Over the past few weeks, we had the opportunity to gather with some of our more senior members of our senior parishioners ... the 85+ group. I'm grateful to those who helped organize the dinner and those who helped make this day so special for this awesome group of parishioners. In particular, I would like to thank: Barb Hendrick, Laura Sorget, Thelma Socia, Ida Abdelnour, Diana Ziolkowski, Dina Ciaffone, Judy Deneweth, Debbie Bigham, Rachael Gerard, Mary Garofalo, Pete Ciaravino, John Benoit, Kristine Hass, the whole Kitchen Staff, and our 7th Grade Volunteers. 

Believe it or not, we sent out 310 invitations to our 85+ dinner this year. These awesome people were allowed to bring a guest with them. It was a great and grand gathering for this special group of parishioners. See some of the pictures below.

SJA is moderating a Facebook group for our parishioners and friends embarking on the Catechism in a Year podcast with Fr. Mike Schmitz and Ascension Press.

You can find the link to join on the SJA Facebook page or click the button below. We already have 90+ participants!

Reading 1 - Acts 6:1-7

Reading 2 - 1 Peter 2:4-9

Gospel - John 14:1-12

Note: We've become aware of an error in this reflection that causes the video to just be a still frame of Jeff Cavins. We apologize for the issue and we're working to fix the problem. In the meantime, we hope you can still reap some spiritual benefit from listening to Jeff's reflection for this Sunday. God bless you!

Friends, there is an enormously important line in our first reading today that we might just pass over: “The number of the disciples in Jerusalem increased greatly; even a large group of priests were becoming obedient to the faith.” Priests were so important in Jewish religious life, and these priests knew that Jesus was the fulfillment of the whole tradition of temple sacrifice. We, all the baptized, do not just admire Christ’s supreme priesthood from afar; we participate in it.

From the Land of Surgery: Thanks for all your prayers and well wishes. The surgery went well, and I was home that afternoon (Monday). Most in the office wanted me to write a TALLer Tales edition right after surgery, and thus while still drugged up, because they wanted to see what I would say and whether it would be coherent. I was game. I decided to chronicle the day of surgery and add a few pictures to fill up space.

The original plan was for my mom and sister Jackie to take me to the hospital, but unfortunately, as some heard, my mom had another flare-up of her Crohn’s last weekend, so she was out of commission. So, Jackie schlepped me over to McLaren Macomb at 5:00 AM and stayed with me that morning while feeding our family and the Parish Staff updates about my progress.

This was my first experience of being a patient at McLaren. I’ve been there to visit people in the past but never had the experience of being a patient. I was very impressed with the whole experience from my first visit there to do all my pre-surgical testing, which occurred the week before my surgery. What I liked most was that you weren’t treated as just a “number;” the individual attention and care were phenomenal. Nothing was rushed, and everyone was super kind. I even met with the doctor who would care for me if I had to spend the night. With all the tests and X-Rays, someone escorted me to each place I had to show up. That individual care was so impressive.

When we arrived at 5:30 AM, I showed my sister the infamous “Photography and Video is Prohibited” sign.  

Well, I followed that rule as best as I could. I was trying to figure out how to sneak in one of those surveillance security cameras. I really wanted to see this operation. When Dr. Nicholas saw me in pre-op when the anesthesiology staff was there to give me my nerve block and other “happy juice,” he even jokingly asked if I had snuck in a camera. Yikes, my gig was up; now the medical team working on me knew of my plan. If only I had more time … and if only I hadn’t seen the sign restricting photography and video plastered on the front door of the surgical center.

After they got me all prepped and wired up, Jackie joined me in the room again. The only aspect I didn’t like and wanted to protest was the number on the scale! Why do they always have to weigh you? When they asked for my height, I answered the usual 6’ 7”. This statistic elated the nurse because it was the first time she had charted someone at 200 cm (the metric equivalent of my height).

We then called our mom, said some prayers, and then we were “off to the races.” At this point, they started the nerve block and gave me the first concoction to help me “relax.” For me, this was the moment of getting a “two-week” vacation in just a few hours. They told me I would quickly doze off and probably wouldn’t remember much from that point onward. The office plotted with Jackie to get a picture of me zoned out before surgery. This was the picture circulating around the office while I was in surgery. Yep, I was zoned out!

I remember them wheeling me down to the Operating Room area. As the nurse was pushing my bed, I had enough where with all to wave my long arms over the door opener buttons to help open the doors going to the surgical suites. I then remember seeing these large sliding doors with no windows lining the long hallway. Inside each door was a surgical suite. I was wheeled into surgical suite 3.

