Born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu in 1910 to an ethnic Albanian family in Skopje, in what is now part of Macedonia, Mother Teresa went to India as a Sister of Loreto in 1929. Receiving what she described as a “call within a call,” she began her missionary work with the poor and laid the foundation for what would become the Missionaries of Charity.

Known as the “saint of the gutters,” Mother Teresa was revered for ministering to the sick and the dying in some of the world’s poorest neighborhoods.  Following her death in 1997, St. John Paul II waived the usual five-year waiting period and allowed the opening of the process to declare her sainthood. She was beatified in 2003.

 The date of Mother Teresa’s canonization will coincide with the conclusion of the Year of Mercy pilgrimage for workers and ministers engaged in works of mercy.

Copyright (c) 2016 Catholic News Service.
Reprinted with permission from CNS.
www.catholicnews.com

 Archbishop Vigneron will say Mass for the Canonization of St. Teresa of Calcutta today, September 4th at 11 am at the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Detroit.

 Mass of Anointing—September 24th

St. Valentine parish is offering an opportunity to receive the “Sacrament of Anointing” during our regular 5:00pm Mass on Saturday – September 24th.

 This is a sacrament appropriate for anyone whose health is seriously impaired by sickness, advanced age, or the danger of death. It should be considered by people who are seriously ill, whether at home, in hospitals or in nursing homes; seriously sick children who are old enough to experience the sacramental benefits; individuals about to undergo surgery when a serious illness is the reason for the having the surgery; elderly people, suffering the maladies of old age; and all individuals who are chronically ill or permanently disabled.

 So, if you see yourself, or a family member, in any of the descriptions above, we encourage you to attend this Mass. All you need do is:

CALL THE PARISH OFFICE AT (313) 532-4394 TO REGISTER YOUR NAME NO LATER THEN WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21st.

 Remember, part of God’s plan for each of us is that we should fight strenuously against all sickness and carefully seek the blessings of good health. This special Mass, with the Sacrament of Anointing, provides an opportunity to do just that.

St. Valentine Worship Commission

19^th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Do you have patience? Do you like to wait?

When you enter a waiting room at the railway station or at the airport you find people waiting. Some are chatting with their friends, some on their cell phones or reading books, others are busy with something else. Some pass time, others use it. But one thing is true. Time is precious, once it is gone it never comes back; so it is sad to waste it. Jesus confirms it in today’s Gospel. What he says is not simply a warning. He asks us to be ready to meet the Lord. He asks us to have patience.

Every Christian waits. But we do not live ‘like men waiting for their master to return.’ In our concrete situations we ignore the coming of the Lord, rather forget it, we take it for granted that His coming is a future event, on some ‘last day.’ Sometimes we think our waiting is in vain, our faith an empty dream. We ignore that the readiness to meet the Lord has to be an everyday concern. But the Gospel encourages us; it tells us that the kingdom of God is already yours, no one can take it away from you. God has promised and he will fulfill it to the end.

We on our part are reminded to change our life-style. We have to keep our lamps burning; our faith must shine. How? The Gospel replies: “Sell your belongings and give alms” (Lk: 33-34). Your waiting should not discourage you but make you more yearning towards the Lord.

The parable demands of us to be ‘prepared’ to meet the Lord. It is better to live in readiness to receive Him even when he is late to come than to be caught unexpected. For he may come like a ‘thief in the night.’ So it helps us to respect the responsibilities and make life meaningful. The Lord helps us to be ready for the Him till he comes so that we may be counted among those to whom he said: “Happy are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. I tell you solemnly, he will put on an apron, sit them down at the table and wait on them.” That means, Jesus not only fulfills his promise, but also rewards our faithful waiting.

