Unleash the Gospel Magazine: April/May 2020

SPIRITUAL CLOSENESS APRIL/MAY 2020 A MAGAZINE OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF DETROIT

Old St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church | Downtown Detroit-Greektown 646 Monroe, Detroit 48226 313-961-8711 oldstmarysdetroit.com rectory@oldstmarysdetroit.com Free secure parking in our church lot

Daily Mass (Mon thru Sat) 12:15 pm Saturday vigil Mass 5:30 pm Sunday Masses 8:30 am, 10:00 am Latin, 12:00 noon First Friday Tridentine Mass 7:00 pm Confessions 30 minutes prior to all Masses For the most updated information on Mass schedules and events please visit our website, oldstmarysdetroit.com and our Facebook page, facebook.com/OldStMarysGreektown

APRIL/MAY 2020 VOLUME 2: ISSUE 1 P U B L I S HER

The Most Rev. Allen H. Vigneron, Archbishop of Detroit EX E C U TI VE E DITO RS

Father Stephen Pullis Edmundo Reyes ED I TO R I N C HIE F

Christine Warner M A N AGI N G E DITO R

Casey McCorry

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

ED I TO R

Jennifer Scroggins A RT D I R E C TO R

Paul Duda

A D V E RTI SING MANAG E R

Michelle St. Pierre I L LU S T R ATO RS

Hope Acquilano Diego Diaz Francisco Hernandez Mike Marshall P HOTO GR A P HE RS

Abby Consoli Marek Dziekonski Jim Feng Matthew LaVere Christi Marcheschi Melissa Moon Matthew Rich James Silvestri Valaurian Waller CO N T R I B UT ING W RIT E RS

Joe Boggs Robert Calleja Kathleen M. Carroll Kari Colella Stephen Colella Father Charles Fox Daniel Gallio Msgr. Patrick Halfpenny Alexa Hyman Dr. Daniel Keating Mary Callaghan Lynch Father J.J. Mech Father Brian Meldrum Gabriella Patti

5 ABOUT THE COVER AND CONTRIBUTORS 7 A MESSAGE FROM THE ARCHBISHOP

FE ATU R E S 8

LIVING WITNESS A work in progress, for 55 years

12 REAL TALK Who did you pick for your confirmation saint?

18 SPIRITUAL CLOSENESS 10 guideposts for Christians in the time of the coronavirus pandemic 22 SPIRITUAL CLOSENESS May this time without the Mass increase our hunger and love for God

P R AYE R 42 CONVERSATIONS WITH GOD St. Faustina Kowalska 44 PRAYER 101 Come, Holy Spirit 46 PRAYING WITH THE CHURCH FATHERS God’s indwelling Spirit: friendship and gifts

D I S CI P LE S 50 FAMILY CHALLENGE Seven days of letting go and making space for God 54 GOING DEEPER

The art of Visio Divina 56 PURSUING HOLINESS Marriage as ministry

26 SPIRITUAL CLOSENESS Could this be the Church in Detroit’s finest hour?

D E TR OI T

CU LTU R E

62 #ASKUTG What does it mean to you to be ‘docile to the Holy Spirit’?

Patrick O’Brien

60 UNLEASHED QUESTIONNAIRE Mary Callaghan Lynch

P R ES I D E NT AND C E O

Elizabeth Martin Solsburg V I C E P R ESIDE NT AND E DITO RIAL D IRECTOR

Rachel Matero GR A P HI C DE SIG NE R

Innerworkings PRINTING EM A I L U S : utgmagazine@aod.org V I S I T U S O NL INE : unleashthegospel.org F O L LO W U S O N FAC E BO O K, INSTAGRAM AND T W IT T E R: @utgdetroit Unleash the Gospel (USPS XXXXX) is a membership publication of the Archdiocese of Detroit, published bimonthly (June/July, Aug/Sept, Oct/Nov, Dec/Jan, Feb/Mar, April/May) by the Archdiocese of Detroit, 12 State Street, Detroit MI 48226-1823. Application to Mail at Periodicals Postage Pending in Detroit, MI and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Unleash the Gospel, 12 State Street, Detroit, MI 48226-1823. ©2019 Unleash the Gospel, Archdiocese of Detroit.

30 POETRY As kingfishers catch fire

Our Lady of Sorrows 32 SACRED PL ACES America’s Church, and Michigan’s, too 36 OUR HISTORY A brief visit, a lasting impact

64 PHOTO ESSAY St. Joseph Parish, Lake Orion

SAVE 20 $

MS 170 16

CHAIN SAW NOW ONLY 95 159 WAS 179

$

$

95

BES-SRP

2

$ 99 WHILE-YOU-WAIT BLADE SHARPENING Offer expires May 31, 2020. Limit one coupon per customer per day. Cannot be combined with other offers or discounts.

Blade must be off mower. Coupon Code CPUNBS.

THE MS 170 16 CHAIN SAW

PERFECT LIGHTWEIGHT CHAIN SAW FOR HOMEOWNERS WITH JUST THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF POWER

A $20 SAVINGS VALID THROUGH JUNE 30, 2020 The actual listed guide bar length can vary from the effective cutting length based on which powerhead it is installed on. All Prices BES-SRP at participating retailers while supplies last.

UTICA

FARMINGTON HILLS

CEDAR SPRINGS

CLARKSTON

ANN ARBOR

LIVONIA

46061 Van Dyke ½ Mile North of M-59 (586) 731-7240

39050 Grand River East of Haggerty Road (248) 471-3050

11875 Northland Dr. East on exit 101 off US 131 (616) 696-2913

6585 Dixie Highway ½ Mile South of M-15 (248) 620-5258

5436 Jackson Road Just East of Zeeb Road (734) 239-8200

32098 Plymouth Road ½ Mile East of Farmington Rd. (734) 525-0980

WEINGARTZ.COM

UnleashTheGospelAprMay2020.indd 1

3/2/2020 1:22:43 PM

TO GET TO KNO W OUR CONT RIBU T I NG WRIT ERS SOME MORE, WE ASKED T H E M:

What is your favorite prayer? Why?

J OE BOG G S : If I had to choose one, it would be the prayer of absolution that the priest in persona Christi prays after hearing a good confession. Without Christ meeting me in the sacrament of reconciliation and those concluding words of “... through the ministry of the church, may God give you pardon and peace, and I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,” I know I would be lost on my faith journey.

SPIRITUAL CLOSENESS APRIL/MAY 2020 A MAGAZINE OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF DETROIT

DESIGNED BY MIKE MARSHALL

THE COVER The theme of this issue, Spiritual Closeness, emphasizes that during this time of social distance and worldwide pandemic, we can and should continue to grow as joyful missionary disciples. Our hopeful witness is perhaps more important now than before as we face unprecedented changes and challenges in the Archdiocese of Detroit and around the world. It is harder to stay connected, but we have an opportunity to grow in spiritual closeness to God and each other.

The cover design depicts the dynamic of social distance and spiritual closeness. The distant white dots, representing our social separation, are spiritually connected at the center. The lines connecting the white dots include the Latin translation of spiritual closeness — spiritalem necessitudinem. We hope this issue offers inspiration and resources to help you find God’s grace and grow spiritually in the face of the present and future challenges.

KATHLEEN M. CA RROLL: My favorite is the prayer to St. Michael. I often realize that my problems are not so difficult once I put them in the context of good vs. evil. And, if they are, I’m happy to have an archangel on my side.

KA RI COLELL A : My favorite prayer is Lectio Divina. I so look forward to my morning time with God — a hot cup of coffee, my comfy prayer chair, my trusty Bible, and silence (ah, the silence). It grounds me and my life — not sure where I would be without it!

S TEP HEN COLELL A : The Guardian Angel prayer and the St. Michael prayer. I learned them as a child. I have always believed in talking and listening to the angel assigned to me as my friend and the Archangels as the leaders of the heavenly troops to help others in need.

FATHER CHA RLES F OX: Every morning, after thanking God for the new day and offering it to him, I pray the Breastplate of St. Patrick. I love the way it expresses absolute trust in Christ’s presence and power in every aspect of our lives. I am also 100 percent Irish, so I love the connection this prayer gives me to the faith of my ancestors.

DA N GA LLI O: “Lord Jesus Christ, son of the Living God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”

The prayer comes from a 19th-century journal by a Russian Orthodox pilgrim walking from the Ukraine to Siberia, saying this prayer in rhythm with his steps.

MS G R. PATRI CK HA LFP ENNY : My favorite, after the Mass, is Bl. Charles de Foucauld’s Prayer of Abandonment. I’ve described it as the most dangerous prayer I’ve ever prayed.

When I pray it, I can imagine myself kneeling next to Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane as he says to the father, “Not my will, but yours be done.” I dare not pray it lightly.

D R. DA NI EL K EATI NG : One of my favorite prayers is “Come, Holy Spirit” (Veni Sancte Spiritus). The prayer invites the Spirit to come and fill us — to be filled with God himself — and to enkindle our hearts with love. I know how much I need this filling with divine love, and this prayer opens the way to receive this more fully.

FATHER J .J . MECH: I love to use visual prayer, placing myself in the picture of a Bible story, and Ignatian forms of prayer.

FATHER B RI A N MELD RU M: My favorite prayer is the “Memorare.” I first learned it in the eighth grade and recite it many times throughout the day, not only so Our Lady might remember my petitions and make them known to her son, but also that I might remember who I am as a son of God in the beloved son, Jesus.

GA B RI ELL A PATTI : My favorite prayer has always been the “Memorare.” I believe that less is more, and this is a very short, powerful prayer. I have seen the grace rendered from this prayer in my life over and over again.

UN L E A SH T H E G O SP E L. O R G |

@ UTGD ET ROI T

5

DEAR JOYFUL

MISSIONARY DISCIPLE! H I S L E N T H A S B E E N U N L I K E A N Y OT H E R I N A N Y O F O U R L I V E S . T H E S P R E A D OF COVID-19 AND ITS RIPPLE EFFECTS THROUGHOUT THE ARCHDIOCESE OF D E T R O I T A N D T H E W H O L E O F T H E C O U N T RY H AV E C R E AT E D U N P R E C E D E N T E D C H A L L E N G E S F O R A L L O U R PA R I S H E S , S C H O O L S , FA M I L I E S A N D A L L T H E FA I T H F U L . M O S T C H A L L E N G I N G O F A L L H A S B E E N T H E S U S P E N S I O N O F P U B L I C M A S S E S . T H I S D I F F I C U LT D E C I S I O N W A S M A D E A S A R E S P O N S E TO T H E P U B L I C H E A LT H C R I S I S W H I C H H A S G R I P P E D U S . W H E N E V E R W E H AV E A T I M E O F C R I S I S T H E R E CA N B E A T E M P TAT I O N TO P U L L B AC K A N D S P I R I T U A L LY “ S H E LT E R I N P L A C E .”

T

When the Holy Spirit moved through the Archdiocese of Detroit in the aftermath of Synod 16, one of the things we clearly heard from him is that we need to say “no” to the spirit of fear. In Unleash the Gospel, I wrote that “we must choose not to be guided by fear. Whenever we become aware of fears and anxieties influencing us, we can bring them before the Lord in all honesty and ask him to replace them with apostolic courage.” Apostolic courage is the antidote to fear. We must continually resist the urge to give in to fear as a response to the challenges we face.

A disciple is one who follows Jesus wherever he leads. Who would have thought just a few short weeks ago that he would have led us here? But there is no

place, no situation and no difficulty where the love of Jesus has not conquered. He is risen! Therefore, our response as disciples must be to confidently and courageously follow him wherever he leads. We are being invited to deepen our faith that Jesus is still in control and still Lord.

This edition of Unleash the Gospel magazine has been adapted to help us all better witness to the Gospel in the

THE MOST REV. ALLEN H. VIGNERON Archbishop of Detroit DetroitArchbishop @DetArchbishop @DetroitArchbishop

midst of these particular challenges.

I hope it helps you, your family and our whole community — Catholics and nonCatholics alike — understand the way that uncertainty, challenges and even suffering can be invitations for each of us to turn more fully to the all-merciful God. May you and your loved ones be filled with the peace of Jesus, victor of sin and death. Christ is Risen! Alleluia!

“WE MUST CHOOSE NOT TO BE GUIDED BY FEAR. WHENEVER WE BECOME AWARE OF FEARS AND ANXIETIES INFLUENCING US, WE CAN BRING THEM BEFORE THE LORD IN ALL HONEST Y AND ASK HIM TO REPLACE THEM WITH APOSTOLIC COURAGE.”

