One of the ways we as Catholics remember our dead is to pray for them.  The Bible offers several accounts of prayer for the dead, the earliest of which is seen in the Second Book of Maccabees.  Other early evidence of the Christian practice of praying for the dead can be found in the Roman catacombs, where inscriptions include both prayers for the dead and requests for prayers. Early Church Fathers such as Tertullian and Augustine also witness to the tradition of praying for departed family and friends.

Prayers for the dead begin as soon as the person dies.  Among its various rites, the Order of Christian Funerals includes “Prayers after Death” and “Gathering in the Presence of the Body.”  Both of these rites are to bring comfort to the mourners at the time of death or shortly thereafter.

 As the Order of Christian Funerals (OCF) states, “At the death of a Christian, whose life of faith was begun in the waters of baptism and strengthened at the Eucharistic table, the Church intercedes on behalf of the deceased because of its confident belief that death is not the end nor does it break the bonds forged in life” (4)

The funeral liturgy, especially the celebration of the Mass, is the primary way the community offers prayers for their dead: The OCF states, “At the funeral rites, especially at the celebration of the       Eucharistic sacrifice, the Christian community affirms and expresses the union of the Church on earth with the Church in heaven in the one great communion of saints”(6). 

 After the funeral liturgy, the community continues to remember and pray for the dead at “Masses for the Dead,” on special anniversaries and occasions, on solemnities such as All Saints and All Souls’ Day, and during the Eucharistic Prayer. 

 We offer our prayers for the dead to commend them to God’s   merciful love, to ease their transition from this life to the next, and to keep them close at heart. As the Order of Christian Funerals  states,” Though separated from the Living, the dead are still at one with the community of believers on earth and benefit from their prayers and intercession” (6).

www.PastoralLiturgy*magazine,November/December2018, Kathy Kuczka

First Annual St. Valentine Christmas Holiday Walk

Saturday, December 15^th

Dinner 4 pm—7 pm

The Holiday Walk Homes will be open at 5 pm until 8 pm

Come join us back at the gym for caroling, cookies and raffles

8 pm – 9:30 pm

Adults $15

Teens 13-17 – $10

Children 12 and under $5

Tickets may be purchased  in the back of Church after all the Masses.

We have had three consecutive weeks of significant Solemnities—Pentecost, Trinity Sunday, and now the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, better known by the name of Corpus Christi which translates from the Latin as the “Body of Christ.”

Clearly this is a celebration which brings our focus on the Eucharist, which is at the absolute center of our liturgy, and at the core of our Catholic faith. We have mentioned many times that all revolves around the Eucharist when we receive the real Body and Blood of the Lord. 

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church (#1324), “The Eucharist is ‘the source and summit of the Christian life.’ The other sacraments, and indeed all ecclesiastical ministries and works of the apostolate, are bound up with the Eucharist and are oriented toward it. For in the blessed Eucharist is contained the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ himself.” 

The Eucharist should be the high point of our week, or even of our day. The author J.R.R. Tolkien (author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy), who was a devout Catholic, once stated, “The only cure for sagging or fainting faith is Communion. Though always itself, perfect and complete and inviolate, the Blessed Sacrament does not operate completely and once for all in any of us. Like the act of Faith it must be continuous and grow by exercise. Frequency is of the highest effect. Seven times a week is more nourishing than seven times at intervals.” Taken from Stewardship Bulletin Reflections

High School and College Graduates

Class of 2018 The St. Valentine community wishes to congratulate you on your graduation; and would like to recognize your accomplishment at our Noon Mass on Sunday, June 10th, 2018.

We invite you and members of your immediate family to attend the Mass; and join us afterwards, for light refreshments in the School Meeting Room. 

Please R.S.V.P. to the parish office (313-532-4394) by June 6th, if you plan on attending. Include the number of people who will be joining you; and, if you would like to participate in the Mass (as either a Eucharistic Minister or Lector), let the office staff know when you call.

Summer Daily Mass Schedule Change

Monday, June 11 – Friday, August 24, 2018

Our Summer Daily Mass schedule will begin on June 11th. Please, note the change in this year’s schedule.  Mass will be offered at 8:30 a.m. at Our Lady of Loretto on Tuesdays and at St. Valentine on Thursdays. Mass will be in the Church. 

