Some of you may be surprised that my vacation time has come up again so quickly. I had just returned back from vacation towards end of May 2019 with memories still fresh. This year I had to change my plans as my mother is going to celebrate her 85th birthday on February 23rd. It was in 2015 that I had gone to celebrate her 80th birthday. Time does fly by. I’ll be leaving on January 20th so that I can get the opportunity to attend the Feast of our Founder St. Vincent Pallotti on January 22nd, and will be back on February 25th, just in time for Ash Wednesday.
And so, while I am gone we will have changes in the daily Mass schedule beginning January 21st up until February 25 a day before Ash Wednesday – Monday’s and Tuesday’s Mass at Our Lady of Loretto at 8.30 am. Thursday’s and Friday’s Mass at St. Valentine. Although Thursday’s Mass will be at 8.30am, while Friday’s School Mass will be at 8.15am.
Please keep me and my family in your prayers and be assured of my prayers for you.
Christmas Collection:
Before Christmas I always try to write a note reminding you to be generous towards the Church while making the Christmas offering. And I want to thank you for being so kind in listening to me. I know you always do. Our 2019 Christmas collection was totaled to $101,363.67. My sincere THANKS to each and everyone for your generous contributions, towards the Church especially during the season of giving, “Christmas.” St Paul tells us that “God loves a cheerful giver” (2Cor.9:7). May God Bless you and your generosity, and reward you a hundred fold.
52 Sundays – A Guide to Reclaim the Lord’s Day For Faith and Family.
“A new reflection guide created by the Archdiocese of Detroit’s Department of Evangelization, Catechesis and Schools seeks to offer families a way to spend the Lord’s day together in prayer by focusing on the Scriptures, family conversations and meals together. The program, called 52 Sundays, is available in book form English and Spanish or online at 52Sundays.com, to guide families through weekly exercises based on the Sunday Gospels. It also includes reflections on the saints, a specific prayer activity and a recipe for each week. Families can also follow along with each week’s lessons and activities on the Unleash the Gospel Facebook page.”
Just to give you a taste of the book or online – On 52 Sundays – Here’s a Family Prayer that is taken from the Book.
Gather your children’s baptismal candles and light them during the prayer. Place a small bowl of holy water on the table. Choose a leader for the prayer.
Leader: In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Loving God, you created all the people of the world, and you know each of us by name. We thank you for the gift of baptism and for making us a part of your family. Bless us with your love and friendship that we may grow in wisdom, knowledge, and grace. Grant this through Christ Our Lord. Amen.
All: Our Father… Amen.
Leader will then use the holy water to trace the sign of the cross on the forehead of each family member.
from afar, is now proclaimed to the shepherds as a present reality by the Angel: “To you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Lk 2:11). The Lord is here. From this moment, God is truly “God with us”. No longer is he the distant God. He has entered the world. He is close to us… “For you the Savior is born”.
Who did you come to see? A version of this question is posed by Jesus many times in the Gospels. He asks it of Andrew and John when they begin to follow him. He asks it of Mary Magdalene in the garden of the resurrection. He asks it in today’s Gospel. “What did you go out to the desert to see?” There is something innately human about “seeing.” Animals have eyes — some with much more powerful vision than our own — but that’s not the kind of seeing Jesus is talking about. We could phrase the question several other ways. “What are you looking for?” “What are you longing for?” “Whom do you seek?” It is in seeing for ourselves that our suspicions or hypotheses are confirmed, that our desires discover their fulfillment, and that we can rest for a moment in certainty. John the Baptist sought certainty of Jesus’ identity. “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?” Jesus sends word to him based on the testimony of sight, observations of the mighty deeds Jesus has begun to work. “Go and tell John what you hear and see.” God recognizes our desire to see. In the Incarnation, the Word is made flesh. The invisible is made visible. The supernatural is made manifest in an infant who can do little more than the most natural of movements as he feeds, cries, sleeps. We don’t need to wait for Christmas to see God. The work of God is all around us. Those blinded by sin “regain their sight.” People overcome backgrounds of poverty and violence to make world-changing contributions. Addicts grow and heal. Truth is spoken, and people listen. Let’s pray for the grace to see God’s movement in our lives this week. How have you seen the work of God?