UN L E A SH T H E G O SP E L. O R G |

@ UTGD ET ROI T

7

LI VING WITNE SS

A WORK IN PROGRESS, FOR

8

A R C HDIOCE SE OF DET ROI T

GABRIELA PATTI, WRITER • MATTHEW LAVERE, PHOTOGRAPHER

OF THEIR RELATIONSHIP, THE HOLY SPIRIT HAS GUIDED RICH AND FRAN WALDEN’S LIFE TOGETHER. THEY HAVEN’T ALWAYS REALIZED IT, NOR HAS THEIR FAITH ALWAYS BEEN AS STRONG AS IT IS NOW. BUT TODAY, AT AGES 80 AND 78, RESPECTIVELY, THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE LORD ALLOWS THEM TO LOOK BACK AND SEE THE WAYS GOD HAS GUIDED THEIR LIVES. “WE THINK HOW GRATEFUL WE ARE TO GOD BECAUSE OF HOW HE WORKED IN OUR LIFE EVEN WHEN WE DIDN’T KNOW HE WAS WORKING,” RICH SAID. “I AM FILLED WITH SO MUCH EMOTION WHEN I THINK ABOUT HOW MUCH THE LORD HAS LOVED US AND HOW HE HAS DIRECTED OUR LIFE, AND WE DIDN’T EVEN KNOW IT. EVERY TIME WE THINK ABOUT HOW GOD HAS BLESSED US THROUGHOUT THESE YEARS, IT IS OVERWHELMING.”

UN L E A SH T H E G O SP E L. O R G |

@ UTGD ET ROI T

9

GABRIELLA PATTI is a staff reporter for Detroit Catholic.

AN UNUSUAL BEGINNING The Waldens met on a blind date to a Halloween party in 1962. Fran, who had recently decided to swear off men, reluctantly agreed to go out this one time.

Rich showed up to her door dressed as a caveman with a full beard, wild makeup and a crazy wig. He completed the look by cutting off the sleeves of his aunt’s fur coat and wearing them as legwarmers.

Fran’s friends helped her put together a dance costume, her face veiled with scarves. At the party, Fran and Rich never actually got a good look at each other’s faces.

Despite that mysterious beginning, the couple is still going strong 55 years later.

Nearly a year into their relationship, Fran told Rich that she had a muscle disease called myasthenia gravis. Her father had told her that because of the disease she would be lucky to find someone who would marry her. Unsure if she could

10

A R C HDIOCE SE OF DET ROI T

found himself caught in a years-long addiction to gambling.

His addiction would strain the Waldens’ marriage and affect their three children. Things started to change for the better when Rich and Fran were invited to a Marriage Encounter retreat — after 10 long years of Rich’s gambling.

The weekend was intense, but it opened Rich’s eyes to God’s plan for his marriage and instigated the slow, steady process of healing and forgiveness.

Fran and Rich playing ping pong in their home, The Holy Spirit’s a daily activity. influence didn’t stop there. Several years later, Rich was invited to a men’s prayer group.

“I went, and I confessed to them about my gambling, and they prayed with me, have children, Fran told Rich about her for me, over me ... On the way home, condition, and he responded calmly. the Holy Spirit convicted me,” Rich said.

“I wasn’t really religious at the time, but “Tears were streaming from my eyes and I had this feeling inside of me that it would I realized how much I had offended God, be OK; we could handle it,” Rich said.

Fran, our children.”

Five years later, Fran went into Rich stuck with the men’s group. Within remission. And two years into their a year, he had quit gambling completely. marriage, Fran became pregnant with The Waldens continued to draw closer their oldest daughter, Mary Beth. to the Lord — and closer together as a When accounting for her healing, result. They became involved in Marriage Fran looks to Rich.

Encounter and began attending meetings “I do believe it was Rich’s unconditional for Retrouvaille, a program for couples love for me,” Fran said. “He didn’t make a in crisis. Those experiences led Fran and big deal about it or anything. I do believe Rich to heal wounds they previously hadn’t that is where the Holy Spirit was working addressed, Fran said. through him.”

Despite their difficult road, Fran and Rich say they can look back and see how THROUGH THE DARK TIMES God used all of their experiences, from Fran and Rich went on to have two more rifts with children to Rich’s gambling, children, Jenny and Josh. But their family to bring the Waldens down to their life was far from perfect. After a co-worker knees and closer to the Lord. invited Rich to the horse racing track, Rich

“It is never too late,” Fran said. “That is the beauty of any message we try to give. We write our own destiny — with the Lord, of course.”

PUTTING THEIR FAITH INTO ACTION Together, the Waldens read Scripture and pray the Rosary. They try to attend daily Mass, and Rich makes a point to always pray with Fran before she leaves the house.

“One of the things that really solidified our marriage is when we started praying together,” Rich said. “And praying together is spontaneous. We will sit down and pray before dinner, or we will just sit down and pray for someone.”

The couple recalled times when they paused what they were doing to kneel in their living room in prayer, or when Rich prayed with a perfect stranger.

“We have our differences — we are just different,” Fran said. “But when we come together to pray, we realize the big picture.”

The Waldens also make a point to witness their faith to their family, especially their eight grandchildren.

“We try to always pray with them, and we try to explain the prayers and how God loves them without pushing them,” Rich said. “We just try to tell them, ‘We hope you find out how much God loves you.’”

When Rich and Fran aren’t praying, they are joyfully spending their lives in service to others. They try to go to all of their grandchildren’s sporting events, and they attend multiple marriage groups and offer support to other couples.

For fun, they go dancing and schedule date nights once a week, and they make time to play ping pong every night.

felt the platform supported morals contrary to their Catholic faith. And they’ve cut out foods such as pasta and sweets in order to care for their health and have the energy to continue doing what God asks of them.

When asked about this recurring theme of sacrifice in their lives, Fran and Rich said they don’t think of it that way.

Instead, they’re inspired by Scripture.

On a worn piece of paper Rich brought home from his men’s group years ago is written the verse: “I will set no worthless thing before my eyes.” (Ps 101:3) “I think when Rich gave up gambling, he realized he had to replace it with something good,” Fran said.

Rich says that if you don’t fill the void with something good, it leaves room for the devil to wedge his way in.

“There is that part in Scripture where they clean out the house of the spirits and they come back sevenfold,” Rich said.

“If you don’t have something to fill that void in your life, and if you don’t do good things, the devil will come back in and give you more stuff to deal with. We have to fill our lives with things that come from the Lord.”

FAITH. FORGIVENESS. REPEAT. The Waldens continue to work toward being better spouses, parents and friends. They said the key to marriage is to never take each other for granted and to always do things to please the other. Each night, they ask each other if either has done anything to hurt the other that day, and then they apologize and forgive each other accordingly. And they recognize that when they have a disagreement, it’s the devil trying to cause conflict between them.

“As we look back, we feel very blessed and joyful, even though we have our bad days,” Rich said. “Nothing is perfect in our life. We have to work with each other.”

For the Waldens, their faith is what allows them to continue forgiving each other, time and again. And it is what kindles the romance and unconditional love in their lives after all these years.

Said Fran, “Loving someone unconditionally is — no matter what the differences are between you — to bring out the best in them by loving them.”

‘NO WORTHLESS THING’ Over the years, they have streamlined their lifestyle to align with their priorities.

“We ask ourselves, ‘Do we really need that?’” Fran said. “We realize that it takes stress off us to own fewer things.”

The Waldens gave up Netflix when they

— RICH WALDEN

UN L E A SH T H E G O SP E L. O R G |

@ UTGD ET ROI T

11

RE A L TA LK I grew up in a traditional Catholic household; my mother would always have the EWTN channel on. When I was 11, EWTN aired a documentary on St. Maria Goretti. Captivated by this young girl, I was eager to see how someone my age became a saint. The documentary revealed St. Maria Goretti was stabbed multiple times for defending her purity. Before dying, she forgave her attacker, Alessandro, and hoped she would see him in heaven someday. After her death, she appeared to Alessandro in a dream and gave him lilies.

The impact of Maria’s mercy compelled Alessandro to give his life to Christ.

I felt as if God spoke to me through Maria’s story. How could someone so young live such a powerful life? From that moment on, I was inspired by her love for God and her ability to forgive. Her example encouraged me to defend my purity at all costs, and I wanted to become a martyr just like her. When the time came to choose a confirmation saint, I knew just who to pick: Maria Goretti! She made being a saint more relatable and achievable because of her youthfulness.

That’s why I chose her to be my guide throughout this journey of life. St. Maria Goretti, Pray for us.

- JESSICA EDWARDS, ST. CHARLES BORROMEO, DETROIT

WHO DID YOU PICK FOR YOUR I chose St. Peter for my confirmation saint, as he demonstrates what we are capable of if when we surrender ourselves to the grace of God and also how far we can fall without him.

Despite his outright denial of knowing Jesus, St. Peter is the ever present reminder for me that Jesus will not refuse a soul that approaches him with a contrite and sorrowful heart.

Even he who betrayed Jesus could be the pope: great is the mercy of God to those who turn away from sin!

- FATHER PHIL CHING, PASTOR OF ST. MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL PARISH, MONROE

12

A R C HDIOCE SE OF DET ROI T

After many Tuesdays and Sundays of catechism, I was mere weeks away from my sweet release from my post-Mass jail. Of course, there was one step left to complete my mission, a confirmation name. A great deal of thinking and a few conversations with my sponsor later, we had finally settled on a name, Thomas the Apostle.

Thomas lived his life after Jesus’ death as the ¨Doubting Apostle¨ after his famous discussion with Jesus where he asks Jesus to prove himself to be the true Christ when he returns to earth. I have liked this story since I was a kid and always understood Thomas’ side of the story, while many looked down on him as not trusting in Jesus. Thomas represents the majority of modern humanity, always looking for proof and reason for the unknown. The name Thomas has also always had a large role in my life as three great men very close to me, my grandpa, uncle and dad, all share the same middle name, Thomas. Overall, the name Thomas and Thomas the Apostle’s story have had a large impact on me throughout my whole life and will continue to impact me for my future.

- KALVEN PLEWA, OUR LADY STAR OF THE SEA PARISH, GROSSE POINTE WOODS

CONFIRMATION SAINT I chose Mary after the Blessed Virgin Mary, because she is an exemplar of faith and a spiritual mother to me.

When I was a child, my parents taught me about Mary, her role as mother to her Son, Jesus, and Mother of the Church.

AND WHY?

I admired her simplicity, her humility and, most importantly, her willingness to be God’s handmaid. Her “yes” to God became my “yes” to serve him as a religious sister in the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Felix of Cantalice.

As a sister in community, I am happy to have “Marie” attached to my religious name. It is a beautiful reminder for me to continue modeling the faith like Mary did to those in my family, religious community and ministry.

- SISTER FELICITY MARIE MADIGAN, CSSF

MELISSA MOON, VALAURIAN WALLER, PHOTOGRAPHERS

UN L E A SH T H E G O SP E L. O R G |

@ UTGD ET ROI T

13

Providing care for today, Built on our legacy of service

Happy Easter!

From Our Family To Yours!

Lourdes Senior Community sets the standard for senior living. Situated on 35 acres of woodland and lakefront property, we offer a full continuum of care, with award-winning independent apartments, assisted living, memory care, long-term care and short-term rehabilitation.

Fox Manor Independent Living Mendelson Home Assisted Living Clausen Manor Memory Care Lourdes Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center

A Great Place to Call Home 2300 Watkins Lake Road • Waterford, MI • 48328 248-674-2241 • www.LourdesSeniorCommunity.org Sponsored by the Dominican Sisters of Peace

Beautifully crafted monuments to pay tribute to your deceased loved ones. monuments1947.com wietecha@monuments1947.com SOUTHFIELD 25685 W. 10 Mile Southfield, MI 48033 Across from Holy Sepulchre Cemetery (1/2 block east of Beech) Phone: 248.356.7625 Fax: 248.352.3355 DETROIT 22602 W. Warren Detroit, MI 48239 Near St. Hedwig Cemetery (1 mile east of Telegraph) Phone: 313.278.0380 Fax: 313.278.6777

Wietechas Monument Co.

How Old Do You How Old Do You Want to Be Want to Be When When You Stop Reading?

You Stop Reading?

