Author: Kathy
Vacation Bible School 2018-19
He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands
He’s got the whole world in his hands! That was the theme for this year’s Vacation Bible School at St. Valentine! Mrs. Ricotta explained the theme beautifully to the children: God used His hands to create the world…He then used His hands to create our savior, Jesus Christ…Jesus then, with arms wide open on the cross, gave us life everlasting. It’s now up to us to use our hands to spread God’s love, and to carry on the teachings of Jesus…we must help others! We focused on helping others through the Corporal Works of Mercy. The Corporal Works of Mercy are based off of Jesus’ teachings as reflected in the Gospel of Matthew. As a group, we were able to fulfill each part of the Works of Mercy…
Feed the hungry/Give drink to the thirsty: Money was raised through bottle and can returns to purchase an Earth Gift Basket through the Heifer Organization. This humanitarian organization provides seeds, livestock, and instruction to help the hungry, the thirsty, and the less fortunate of the world. We also collected canned goods to donate to our parish food pantry.
Clothe the naked: We collected clothing to donate to the St. Vincent DePaul charity.
Visit the sick: Although we were not able to physically visit the sick of our parish, the children made spiritual bouquet cards for them…filling the cards with prayers to bless those who are sick with hope and healing.
Visit the imprisoned: Although we were not able to physically visit the imprisoned, we did pray for them and for their families…that the Holy Spirit may guide them and bring them peace.
Bury the dead: With the money collected, we were able to make a donation to the church to dedicate a mass to the deceased of our parish.
Shelter the homeless: With the money collected, we were able to make a donation to the Manna Soup Kitchen. Through their meals, they are able to provide a temporary shelter to those who are in need of a place to call home. We also donated money to the Redford Interfaith Organization. The money will help provide necessities to those in our faith community.
We also studied 5 countries: reviewing their maps, their cultures, how they say “hello”, how they say “Jesus loves me”, and a saint or religious figure from that country. Monday, we studied Israel and the life of Jesus. Tuesday, we studied Ireland and St. Patrick. Wednesday, we studied Italy and St. Benedict. Thursday, we studied India and Mother Teresa. On Friday, we studied Argentina and Pope Francis. Each day’s crafts and snacks were reflective of that particular country’s culture. It was fascinating to learn that each country’s citizens are different, but that God loves us all the same. He loves us regardless of citizenship, language, or culture. We are all children of God…God and Jesus truly love each and every one of us!
Father Socorro taught us a valuable quote from Mother Teresa, “Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.” That summed up this week’s VBS. Was it a perfect program without bumps along the way?…no. But, was it created and fulfilled with great love…absolutely! Our heartfelt thanks to all of the amazing students, helpers, and parents who made this week possible! We had 42 students…most of them were returning students, some who have been with us for these past six years. We were blessed to have 23 helpers! A special thanks to Barb Pogoda, who organized and assisted with all of our craft projects, and to Leslie Benard, who organized and assisted with all of our snack needs. Thank you so much for sharing your time, your talents, and your treasures with our program! Joan and I bid farewell to the VBS program, but we know that next year’s program will successfully carry on the faith and friendship that has been built these past six years!
God is great all the time…all the time, God is great!
In Faith and Friendship,
Amy Davis and Joan Ricotta
Thank You
We send our heartfelt thank you to Joan Ricotta and Amy Davis! These two women built our VBS program literally from scratch. Because of their dedication St. Valentine can definitely boast our VBS is a complete Catholic program. Without a doubt, they will be missed, as they also retire from teaching Faith Formation.
We wish you both all the very best and know you have a special place in our hearts and the door is always open for you to return! May God continue to bless all that you do.
Fr. Kishore
Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity
This weekend the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. The doctrine of the Trinity is at the core of our faith. It is an integral part of our sacramental life and prayer. We were baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Each time we sign ourselves with the cross to pray, we use those same words. The Catechism of the Catholic Church calls the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity “the central mystery of Christian faith and life.” (#234) It also says, “The Trinity is a mystery of faith in the strictest sense, one of the ‘mysteries that are hidden in God, which can never be known unless they are revealed by God.’” (#237) The Catechism of the Catholic Church goes on to explain the revelation of the Trinity: basically that the Father was revealed by the Son – “he is eternally Father by his relationship to his only Son, who reciprocally, is Son only in relation to his Father.” (#240) As for the Holy Spirit, before the Passover, Jesus announced the sending of the Paraclete who would be with and in all the disciples to teach them and guide them “into all the truth.” (#243) “The Spirit is sent to the apostles and to the Church both by the Father in the name of the Son, and by the Son in person, once he has returned to the Father. The sending of the person of the Holy Spirit after Jesus’ glorification reveals in its fullness the mystery of the Holy Trinity.” (#244)
As we celebrate the mystery of our Triune God this week, we give glory to God who is perfect love, who demonstrates that love in the relationship and unity between Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We give thanks to God for his unconditional love for us and for sharing his very divine life with all of us.
