Author: Kathy

Preliminary Survey Results

Kathy Uncategorized

Thank you to all who completed our recent survey on the Sunday experience here at St. Valentine. Results from 359 surveys have been tabulated and are being reviewed. Beyond the basic survey, many thoughtful comments were contributed that are particularly helpful in understanding how well we  are meeting the needs of the parish. This input is valuable and needs to be carefully considered, especially in some cases where differing opinions were provided.

Most things received a great deal of positive reinforcement, while some things have room for improvement. This is true in each of the major categories in the survey – music, preaching, lay ministries and hospitality. For example, Deacon Lawrence and I took to heart your input regarding our preaching, noting the need for clarity, applicability and brevity in our homilies. As another example, we noted that, while most experience a feeling of welcome and hospitality, this is not true for all. The survey responses also suggest to us that it may be helpful to provide guidance and instruction regarding some issues related to Holy Mass. 

In the coming months, our leadership team and commissions will be prayerfully engaged in reviewing what you have shared and incorporating it into our parish’s prayer and practice. 

Again, thank you for sharing. 

Fr. Socorro and the Leadership Team 

From the Principal

Dearest St. Valentine Parishioners!

 Happy summer and greetings from St. Valentine School! Our Parent Teacher Club board is working together and planning throughout the summer with a renewed emphasis on finding ways to support exciting and innovative learning at St. Valentine in addition to offering the many fun community building events they have supported in the past. They are also planning for the Santa shop for December already! Please help us by saving those new or very gently used items to donate.  Our Parent Teacher Club will be getting information about what to do with those donations out this fall.

St. Valentine School is undertaking a new service project this year in participating with Cross Catholic Outreach “Box of Joy” collection program. As a part of this program our students will collect small items to fill a shoebox sized container with things that would make children in third world countries smile as they receive them. In addition St. Valentine School will be a collection drop off site for the area so that other churches and individuals have a place to bring the boxes they have filled. This will be a joint project of the school and faith formation children, the St. Valentine Honor Society students, and the Parent Teacher Club. We hope to be able to get the parish families involved as well so look for more information in the bulletin in early September. If you wanted to start collecting items now, you can go to www.crosscatholic.org/boxofjoy. 

The Teachers and I are all excited to be reading this summer (it is our favorite summer past time). We know that our students are reading, practicing math, and constantly learning from their summer experiences.  Learning never takes a vacation!

You can help our school this summer by continuing to collect Box Tops for Education. Those little 10 cent pieces have added up to support many school projects. Box Tops can be dropped off in the collection bin at the back of church at any time. 

We are looking forward to the 2018-2019 school year and still have room for more students. If you are interested in joining our school family, or know someone who may be interested, please call 313-533-7149. We have so much to offer at St. Valentine School and want to share our school with as many families as possible. 

Thank you for your continued prayers and support.

Mrs. Rachel Damuth
Principal

Becoming Catholic

Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA)

RCIA, or Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, is the process by which people who are interested in learning about the Catholic Faith can attend classes and have the opportunity to become members of the Catholic Church.

RCIA is for adults who:

· Are interested in learning about the Catholic Faith

· Have never been baptized

· Have been baptized in another Christian faith and are interested in the Catholic Faith

· Are baptized Catholics who have not yet received the Sacraments of First Communion or Confirmation

· Are married to a Catholic and attend Mass and would like to take the next step to become a member of the

· Catholic Church

· Are Catholic but want to learn more about their Faith

RCIA is a spiritual formation process scheduled to begin in September.

To register, or for further information, please call the parish office at 313-532-4394.

Stewardship Thoughts

Today’s Scripture readings focus on God miraculously feeding the hungry. In the Second Book of Kings, the Lord uses the prophet Elisha as His instrument to supply nourishment for 100 men from 20 barley loaves. In St. John’s Gospel, the evangelist tells of a time near Passover, when Jesus multiplies a few loaves and fish to accommodate more than 5,000 followers. Both passages point toward Christ’s institution of the Eucharist at His Last Supper with His disciples. The Holy Eucharist is the “source and summit” of our faith. We become what we consume. For those who are able, frequent partaking of Christ in Holy Communion can bring a deeper relationship with Him. St. Paul reminds us that we have received a calling from the one Lord in one faith and one Baptism. In a spirit of evangelization, we respond to this invitation to discipleship by personalizing Jesus in our life and then sharing our Eucharistic joy with everyone we meet. Please read Archbishop Allen Vigneron’s pastoral letter, Unleash the Gospel, at unleashthegospel.org to learn more about evangelization in our Archdiocese.

Word For Little Ones

Looking for a Few Helpers

Our ministry, Word For Little Ones, held during the 12 noon Mass will begin the end of September. As mentioned last May, Bob Lepper and his daughter Hannah, our longtime catechists for Word For Little Ones have taken time off after helping out for 10+ years.  Leslie Benard, Sylvia Snigier and Abby Benard have agreed to continue this well loved ministry.

At this time we are hoping to recruit a few more volunteers. Our volunteers must be 18 years or older and willing to take 1 Sunday a month. We will train you and give you all the material you may need. Please take time to pray about being a volunteer and give me a call at 313-532-4394 x101.