We Hope The Answer is Never

Specialty Glasses Could Be The Solution

We Hope The Answer is Never

Take the first step to living a better life with low vision through our holistic approach. Dr. John Jacobi, OD, FCOVD specializes in helping those who have lost vision due to Macular Degeneration, Diabetic Retinopathy, Stroke, and other eye diseases through the use of customized bioptic telescopes, lenses, prisms, task-specific training and therapy, and nutritional and lifestyle counseling.

Call today to schedule an appointment.

734-720-9505 | SuburbanEyeCare.com 32415 Five Mile Road | Livonia, MI 48154

In all honesty, the saint I intended to pick throughout my entire childhood was St. Thérèse of Lisieux, also known as the Little Flower. I think I was fascinated by her miraculous showering of roses, her childlike trust and her “Little Way,” making holy moments out of the ordinary. We also had four sisters and a close relationship with our loving father (our first witness of God the Father) in common. I empathized with her yearning for her older sisters. I couldn’t fathom that she suffered and died at the tender age of 24.

With that said, at the last minute, out of an inexplicable, adolescent desire to pick a unique saint no one else would choose, I changed my selection to St. Genevieve.

In God’s perfect plan, another amazing saint, yet a selection based upon my wanting to stand out, rather than be ordinary! Looking back, I am very grateful for both saints as beautiful role models of faith.

- JULIA MASTROPAOLO, OUR LADY OF GOOD COUNSEL PARISH, PLYMOUTH

I chose St. Andrew Kim Taegon as my confirmation saint.

I was born on May 2, 1991, in Seoul, South Korea, and on Aug. 9, 1991, I officially came from Seoul to Dearborn, known as “Gotcha Day” or “Adoption Day.” When I was in grade 7/8 split at St. Alphonsus Catholic Middle School in Dearborn, our catechist at that time asked each confirmandi to pick a confirmation saint in preparation for us all to make our confirmation. I went home from school that day and, with the help of my parents, looked up Korean saints on the internet. We came across St. Andrew Kim Taegon, who was the first native Korean priest and was the son of Christian converts.

Being of Korean descent, I thought that having a Korean saint as my confirmation saint would show my heritage.

It also struck my attention when I read research stating that Pope St. John Paul II canonized 98 Koreans and three French Missionaries who were martyred between the years 1839 and 1867 when he visited Korea in 1984.

- ADAM MORENCY, ST. ALPHONSUS-ST. CLEMENT, DEARBORN

UN L E A SH T H E G O SP E L. O R G |

@ UTGD ET ROI T

15

Ave Maria Mutual Funds – Unleash the Gospel – Higher Ground 1905

ORDER ONLINE AT SRODEK.COM • DELIVERY TO YOUR DO0R — WE SHIP NATIONWIDE!

From our Bellbrook family to yours … Happy Easter!

Call Megan to schedule a tour today! 248.656.6304 Visit BellbrookRochesterHills.org for more information.

873 W. Avon Road, Rochester Hills, MI 48307 | Bellbrook, where a neighborhood becomes family.

SPIRITUAL CLOSENESS

G UI D EPOST S F O R CHRIS T IA NS IN T H E T I ME OF T HE CORO N AVIRUS PA N D EM I C

18

A R C HDIOCE SE OF DET ROI T

IN MY SERVICE AS A SPIRITUAL FATHER, I EARNESTLY DESIRE TO OFFER SUPPORT AND WISE COUNSEL IN ORDER TO HELP US COPE WITH THE STRESS THAT COMES WITH LIVING THROUGH THIS PANDEMIC. IN MY PASTORAL LETTER, UNLEASH THE GOSPEL, I OFFERED “GUIDEPOSTS” TO HELP US THINK ABOUT OUR MISSION AS JOYFUL MISSIONARY DISCIPLES. THAT FORMAT SEEMED HELPFUL, SO I’VE DECIDED TO DO THE SAME HERE. I’ve kept the Guideposts to 10: a number that not only seems manageable, but also is not without a precedent. The structure of guideposts has been a helpful way for me to share with you how we can be faithful in the times which we are called to be missionaries. We do not choose the situations of our lives or the era in which we must live. Rather, we choose — only with the grace of God — to say “yes” to Jesus at this time and in these circumstances.

Guideposts mark the way to ensure that we are on the right road. The road to discipleship is unique to each of us; we each must follow the personal invitation Christ has given. But all the roads of discipleship leading to holiness will have similar signs to ensure that we are on the right path. Smart travelers look for directional signs on their road. Therefore, I offer these guideposts as signs that each of us is on the right road. Keep your spiritual eyes open to recognize these signs in the days, weeks and months ahead.

1. NO TIME IS WITHOUT ITS GRACE

5. HOLINESS WORKS WITH SCIENCE

Christ’s death and rising is a grace that should shape every day of a Christian’s life and above all in these days. In this time of trial, we are called to seize the grace of showing ourselves, by the power of the Spirit of Christ, to be, like Christ, filled with faith in God’s care for us.

We must resist any idea that there’s some sort of divorce between our cooperating with public health officials to mitigate the spread of the virus and our complete trust in God’s power to protect us. This guidepost is a variation on the axiom that “nature builds on grace.” Our whole-hearted cooperation with the civil authorities involves acts of Christian virtue: acts of justice in doing our part to protect the common good, acts of charity because our motive is love for God and neighbor.

2. THIS IS THE LENT GOD OUR FATHER WANTS US TO HAVE This second guidepost is a sort of corollary to the first. God in Christ is the Lord of history. He’s in charge. His providential plan for our salvation and happiness cannot be defeated. If he has permitted us to have to be for a while without our public celebration of the Holy Eucharist and our usual Lenten devotions, his Spirit offers us other means to prepare ourselves for Holy Week, the Paschal Triduum and the Season of Easter.

3. IT’S STILL ABOUT UNLEASHING THE GOSPEL Right now, all of us, especially us pastors and our co-workers, are focused on responding to the coronavirus pandemic.

Yes, but that doesn’t mean that “unleashing the Gospel” has been abandoned. Quite the contrary. We still must be about evangelization. That’s always our mission. This is a providential time for us to witness to our sure confidence in Jesus as Lord of history, to manifest to the world that we face this challenge with unshakeable trust that the Lord will sustain us.

4. NOW IS THE HOUR OF THE DOMESTIC CHURCH At Synod 16 the Holy Spirit said clearly that the Christian family, as the “domestic church,” has to be at the center of the new evangelization. In these days when our large public gatherings for prayer and catechesis are suspended, the domestic church is all the more clearly “ground zero” for our response. Now it falls squarely on families to make their homes places to hear the word of God, and to offer him praise, especially in acts of spiritual Communion and entrustment to the protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

THE MOST REV. ALLEN H. VIGNERON, WRITER • MIKE MARSHALL, ILLUSTRATOR

6. WE’RE CALLED TO ACCOMPANY OUR NEIGHBORS I’ve “cribbed” this “guidepost” and the one that follows from the pastoral wisdom of Pope Francis. Each of us, especially in our families, faces fears about what the future holds for us as the spread of the virus unfolds. But we’re not alone in this.

Some of us will become seriously ill, and undoubtedly there will be fatalities — along with all the sufferings that follow for those with loved ones who become ill. Many of us face the prospect of economic troubles, the loss of jobs, the collapse of businesses, with all the trials these misfortunes entail.

In this time of troubles, we must support one another, not only with sympathy but with ready acts of practical kindness, that is, works of mercy.

7. WE’RE OBLIGED TO CARE FOR THOSE “ON THE PERIPHERIES” As I’ve said, here, too, I’m echoing a theme dear to the heart of Pope Francis.

The pains caused by the pandemic will fall particularly hard on the poor, the elderly and the chronically ill. We Christians have a particular duty to care for them. One simple but much needed work of mercy will be to stay in touch (by phone?) with the elderly who are quarantined. We should be sure that “social distancing” doesn’t result in losing “spiritual closeness.” Not least should we remember that many of the inconveniences we experience in order to mitigate the spread of the virus are aimed at protecting the vulnerable. With that in mind it should be easier to be at peace with these inconveniences.

UN L E A SH T H E G O SP E L. O R G |

@ UTGD ET ROI T

19

8. READ GOD’S WORD THROUGH THE LENS OF THIS TIME The psalmist says, “O that today you would hear his voice.” (Ps 95: 7) As you read any passage of sacred Scripture that is part of your prayer during these days, listen especially for how in his word God is speaking directly to you about how to find the grace he offers in this time (see guidepost 1). He wants to speak to your heart: to offer his wisdom about what this crisis means, his guidance about how to respond, his assurance that all things work for good for those who love [him].”

(Rm 8: 28) He is close; listen for him.

9. OUR FIRST “TOUCHSTONE” IS EUCHARISTIC COMMUNION During this time when the public celebration of holy Mass has to be suspended, we need the graces of the Eucharist more than ever. For these are the graces whereby the Holy Spirit

works in our lives that dying to self and living for the Father that is Jesus’s paschal mystery. These graces can be available to us through spiritual Communion. Please pray for spiritual Communion in the fruits of Christ’s sacrifice at least every Sunday, if not more often. And gather as a family to pray together for this Communion.

10. OUR SECOND “TOUCHSTONE” IS OUR LADY’S PROTECTION From the cross, Jesus gave us his Mother to be ours. In every age — from the days before Pentecost until today — the Church has been blessed through the mother of God interceding for us, from her being close to us with her care and protection.

Let us renew our commitment to “fly to her protection.” I invite you to join with me in praying the “Memorare” every day to commend not only the Church but also our country, indeed the whole world, to the loving care of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

And, I follow the admonitions of Blessed Solanus, “thanking God ahead of time” for the graces he will give us in answer to her prayers, and I will work to build a Lourdes Grotto on the grounds of our cathedral as a token of appreciation for what I am sure he will do for us through her intercession.

CONCLUSION Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus. (Heb 12:1) That’s the best way I can summarize what I believe we need to do to come out of this pandemic as the daughters and sons God calls us to be. Keep focused on Jesus’ example of abandonment into the hands of God the Father. Keep close to Jesus in prayer. Keep confident that Jesus is with us in this time of trial. Keep at peace, for Jesus is Lord, conqueror of sin and death, victor over every evil. Whatever is at stake in this time, the certainty of Christ’s victory is not in doubt.

Gabriel Richard Catholic High School has a 100% graduation and college acceptance rate Christ-centered, academically excellent education

gabrielrichard.org 15325 Pennsylvania Rd, Riverview, MI 48193

GR has helped me realize the value of friendship and family, and has given me the proper skills that I need for my future. Without GR, I wouldn’t have become the person I am today.”

-BRENNA GORDON, CLASS OF 2020

SPIRITUAL CLOSENESS

love

hunger

“IT’S THE MASS THAT MATTERS.” IN EARLY 20TH CENTURY ENGLAND, A POLITICIAN USED A RALLYING CRY AGAINST ENGLISH CATHOLICS AT A TIME WHEN THEY WERE LARGELY OSTRACIZED. THIS RALLYING CRY FOUND A READY AUDIENCE, NOT ONLY WITH THOSE SYMPATHETIC TO THE POLITICIAN’S ANTI-CATHOLIC POSITION BUT ALSO AMONG CATHOLICS THEMSELVES. THESE CATHOLICS TURNED THE POLITICIAN’S WORDS INTO A SLOGAN THAT SUCCINCTLY EXPRESSES THE ESSENCE OF THEIR FAITH: “IT’S THE MASS THAT MATTERS.” It’s the Mass that matters. How those words touch a chord in American Catholic hearts today when so many now find themselves unable to attend holy Mass.

The state of emergency created by the COVID-19 (“coronavirus”) outbreak made it imprudent, in the judgment of many Church leaders, medical experts and politicians, to celebrate public Masses.

There are many good articles articulating the reasoning behind the suspension of public Masses, as well as offering inspiring advice about how to make a spiritual Communion and to spend the Lord’s day at a time when participation in Mass is impossible. In this article, I would like simply to reflect a bit on the gift of the Mass, the greatest gift we have from God in this life.

This is an extremely difficult time for

22

A R C HDIOCE SE OF DET ROI T

Catholics who love and depend on the Mass, which is the “source and summit” of our lives as followers of Christ and members of his Church. But good fruit can come even from such heavy crosses, perhaps especially from our heaviest crosses.

And one kind of good fruit we can cultivate now is a renewed love for the sacrifice of the Mass and a hunger for the sacrament of holy Communion.