Let us continue to praise God by taking time each day this week to pray a simple prayer we learned as children: Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Father’s Day
On this Father’s Day weekend we wish many blessings on all Fathers, may the Spirit continue to guide them as they play their role as Fathers.
Blessing of Fathers
God and Father of all creation,
we come before you today
with humble hearts.
You are our model of a loving father.
When we fail and fall short of your expectations,
you are always there at the end of the day with open arms, ready to heal the cuts and scrapes of the day and to encourage us to try again and not to give up.
We hold up these men in our midst who act in the world as fathers to their children or models of fathers for others.
Bless them in their moments of doubt and frustration with their children.
Give them warm and open hearts to forgive failures.
Provide them with the words needed for encouragement and perseverance.
We ask all this in the name of Jesus.
Amen.
Unleash the Gospel
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Praise be to Jesus Christ, now and forever! At the first Pentecost, Christ came to his apostles and breathed onto them the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. He breathes on us today, his faithful in the Archdiocese of Detroit.
We find ourselves very much like the apostles who were gathered in a room. Like them, our hearts rejoice when we encounter Jesus. Like them, he sends us on a mission and gives us his Holy Spirit so that we may go out and Unleash the Gospel.
God is pouring out his Spirit so we can continue the work of the apostles. The Spirit enables us to proclaim the Good News to those in our families, workplaces and communities. The Holy Spirit, our Advocate, gives us the courage to continue our missionary journey.
And on this day, I would like to announce the next phase of our movement to Unleash the Gospel: the renewal of our parishes. For the Gospel to truly be unleashed, we must re-found our parishes so that everything we do — how we pray, how we minister, how we serve — leads us to be more effective witnesses to the Gospel.
This next phase of our missionary journey will require prayer, innovation, and hard work so that our parish communities become what God made them to be: places where individuals and families encounter Jesus anew, grow as his disciples, and are equipped to be witnesses of the Risen Christ.
To spark this transformation, each parish in the Archdiocese will create a plan to realign all its activity and ministry to our shared mission to Unleash the Gospel. These missionary strategic plans will provide the direction and focus for each parish’s missionary transformation.
Today, ten parishes in the Archdiocese will begin the process of creating these plans. I am grateful for the apostolic courage of these first pastors and their parishes. Other parishes will follow early next year and more will continue after.
This is nothing short of a complete overhaul of our Church in Detroit — a task too great to do on our own. But we are not alone. Christ is with us. We cannot fail, because we are in communion with the risen Jesus and we act in the power of his Spirit.
So, I ask you to join me in prayer. Let us pray for the Holy Spirit to come and transform our hearts and our parishes. Let us pray for boldness in our plans and efforts. Let us pray that each one of our parishes may discern how it is called to Unleash the Gospel with its unique set of gifts and circumstances.
Sincerely yours in Christ,
The Most Reverend Allen H. Vigneron
“My Sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me.” (John 10:27)
In today’s Gospel, Jesus speaks about His relationship with us through the metaphor of the Shepherd and the sheep. The thought of Jesus as the Shepherd has comforted many a million souls. Children retiring to bed have often said the prayer: “Jesus tender Shepherd, hear me; bless thy little lamb tonight.” And even old men, lying on their death beds have silently whispered to themselves. “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.”
The risen Christ is our Good Shepherd. He continues to be with us shepherding us and feeding us with His Body and Blood and leads us to our heavenly Father. The risen Lord tells us in today’s Gospel that we need to listen to His voice. And those who listen and believe in Him, He gives eternal life.
As we continue to enjoy in this Easter season let us pray that we may be filled with the grace of God so that we can listen to Jesus’ voice and follow him.
World Day of Prayer for Vocations
Today has been designated as “World Day of Prayer for Vocations”. Today, in a special way, we must pray for priestly and religious and married vocations. The world needs Jesus and His message. One of the renowned poets says, “As wounds always require medicine, so Christ is always necessary as long as sin resides in this world.” We need young men and women to take the Good News of Christ to the nook and corner of the world. Let us pray for all shepherds, starting from the Holy Father, Pope Francis, to all priests to strengthen them with His grace, to be good shepherds who are really concerned with their flock’s safety, wellbeing and salvation.
Mother’s Day
Today we celebrate Mother’sDay (Happy Mother’s Day to our beautiful mothers). Mother’s Day is in May because May is the month of the Blessed Mother. Mother Mary is the model for all mothers, it is said that there is no love like a mother’s love. A mother loves her child simply because the child is. There is no question of the child earning his mother’s love. He can do nothing for his mother, or even acknowledge her love. A mother’s love for her child is unconditional. That’s why a Mother’s love is compared with God’s love. In the book of Sirach we read, “Whoever glorifies his mother is like one who lays up treasure. When he prays, he will be heard.” (Sirach3:3). To our mothers we cannot give back what they give us sufficiently and equally. The best gift we can give to our mothers today is to pray a rosary for them, if possible, even better, with them. I wish all mothers a Happy Mother’s Day.
God bless you all.
Fr. Kishore Battu SACCSA
Fr. Kishore Battu SACCSA