I remember seeing Dr. Nicholas, and then while scanning the room, I saw the infamous robot all protected in a sterile housing. And, yes, there was the handle with what I would call the oscillating saw! Then, I remember moving over to the surgical gurney, and that was it. I was out. The surgery was about 3 hours. After it was over, Dr. Nicholas talked to my sister and my mom (on the phone) and gave them all the details. I heard I have good bone structure, so Dr. Nicholas was able to avoid using any plates and screws but instead used surgical glue to keep the parts together. But, what fascinated me even more, was when Dr. Nicholas told me that the bones would eventually grow over the implants and thus strengthen them even more! It’s truly fascinating how God created the human body and its self-healing abilities.

I was told it took me some extra time to come out of the general anesthesia, but I woke up with my sister, a nurse, and Dr. Nicholas checking in on me. After a few hours, it was time to go home, and that very group wheeled me out and got me situated in the car for the ride home. I was ever so thankful we landed back at my residence about a half hour after the school’s dismissal time. That was a bonus because I wasn’t ready for everyone to watch me hobble out of the car and try to get into my house. But I still had a cheer section rooting me on from the school office. I made it. I was home. And now, the recovery and healing process would begin.

Getting me to understand that I must take it easy for a few weeks has not been easy to drill into my little brain. I’ve heard it from many people, but Dr. Nicholas got it to register loud and clear. You would need to know that last weekend my homily was about not taking any shortcuts in our relationship with Christ. I kept reiterating, “There are NO shortcuts.” Well, the good doctor used my own words on me as he was talking with me and my sister about my aftercare and the physical therapy I would have to endure. I remember him looking me straight in the face and saying slowly with a slight grin, “Monsignor, remember … there are NO shortcuts.” Ugh. That was clever to use my own words to drill it home! Okay. I get it.

Enjoy the week. Know of my prayers!

In Christ,

“Do Not Let Your Hearts Be Troubled”: The Gospel for today is often read at funerals, and for good reason. It contains promises that are profoundly comforting in the face of the death of a loved one. The challenge is to understand that this text is not only about life after death, but that it has everything to do with our lives here and now.

The setting is back to Holy Week, at Jesus’ farewell address at his Last Supper with his disciples. Jesus has washed his disciples’ feet and has explained to them what this means. He has foretold His betrayal by Judas, and Judas has slipped out into the night. He has told His disciples that he will be with them only a little while longer, and that where He is going, they cannot come. He has also foretold Peter’s imminent denial.

No wonder the disciples are troubled. Their beloved teacher is leaving them, one of their own has turned against them, and the stalwart leader among the disciples is said to be on the cusp of a great failure of loyalty. It is as though the ground is shifting beneath their feet.

Jesus responds to the anxiety of His disciples by saying, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God: have faith also in me.” Jesus calls them back to this fundamental relationship of trust and assures them that He is not abandoning them. Rather, He is returning to His Father, which is good news for them. In speaking of His Ascension to the Father, Jesus assures His disciples that this is also their destination. There are many dwelling places in His Father’s house, and He goes to prepare a place for them, so that they will be with Him and dwell with Him in His intimate relationship with the Father.

When Jesus says that they know the way to the place where He is going, Thomas, like most characters in the Gospel, takes Jesus quite literally. He wants directions, a road map to this place. Jesus responds by saying that He Himself is the way: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

So that there can be no misunderstanding, Jesus adds, “From now on, you do know Him and have seen Him.”

Philip is not quite convinced: “Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.” Jesus responds: “Have I been with you for so long a time, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.”

This is the whole of Jesus’ mission - to make known the Father; to reveal who God is. Jesus, who has come from the Father and is now returning there, is the fullest revelation of the person and character of God. If we want to know who God is, we need look no further than Jesus. All the words that Jesus has spoken, all the works that He has done, come from God and show us who God is. Jesus’ words are truth, because He is truth.

This passage has everything to do with life here and now because Jesus entrusts his mission to His disciples. “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father. 

Yet here is where Jesus’ promise becomes a little hard to swallow. Greater works than these? Really, Jesus? Greater works than healing the blind and raising the dead? 

Perhaps our problem is that in hearing this promise, we expect to do these greater works in the same way that Jesus did them — with miraculous power that instantly solves the problem at hand. Yet even miracles are not guaranteed to produce faith. Many in John’s Gospel who witness the “signs” that Jesus performs have trouble seeing the work of God right before their eyes. They just think, “oh, that’s just Jesus, the kid from down the street, Mary’s boy.”

Toward the end of John’s Gospel, Thomas sees the risen Lord and confesses, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus responds, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”

This is not so much a scolding for Thomas as a blessing for us who have not seen and yet believe.

Jesus promises to be with us through the power of the Spirit, to work in and through us to accomplish his purposes in the world. This does not necessarily happen in easily visible, spectacular ways. 

