it a goal to attend mass more frequently. You could make it a goal to pray as a family or pray by yourself each evening. Do something different during Advent to help you on your pilgrimage toward Christmas and beyond. Don’t let Advent come and go as if it just “gets in the way” of Christmas! Come up with a game plan for Advent. You’ll be glad you did so!

Happy Advent!

Advent!: I’ve realized over the years, that I love anticipation. I love the summer, but I enjoy the anticipation of it ahead of us because once you’re there, it’s 4th July already and then, before you know it, the leaves are turning! I love Christmas, but it’s over so quickly. But Advent gives us the chance to anticipate, prepare and enjoy the sights and sounds of Christmas approaching. It’s not Christmas yet, but it’s coming, so enjoy this time of anticipation. It’s like opening a bag of chocolate—you didn’t eat any yet, but it’s ALL still there. It’s a better moment even than0 taking the last Whopper and seeing them now all gone! (I don’t eat chocolate, but if I did it would be all about the Whoppers.)The beauty of Advent is lost in our commercial world. It has little meaning outside of the Church because it doesn’t sell. And that’s fine if we are only material consumers. But if we are consumers of the gifts God wants to offer this Advent season, slow down, stop shopping and listen to what the Church is offering. In this time, in our crazy world, we need Advent more than ever. We need to keep the true characteristics of Advent loud and clear before us. We celebrate the four weeks of Advent through our liturgical cycle of Advent readings. Even the music of Advent, I think, is the most beautiful of the year. (Yes, there’s specific Advent Church music that is not Christmas music!) The Church invites us to anticipate the coming of Christ in our celebration of His birth over 2000 years ago. The Church reminds us to prepare ourselves for the advent of His Second Coming in time. And the Church encourages us to focus on the advent of His coming us in the in-between time, His daily coming to us in the minutia of our busy lives.

If our eyes are so fixed on the celebration of His birth at Christmas, or lost in the way the world has turned the season into a “Blowout Sales Event,” we will never receive this year the greatest gifts being given to us this Christmas, the true gifts of hope, love and joy and peace that a deeper and more sincere relationship with Christ offers.

No, I’m not Fr. Grinch. Christmas is awesome! Yes, I put up my outdoor pallet wood Christmas tree already, and people said don’t wait to light it up… but it was about to get cold, so I wanted to get it done. Everyone wants to decorate for Christmas. But Advent is my favorite season! I love Advent and I wanted to decorate for Advent! So, still a work in progress because paint doesn’t like cold weather… but here you go:

Advent waiting is expectant. It can help us to find a deep connection to Mary in the Nativity stories, awaiting the birth of her child, in wonderous awe of what lay ahead. We wait expectantly for the Christ Child to come again with an anticipation that He will bring something wonderful and maybe surprising to our lives.

Advent waiting requires making space. Although the main action in Advent is God’s, we have our part to do too. We shouldn’t wait passively for God to act. Rather, make room for God’s action to be something that we can welcome, something that we notice when it happens. There was no room at the inn for Mary, Joseph, and Jesus, because it was too full. The stable was poor and simple, but had space for them to take shelter. Is my heart warm and open to welcome God in? Is there really space for Him? Is life too rushed and busy with Christmas preparations and concerns that need to be let go, in order to make room for Jesus to come again this Christmas? Are we building-in time to make space for the Christ Child?

Advent waiting is hopeful. As we approach winter, we may find the shortened days and longer nights to be, well, dark and bleak. John’s Gospel, though, tells us, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5). God has already given us the one who loves, redeems, and heals the world. He is coming again. And He is our reason for hope.

Liturgical Gremlins: I have come to the conclusion that when Monsignor is away from the parish, the technology misses him… he says he thinks it follows him to cause trouble wherever he is, but either way, it leaves a trail (or trial) of problems behind it anytime he's gone at the weekend. A couple of weekends ago he had a family wedding on Saturday, and meanwhile I had lost my voice, so Fr. Brian Meldrum graciously agreed to take the Saturday masses, while I just concelebrated. Kristine Hass ran the cameras and slides from the choir loft for the 4pm mass, but the iPad that operates the screens would not cooperate. I noticed the issues, but never had chance to speak to Kristine after mass. As Fr. Brian and I processed in at the start the 6pm mass, it suddenly occurred to me that nobody was running the slides, so I walked straight into the sacristy, grabbed the iPad and came back to reverence the altar and proceed to my chair. Too late for the words to the opening song though—the iPad was set to the wrong Sunday’s slide selection. But okay, I thought, since I am not the Presider, I may not be able to run all the slides throughout mass, but I can get some of them on the screens. Next up, Gloria… I hit the Gloria section and on the iPad, the slides for “O Salutaris Hostia” appeared. That’s Adoration! That’s giving glory to God, but sure to confuse some people! I tried again… same result. I wasn’t putting that on the screens. Too late anyway. Next up, the Psalm. From my chair, during the first reading, I tapped the Psalm option, and a totally different set of hymn slides appeared. I tried again… same result. I gave-up. I decided at that point that during Fr. Brian’s homily, I could try to close and re-boot the program and see if that would fix it. The Creed would be next and it would help some people to have the words in front of them. And I knew that after that would be the Prayer for Priestly Vocations which I had assured Fr. Brian would come-up on the screens for him to lead, so he wouldn't have to try to remember it!