About 20 years ago, I had the tremendous blessing of visiting Ireland for the first time. Being 100 percent Irish, I had always wanted to visit the land of my ancestors.

And as I was touring the country, I was very much impressed by all of the predictable experiences: the graciousness of the Irish people, the beauty of the landscape, the neat stone churches and cobblestone streets and

even a few Irish pubs. But the object that provoked the greatest sense of wonder in me was something I never would have predicted.

One day, I was touring a village church in County Clare with some Irish relatives of mine, distant cousins. It was the church in which my great-grandmother had been baptized and received her first holy Communion. In the back of the church they showed me what they described as a “wheelbarrow chapel.” What I saw was a wooden-frame chapel mounted on a platform of about 4 feet by 8 feet, with wheels and handles more or less like those of a wheelbarrow.

I had never seen such a thing before, so of course I asked my cousins what the purpose of this unusual chapel was. They told me the story of a time, during the English occupation of Ireland, when the celebration of Mass was strictly forbidden.

The penalty for those caught attending Mass was the seizure of their food vouchers.

The vouchers were government-issued tickets redeemable for what was the only food available in Ireland at the time. Lose the vouchers and your family lost its food: a very simple and very severe penalty.

But the people of this village, like so many people throughout Ireland, were good enough to treasure spiritual food more than physical food. And so they built the wheelbarrow chapel. Late at night,

FATHE R C H AR LES F OX is a priest of the Archdiocese of Detroit currently assigned to the theology faculty of Sacred Heart Major Seminary. He is also a weekend associate pastor at St. Therese of Lisieux Parish in Shelby Township and chaplain and a board member of St. Paul Evangelization Institute, headquartered in Warren.

FATHER CHARLES FOX, WRITER • MIKE MARSHALL, ILLUSTRATOR

UN L E A SH T H E G O SP E L. O R G |

@ UTGD ET ROI T

23

He is Risen!

Alleluia! Alleluia!

All are welcome at Sacred Heart Church

Could hospice help someone you know?

T

he suggestion of hospice can feel intimidating.

No one wants to think about losing a loved one. Family, friends, and even doctors may worry, If I mention hospice, will they think I’m giving up on them? But for patients and families who have experienced hospice’s compassionate, holistic care, they know hospice is about choosing quality of life.

MA SS S CH E D ULE :

Saturday 4 p.m. • Sunday 9 a.m. and 11 a.m.

3400 South Adams Road • Auburn Hills, MI 48326

Medicare allows individuals with a prognosis of six months or less to enroll in hospice care to benefit from the full range of hospice services — care that nurtures them physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

But more often, patients enroll in hospice only in the last two weeks of life — after spending months burdened by health crises and ER visits, and their families overwhelmed with worry. That’s why families so often say, “I wish we had called hospice sooner.”

Visit esacredheart.org for Mass schedule updates or call 248.852.4170, ext. 10

“If you are wondering when is the right time to call hospice — chances are your loved one may already be eligible for hospice care,” said Kristina, nurse practitioner for Angela Hospice. “The best thing you can do — for your loved one and for your entire family — is call and see how hospice can help.”

M A R R I AG E C OAC H I N G

RESTORE STRENGTHEN

REFRESH STRUGGLING WITH CHALLENGES IN YOUR MARRIAGE? We provide spiritual and practical tools to help couples realize the marriage God desires for them!

Confidential, no fee help for your marriage: 313.237.4680 familyministry@aod.org

More information at

AOD.ORG/MARRIAGECOACHING

Has the person experienced: Treatments that are no longer helpful or cause negative side effects Inability to perform activities of daily living (feeding, bathing, getting dressed, etc.)

Frequent hospitalizations in the past few months A prognosis of “months” rather than “years” Significant unintentional weight loss A decrease in physical ability and mental cognition

These signs may indicate that hospice could help.

Call Angela Hospice to learn more: TOLL FREE 866.464.7810 AskForAngela.com

A Felician-sponsored ministry

®

We’ll take you under our wing.

the people would pull the chapel down to the seaside — the only place that offered even a reasonable degree of secrecy. There, under the cover of darkness, a local priest would step up into the cramped chapel and celebrate the Mass in sotto voce, a voice so low as to approach a whisper, for the villagers huddled around their tiny new parish church.

We can only imagine the contrast between the intensity of the prayers of the Mass as they welled up in the hearts of those people and the soft murmuring of their actual voices. And we can only imagine the devotion with which they received the bread of life, knowing it was at the risk of losing their only earthly bread.

Stories of celebrating Mass under conditions of persecution are many and

every sinew felt like a piece of twine that had been unwound and shredded into string … Toward the end of the first week in Dudinka, Father Casper came looking for me in the barracks one night. Some of his Poles had told him there was another priest in the camp. He found me before I had a chance to look him up and asked me if I wanted to say Mass. I was overwhelmed!

My last Mass had been said in Chusovoy more than five years ago. I made arrangements to meet him in his barrack the next morning as soon as the six o’clock signal sounded.

“The men in Father Casper’s barrack were mostly Poles. They revered him as a priest, protected him, and he tried to say Mass for them at least once a week. They made the Mass wine for him out of raisins

TODAY, IN AN AGE WHEN MANY PEOPLE ARE TEMPTED TO PREFER FLASHY CHURCH SERVICES WITH VERY OBVIOUS EMOTIONAL OUTREACH, NOW IS A GOOD TIME FOR US TO SEE WITH FRESH EYES THE BEAUTY AND THE GENIUS OF THE MASS.”

riveting. Persecution was such a regular part of life in the early Church that there was a name used for the hidden nature of the Mass: the disciplina arcani, or “discipline of the secret.” And this need to “go underground” has been a recurring theme throughout the centuries, even down to our own age in places where practicing the Catholic faith is forbidden. The late-Jesuit priest Father Walter Ciszek, who was a prisoner in Soviet prisons and Siberian labor camps for 23 years from 1940-63, tells the story of a rare opportunity he had to celebrate Mass while in the Dudinka prison camp.

In his book With God in Russia, Ciszek writes: “That first night, they brought us a half liter of soup apiece and two hundred grams of kasha, plus hot water. We wolfed it down. Then everyone collapsed on the plank bunks like a company of dead men.

After years in prison with little exercise, this first day of hard work had been torture.

My muscles were too numb even to ache;

… the altar breads from flour ‘appropriated’ in the kitchen. My chalice that morning was a whiskey glass, the paten to hold the host was a gold disc from a pocket watch. But my joy at being able to celebrate Mass again cannot be described.”

Today, in an age when many people are tempted to prefer flashy church services with very obvious emotional outreach, now is a good time for us to see with fresh eyes the beauty and the genius of the Mass. A Mass in which the most powerful mysteries of God are communicated to mere mortals by means of a ritual beautiful enough to be fittingly celebrated in the majesty of St. Peter’s Basilica, but also simple enough to be celebrated in a wooden chapel mounted on a wheelbarrow on the beaches of Ireland; a ritual grand enough to be celebrated by hundreds of thousands of people at every World Youth Day, but also brief enough to be memorized so that devout priests could write the prayers down from memory and celebrate with only a few huddled prisoners

in a Soviet labor camp; a ritual contemporary enough to be celebrated in each of our parish churches in situations normally free of any palpable tension, but also traditional enough that we do — in substance — the very same thing done 2,000 years ago by our Lord on that night of unspeakable tension, when he would be betrayed by one of his best friends the night before he would die for us.

“Do this in memory of me,” Jesus told his apostles that night. And the gift, mystery, and duty of the Mass first entrusted to the apostles has been handed down from generation to generation of Catholics ever since. Each Sunday we have the inestimable privilege to gather not merely to remember what Jesus did, but to do what he did. And we “do this” in the kind of remembrance of him who makes him present to us once again — present in a way that is more perfect, more complete than any other way we find Jesus present in our world. It is what Pope St. John Paul II has called the presence of Jesus par excellence in our world.

In our time of course, we face, not the swords or guns of persecutors, not the fear of capture or starvation, but only a little inconvenience, the need to give up just a little time: sacrifices so small that those who have been persecuted would certainly pray, and perhaps would even weep for us if they knew how easily our generation is distracted from what is essential.

Yet now we face an acute suffering, a deprivation the likes of which none of us who are lifelong Americans have ever known. With public Masses suspended, we are invited to fast, and pray, and to discover once again the riches of divine grace we have too often taken for granted.

And so, may we who under the ordinary circumstances of our lives enjoy the privilege of celebrating the holy Mass in peace and freedom, never be tempted to use words like “boring” to describe it! May we never again think of other things as more important but rather let our hearts burn with thanksgiving for the awesome gift of celebrating Mass: the gift of receiving Jesus’ body and blood, and, to use the words of St. Paul, of proclaiming the death of the Lord until he comes, the death that, at every Catholic altar, brings us new life.

UN L E A SH T H E G O SP E L. O R G |

@ UTGD ET ROI T

25

SPIRITUAL CLOSENESS

H T O S U E R N ?

I F

IN RON HOWARD’S 1995 FILM, “APOLLO 13,” NOT ONLY WILL TOM HANKS AND HIS CREW NOT LAND ON THE MOON AS PLANNED, BUT NASA HAS SERIOUS DOUBTS THAT THEY’LL GET BACK TO EARTH ALIVE. MECHANICAL FAILURE DURING LIFT-OFF THREATENS THE THREE ASTRONAUTS WITH A HORRIFIC END. MS G R. PATR IC K HALFPENNY is director of priestly mission for the Archdiocese of Detroit and the former pastor of St. Paul on the Lake Parish in Grosse Pointe Farms.

26

A R C HDIOCE SE OF DET ROI T

THERE ARE ALWAYS MIRACLES As tension builds, and the experts on the ground scramble to meet the mounting problems, NASA executives at Mission Control talk about the effects of the looming catastrophe for the entire space program.

A spokesman speculates aloud to one executive that this “…would be a disaster for NASA.” Ed Harris (an underrated actor, in my opinion) plays Gene Kranz, Mission Control’s director. Overhearing the spokesman’s comment, he says, “On the contrary, gentleman, I believe history will show this to be NASA’s finest hour.” Spoiler alert: Ed Harris was right.

That scene came to mind as I listened to reports about the growing crisis with COVID-19. It was one thing when the sick were far away in China. We feel bad about their suffering. Then the senior center in Washington state had growing cases, many fatal. With a growing sense of dread, we waited for the inevitable: Michigan’s first case. And the numbers keep growing.

How do we maintain hope in the midst of the crisis?

Italy, Spain and France effectively shut down. Across our state schools prudently closed. Fearful shoppers have emptied store shelves. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer declared a state of emergency, and so Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron canceled weekend and weekday Masses for the first time in living memory.

Gene Kranz’s confidence in his team in Houston comes back to mind. Do I believe that this can be the Catholic Church’s finest hour? Is this a stumbling block in our effort to unleash the Gospel, or an opportunity?

I went to Meijer and the store was crowded at 5 p.m.

People were intent on “stocking up” on essentials. A Meijer employee, understandably concerned, said as she walked by, “Pray for us, Father.” I saw her twice more, in different aisles, and introduced myself. Helen told me she is Maronite, raised at St. Maron on St. Jean in Detroit, now a parishioner at St. Sharbel in Sterling Heights. I asked her to pray with me, and so we did, worried shoppers navigating around us. We prayed for the sick, for those who care for them, for the other shoppers. We prayed for peace the world cannot give.

How can we find God’s ... THE MIRACLES OF THE peace, and how might we share it with friends, CHURCH SEEM TO ME TO REST neighbors and strangers who want and need it?

NOT SO MUCH UPON FACES OR Let’s start small, with our households. If Mass VOICES OR HEALING POWER is suspended, how will we spend that hour we COMING SUDDENLY NEAR TO would have spent at Mass? Families can read US FROM AFAR OFF, BUT UPON the Scriptures together, or watch a live-streamed OUR PERCEPTIONS BEING MADE Mass and pray the Prayer for a Spiritual FINER, SO THAT FOR A MOMENT Communion after the Our Father. What if we had a OUR EYES CAN SEE AND OUR conversation about the homily at mealtime, just EARS CAN HEAR WHAT IS for a few minutes?

What if at bedtime we THERE ABOUT US ALWAYS.” remember the sick, the isolated, the doctors, nurses and staff caring for all the sick, but especially those with COVID-19?

What if we prayed for its victims in China, and those countries that don’t have the medical care we have?

Another “weapon” God has given us is his Word.

