Week of December 10, 2023

1) Giving Tree Project - Cards or Donations are due on MONDAY

“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 11, 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.

2) Hat and Mitten Tree Project

This year for our Hat and Mitten Tree Project, we are donating to St. Raymond's Soup Kitchen downtown. We are accepting hats and mittens for children and adults. Any hats or mittens you wish to donate can be placed in the red bins on either side of the Sr. Carol picture in the Gathering Place or simply dropped off at the Parish Center.

3) Additional Confession Opportunities during Advent:

Father Adam and I will be available for reconciliation during the following times in one of the conference rooms in the Sr. Carol Center. Chairs will be set up in the Gathering Place and will serve as a “line” for confession; you’ll be getting some exercise moving from one chair to another as the line moves. If you wanted to wait for a specific confessor, you could do so.

The schedule is as follows:

Tuesday, December 12: 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM

Wednesday, December 13: 4:30 PM to 6:00 PM

Saturday, December 16: 11 AM to 12:00 PM

Tuesday, December 19: 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM

Wednesday, December 20: 4:30 PM to 6:00 PM

Saturday, December 23: 11 AM to 12:00 PM

You would be amazed how many times I welcome people back who haven’t celebrated the sacrament in years or even decades. Don’t be afraid if you’re one of these people and are worried about going to confession. Tell the confessor it’s been a while since you’ve gone to confession; he will walk you through the ritual. Don’t worry if you can’t remember the Act of Contrition; we have cards in the confessionals with the prayers. Your act of contrition could be as simple as: “Lord Jesus, Son of God have mercy on me, a sinner.”

Another excuse I often hear about why people don’t go to confession is: “Father, you don’t have the time to hear all that I need to confess.” Nice try, we’ll make the time! Another excuse: “Father, I wouldn’t have the time to do the penance you would give me. By the way, what kinds of penances do they give out these days?” The penances given out these days are often in the form of a prayer or some act of kindness. It’s not difficult, people! I encourage you to give it a try.

4) O Come Emmanuel: Your 2023 guide to Christmas concerts in southeast Michigan

From Detroit Catholic: Keep your Advent merry and bright by attending one of these 13 joy-filled concerts provided by Catholic parishes and schools

DETROIT — Are you the sort of person who refuses to turn on Christmas music until after Thanksgiving? Or have you been blasting “We Three Kings” on the car stereo since September?

Either way, the season is finally here, and in the Archdiocese of Detroit, that means Christmas concerts.

During this season of preparation for Christ's birth, it’s important to take time to worship the coming king in song.

For your convenience, Detroit Catholic has compiled the following list of Christmas concerts during the month of December featuring some of the best local Catholic ensembles and musicians playing classic Christmas hymns, contemporary songs and Advent favorites to help you and your family slow down and remember the reason for the season. Most of the concerts below are free (with a couple of exceptions).

May you and your family enjoy a holy, fruitful Advent this year.

For the FULL SCHEDULE of concerts or to read more, click here.

5) Worldwide Marriage Encounter

6) New Men's Fellowship Bible Study

7) 10 Great Christmas Movies You'll Want to Watch With Your Family This Holiday Season

From Church Pop:

Watching Christmas movies is a beautiful way to spend time with family.

However, finding Christmas movies with a plot discussing the season’s true meaning can be difficult.

Here’s a list of 10 of the best Christmas movies to watch with your family this year:

1) The Nativity Story: The Nativity Story presents a scripturally based story of Jesus’ birth. This 2006 Christmas movie details the biblical timeline. In all honesty, it's one of my favorite live-action films about the Birth of Jesus.

Fun fact: Oscar Isaac plays Saint Joseph in this movie. He also plays Poe Dameron in the new Star Wars trilogy.

2) A Christmas Carol: There are multiple retellings of this Christmas story based on the Charles Dickens classic. Ebenezer Scrooge meets the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future. These ghosts show him his life, which ultimately ends in his conversion.

Read More ...

8) Ascension's Bible and Catechism App

9) Holy Hour on Thursdays

10) This Sunday's Readings: December 10, 2023 - Second Sunday of Advent

11) Sunday Reflections by Jeff Cavins

"Remember Your Baptism" + The Second Sunday of Advent

In this week’s Encountering the Word video for the Second Sunday of Advent, Jeff Cavins encourages us to prepare for the coming of Christ by remembering our baptism and going to confession.

First Reading: Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11

Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 85:9-10-11-12, 13-14

Second Reading: 2 Peter 3:8-14

Alleluia: Luke 3:4, 6

Gospel: Mark 1:1-8

12) Bishop Barron's Sunday Sermon

Confronting the Powers That Be



Friends, great writers, from Aristotle to Shakespeare to Melville, put a lot into their opening line, which often sets the tone for the whole work. This week we have the privilege of hearing the very opening of the Gospel of Mark, which, by scholarly consensus, is the first of the Gospels written: “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God.” In the manner of those great writers, this line matters a lot; in fact, every bit of it matters. And what sounds to us like familiar spiritual language was, in the first century, an edgy proclamation of the true Emperor to the powers that be.

