A very Happy Easter to each and every one of you! What a joy it is for every true Christian to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. It is not just the end of our period of penance and sacrifice, but the beginning of a new life in Christ the Risen Lord.

 Easter brings so many promises of God to us, life is stronger than death, love can overcome hate, goodness ultimately triumphs over evil and eternity and glory with God in Heaven are our destiny. May we continue to rejoice in this great mystery and allow Jesus to live in our hearts, and that we may always embrace Him with love and gratitude.  

 Our entire Parish Staff joins together in extending to you our best wishes and all of the joy of Easter. Since Easter is fifty days long, we will have many opportunities to greet you personally and to thank you for the life you bring to St. Valentine Parish.

 We extend a word of appreciation to all who made donations, or offerings toward our Easter flowers, to all those involved in our Triduum Liturgies, as well as those who helped with the changing of the environment in the church. Thanks to all who sacrificed to make our Holy Week as prayerful, enjoyable, and inviting as it has been.  

At the Easter Vigil we warmly welcomed 6 new Catholics into our parish family. We congratulate them and their sponsors who were willing to stand by them as they walked this journey. Let us remember to hold them in our prayers as they continue to deepen their faith.  

 We also extend a warm welcome to those who are visitors to our Parish. We are happy you chose to celebrate Easter with us. We extend an invitation to you to become a regular part of our Parish Life. Page 7 of our parish  bulletin  lists our Mass times, phone numbers and website address. Please visit our parish website and call us, if we can help.

I pray that you and your loved ones have a Blessed Easter!   We may not see each other each day but may we meet each day in our prayers!

Happy Easter!

Fr. Socorro 

Secrets of Spiritual Struggle Revealed to St. Faustina

Divine Mercy Sunday is in one week. Let us again reflect on some of the Secrets of Spiritual Struggle given to St. Faustina.

 ·  Put your self-love in the last place, so that it does not taint your deeds.

Self-love is natural but it should be ordered, free of pride.  Humility defeats the devil who is pride.  Satan tempts us to disordered self-love to lead us into his pool of pride.

 ·  Do not pour out your feelings. 

A talkative soul will more easily be attacked by the devil.  Pour out your feelings to the Lord only.  Feelings are fleeting.  Truth is the compass.  Interior recollection is a spiritual armor.

 ·  Do not become discouraged by ingratitude.

No one likes to be taken for granted.  But when we are met with ingratitude or insensitivity, the spirit of discouragement can weigh us down.  Resist all discouragement for it is never of God.  It is one of the devil’s most effective temptations.  Gratitude in all things wins the day.

Today we celebrate Palm Sunday and Passion Sunday. This is the time of year we stop to remember and relive the events which brought about our redemption and salvation. What we commemorate and relive during this week is not just Jesus’ dying and rising, but our own dying and rising in Him, which will result in our healing, reconciliation, and redemption. Attentive participation in the Holy Week liturgy will deepen our relationship with God, increase our Faith and strengthen our lives as disciples of Jesus. Therefore, I would like to invite everyone to take part actively in this Holy Week liturgy.

 The very important three days of Holy Week are known as ‘The Holy Triduum’ leading to Easter Sunday. They are Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday.

Holy Thursday: The day before His death commemorates three important actions of Jesus.

1. The institution of the Holy Eucharist. Jesus instituted the Eucharist on the day of the Last Supper.
2. The institution of the ministerial Priesthood. In instituting the Eucharist, Jesus also instituted the priesthood. Today the priests make present the redemptive Sacrifice of Christ through the Eucharistic sacrifice of the Church.
3. The promulgation of His New Commandment of Love. “Love one another as I have loved you.” Jesus taught this new commandment by washing the feet of his disciples.

 Good Friday: It commemorates the Passion and death of the Lord Jesus. We fast on this day and take part in the Stations of the Cross. This day’s special liturgy has three parts.
1. The Liturgy of the Word.
2. Veneration of the Cross
3. Holy Communion.

 Holy Saturday: On this Saturday The Easter Vigil Mass begins with the Service of Light. The Easter (Pascal) Candle is lit, the Exsultet is sung, and the Old Testament readings are read, retracing the steps of salvation history. After the Gloria is sung, we celebrate our death and resurrection with Christ with a reading from the New Testament; then the Gospel is  read, catechumens are baptized, and confirmations take place. People are received into the Church, and they receive their First Communion.

 I wish to invite all of you to participate in this Holy Week celebrations and experience the joy of Resurrection in your lives.

 God bless you all!