Keep a list of passages that encourage and strengthen our hope. Some Psalms can be a great source of consolation: Psalms 23, 27, 121, e.g. I often recommend Isaiah 43:1-5, “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name: you are mine.” Many people turn to Romans 8:31, “If God is for us, who can be against us ... What will separate us from the love of Christ?”

Think of it this way: If God can use the horrific death on the cross of his innocent son to save you and me, then he can use this trial to bring his grace, his love to us.

We just have to keep our eyes open to see it. American novelist Willa Cather wrote in one of her stories, “Where there is great love, there are always miracles. Miracles depend not so much on healing, or voices coming to us from afar, but on our perceptions being made finer, so we might see what there is about us always.”

With faith, we can be confident that generations from now will look back on this time and say, “That was the Catholic Church of Detroit’s finest hour.”

MSGR. PATRICK HALFPENNY, WRITER • MIKE MARSHALL, ILLUSTRATOR

UN L E A SH T H E G O SP E L. O R G |

@ UTGD ET ROI T

27

Family Owned and Operated Shop Local at one of our Metro Detroit Stores

Communion keepsakes for your child’s Jewelry, Veils, special day Gloves, and Ties Jewelry, veils, gloves, ties, rosaries, children’s books and bibles. Wide selection Catholic Family Owned. of gifts and prayer books Shop local at one of our for Confirmation, RCIA Metro Detroit stores for great service and value! and Easter.

www.am-church.com mkloppfuchs@gmail.com

Catholic family owned and operated • mkloppfuchs@gmail.com

Shop online at fuchschurchsupply.com

Delivery right to your home and nationwide shipping!

A. Mateja Church Supply 30762 Ford Road Garden City, MI 48135 (734) 513-2950

G.A. Fuchs Church Supply 32525 Stephenson Hwy. Madison Heights, MI 48071 (248) 589-0200

Teach me Goodness, O Lord.

You belong at Notre Dame

Make me a man of faith, compassion, and honor.

Teach me Discipline, O Lord.

Make me a man of humility, character, and determination.

Teach me Knowledge, O Lord.

Make me a man of scholarship, collaboration, and culture.

Teach me, O Lord.

Make me a man of Catholic Central.

You belong at Notre Dame, a place where students can be faithful, challenged, confident, creative and loved.

To schedule a visit or to find out more, go to ndpma.org, or call 248-373-1061.

Archbishop’s

gala 2020

19 19 •2 01 9

YEARS

Your Evening Includes Complimentary valet parking, cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, gourmet dinner, and after party reception.

Business attire.

DON’T MISS OUT!

SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES Archbishop’s Circle | $10,000 Faithful Heart Sponsorship | $5,000 Burning Heart Sponsorship | $3,500 Devoted Heart Sponsorship | $2,500 Shining Heart Sponsorship | $1,500 Individual Reservation | $250 Clergy & Lay Graduate Reservation | $200

This year could be the year they pull your ticket! Don’t miss out!

There will be plenty of raffle tickets available at the Gala to win $25,000 in cash. Watch for your tickets to arrive in April, or contact Cathy Arsenault at raffle@shms.edu for more. Purchase tickets for just $10 per ticket.

Dont miss the valuable items in our other raffles!

2020 Exclusive Sponsors

Friday, June 26 TCF Center Detroit, Michigan

Dear Friends in Christ, From my first days as a seminarian, Sacred Heart Major Seminary has been close to my heart and that bond has only grown stronger through the years.

As a regional seminary with an international reach, Sacred Heart is sending out graduates of passionate faith into dioceses and ministries throughout the state of Michigan, across the United States, and across the globe.

Please consider joining me and Msgr. Todd Lajiness, the rector of Sacred Heart, and many others, at the upcoming Archbishop’s Gala.

Your attendance will be making a statement—that supporting the Catholic evangelists of tomorrow is close to your heart, too.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

For registration and more information, please visit: archbishopsgala.com or contact Emily Berschback at 313-596-7424 or berschback.emily@shms.edu

The Most Reverend Allen H. Vigneron Archbishop of Detroit

POETRY

BY G ERA RD MA NLEY HOPKINS Gerard was an English poet and Jesuit priest who lived from 1844 to 1889. He is regarded as one of the greatest poets of the Victorian era.

AS KINGFISHERS

CATCH FIRE 30

A R C HDIOCE SE OF DET ROI T

As kingfishers catch fire, dragonflies draw flame; As tumbled over rim in roundy wells Stones ring; like each tucked string tells, each hung bell’s Bow swung finds tongue to fling out broad its name; Each mortal thing does one thing and the same: Deals out that being indoors each one dwells; Selves — goes itself; myself it speaks and spells, Crying Whát I dó is me: for that I came.

I say móre: the just man justices; Keeps grace: thát keeps all his goings graces; Acts in God’s eye what in God’s eye he is — Chríst — for Christ plays in ten thousand places, Lovely in limbs, and lovely in eyes not his To the Father through the features of men’s faces.

HOPE ACQUILANO, ILLUSTRATOR

BY RO BE RT CALLEJ A Robert is a St. Valentine parishioner and candidate for the ordination to the Permanent Diaconate for the Archdiocese of Detroit. This poem is from his first poetry collection themed around the liturgical calendar.

OUR LADY

OF SORROWS The Wind whipped and braided

In prayer weary but true,

loose strands of her mantle covered hair,

a mourning infused with numinous might,

both caressing and lashing her swollen eyes

like rain mixed with new rays of heavenly light

She listened for wisdom to speak

making her object seen

in that small voice whispered between

as a silhouette stamped clear in perimeter mist,

gusty layers, to her grieving heart …

revealing her faithful, solitary shape

of what was once brought to her,

to be beheld in awe

and what has been carried away

Her eyes listening in maternal hope to Creation’s tears falling, mixing with hers,

Resolute she stood in reflective grace and humble contemplation

God’s immaculate reflection, phenotypic in her, prepared to rise again

In stillness perfected Our Lady of Sorrows awaiting her sign,

Blessed Mary, transfigured by Paternal decree as

entombed in Filial motion, hidden to all but the Father

refracted Son’s glory — the ineluctable prospect

and Spirit ever shaping the contours

of a communal love so shared that

of her subsistent way,

one crucified caused both hearts pierced,

presented in the fullness of an ordained current.

her death in His dying, then she raised too for death could not contain He nor her in Him — ascending and assumed Grafted unity in the Ever Tree swaying in the Wind, Our Lady, His Mother, by deepest love thus revealed, when her sorrow was made part of a joy without end …

UN L E A SH T H E G O SP E L. O R G |

@ UTGD ET ROI T

31

SACRE D PL ACES

America’s Church, AND MICHIGAN’S, TOO THE NATIONAL SHRINE OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION’S PEWABIC TILES AND IMAGERY ARE DETROIT-MADE AND THE WORLD’S LARGEST COLLECTION, MAKING THE SHRINE A SPECIAL DESTINATION FOR MICHIGAN PILGRIMS.

DANIEL GALLIO writes from Ann Arbor, where he is a member of St. Francis of Assisi Parish.

32

A R C HDIOCE SE OF DET ROI T

“America’s Catholic Church” honors Mary as the Immaculate Conception, declared Patroness of the United States in 1846.

MSGR. THOMAS SHAHAN HAD REASON TO BE ANXIOUS. AS RECTOR OF THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA IN WASHINGTON, D.C., HE HAD BEEN IN MANY HIGH-LEVEL MEETINGS, BUT NOT THIS HIGH. ACROSS THE DESK FROM MSGR. SHAHAN SAT POPE PIUS X. MONSIGNOR HAD MADE THE LONG BOAT TRIP TO ROME TO PRESENT AN EXTRAORDINARY VISION. HE WANTED TO BUILD A CHURCH ON CAMPUS, AND NOT JUST A UNIVERSITY CHAPEL. IT WOULD BE A MONUMENTAL SHRINE TO THE MOTHER OF GOD AND A PLACE OF WORSHIP FOR THE ENTIRE NATION.

Would the Holy Father give his approval? a hopeful Msgr. Shahan wondered.

Pope Pius X did approve — and then some. He was so impressed by the presentation that he drew Italian lira worth $400 from his desk drawer and presented them to Msgr. Shahan.

This personal gift, on the feast of the Assumption in 1913, was the second-earliest donation to help build the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, popularly known as “America’s Catholic Church.” (The first donation, incidentally, came from Msgr. Francis S.J. Van Antwerp, vicar general of the Diocese of Detroit.)

Today, with its 80-plus chapels, five monumental domes, Marian shrines representing 22 nationalities, six daily Masses and room for 6,000 worshippers, this 10th-largest church in the world is a place of historical significance and profound beauty for Catholics everywhere and visitors of every belief.

The national shrine also is a place of pride for Michigan pilgrims. It has the world’s largest installation of Pewabic Pottery ornamentation, designed by Mary Chase Stratton, the pottery’s co-founder and one of Michigan’s most gifted artists.

DANIEL GALLIO, WRITER • JIM FENG, PHOTOGRAPHER

HOLY READING OF ARTWORK As volunteer pro-life coordinator for the Archdiocese of Detroit, as well as liaison for the annual Youth Rally and Mass for Life, Kathleen Wilson has attended every March for Life in Washington, D.C., since 2003.

Although Kathleen has visited the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception 15 of the past 17 marches, she keeps discovering aspects of the shrine’s art, architecture and liturgies that touch her spirit.

“Being a part of the universal Church, worshipping in accord with brothers and sisters from so many nationalities drawn to our universal mother,” says Kathleen, has drawn her closer to Jesus on her most recent visits. “I’ve also benefitted greatly from sitting quietly before a piece of art, or right beneath one of the five domes in the upper church that lay out our salvation history.”

In these moments of Lectio Divina, or “holy reading” of the spiritual message within the sacred artwork, Kathleen asks the Holy Spirit “to stir in me what he would like me to know through this work of art.”

She cites a moving sense of Mary’s intercession after January’s march, while praying for a sick acquaintance with her husband, Jim, before the Virgin of Antipolo, Our Lady of Safe Passage. The statue is in a lesserknown chapel of the Filipinos tucked behind the lower church altar — a perfect place for heart-to-heart prayer.

Father Joseph Kirkconnell luckily does not have to travel far to enjoy this sacred place. He is studying for a doctorate in catechetics at Catholic University and lives just blocks from the shrine.

A favorite meditation spot for Father Kirkconnell is the Our Lady of Guadalupe chapel. It features pilgrims from North, South and Central America honoring the “Queen of the Americas.” Colorful walls wave in and out to create an embracing sense of movement.

“The first time I stepped into the chapel, I felt as though Mary was surrounding me with her presence,” Father Kirkconnell recalls. He also appreciates the Our Lady of Sorrows chapel “just for its sheer beauty.

The green and black marble is just stunning. It’s hard to put into words.”

UN L E A SH T H E G O SP E L. O R G |

@ UTGD ET ROI T

33

AMERICA’S MARYS The national shrine’s Great Upper Church, built in the Romanesque/Byzantine style of the early Church, is so imposing — a massive central dome, a 329-foothigh bell tower and “main doorways so large,” says archdiocesan priest Father Salvatore Palazzolo, “giants could walk through them” — it’s hard to believe the upper church was almost not built.

Catholics at first followed Pope Pius’ lead and donated generously to make Msgr. Shahan’s vision real. Monsignor especially sought the help of Catholic women’s organizations; the Detroit chapter of the National Council of Catholic Women gave the first contribution, in fact. One appeal invited every woman named Mary or a derivation of Mary to give $1. The outreach to America’s Mary’s generated an amazing 30,000 responses.

The ground-level crypt church was completed first, in 1931. But donations dried up because of the Great Depression and World War II. Shrine leadership postponed construction of the Great Upper Church for 24 years, until 1955.

When the upper church was finally completed in 1959, visitors were stunned, as they are today, by the dramatic Christ in Majesty mosaic in the sanctuary. This very human Jesus has realistic body features, but a fiery halo bespeaks the Lord of Creation. It is the largest mosaic of Jesus in the world.

“There are 34 feet of mosaic space between his wounded hands,” Kathleen points out, speaking of hands that are more than 5 feet high. “You are truly confronted with his power and might.”

“Try it for yourself,” Father Palazzolo says. “There’s nowhere in the basilica you can look at the face of Christ and not feel he’s staring right back at you!” The lesson Father keeps relearning in this holy space: “When life is hard, look up! And keep your eyes fixed on Jesus.”