13) Grow+Go

14) 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.

15) This Week's Edition of TALLER Tales

Always in Trouble In-Person and Online: Sometimes, the technology I advocate and push for gets me in trouble. I was sharing with Father Adam this morning how people can spot the slightest unusual move, look, or twitch we make online. It’s one issue to be “caught” in person, but it’s doubly worse when you’re also caught online!

As everyone knows, Father Rich does phenomenal work with our altar floral arrangements. If you’ve ever seen him at work, you know he can whip together the most intricate floral arrangement as if it were the simplest thing in the world. Watching him at work and seeing how fast he creates these arrangements and decorations is incredible. And, unlike me with my technology, he can converse with someone while he’s at work. On the other hand, I cannot carry on a conversation when I’m working on my technology stuff and need silence. And then when someone wants to engage in conversation with me when I’m working on these things, even though I have given every kind of subtle clue to leave me alone (okay, my family and closest friends will say I’m not so subtle in this department), I eventually and, unfortunately, might say something that isn’t so kind that will inevitably send me to the confessional! It’s one of those flaws I keep working on! I have a solution to help remedy these matters: only to do my tech stuff after midnight! But now that I’m inching toward 60, staying up past 11 is a real chore! Remember, my recliner likes to kidnap me in the evenings.

As you may have figured out, those beautiful Advent decorations in the sanctuary are Fr. Rich’s creations. He put them together in a matter of minutes one day after the 7:00 a.m. mass. As they were being placed in the sanctuary, I knew that the one near the camera would create some difficulty for us simply because the white branches towered over the camera. I mentioned this to Father Rich, who maneuvered both pots on either side of the altar to minimize how much those branches would get in the camera’s way. Well, I knew it would still be a problem, and my other daily camera operator (let’s say his name is Steve) likes to do wider swings of that camera, and those branches were definitely going to get in the way of some camera shots. So, Clark here decided to take things into his own hands and do some trimming.

Shortly after the 7:00 a.m. mass this past Monday, I figured I had enough time to grab some snips and take off a few inches to give that camera better clearance. As I was clipping, I realized I should have left the job to the experts. What initially looked wild and natural now looked like someone had run over it with a lawnmower or hedge trimmer. I was starting to sweat.

Vern then passed in front of the altar and said, “So, the branches must have been in the way of the camera.” “Yup,” I answered. “That’s why I decided to do a bit of trimming, but I don’t think I did a good job. It doesn’t look THAT bad, does it?” Vern politely answered, “Well, it looks like someone gave it a buzz cut or ran through it with a hedge trimmer. It’s too flat on top now.” “So, in other words, Vern, it DOES look pretty bad,” I thought about saying aloud, but I got the point and mumbled the sentence under my breath. “You know, Father Rich has some extra branches in the back,” Vern said with a smile. So, IT DOES LOOK PRETTY BAD! UGH. Then, to make matters worse, I got a text from Dina, our business manager, just as I was TRYING to trim some more so it didn’t look so flat on top. Of course, Dina was watching this whole experience online because the cameras from the 7:00 a.m. mass hadn’t stopped streaming yet. She told me that while I’m clipping away, I should check to see if they needed water. Now, I was caught and in trouble. I immediately called Dina and confessed I didn’t do a great job. Of course, she already knew and suggested I stop and let the expert, Father Rich, fix it. Being nervous that now too many people knew I was the culprit, I decided to take matters into my own hands and grab some of those branches in the back to see if I could use them to give the arrangement more height. But those branches were filled with glitter, and I got glitter all over the sacristy, my coat, hands, and face. There was no way of escaping this mess because all the evidence of the crime was pointing to me. I should have done this after midnight because I may have gotten away with correcting my poor hack job! Oh well, now I have to wait until evening to call Father Rich and “go to confession” before he sees the hack job I did in the morning. It was bad enough that people would notice it, so the expert needs to come in and correct what I did! I do try! Really!

Advent Resources: Yikes, it’s already the second week of Advent! What happened to July? 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; even as short as it is this year. Amid all the hustle and bustle, Advent calls us to embrace stillness and quiet as we prepare for the birth of Christ the King.

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 (available in the Gathering Place and the bins outside). 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 Halo app, start listening to Fr. Mike Schmitz’s The Bible in a Year or Catechism in a Year podcast, or look at the offerings on FORMED.ORG (we have a parish subscription so you can access all the FORM.ORG material for free). You could attend one of our reconciliation opportunities. You could make it a goal to attend Mass more frequently. You could make it a goal to pray as a family or by yourself each evening. Do something different during Advent to help you on your pilgrimage toward Christmas and beyond.

