St. Valentine Parish Council Meeting Minutes – Tuesday, December 12, 2017

Kathy Parish Activities

Meeting was opened at 7:30 PM with a prayer from Fr. Henry

 

Old Business

· Fund Raising

· Discussion of Events

· Raffle (Action Item: Ron to explore possible arrangement with local dealerships)

· Horse Racing  (Action Item: Ron to discuss with Mike Kelly)

· St. Vincent De Paul Fundraiser will be held at AOH Hall on 13-Jan-2018.  Irish Night

 

Commission Reports

School Advisory: Rachel Damuth

· Father Socorro indicated that a Catholic School Advisory Board; will be formed

· Participants: Two people from School, Principal, two other people from parish

· Goal to develop a new strategic plan (last one was completed 5 years ago)

· Part of money from School Outreach Funds will be spent on new Window covers. Will assist in fuel cost and glare reduction in classrooms

· Vicariate News:  Closing of Ladywood High School (Current enrollment is 166 students; 33 in freshman class)

· Academic School Advisory is looking for new math assessments

· Worship Commission is working with school on three events

· Catholic Schools week (Last week in January) activities

· Retirement Home door decorating

· Parable projects – Dramatic parables

· Hymn Sing-along

· Mr. Cushman (Athletic Director) reports that there are 5 basketball team for 2017-2018 season

 

Christian Service: Rosemary Fox  (email)

· Giving tree was a big success; All tags were taken and returned (plus 25 more)

 

Pastoral Update: Fr. Henry

· We are in need of a volunteer to maintain the Notice Board in the vestibule of the church

 Worship: Mike Nowak

· The Prayers of the Faithful will continue to be read by the Deacon when he is present at Mass

 Vicariate:  Walt Bankowski

· Best practices will be shared by parishes starting in the March 2018 meeting

 Meeting was closed at 8:16 PM with a prayer from Fr. Henry

 Next Meeting is January 16, 2018—7:30 PM


Future City Wrap Up

We send our congratulations to the 8th grade class on their 2nd place finish at the 2018 Future City Competition—Michigan Region held January 22nd at the Suburban Collection in Novi.

Although they didn’t come in 1st they were a very strong 2nd and came home with a Special Award titled, Quality Improvement Award, sponsored by The American Society for Quality, Greater Detroit Section 1000.

Congratulations to the presenters, Ariyon Toney, Malena Smith and Edward Austin on their fine presentation and to their teacher, Mrs. Meghan Ciechanowski, mentors Mr. Dan Brooks and Mr. John Danic. Well done! Your school and parish are proud of all of you.

Ordinary Time

Kathy Weekly message

 Today with the 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time we begin a stretch of Ordinary Time Sundays that will last till the 6th Sunday. The liturgical color is green, the color of hope and life. We start with John’s account of the call of the disciples. Having just celebrated a season marking the coming of the Lord, we now begin to see the adult Jesus at work. Having recalled our own baptism with the commemoration of the Baptism of the Lord last Monday, this weekend would be a good time to reflect on how we too have been called by the Lord in our baptism. We are called to be Christ’s instruments, witnesses to the world, a holy and consecrated people. We have received the power to do this by the Holy Spirit who has come to us. So let us be faithful to our calling. In answer to the Lord’s call, we respond, “Here I am Lord; I come to do your will.”

 

Vacation Time:

As Fr. Henry made the announcement that he is leaving for a vacation on January 14 and be back on February 13. We will have a change in the weekday Mass schedule: Monday’s and Tuesday’s 8.30 am Mass will be at Our Lady of Loretto, Thursday’s and Friday’s 8.30 am Mass at St. Valentine. We will continue to celebrate Mass in the Chapel when we do not have the School Mass.

 

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. This year our Christmas collection was totaled to $83,832.00. 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 your generosity, and reward you a hundred fold.

Blessings,
Fr. Socorro


Stewardship Thoughts

Today’s Scripture readings from the Book of Samuel and St. John’s Gospel share a common theme of accepting our Lord’s will by answering His call. Our vocation is His plan for our lives. St. Paul, in his First Letter to the Corinthians, proclaims we are all members of the Body of Christ and temples of the Holy Spirit, that you are not your own. Through the Holy Spirit, we obtain special charisms — unique gifts with which we serve the Lord and carry out His divine plan. Prayer, meditation, and contemplation lead to conversion of mind and heart, and help Christian stewards discern their vocational call from the Lord. This call may be to the priesthood or religious life, marriage, or single life. Are we, like Eli, Samuel, John, Peter, and Andrew, open to the Lord’s call in our lives? If you believe God is calling you to the priesthood, the Office of Priestly Vocations, (313) 237-5875 or detroitpriest.com, can assist you with discernment. Women interested in religious life may contact the Office of Consecrated Life at (313) 596-7143. Men seeking information about the permanent diaconate should also call that office, but at (313) 596-7142.

 

The Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord

Kathy Weekly message

This Sunday marks the solemnity of the Epiphany. In some cultures this is referred to as “little Christmas”. On this day what we celebrate is what we celebrated on Christmas which is the manifestation of God’s love, Jesus Christ, being physically present in our world. His birth presents humanity with a new sense of hope. The prophet Isaiah wrote: “Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem! Your Light has come, the glory of the Lord shines upon you.” The light that shines, Jesus Christ, is the hope for humanity. It is this light, Jesus Christ, in which God will provide, as Isaiah wrote, a light that will guide nations to a universal response to God, when all peoples and all nations will come together to live in faith and mutual respect.

 This hope expressed by Isaiah to become a reality we are invited to imitate the magi, let us give our love, fidelity, perseverance and sincerity to Jesus. Let us offer Him our prayers and our human weaknesses too. But specifically, like the magi and according to Bishop Socrates Villegas in his, Love Like Jesus, let us have the three S of this Feast of Epiphany. The first S is, to See. The wise men saw the star and they followed. God tells us not to see with our physical eyes but to see with our hearts because God is in our hearts, His favorite place within us.

The second S is Search. The wise men were searching for Christ. They wanted to find the meaning of life and they found it in Christ and in living for others. God wants us to live an exciting life and not just be satisfied with the monotony and the boredom of life. The last S is Submit or to obey. The wise men did this once they found Jesus and offered to Him the best of everything. Let us submit to His will and authority because His will and authority are the best for us.

Let us see, search and submit and surely we will find what we have been looking for all these years.

  

Happy New Year to All

 

   I hope everyone had a wonderful New Year celebration on December 31 and January 1. I pray that the Lord will bless us all with a faith-enriched, peaceful and prosperous New Year 2018. Though the gift of peace seems far away we continue to pray for peace in our families, communities, our nation, and for greater peace throughout the world.

 

In Christ,

Fr. Henry Rebello SAC