PLANNING YOUR VISIT The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception is open 365 days a year. Mass is celebrated six times a day, and there are daily hours for confession. The shrine offers itineraries for individuals and guided tours for groups and families.

Learn more and take a virtual tour at nationalshrine.org.

SPIRIT OF MOTHERHOOD In contrast, the crypt church has a subdued, cavernlike feel, intentionally evoking the catacombs of Rome.

Yet the worship area is filled with welcoming light that shines through 15 half-moon stained-glass windows above 15 mosaics, almost all depicting women saints, including the patroness of the Detroit archdiocese, St. Anne.

Pewabic’s Stratton wrote that she was particularly proud her work contributed to the “Spirit of Motherhood” and the “shrine ideal” of “devotion to the Virgin Mary and the women of the Scriptures.”

The crypt’s massive stone arches and ceiling vaults are the canvases upon which she expressed her spirituality and God-given genius.

34

A R C HDIOCE SE OF DET ROI T

The interior of the National Basilica.

EXPLORING THE CATACOMBS Annie Dennis, education director at Pewabic Pottery, graciously gave me a tour of its archives while telling stories about the pottery’s history. She points out that after receiving the national shrine commission, Stratton traveled to shrines and churches throughout Europe for inspiration. Stratton explored the Roman catacombs and studied the art of the first Christian centuries, which helped her create imagery in keeping with the crypt’s design, Dennis explains.

Stratton and her team worked steadily from 1924 through 1926, producing tens of thousands of glazed tiles and scores of ceramic plaques and ornaments. Identical backups were cast in case of damage. These backups are kept in the Pewabic archives today.

Wandering through the crypt’s three apses, or semicircular worship areas, a pilgrim will discover glorious Pewabic ornaments representing God the Father, the life of Christ, prophets and martyrs and thousands of nature images.

Looking up, the Holy Spirit as a dove seems about to plunge from the vaulted ceiling. (View an exact match of the medallion in Pewabic’s exhibition gallery, in the building the pottery has occupied on Jefferson Avenue since 1907.)

Stratton’s remarkable creations earned her a second commission, designing the national shrine’s Stations of the Cross.

“Sometimes an artist is only meant to do one thing in life,” says Dr. Geraldine Rohling, national shrine archivist.

“In Mary’s life, I think the shrine was it, her pinnacle.

You feel you are in a holy place because of her artwork.”

When Father Kirkconnell walks about the crypt chapel taking a break from his studies, he’s reminded of his days as a seminarian at Sacred Heart Major Seminary — which is blessed with the second-largest collection of Pewabic tiles in the world.

FRESH EXPERIENCE OF MARY Consider making a pilgrimage to what Pope Pius X called a “masterpiece of religious architecture.” Expect to leave even more proud to be Catholic because of the magnificence.

Seek out the Slovenian shrine to Our Lady of Brezje, where a marble tablet depicts Michigan’s heroic “snowshoe apostle,” Bishop Frederic Baraga. Find his portrayal in stained glass in the upper church sacristy, along with pioneer priest Father Gabriel Richard.

“My relationship with the Blessed Mother has become a rich reality in large part because of the blessings of so many moments spent in this beautiful place,” remarks Kathleen Wilson, who has made more than 50 visits with her family to the national shrine. “Think of it as time with someone you love, a chance for new discovery and intimacy.”

May greater intimacy with Mary and her son result from your pilgrimage, too.

UN L E A SH T H E G O SP E L. O R G |

@ UTGD ET ROI T

35

I

S I I T V , F E

AB

R

OUR HISTORY

Pope St. John Paul II’s St. John Paul II visits the Silverdome, 1987.

36

A R C HDIOCE SE OF DET ROI T

day-long trip to Detroit in 1987 endures as a faith-filled highlight for the region’s Catholic community.

THOUSANDS OF CATHOLICS FROM NEAR AND FAR CONVERGED ON THE MOTOR CITY FOR AN UNPRECEDENTED WEEKEND VISIT BY THE VICAR OF CHRIST. THE DATE WAS SEPT. 19, 1987, AND POPE ST. JOHN PAUL II, THE LIVING EMBODIMENT OF THE NEW EVANGELIZATION, WAS FINISHING HIS HISTORIC 10-DAY TOUR OF THE UNITED STATES IN THE DETROIT AREA.

The future saint first visited Hamtramck in the early-morning hours, where throngs of Polish Americans lined the streets to cheer on their “homegrown” pontiff. Later that morning in Downtown Detroit’s Hart Plaza, he delivered a prophetic speech about poverty, immigration, abortion and other social justice issues that still challenge American consciences today. That afternoon, an exuberant, faith-filled audience of at least 90,000 worshipped with the pope at the Pontiac Silverdome as he concelebrated Mass with local bishops, priests and deacons.

The Detroit Free Press reported that “scarcely a seat was empty” at the former home of the Detroit Lions and Detroit Pistons.

Following the conclusion of Mass, Pope St. John Paul II thanked the Detroit faithful for their enduring faith and generous hospitality. His Popemobile then sped out of the Silverdome, pulled up to a waiting helicopter and, with the churning of the chopper’s rotor blades, the pope was gone.

The whirlwind day was full of raw emotion, soaring pageantry and the undeniable presence of the Holy Spirit. Balloons were released, tears of joy were wept and round after round of applause reddened the hands of Metro Detroiters.

The memories of that incredible day still are fresh in the minds of many local Catholics.

A DAY OF ‘PRIDE AND EMOTION’ Theresa Skwara, now the director of faith formation at St. Regis in Bloomfield Hills and a parishioner at St. Margaret in St. Clair Shores, was then an 11-year-old student at St. Florian’s in Hamtramck.

Like many Detroit-area Catholics of Polish descent, she grew up watching the pope on television as he celebrated Mass in Rome.

Theresa remembers her hometown and parish buzzing with excitement in the days leading to the historic visit. Wall-to-wall coverage of the pope’s arrival at the Detroit airport only sent the Hamtramck community into a

JOE BOGGS, WRITER • PHOTOS PROVIDED BY ARCHDIOCESE OF DETROIT ARCHIVES

deeper frenzy. Theresa went to her grandma’s house the night before and recalls being “glued” to the television. Theresa took several short strolls with her Aunt Lorraine down Hamtramck’s main thoroughfare, Joseph Campau. With each successive stroll, the crowd grew larger and larger. “[It was] so amazing to see so many people awaiting the arrival of the Holy Father, staying up all night in the city,” remembers Theresa.

The next morning, Theresa woke up to the “heavenly” sound of “angels singing” at 7 a.m. It turned out to be the Polish choir warming up at the pavilion where Pope St. John Paul II would deliver his speech later that morning. Theresa’s father, Edwin, had already left to serve breakfast in the basement of St. Florian’s. The church graciously fed the local and national members they’d allowed to camp out there.

Theresa subsequently headed down to Joseph Campau with family members and secured a spot along the Popemobile’s route. As the vehicle approached her position, Theresa and the future saint seemingly locked eyes. “I felt as if he waved and looked directly at me,” Theresa recalls.

Theresa’s lifelong friend and fellow St. Florian schoolmate, Lisa Zebrowski, had a very different perspective of St. John Paul II’s visit. While Theresa was watching the pope from street level, Lisa was being escorted up to the stage where the papal address would be given. A year earlier, she had entered a writing contest sponsored by the Archdiocese of Detroit. The winner would greet the pope on stage and give a brief speech. Of 1,800 applicants, Lisa was selected.

UN L E A SH T H E G O SP E L. O R G |

@ UTGD ET ROI T

37

It was a whirlwind day for the teen, starting with waking up at 4:30 a.m. to be interviewed by a Cincinnati newspaper reporter.

When the pope finally took the stage at the corner of Hewitt and Campau, the future saint was greeted not only by Lisa but also by her grandmother, who presented the pontiff with a loaf of bread.

“Her pride and emotion that day was one like I never saw again,” Lisa remembers.

THE POPE’S CALL TO ACTION When he spoke, the pope addressed the people of Hamtramck as if they were long-lost friends.

“I have longed to come to you,” he said. “I have greatly desired to be with you in this important moment. ... I see it as a meeting with the entire American Polonia, with every American man and woman whose origin is drawn from the old country on the Vistula.”

He continued by emphasizing the Solidarity movement in Poland and its broader implications for people of good will everywhere. “Solidarity must take precedence over conflict.

Only then can humanity survive, can each nation survive and develop within the great human family,” Pope St. John Paul II declared.

WE WERE ALL A BIT AWESTRUCK. HE HAD A VERY COMMANDING PRESENCE ABOUT HIM. YOU COULD SENSE YOU WERE IN THE PRESENCE OF A GREAT PERSON.” — MSGR. WILLIAM TINDALL ON POPE ST. JOHN PAUL II

38

A R C HDIOCE SE OF DET ROI T

St. John Paul II greets faithful at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, 1987.

There was hardly a dry eye in the crowd, says Lisa, who was overcome with emotion herself. “Happy tears” were being shed everywhere that day in Hamtramck. Reflecting on her “15 minutes of fame,” Lisa regrets that she did not fully recognize “the magnitude of that experience” as a youngster.

After the pope’s memorable visit to Hamtramck, the papal motorcade headed toward Downtown Detroit.

It arrived at Hart Plaza around 11:30 a.m., where a crowd of 35,000 enthusiastically welcomed the Holy Father.

Speaking near the banks of the Detroit River, in the shadow of the iconic monument of Joe Louis’ fist, Pope St. John Paul II issued a challenge to those present: “By virtue of your unique position, as citizens of this nation, you are placed before a choice and you must

choose. You may choose to close in on yourselves, to enjoy the fruits of your own progress and try to forget about the rest of the world.

Or, as you become more and more aware of your gifts and capacity to serve, you may choose to live up to the responsibilities that your own history and accomplishments place on your shoulder.”

Put simply, the pope declared that Americans had the opportunity to devote themselves to serving others or serving themselves.

A MASS UNLIKE ANY OTHER The pope’s visit concluded that day at the Silverdome. More than 90,000 Detroit-area faithful packed the Silverdome for a Mass like no other. Father Terrance Kerner, currently pastor of St. Kateri Tekakwitha in Dearborn, was the vicar of the Monroe County

Vicariate in 1987. He was honored to be one of a handful of local priests asked to concelebrate with Pope St. John Paul II. The priests were provided the Pistons’ locker room to prepare for Mass, and Father Kerner was assigned to the locker of basketball great Isiah Thomas.

Meanwhile, seminarians from Sacred Heart Major Seminary were drying off their sweaty palms, as they were about to shake hands and meet the Holy Father just prior to Mass. One of those seminarians happened to be William Tindall, who now is the pastor at St. Michael in Livonia and was recently given the honorary title of monsignor by Pope Francis. Msgr. Tindall does not recall any of the conversation that took place. “We were all a bit awestruck,” he says. “He had a very commanding presence about him. You could sense

you were in the presence of a great person.”

After the Mass at the Silverdome had concluded, Pope St. John Paul II used his very last moments in Detroit to touch one final person in a profound way. As he was preparing to board his flight out of the U.S., the pope met Jimmy DeMuth, a 51-year-old Ohio man with cerebral palsy who had been confined to a bed for his entire life. The meeting was arranged

by Father Kerner and DeMuth’s friends Mike and Joan Allor, who brought him on a stretcher to the Detroit Metro Airport. The Allors, parishioners at St. John the Baptist in Monroe, recall the quick meeting as a moving one. The future saint kissed their paralyzed friend on the head and proclaimed, “God loves you.” They then proceeded to have

a five-minute conversation. Joan remembers Jim moving around like he had never before. “He was so excited, I thought he was going to roll off that stretcher.” The pope finished his visit by giving Jimmy and Joan a blessed rosary. Mike noted, “Just being in the pope’s presence encouraged you to become a better person.”

Although Pope St. John Paul II’s historic visit was a short one, he made a lasting impact on those who witnessed it.

JOE BOGGS a parishioner at St. John the Baptist in Monroe and currently serves as the co-chair of the Evangelization & Catechesis Committee for the Monroe Vicariate. He has been married to his wife Bridget for six years and teaches history at a public high school in Perrysburg, Ohio.