The re-boot worked, and the Creed and Prayer came-up on the screens. Next, I went to set the altar, taking the iPad with me, thinking I could get the slides for the offertory hymn, but no, the iPad froze-up again, and that was it I decided. No more!

There were some issues Sunday morning too, but at 12pm, to save my hoarse voice, I went to the loft to run cameras, and, I thought, slides, which wouldn't require the troublesome iPad. I had not seen Ida, who usually stops by the sacristy before 12pm to pick-up the iPad and run the slides from the pews for that mass. Mass began and I went to select the first hymn slides, but it appeared on the screen a fraction before I clicked on it. I assumed the touch pad was just very sensitive. But it happened on the second slide too! I thought Catherine was working them from the piano, hands-free somehow, but she is very talented! The Gloria began and the slides were moving—this was way too confusing and I tried to wave at her to let me do them as my brain was geared-up for it. She waved back, mouthing “I’m not doing it!” Confused again, the penny dropped, I had missed Ida, but she was there and she didn’t know we were fighting each other for control of the screens. I couldn't see her in the pews, but the fighting stopped so I assumed she had figured-out it was me upstairs. But no, the iPad had crashed again, and thankfully I was able to bridge the gap this time. I think it’s time to stop losing my voice… it’s way too complicated. I wonder if there’s an app for that?

adawson@sjascs.org 

Today Fr. Mike encourages us to consider pursuing this one antidote in combatting pride and to helping you grow in humility today!

The reaction was as predictable, alas, as it was unfortunate.

As the smoke cleared on the mid-term elections earlier this month, and it became clear that results for many state and national offices fell far short of what politicians and analysists had predicted, the inter-party name-calling and blame game kicked into full force.

It was almost as intense and vindictive as the pre-election maelstrom.

Who won? Who lost? Who was to blame for miscalculations? Where do we go from here?

It’s all important, of course, and the holders of legislative offices can have tremendous impact on our lives.

That said, though, it’s also a perfect time of the liturgical year to remind ourselves there are more important things in life than who the next senator is.

“You know the time,” St. Paul writes to the Romans in today’s second reading. “Let us then throw off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us conduct ourselves properly as in the day … not in rivalry and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh.”

In other words, it’s fine to fight the fight of our daily jobs and projects – including legislative ones – but, at the end of the day, let’s remember our true priorities.

“Therefore, stay awake!” Jesus says in today’s gospel passage from St. Matthew. “For you do not know on which day your Lord will come. Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour of night when the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and not let his house be broken into. So, too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”

Christmas is four weeks away. Are we staying awake to what really is most important?

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.

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.

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.

7:00 a.m., Hugo Calisi and Clara M. Champine

7:00 a.m., Anthony Lombardi and Mary A. Champine

7:00 a.m., Leonard Cichoraki and Gerri Doak

7:00 a.m., Steve Finn

7:00 a.m., The deceased members of the Calisi Family who died in the month of December

4:00 p.m., Bonnie Batche, Michael Faber, Nina Backou, Alfred Blind, Rose Ferreri, and Special Intentions for the J. Champine Family, for the Thomas Family and for the Urso Family, and Prayerful appreciation for the work of the Priests and Staff of St. Joan of Arc

6:00 p.m., George J. Bugarin

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

10:00 a.m., Robert Boesiger

12:00 p.m., Fr. Arthur Oldani, Bruno Lipski, Leonard Matusko, Carol Plotkowski, Emael L. Sarmiento, Joe R. Medina, Rosario O. Medina, Daisy Mae Buenavista, Jeffrey A. Hardy, Robert Pucky, Mario Carlo Tome, Stanley Wojnowski

Wednesday (November 30):

Thursday (December 1):

Friday (December 2):

Saturday (December 3):

9:00 AM - Mass with Young Catholic Professionals

12:00 PM - Funeral for Raymond Radatz (Read Obituary HERE)

Sunday (December 4):