Bonnie  Danic

 

“Come away by yourselves to a lonely place, and rest a while.” (Mark 6:31)

Kathy Weekly message

Among the four seasons we enjoy in our State of Michigan, Summer is a beautiful season. It’s beautiful in so many ways: gorgeous sunshine, clear blue skies, awesome lakes. It’s a great time of camping and family gatherings, picnics, relaxation and rest. In this hectic world of ours where everyone is racing against the clock, some leisure is not a luxury but a necessity. “come away by ourselves into a lonely place, and rest a while.” With these words, Jesus invites the apostles to get away from the routine ministry, to rest, to relax, to recoup and to recharge their batteries! The apostles were inundated pastorally, “for there were so many coming and going that they needed a break”. So, Jesus arranges a picnic as they get into a boat to a remote place where they could be by themselves.

 Friends, we are caught up every day in a whirlpool of work. We have so many things to do that even twenty-four hours do not seem to be enough. It is said in the Scripture: “There is a season for everything, a time for every occupation, a time for giving birth, a time for dying, a time for planting.” (Eccles 3:1-2). Amidst all our activities, cares and worries, if we find a little time for reflection and mediation, we shall be more happy, relaxed, taking the word of the Lord to heart: “Come, and rest for a while.” Yes, in the midst of our hectic activities we need time for rest. We cannot do good work unless we have time to rest.

On this Sunday Jesus invites us to leave the relentless wheel of routine, our punishing schedules, and retreat to a remote place.  Without this remote place our lives are in danger; we become workaholics. In modern societies marked by ‘hurry and worry’ we have to take time off and be with God so that He may recharge us with spiritual energy and strength. To receive this strength, we need time for prayer, silence and recollection. The ministry of Jesus was born in this remote place. He retired into the hills spending the whole night in prayer, went into the desert withdrawing into silence and solitude, rose long before dawn and spent time alone with the Alone.

Ask yourselves on this Sunday: Do I take some time to have my yearly retreat and regain my spiritual strength? 

Fr. Kishore Babu Battu SAC

Parish Activities!

Save the Dates:

August 26— Parish Picnic – St. Valentine Church picnic will be held on Sunday, August 26th. We will begin with Mass at noon in church followed by fellowship in the gym until 4pm. This is a fun-filled day to share with your family and fellow parishioners. Plans are still being formed. Update to follow soon.

 

 

September 16—13th Annual Fun Run & Spaghetti Dinner – For all those trying for a personal best time on their 5 K Run—the date is set…September 16th!

 Volunteers Needed!  As always, we need a lot of volunteers to help make this day run smoothly. We always need you …. Young or the Young at Heart all are needed!

Sponsors – In the past we have only solicited businesses to sponsor our Fun Run/Walk, BUT if a family/anyone would like to sponsor the Fun Run we would more than graciously accept your donation of $100 or more OR 225 of an item to put in the runners goodie bags. Please feel free to contact Bonnie at the parish office 313-532-4394 x101.

 

Welcome to St. Valentine,  Fr. Kishore! May God bless you in your ministry!

Kathy Weekly message

Hi friends,

     I am Fr. Kishore Babu Battu SAC from Andhra Pradesh, in the Southern part of India. Let me give you a short history of my life. I grew up in a beautiful state called Andhra Pradesh, Guntur region of India, which is known for its education and cultivation of rice, chilly and cotton. I am the fifth of seven children of Mrs. Mary Sunamdalu Battu and the Late Sebastian Battu. My parents are farmers. Unfortunately, I lost my father at the age of 14. I did my elementary school from 1st to 5th at home. Then my parents placed me in the boarding run by the Pallottine Fathers for further studies. I stayed there from 6th to 10th in the Pallottine boarding and successfully completed my studies. Those 5 years were crucial for my vocation to the Priesthood. The Pallottine Priests, their ministry, the Charism of the Society really inspired me to become  a servant in the vineyard of the Lord. I fulfilled my childhood dream of joining the Seminary. For thirteen years I studied at different stages of formation in the Pallottine Seminary.

 

I was ordained a priest for the ‘Society of the Catholic Apostolate’ on April 17th, 2008. I served as associate pastor as well as in-charge of boarding during my first assignment. I had many great opportunities to serve people in mission places, where I was brought up. It was a very satisfying ministry to serve people at these missions. After my first year of service, I was asked to be an administrator of the Millennium Residential High School, where I served as such for three years. It was a wonderful opportunity to take care of the physical and spiritual needs of the children who were in residence with us. At the same time, I also taught the children in the seventh grade and assisted the neighborhood diocesan parish with the Sacraments.

I arrived in Michigan in November of 2012 and was stationed here at St. Valentine parish for six months. Then, I was fortunate to be appointed as associate pastor of St. Michael the Archangel Parish, in Livonia for three years. It really exposed me to different apostolates. Later I was transferred to St. Joseph Parish, in Lake Orion for two years. It has been an amazing experience here in a great parish. I had great experiences working at St. Joseph’s. And now I am so grateful to God for the opportunity to come back to St. Valentine and share the Good News of Our Lord Jesus Christ. I am very glad to be here to share with you the hope, joy and love of God with all of you.

 

God bless you all.

 

Fr. Kishore Babu Battu SAC