YOU MAY CHOOSE TO CLOSE IN ON YOURSELVES, TO ENJOY THE FRUITS OF YOUR OWN PROGRESS AND TRY TO FORGET ABOUT THE REST OF THE WORLD. OR, AS YOU BECOME MORE AND MORE AWARE OF YOUR GIFTS AND CAPACITY TO SERVE, YOU MAY CHOOSE TO LIVE UP TO THE RESPONSIBILITIES THAT YOUR OWN HISTORY AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS PLACE ON YOUR SHOULDER.” — POPE ST. JOHN PAUL II DURING HIS 1987 ADDRESS IN DOWNTOWN DETROIT UN L E A SH T H E G O SP E L. O R G |

@ UTGD ET ROI T

39

Invest in your faith.

Invest in the future of your Catholic community.

Uniquely Catholic

All gifts and funds are always stewarded in line with gospel values.

Independently Run

Lay-led public charity endorsed by the Archdiocese, with its own independent governing board.

Solid and Professional

Partnering with industry experts to bring you the highest level of impact.

Join hundreds of other Catholics that have helped grant $3M back to local parishes, schools or ministries!

Visit CatholicFoundationMichigan.org or call 248.204.0332 to learn more.

MERCY

MHSMI.ORG

CONVERSATIONS WITH GOD

‘JESUS ,

I TRUST IN YOU’ St. Faustina Kowalska teaches us to believe in Divine Mercy I AM LOVE AND MERCY ITSELF. THERE IS NO MISERY THAT COULD BE A MATCH FOR MY MERCY, NEITHER WILL MISERY EXHAUST IT, BECAUSE AS IT IS BEING GRANTED — IT INCREASES. THE SOUL THAT TRUSTS IN MY MERCY IS MOST FORTUNATE, BECAUSE I MYSELF TAKE CARE OF IT. - DIARY OF ST. MARIA FAUSTINA KOWALSKA

Divine Mercy Sunday was established by Pope St. John Paul II in the year 2000, during the canonization of St. Faustina Kowalska. At the age of 7, Faustina felt a calling to religious life. Her poverty was a serious obstacle. At a time when young women were expected to bring their dowries to the convent, she could not even afford to purchase a habit.

But in one of the visions she had experienced since the age of 19, Jesus himself told Faustina to enter the convent. Despite one rejection after another, she persisted until she found an order willing to take her — as soon as she earned enough money

42

A R C HDIOCE SE OF DET ROI T

to pay for her clothing.

The message of Divine Mercy, the invitation to trust always in God, may have come to Faustina first because she most needed to hear it. Upon learning of her visions, her religious superiors had her examined for a psychiatric disorder. Her spiritual diary was kept hidden away for 20 years, just in case some heresy was lurking in its pages. And after just 12 years as a nun, Faustina succumbed to the tuberculosis that had caused her years of suffering — suffering that caused some of her fellow sisters to suspect she was exaggerating her illness.

HAVE CONFIDENCE IN THE GOODNESS OF GOD Sister Faustina often felt alone, out of place and unequal to the task God placed before her. Her diary captured this revelation: “All grace flows from mercy, and the last hour abounds with mercy for us. Let no one doubt concerning the goodness of God; even if a person’s sins were as dark as night, God’s mercy is stronger than our misery. One thing alone is necessary; that the sinner set ajar the door of his heart, be it ever so little, to let in a ray of God’s merciful grace, and then God will do the rest.”

One of the central tenets of the Divine Mercy devotion is

understanding that God’s ability to forgive is greater than our own ability to sin. It is easy to focus on our own failings or to become overwhelmed by what we have done, or what we have failed to do. But St. Faustina reminds us to take the focus off ourselves and to keep it on God, whose mercy is endless.

REFLECT AND PRAY: Have you ever felt you did not deserve mercy or forgiveness? How can meditation on the Divine Mercy help someone overcome this misunderstanding?

CONFESSION IS A GIFT The sacrament of confession was a regular feature of Faustina’s life as a nun. She encourages us to see it as a sacred gift to be celebrated.

She captured the Lord’s view of the sacrament, writing, “Today the Lord said to me, ‘Daughter, when you go to confession, to this fountain of my mercy, the blood and water which came forth from my heart always flows down upon your soul and ennobles it. Every time you go to confession, immerse yourself entirely in my mercy, with great trust, so that I may pour the bounty of my grace upon your soul. When you approach the confessional, know this, that I myself am waiting there for you.”

Again, the focus is on trust. One of Faustina’s most well-known visions concerns the portrait of Divine Mercy — the now-familiar image of Jesus with two rays of light emanating from his heart. There are several renditions of the image. Faustina tried to create one herself but did not like the result. Subsequent efforts by professional artists were better, she said, but no one could capture the beauty of her visions.

Each version shares the most important element, however: the caption reading, “Jesus, I trust in you.” Regular confession is one way to

express our trust in the mercy of God and to experience its healing effects.

REFLECT AND PRAY: Spend some time reflecting upon the image of Divine Mercy. Consider how confession is an act of trust in Jesus and resolve to make it a regular practice.

BELIEVE IN FORGIVENESS The Chaplet of Divine Mercy is a series of prayers prayed on regular rosary beads. In addition to the usual Rosary prayers, it adds several focusing on the mercy of God. The one most repeated — and perhaps most familiar — is, “For the sake of his [Christ’s] sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.”

The less-used closing prayer is, “Eternal God, in whom mercy is endless and the treasury of compassion inexhaustible, look kindly upon us and increase your mercy in us, that in difficult moments we might not despair nor become despondent, but with great confidence submit ourselves to your holy will, which is love and mercy itself.”

Our repeated prayers for mercy are not designed to increase the mercy of God — already endless and inexhaustible — but to increase our own ability to believe in the depths of that mercy. As Faustina captured in her diary, “Oh how much I am hurt by a soul’s distrust! Such a soul professes that I am holy and just, but does not believe that I am mercy and does not trust in my goodness.”

Those who have confessed and asked forgiveness are forgiven.

Sometimes we need to take the time to accept this truth.

REFLECT AND PRAY: Learn to pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. With each repetition of its prayers, reflect on all for which you already have been forgiven, even as you pray for mercy for yourself and others.

KATHLEEN M. CARROLL, WRITER • DIEGO DIAZ, ILLUSTRATOR

BE MERCIFUL AS GOD IS MERCIFUL St. Faustina wanted to be the presence of Christ to those around her, always radiating Divine Mercy.

She prayed to have mercy in her eyes so she would look with compassion, rather than judgment, on her neighbors. She prayed that her hands and feet would be filled with mercy, so she would rush to the aid of others and help in whatever way she could.

She ended this prayer with, “Help me, O Lord, that my heart may be merciful, so that I myself may feel all the sufferings of my neighbor. I will refuse my heart to no one, I will be sincere even with those who, I know, will abuse my kindness. I will bear my own suffering in silence.”

Faustina’s visions confirmed that this was God’s will for her life — and for our own. She writes, “Then I heard the words, ‘I am glad you behaved like my true daughter. Be always merciful as I am merciful.

Love everyone out of love for me, even your greatest enemies, so that my mercy may be fully reflected in your heart.’”

REFLECT AND PRAY: Is there someone who needs your forgiveness but who may be too fearful to ask for it?

Consider ways you can show mercy, even in small ways, to the people in your life.

KATHLEEN M. CARROLL is the editor of Comboni Missions magazine and the director of communications for the Sisters of Divine Providence.

Formerly editorial director of Franciscan Media, she has authored five books and edited more than 1,000 on Catholic life, saints and spirituality.

ST. FAUSTINA KOWALSKA St. Faustina Kowalska was born near Lódz, Poland, in 1905. Working as a housekeeper to help support her parents, she began having visions of Jesus in 1924. She immediately joined a convent. In obedience to her spiritual director, she kept notes of her visions in her diary, including detailed instructions for the image of Divine Mercy. She was canonized in April 2000 and, following the directions in her visions, Pope St. John Paul II established the feast of Divine Mercy to be celebrated the Sunday after Easter.

UN L E A SH T H E G O SP E L. O R G |

@ UTGD ET ROI T

43

PR AYER 101

DAY 1: THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE HEART OF A DISCIPLE

DAY 2: THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE DAWN OF CREATION (THE GIFT OF WISDOM)

DAY 3: THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL (THE GIFT OF KNOWLEDGE)

DAY 4: THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE LIFE OF OUR LADY (THE GIFT OF PIETY)

REFLECT: A small spark can ignite a large flame.

REFLECT: Before there was anything, God in his goodness and in his wisdom, chose to share himself with us in creation and in love: “In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth — and the earth was without form or shape, with darkness over the abyss and a mighty wind sweeping over the waters — Then God said: Let there be light, and there was light.” (Gn 1:1-3)

REFLECT: When Samuel went to Bethlehem to anoint a great king, he was led to the young shepherd, David. The knowledge of God’s plans always exceeds our small expectations: “Then Samuel, with the horn of oil in hand, anointed him in the midst of his brothers, and from that day on, the spirit of the LORD rushed upon David.” (1 Sm 16:13)

REFLECT: Mary, in her lowliness, was not afraid to be overshadowed by God’s Spirit: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.”

PRAY: Start small and simply pray today, over and over: “Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of the faithful. Enkindle in them the fire of your love.”

PRAY: Come, Holy Spirit, give wisdom to my mind. Form and shape me into a disciple through whom the true light of Jesus shines into this world.

44

A R C HDIOCE SE OF DET ROI T

PRAY: Come, Holy Spirit, help me to know your presence in my life and the plan you have for me.

(Lk 1:35)

PRAY: Come, Holy Spirit, give me the humble piety of Our Lady, a reverence for your name and the meekness to serve you in the poor and lowly.

FATHER BRIAN MELDRUM, WRITER • MAREK DZIEKONSKI, PHOTOGRAPHER

FATHER BRIAN MELDRUM was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Detroit in 2015 and served as the associate pastor at Our Lady of the Lakes Parish in Waterford. Before attending Sacred Heart Major Seminary, he was a music minister and theater director and member of St. Thecla Parish in Clinton Township. He is currently studying sacred Scripture at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

A novena for the Archdiocese of Detroit

A NOVENA IS A NINE-DAY PERIOD OF PRAYER MODELED UPON THE DISCIPLES WAITING IN THE UPPER ROOM FOR THE PROMISE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. THE DAYS BETWEEN THE ASCENSION AND PENTECOST ARE THE TRADITIONAL DAYS FOR A NOVENA TO THE HOLY SPIRIT, BUT AS THE CHURCH OF DETROIT, IT IS ALWAYS APPROPRIATE TO ASK THE SPIRIT TO BESTOW HIS SEVEN GIFTS UPON OUR FAMILIES, OUR PARISHES AND OUR MISSIONARY ENDEAVORS.

DAY 5: THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE PASCHAL MYSTERY OF JESUS (THE GIFT OF FORTITUDE) REFLECT: On the cross, Jesus made the perfect offering of himself and entrusted his Spirit into the hands of his Father. Jesus called the courage to lay down your life for a friend the greatest of loves: “If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also, through his Spirit that dwells in you.” (Rom 8:11) PRAY: Come, Holy Spirit, give me the courage to lay down my life for the sake of others and the truth of the Gospel.

DAY 6: THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE BEGINNING OF THE CHURCH (THE GIFT OF COUNSEL) REFLECT: The Holy Spirit came to the disciples at the beginning of the Church to lead and guide their efforts to share the Good News: “Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them. And they were all filled with the holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim.” (Acts 2:3-4) PRAY: Come, Holy Spirit, give me right judgment to put my faith into action and make Jesus present by the words of my mouth and the example of my life.

Woman in prayer at St. Charles Borromeo Parish, Newport, Mich.

DAY 7: THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE WITNESS OF THE ST. THERESE OF LISIEUX (THE GIFT OF UNDERSTANDING)

DAY 8: THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE MINISTRY OF ST. JOHN PAUL II (THE GIFT OF THE FEAR OF THE LORD) REFLECT: St. John Paul II, when he became pope, echoed the words of Jesus when he told the Church not to be afraid. He then told the Church to open wide the doors for Christ. The fear of the Lord is not dread or apprehension about God himself, but about the power that sin has to lock out the grace of God. Like the first disciples in the Upper Room behind locked doors, Christ comes through our barriers to set us free by the Good News of his resurrection. His perfect love casts out all fear.

PRAY: Come, Holy Spirit, give me a holy fear of the Lord, that turning from my sins and opening the doors of my heart to Christ, I may be a witness to the power of the resurrection.