Fr. Kishore Battu SAC

Next Sunday (Palm Sunday) we will have a second collection, which will be for the mission and works of the Pallottines back in India. In the past years you have always been very generous and we are grateful for that. Know for sure that your sacrifices will go a long way. I know there has been many 2^nd collections during the Lenten season, so if you are not able to help financially do not be disheartened, just offer a prayer for our missionary works and you will receive your blessings in return.

Back in India, The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Province (ABVM) is venturing into new mission areas and our formation houses are still growing with many seminarians at different stages of their formation. This April-May 2019, 20 deacons will be ordained priests. I will be attending the ordinations of two of the deacons whom I have known since the time they entered the seminary. We are blest to know that our Society in India is still growing at a good phase.

Plans are already in place for the division of the ABVM Province which was covering five States in India. In January of 2020 this Province will be divided into two more, a Province and a Region. With that we will have a total of 4 Provinces and 1 Region in the whole of India. In that way each Province will have the opportunity to explore different places of missions as well as to grow further.

 We as Pallottines are very blessed to have this opportunity to serve here in this Archdiocese and especially here at St. Valentine Parish for the past 12 years. Your prayers, words of encouragement and your support keep us going stronger. Thank you once again for all the sacrifices you make for the good of the parish. May our Founder St. Vincent Pallotti and our Patroness Mary Queen of the Apostles continue to guide us as we minister to you.

God Bless you.

Fr. Socorro

Volunteers Needed

 On Holy Thursday (April 18), during the “Mass Of The Lord’s Supper”, twelve volunteers are needed to re-enact the role of the apostles in a washing of the feet celebration. You are invited to become one of the volunteers.

Please “sign-up” on the poster located in the main vestibule of church.

Passion Play

What a Week for Jesus  – The newly confirmed with the assistance of the 7th graders from the school will be re-enacting the Passion Play, What a Week for Jesus. All are welcome to join us in Church and support our newly confirmed on the following days: Monday, April 15 at 7 pm, Thursday, April 18 or Good Friday, April 19th after the Stations of the Cross at 1:30 p.m.

The amount that was needed to put the Stained Glass Windows on the wall was $16,475.00. Total amount pledged is $16,820.00. Sincere thanks to each one of you for giving generously from the little that you have. I can say I am blessed to have so much support.

God bless you all.

Fr. Socorro

 Stained Glass Windows Donors

Linda and Bob Rybka – $5000
Robert Fenstemaker – $1000
Susan Krueger – $1000
Joan and Jim Ricotta – $1000
Self – $1000
Anonymous – $1000
Marcia and Ron Fron – $500
Mary Ellen Marley – $500
Kathy and James Gresham – $500
Eduardo and Donna Echeverria – $500
Bonnie and John Danic – $500
Judy and Frank Zbikowski – $500
Karl Koenig – $500
Carol and Larry Hutcherson – $300
Adelaide Anderson – $300
Robert and Eileen MacDonell – $300
Lorraine Boskovich – $300
Eilene Kuhl – $300
Beth Ann Schick – $200
Renee and Brian Gaida – $200
Bill Charlton – $200
David and Maria Zoltowski – $200
Rita Nalepa – $100
Ellen Kalt – $100
Marian and Mike Stack – $100
Karen Werner – $100
Anonymous – $100
Sharon and Robert Butler – $100
Jesse Burrell – $100
Deborah and Richard Chrzasz – $100
Ed and Marcia Favor—$100
Marianne and Albert Betzler – $50
Amador Bravo – $50
Patricia Williamson – $20

Penance Service:

On March 26 at 7.00 pm you are invited at Our Lady of Loretto to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation – a sign of God’s merciful and loving forgiveness. Before we begin hearing individual confessions we will have a little preparation for the sacrament. Besides Fr. Kishore and myself there will be Fr. Rick Hartmann and Fr. Sal Briffa from the Clergy Village and Fr. Tom Heier from Marianhill Center. We encourage you to take this opportunity to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation in preparation for Easter.

This is the information we could come up with from the Archdiocese of Detroit regarding these windows.  They come from Our Lady of Lourdes Church in River Rouge which was opened in 1893.  They are from the old red brick church (I believe that it was the second church) that had to be demolished because it was collapsing from the effects of an underground river.  The windows were incorporated into the new church which I think was built in the 1990s.  As of now, Our Lady of Lourdes Church in River Rouge has been closed and merged with St. Andre Bessette. I believe the windows were made by Meier of Munich in the 1920s. If by chance we receive more information, we will definitely pass it on to you.

*Information provided by the AOD.

Welcome Back, Fr. Kishore!