Given the available resources to help us on our Advent journey, we have no excuses for not doing SOMETHING! Our biggest challenge or hurdle is not being serious about sitting down and developing a game plan. The game plan should also be realistic, much like what we say about our Lenten practices, so we don’t end up feeling like a complete failure when we don’t carry through on every aspect of our plan and then stop doing everything. 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. Get your hearts ready for the birth of Christ. You’ll be glad you did so!

Enjoy the week. Know of my prayers!

In Christ,

16) Along the Way with Father Adam

Purposeful Advent

The other week I was looking at my calendar and, I have to admit, I was a bit overwhelmed. I realized that from Thanksgiving until Christmas I had literally 4 free evenings. That’s it! Because I like to be busy, I am notorious for overbooking myself. One time I even accidentally triple booked an evening on my calendar.

In the midst of the busiest (and most commercialized) season of the year – Advent – we (including me) have to take some time to step back. Here we are in the second week of Advent already and I haven’t done a good job at resting. Such rest is time we can use to refocus ourselves on “the reason for the season” – Jesus Christ coming at Christmas and coming again in glory.

One of the best ways to refocus ourselves is, as I preached about last weekend, going to confession. Now for some, confession is a scary thing. I’ll admit, even I am afraid or nervous sometimes going to confession. But I always find that if it is something that we are nervous about, it’s because it’s important to us.

Maybe it has been many years since your last confession – that’s okay! Do not shy away from such a grace-filled sacrament. During this Advent season we have many opportunities here at St. Joan of Arc to partake of the sacrament. You could also go to the Solanus Casey Center, which has confessions Tuesday through Saturday 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Wherever you go, just go!

As nervous as I am at times, I always experience a great sense of peace afterward knowing that Jesus has forgiven me of all my sins and provided me with the grace to continue on in the Christian life. 

How to Make a Good Confession

Confession is not difficult, but it does require preparation. We should begin with prayer, placing ourselves in the presence of God, our loving Father. We seek healing and forgiveness through repentance and a resolve to sin no more. Then we review our lives since our last confession, searching our thoughts, words and actions for that which did not conform to God’s command to love Him and one another through His laws and the laws of His Church. This is called an examination of conscience. 

Always start with praying – asking the Holy Spirit to reveal your areas of sinfulness. It helps also to look at a written examination. Some such examinations go through the Ten Commandments, the Beatitudes, or Seven Deadly Sins. Either way, if you don’t know what to confess or you don’t think you have anything to confess, take a look at a good examination – you can find many different versions online and through the U.S. Bishops Conference.

When you enter the reconciliation room you may go face-to-face or anonymous, with the screen between you and the priest. Choose the option that is the most comfortable for you. Make the Sign of the Cross and say, 

“Bless me father, for I have sinned. 

My last confession was…” (give weeks, months, or years).

Next, simply tell the priest your sins. It is important here to be concise. What I mean is that you can simply list your sins. There is no need to share background information or the story that led you to that sin. Make sure, of course, to confess all mortal (gave) sins. And remember, venial sins are forgiven through many other sacramental means – i.e., signing yourself with holy water, the penitential act at Mass, etc. When you have finished confessing you can say something like, “I’m sorry for these and all my sins.” That is the indication to the priest that you are finished – we don’t want to interrupt and then you forget something.

The priest gives a penance and possibly offers some advice. Then say an Act of Contrition. You can say one that you learned as a child or read one that is provided in the reconciliation room. This is a key component for an integral confession because it is an expression of sorrow for your sins. Finally, the priest, acting in the person of Christ, then absolves you from your sins.

In the words of my priest friend (who shall remain nameless), “Be brief. Be bold. Be gone.” He calls that the “Three B’s of Confession.” Don’t worry, the “be gone” is that your sins are forgiven, not that we are kicking you out!

Rejoice! Your sins have been forgiven! As Pope Francis said, “When one finishes Confession one leaves free, grand, beautiful, forgiven, candid, happy. This is the beauty of Confession!”

I hope this simple reminder and guide aids you to make a good confession during this holy season of Advent.

Blessings!

Fr. Adam

anowak@sjascs.org

17) Ascension Presents: Father Mike Schmitz

When God Doesn’t Answer Your Prayers

If it feels like God isn’t answering your prayers, that can be disheartening. But it can also be devastating.

Today, Fr. Mike offers the good word that your God is your loving Father who wants to give you good things. But he also offers the reminder that God is not a genie over which we have control.

18) Words on the Word: December 10, 2023 - Time for Reflection  

Heaven, our faith tells us, rejoices when a sinner repents and returns to the Lord.