 Fr. Henry Rebello SAC

Vacation Time and Announcement

 As it was already announced, I will be going home for my vacation from August 10 to September 6, 2016. Even though the Redford Daily Mass summer schedule will officially end on August 26, but at St. Valentine and Our Lady of Loretto we will continue with the summer schedule till I return on September 6. So we will begin our regular schedule from September 8 onwards. Thanks for allowing us to do this and thanks for your patience. As I spend some time away from the regular schedule, I ask you to keep me in your prayers as I assure you the same from my part.

And for those of you who were not there to listen to the announcement last Sunday – I am assigned to be the Pastor for a term of 6 years beginning July 1, 2016 to June 30, 2022. I am happy to continue serving you as I have received a lot of support and encouragement from you. And with God’s blessings I know we can do a lot better in the years to come. I thank the Archbishop for placing his trust in me and entrusting me the care of both the parishes for another term.

God Bless us all.

Fr. Socorro

Last Sunday a person came up to me after Mass and said, Father next Sunday is the feast of St, Ignatius, why don’t you preach about him. This inspired me to write something about St. Ignatius of Loyola of whom many of you already know. 

 Saint Ignatius of Loyola, 1491-1556—Feast Day July 31

Ignatius lived in Spain during the sixteenth century. It was a time of kingdoms and battles, armies and soldiers. Iñigo was the youngest of 13 children, raised in a family culture of high Catholic piety but lax morals. His mother died when he was a child, and his father died when he was 16.

From the time he was a teenager, Ignatius had been a soldier. His life was full of adventure and excitement. He spent a lot of time in the palaces of dukes and princes. He was strong and full of life. Ignatius believed in God, but he didn’t do much about his faith. He didn’t do much more than go to Mass and say his prayers. He spent his spare time doing things that weren’t exactly admirable. He used his time and his talents for his own glory and pleasure and not much else.

Ignatius had been living this way for a long time when one spring day he found himself in a frightening position. He was fighting with an army of fellow Spaniards, and they were in a battle with the French. While Ignatius was defending the city against the French siege, a cannonball struck him in the leg. The French victors assured transport of the wounded man back to his family’s castle. During his convalescence, Ignatius requested books on chivalry. Instead his sister-in-law gave him two works, Life of Christ,  and a Spanish version of Lives of the Saints.  Contemplating these books, Ignatius underwent a conversion, rejected his past, and chose to live as a hermit in Jerusalem.  He traveled through the town of Montserrat, Spain where he gave away his fine clothes to a poor man. Then, in an all-night vigil before the Black Madonna in the church of the Benedictine abbey there, he hung up his sword and dagger. Effectively, his old life was over and his new life had begun.

Ignatius greatly desired to share this experience of God with others. But in those days it was dangerous for an unschooled layman to teach publicly about religious matters. He had to go back to school at the age of 30 and become a priest. He went to the University of Paris. There he found companions, among them Francis Xavier, who was to become a renown Jesuit missionary to the East.

Later these companions, now a group of nine, decided to offer themselves to the Pope for whatever ministry he wanted them to undertake. They came to realize that God was calling them to form a new type of religious order to be sent, on a moment’s notice, to any part of the world where the need was greatest. The Society of Jesus was approved by Pope Paul III in 1540 and thus became an official Catholic religious order.  Ignatius was elected the head of this new religious order. As the Superior General, he sent companions all over Europe and around the world. He called them to “hurry to any part of the world where…the needs of the neighbor should summon them.” And he counseled them to serve “without hard words or contempt for people’s errors.” He wrote to high and low in church and state and to women as well as men. But most of these letters were to his Jesuit companions, thus forming a vast communication network of friendship, love, and care.

In contrast to the ambitions of his early days, the fundamental philosophy of the mature Ignatius was that we ought to desire and choose only that which is more conducive to the end for which we are created – to praise, reverence, and serve God  through serving other human beings.

He prayed:

Teach us, good Lord, to serve you as you deserve;
to give, and not to count the cost,
to fight, and not to heed the wounds,
to toil, and not to seek for rest,
to labor, and not to ask for reward,
except that of knowing that we are doing your will.