Yet wherever there is healing, reconciling, life-giving work happening, this is the work of God. Wherever there is life in abundance, this is Jesus’ presence in our midst.

“No one has ever seen God. The only Son, God, who is at the Father’s side, has revealed him.” Jesus has made known to us the heart of God, and He has entrusted this mission of revelation to us. Where might we see Jesus’ work and presence in our midst? How might we show others the very heart of God?

Levelling the playing Field: As you know, Msgr. had his knee surgery this week and at the time of writing, he is home, but I have not seen him yet. He has been spotted up-right, moving slowly, surrounded by “scaffolding.” I am sure he will be sharing the details with you, but I, for one, am hoping they shortened him up on one side, and can do the other side later so I won’t look so short around here. 

From the Mouths of Babes: It’s very often the case that our baptisms provide a good amount oof comic relief, or rather the children do as they go through the Sacrament. On Saturday, Deacon Tom took the baptisms, while I manned the cameras. 

Before I went up to the choir loft, I greeted some of the extended family arriving to witness the baptism. Two of the young girl’s cousins arrived first, before she and her parents did. The cousins, two brothers of maybe 8 and 5 settled themselves into the pews. The 8 year old said to me, “She’s gonna cry.” And without missing a beat, his 5 year old brother looked at me and added, “She’s on another level!”

I laughed out loud and thanked him for this honest assessment of his cousin. I will not be drawn on whether it was an accurate assessment. You can ask Dcn. Tom about that! 

You are in my prayers this week.

adawson@sjascs.org 

Jesus is a miracle worker. He worked incredible “signs and wonders” during his 33 years on earth, and he continues to stun us with modern miracles to this day. He has healed physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. But if he has shown us that he can do this… why hasn’t he healed everyone?

If you’ve asked God “why haven’t you healed me,” Fr. Mike has a video for you today. 

13) Words on the Word: May 7, 2023 - Chosen to Serve

We speak and pray often in the church about the urgent need for priestly vocations, and rightly so. After all, where this is a limited number of priests, there is likewise a limitation on the opportunities for the faithful to receive the Eucharist and have their confessions heard, among other things.

But it’s important, too, to reflect on the need for deacons of the church. Deacons, after all – whether they be transitional deacons on their journey to the priesthood or permanent deacons who have dedicated themselves to serving the church even as they continue to go about their secular professions and activities – are another critical piece of the puzzle.

They do much more than simply help to relieve the ecclesiastical workload of a pastor. They baptize and witness marriages, to be sure, but they also help minister to the families of the deceased, frequently provide the homily of the mass, and serve in many other ways, often less typically visible ways.

It was good news then, a few weeks ago, when the Detroit Catholic provided word of the recent ordination ceremony of six transitional deacons. In the face of so many problems in the world, and in the church, it’s an inspirational reminder that there continue to be men discerning and answering vocations to serve.

“So they chose Stephen, a man filled with faith and the Holy Spirit, also Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicholas of Antioch,” we hear in today’s first reading from Acts. “They presented these men to the apostles who prayed and laid hands on them. The word of God continued to spread…”

So let us pause briefly today in the midst of this Easter season, as the church does, to remember the work of these important spiritual leaders, and offer thanks to God, and them, for their service.

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7:00 a.m., Evalene Elliott

7:00 a.m., Dennis Fleming

7:00 a.m., Anna Fazi

6:00 p.m., A Special Intention for Monsignor Mike

7:00 p.m., A Special Intention for Jack Shaughnessy

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

4:00 p.m., Bonnie Batche, Josephine Lucchese, Joseph Sloan, Sophia Rupinski, John Burasinski, Edward, Helen and Henry Blind, Michael DePetro, Samuel Moses, Souraya Nehro-Moses, and Special Intentions for Alison Reslow, the J. Champine Family, the Thomas Family, for Jack & Peg Shaughnessy, for the Muer and Thurber Families

6:00 p.m., Special Intention Alison Reslow

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

10:00 a.m., Special Intentions for Christine Bugarin, Sally Cabot, and Hilary Dawson

12:00 p.m., Louisa Sarra, Geraldine Rogier, Virginia Prill, Pedro Silva, Florance Semany, Marie Shaheen, Marguerite Joseph, Rosario Medina, Jeffrey Hardy, Daisy Marie Buenavista, Feliciana King, Gerry Doak, Jaclyn Maul, and a Special Intention for Alison Reslow

Thursday (May 11):

Friday (May 12):

7:00 AM - Mass

12:00 PM - Funeral for Shirley Elliott

1:30 PM - Baptism for Liam M. & Dominic J. Garcia

4:00 PM - Mass

6:00 PM - Mass