How heaven must have been celebrating then, a few weeks ago, at a noteworthy act of repentance involving a theft and desecration that had taken place in Spain.

According to a story published by the Catholic News Agency, thieves had broken into a hospital chapel and stolen not only an altar cross, chasuble, corporal, liturgical book, and a chalice, but also the tabernacle with the Eucharist inside.

A week later, the local bishop announced on his radio program, the thieves returned what they had stolen and, even more profoundly, had made a full sacramental confession.

“Now that the Lord has touched hearts, we can only say: Glory to God!” the bishop was quoted in the story as saying. “The true solution is repentance; it’s returning to the will of God.”

It’s a terrific story, as we commence today into the Advent season. Few of us are likely thieves, fewer still are thieves who would commit such an egregious act, but all of us have need to repent for something.

“No ear has ever heard, no eye ever seen, any God but you doing such deeds for those who wait for him,” we hear in today’s first reading from the prophet Isaiah. “Would that you might meet us doing right, that we were mindful of you in our ways.”

Those ways, of course, involve everything we do, and everything we don’t do, that follows a path other than the one God would have us follow.

“Lord, make us turn to you,” we pray in the responsorial psalm, “let us see your face and we shall be saved.”

Christmas is just three weeks away. Have we repented for our sins, and begun to prepare for the birth of the Christ child?

© 2023, Words on the Word

19) This WEEK on FORMED:

20) Hallow App:

21) Mass Intentions for the Week:

Monday, December 11, 2023, Advent Weekday, Saint Damasus I, Pope (Purple/White) 

7:00 a.m., Sr. Marie Gregory, SSJ

Tuesday, December 12, 2023, Our Lady of Guadalupe (White)

7:00 a.m., Hugo Calisi

Wednesday, December 13, 2023, Saint Lucy, Virgin and Martyr (Red)

7:00 a.m., Special Intentions for Donald Ketelhut and Keith Ketelhut

6:00 p.m., Doug Primeau

Thursday, December 14, 2023, Saint John of the Cross, Priest and Doctor of the Church (White)

7:00 a.m., Aniello Mazzella

Friday, December 15, 2023, Advent Weekday (Purple)

7:00 a.m., Mary & Frank Fleming, Dennis Fleming, Suzanna & Victor Markowsky, Gerald Valeck, Joe Komaroff

Saturday, December 16, 2023, Vigil for the Third Sunday of Advent (Purple)

4:00 p.m., Bonnie Batche, Steve Terlescki, Edward, Helen and Henry Blind, Joan Weber, Dr. Lori Karol, Laura Barkley, Sara Ventimiglia, Daniel Voss and special intentions for the Thomas Family, the J. Champine Family, for Alison Reslow, Pam Haisenleder, Lorraine Jonas, Linda Frank, and Mary Lou Orsini

6:00 p.m., Donald C. Ancypa

Sunday, December 17, 2023, Third Sunday of Advent (Purple)

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

10:00 a.m. Michael Forrester, James Forrester, Margaret & Charles Forrester

12:00 p.m., Joseph Semany, Victor Hage, Emilia Adamcik, Rosario Medina, Jose’ Medina, Jeffrey Hardy, Joan Hardy, Feliciana Punzalan, Daisy Marie Buena Vesta, Salvatore Urso, Fred Andary, Jack Jacob, and special intentions for Monsignor Mike Bugarin, Pam Haisenleder, Alison Reslow, Lorraine Jonas, and Linda Frank.

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

This week's LIVE Stream

Schedule at St. Joan of Arc:

Monday (December 11)

7:00 AM - Mass

12:00 PM - Funeral for Rose-Anne Michael (Click HERE to Read Obituary)

Tuesday (December 12):

7:00 AM - Mass

8:30 AM - School Mass

6:30 PM - School Christmas Concert

Wednesday (December 13):

7:00 AM - Mass

10:00 AM - Funeral for Lawrence Rybicki (Click HERE to Read Obituary)

6:00 PM - Mass

Thursday (December 14):

7:00 AM- Mass

7:00 PM - Holy Hour

Friday (December 15):

7:00 AM - Mass

10:00 AM - Funeral for Paula Nagel (Click HERE to Read Obituary)

Saturday (December 16):

10:00 AM - Funeral for Berton Dygert (Click HERE to Read Obituary)

12:30 PM - Baptism of Dominic Belnome

1:30 PM - Baptism of Trace F. Walker

2:30 PM - Baptism of Brennan L. MacRury

4:00 PM - Mass

6:00 PM - Mass

Sunday (December 17):

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.

23) SJA's Latest Parish Bulletin

Click on the image below

to download a copy of the bulletin

for December 10, 2023

24) Weekly Bulletin Mailing List

25) Detroit Catholic