The host parish will offer the opportunity for fellowship immediately following the celebration of the Eucharist.

Stewardship Thoughts

Today’s Scripture readings emphasize the old and new covenants. In the Book of Exodus, Moses brings the ancient Israelites to an agreement with God through the sacrificial blood of young bulls. This action prefigures Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice on the cross for our sins, and the opportunity for eternal salvation. The author of the Letter to the Hebrews contrasts Old Testament sacrifices of goats and calves with the new covenant sealed in the very Blood of Christ. In St. Mark’s Gospel, the evangelist tells of Jesus’ institution of the Eucharist at our Lord’s Last Supper. This action begins the new covenant with His disciples and us — a covenant that continues today. As faithful stewards, we believe in Christ’s true presence: Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity, in Holy Communion. By receiving this tremendous gift, we become what we consume, finding strength to live virtuous and holy lives. As a result, with heart-felt gratitude, we deepen our love for God and neighbor in need. Check to see when Eucharistic Adoration and Benediction are scheduled in your parish and spend some quiet time with our Lord and Savior.

Fr. Henry’s Farewell Party is June 16th after the 5 pm Mass.

Please be sure to let us know if you are attending. All ages are welcome!

“The mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of Christian faith and life. It is the mystery of God in himself. It is therefore the source of all the other mysteries of faith, the light that enlightens them. It is the most fundamental and essential teaching in the hierarchy of the truths of faith” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 234).

 God is mysterious. We have to accept this fact. We cannot think that we can completely understand God. St. Augustine was once confronted by a pagan leader who showed him his idol and said, “Here is my god; where is yours?” Augustine replied, “I cannot show you my God; not because there is no God to show but because you have no eyes to see him.”

However, although we cannot even begin to fathom the mystery of God, we do know that he is always with us. The gift of faith that we have received at our baptism helps us to live in his presence and know that he is always with us.

 Therefore, the more important question for us to ask today is: What does the doctrine of the Blessed Trinity tell us about the kind of God we worship and what does this say about the kind of people we should be? On this, two points of significance can be noted.

 (1) God does not exist in solitary individualism but in a community of love and sharing. God is not a loner. This means that a Christian in search of Godliness (Matthew 5:48) must shun every tendency to isolationism. The ideal Christian spirituality is not that of flight from the world like that of certain Buddhist monastic traditions where the quest for holiness means permanent withdrawal to the Himalayas away from contact and involvement with people and society.

 (2) True love requires three partners. You remember the old saying “Two is company, three is a crowd.” The Trinity shows us that three is community, three is love at its best; three is not a crowd. Taking an example from the human condition we see that when a man A is in love with a woman B they seal the loving by producing a baby C. Father, mother and child — love when it perfected becomes a trinity.

 Our Christian life then is to experience God as the Father, the Son and the Spirit. Our community life then is an invitation to that experience – our life is perfected when we try to live our life in communion with the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. 

Stewardship Thoughts

A Trinitarian theme — three persons in one God — connects today’s Scripture readings. In the First Reading from Deuteronomy, Moses professes that due to God’s uniqueness, people should be inspired to follow His directives. According to St. Paul’s Letter to the Roman community, the Spirit permits us to become adopted children and heirs through Christ — Roman society held adopted children in high esteem. In a powerful evangelization message from St. Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus commissions His Apostles: Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Do we, as faithful stewards, realize our baptismal call, our gift of discipleship from the Lord? Moved by the Holy Trinity, do we express this discipleship in a spirit of evangelization by welcoming home our brothers and sisters who have left the faith, and those who do not know Christ? Please read Archbishop Allen Vigneron’s pastoral letter, Unleash the Gospel, at unleashthegospel.org, to review the guideposts for evangelization in the Archdiocese of Detroit.

Memorial Day Weekend Parish

The Parish Office will be closed Monday, May 28 for the holiday weekend.

Mass will be celebrated in the Church Monday, May 28 at 9:00 am

The parish has a voicemail system that will take messages when the office is closed. Messages will be returned in a timely fashion.

313-532-4394

Staff phone extension directory:

Fr. Socorro – 105

Fr. Henry – 102

Mrs. Sue Daly – 100

Mrs. Bonnie Danic – 101

Kathryn Potts – 103