DAY 9: THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE CHURCH OF DETROIT

REFLECT: St. John Paul II saw in the Little Flower of Jesus an example for us all, “because of the gift of the Holy Spirit she received for living and expressing her experience of faith, and because of her particular understanding of the mystery of Christ. In her are found the gifts of the new law, that is, the grace of the Holy Spirit, who manifests himself in living faith working through charity.” (Divini Amoris Scientia, 7)

Gospel, Guidepost 1)

PRAY: Come, Holy Spirit, give me a heart for understanding others and sharing the Gospel with them in love.

PRAY: Come, Holy Spirit, fall anew upon the Archdiocese of Detroit, and renew the face of the earth.

REFLECT: “For the Church in Detroit, reliving the Gospel mysteries means that we continually return to the Upper Room, asking for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit on us and on the whole region. We seek to bring every member of the Church, insofar as possible, into a personal and life-transforming experience of the Holy Spirit.” (Unleash the

UN L E A SH T H E G O SP E L. O R G |

@ UTGD ET ROI T

45

P RAYING WITH T HE C HUR CH FATHER S

GOD’S INDWELLING SPIRIT: FRIENDSHIP GIFTS ST. THOMAS AQUINAS ON THE HOLY SPIRIT

46

A R C HDIOCE SE OF DET ROI T

FRANCISCO HERNANDEZ, ILLUSTRATOR

(1225-1274), THE ANGELIC DOCTOR, IS A TOWERING FIGURE AMONG CATHOLIC THEOLOGIANS AND A SOURCE OF PERENNIAL WISDOM FOR UNDERSTANDING THE TRUTHS OF OUR FAITH.

The selections that follow come from St. Thomas’ work Summa Contra Gentiles, written to equip Christian preachers and catechists for the task of evangelization.

St. Thomas begins by showing that God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit.

This means the Holy Spirit has truly come to dwell within us — and through the Spirit, the Father and Son also live in us. But if God lives in us, then we too live in God. This indwelling of the Trinity is the foundation for all the various works of the Spirit through us.

In a striking way, St. Thomas then presents the Holy Spirit as the one who brings us into friendship with God. Thomas asks: How do friends act toward one another? Quoting Aristotle — the classical teacher on the meaning of friendship — St. Thomas says friends share with each other what they possess. And so, God the Holy Spirit shares with us, for example, the revelation of the mysteries of God, leading us into all truth. The Spirit also shares with us spiritual gifts, so we can cooperate with divine grace and carry out the mission of Christ.

For St. Thomas, the Holy Spirit is not just a power who works through us: The Spirit comes to dwell in us and makes us friends of God. And as “the friends of God,” we receive from the Holy Spirit all the gifts we need for every good work.

INDWELLING, FRIENDSHIP AND SPIRITUAL GIFTS1 Since the charity by which we love God is in us by the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit himself must also be in us, so long as the charity is in us. And so the Apostle says: “Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” (1 Cor 3:16) Therefore, since we are made lovers of God by the Holy Spirit, and every beloved is in the lover as such, by the Holy Spirit necessarily the Father and the Son dwell in us also.

Of course, every beloved is in a lover. Therefore, by the Holy Spirit not only is God in us, but we also are in God. Hence, we read in 1 John (4:16, 13): “He who abides in charity abides in God, and God in him,” and “In this we know that we abide in him and he in us: because he has given us of his Spirit.”

Therefore, since by the Holy Spirit we are established as friends of God, fittingly enough it is by the Holy Spirit that people are said to receive the revelation of the divine mysteries.

Now, it is not only proper to love that one reveal his secrets to a friend by reason of their unity in affection, but the same unity requires that what he has, he have in common with the friend. For, “since a man has a friend as another self,” he must help the friend as he does himself, making his own possessions common with the friend, and so one takes this as the property of friendship “to will and to do the good for a friend.”2 Therefore, it is fitting that all the gifts of God are said to be gifts from the Holy Spirit; thus, in 1 Corinthians (12:8, 11): “To one, indeed, by the Spirit is given the word of wisdom, to another, the word of knowledge, according to the same Spirit”; and later on, having mentioned many, it says: “One and the same Spirit works, dividing to every one according as he will.”

Of course, the spiritual gifts are given to us by the Holy Spirit … And thus by the Holy Spirit we are configured to God and through him we are made ready for good operation. And by the same Spirit the road to beatitude is opened for us.

1

CO M M E N TARY BY D R . DA NI EL K EAT I NG Dr. Daniel Keating is an author and professor at Sacred Heart Major Seminary.

2

homas Aquinas, Summa Contra Gentiles, Book IV, chap. 21., T trans. Charles J. O’Neil (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1975), 122-24, adjusted.

St. Thomas is quoting Aristotle, Nichomachean Ethics, IX.4.

UN L E A SH T H E G O SP E L. O R G |

@ UTGD ET ROI T

47

We are overwhelmed with joy and thanksgiving that Pope Francis has named Ste. Anne Church A NEW BASILICA Home of the the second oldest continuously operating parish in America, our church has served as a place of prayer and spiritual renewal to countless parishioners and pilgrims. There are only 85 other Minor Basilicas in the United States, so we are beyond honored by this designation.

STE-ANNE.ORG

“In celebrating this honor, we embrace our added responsibility as a basilica to increase our efforts to serve as a welcoming place of prayer and spiritual renewal for all who visit. We pray especially for the intercession of Ste. Anne, patroness of Detroit and our parish, that she may become a special source of wisdom and inspiration for the faithful of the archdiocese and beyond.�

- MSGR. CHARLES KOSANKE, rector and pastor of The Basilica of Ste Anne Parish de Detroit

A transformative education built upon the foundation of Jesuit and Mercy traditions.

Detroit Mercy is even more affordable than ever. With a reset tuition and more than 100 programs, students can start building their boundless future today!

Apply now at udmercy.edu 4001 W. McNichols Road • Detroit, MI 48221-3038 • 313-993-1245

Unleash the Gospel_Detroit Mercy 2020.indd 1

2/12/20 10:27 AM

FAMILY CHALLENGE

LETTING GO MAKING SPACE FOR GOD ALEXA HYMAN is a 26-year-old working mother living in Chicago with her 2-year-old daughter, Renley Jane. Alexa grew up in the Metro Detroit area and was a member of Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish. After experiencing her unplanned pregnancy, Alexa became passionate about sharing her personal experiences in order to make other women feel less alone.

When she is not working in financial services or chasing down her toddler, she mentors women facing unplanned pregnancies and manages an Instagram community and website called Back in February. You can find her full story at BackinFebruary.com.

50

A R C HDIOCE SE OF DET ROI T

NO MATTER WHO WE ARE, EACH OF US HAS SOMETHING WE NEED TO LET GO OF. IT COULD BE EXPECTATIONS, GRIEF, ANGER — ANYTHING THAT STANDS IN THE WAY OF OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD. WHEN WE LET GO, WE MAKE ROOM FOR GOD TO ENTER OUR HEARTS. KEEPING CHRIST AT THE CENTER OF OUR FAMILIES BEGINS WITH PLACING HIM AT THE CENTER OF OUR OWN LIVES FIRST. WE CAN’T GIVE OUR CHILDREN WHAT WE DON’T HAVE. SPIRITUAL SELF-CARE IS ESSENTIAL. THAT IS WHY I’M OFFERING CHALLENGES FOR BOTH YOUR FAMILY AND YOU . THIS WEEK, CONSIDER WHAT GOD IS ASKING YOU TO SURRENDER. BRING IT TO HIM AND USE THESE CHALLENGES TO LET GO AND MAKE SPACE FOR HIM TO WORK IN YOUR HEART.

ALEXA HYMAN, WRITER • CHRISTI MARCHESCHI, PHOTOGRAPHER

MONDAY THE STICKY NOTE HABIT Before my daughter was born, my purpose had been measured by my productivity. As a new mother, I found myself feeling anxious about the unpredictability of motherhood. I became ultra-negative as I searched for a way this new life could fit into my old schedule.

I needed to radically shift my thinking and let God remind me that I am enough, just as I am. Each night while I was brushing my teeth, I wrote down something I was grateful for and something I did well that day — something that was good and enough, even if it was only a load of laundry — and stuck the notes on my bathroom mirror. This habit was coupled with prayer, asking God to heal my anxious heart and wrap me in his truth that I was more than enough, a wonderful new mother. After one month, I saw a radical change in my thinking. Order some sticky notes, my friends!

PRAYER: Lord, help me to let go of the lie that, as a parent, I am not enough. I am exhausted and human and all the things you made me to be.

Thank you for loving me in all of my imperfection. Remind me that loving my child and guiding her to heaven is all you ask of me.

WEDNESDAY MAKE IT AN EARLY WAKEUP CALL FOR PRAYER

TUESDAY A HOLY DANCE PARTY After Renley was born, I started a new job, moved into a new apartment and found myself struggling to wear both hats: mom and professional.

I became overly serious and self-aware. I realized I needed to make space to be silly and childlike. I needed to remember that God wants motherhood to be joyful. So, I created a new habit: Come home, change into comfy sweats and turn up happy music — loud. And I danced with my daughter. When you’re anxious, sad or struggling to be present, dance with your children, because your joy is their joy.

PRAYER: Lord, help me to let go of my fears and be more like a child in faith.

Give me the grace to let my hair down, dance and stand in the joy you have given me, intentionally absorbing it. Help me to embrace the mess and, instead, relish the world you have given me — one of adventure, beauty, wonder and awe.

Being a loving and present mother starts with filling my own cup first (think of the airplane mask metaphor). A life-altering practice for me has been waking up 30 minutes before my daughter in order to sit in silence and pray.

I begin with a meditation from Divine Intimacy. I close my eyes and ask God to enter into that space, to heal my heart and be present with me in whatever hurt I’m facing and to grant me the patience to handle the day’s tasks ahead. I challenge you to set your alarm, slip out of your comfy bed (no matter how hard it is!), make yourself a cup of joe and enjoy the silence. You deserve this time!

PRAYER: Lord, help me to let go of my selfishness and lend me the strength to come to you with every ache and desire. Allow me to feel your presence and use this space to enter into my heart. Let your will be done in my life.

UN L E A SH T H E G O SP E L. O R G |

@ UTGD ET ROI T

51

THURSDAY LIST YOUR PRAYER PEOPLE Renley and I have shaped a daily prayer routine around the people we pray for: friends and family members, some who have passed, and even those whose stories I’ve surfaced through the news and social media. This list has created a rhythm, as I say the names aloud in unchanging order and Renley repeats them. Our nightly prayers have become a sacred bonding time. Think of the people in your life who need your prayers. Pull together a list and repeat it daily with your family.

PRAYER: Lord, help me to let go of the anxieties of our human world. Though we are bombarded with information at our fingertips and violence whirls around us, bring me peace in knowing we are in the palm of your hand.

FRIDAY BRING GOD INTO THE CONVERSATION Shortly after I brought Renley home from the hospital, I began piecing together a lullaby for her. Each night, as I rocked her to sleep, I added lines about my journey to this moment and what her existence meant to my life.

I wrote about how I saw God’s love through her eyes.

My challenge is not for you to write your children a lullaby but to spend one night (or many nights) telling your children about your faith. Tell your child about how they taught you love and about the emotions you felt when you first looked into their eyes. Though my 2-year-old squirms during my heartfelt stories, I know these conversations create a foundation for more someday. Every once in a while, she brings up Jesus out of nowhere, and I smile, knowing he lives in her little, restless heart.

PRAYER: Lord, help me to let go of the heavy responsibility that my daughter’s life is under my protection and control.

Please, take her and protect her always, lift the guilt from my heart and let me lead her lovingly into your arms.

52

A R C HDIOCE SE OF DET ROI T

SATURDAY PRACTICE PRESENCE This world is full of distraction: news notifications, never-ending emails and the temptation to tap the Instagram icon during every idle moment of our days. God asks us to strive to be present in prayer, and this practice can begin at home with our loved ones. Take one day a week to urge a zero-screen-time day (or weekend) for your littles and teach them the importance of family bonding time. Get your weekend cleaning done before the weekend so you can rest and enjoy at least one lazy day.

And instead of talking about bills and this coming week’s logistics, spend some alone time with your spouse talking about your hopes and dreams.

PRAYER: Lord, help me to let go of the distraction and worry in my mind. Help me to show up for my family. Bond us together this day and every day with you as our rock.

SUNDAY FILL UP A MEDITATIVE BUBBLE BATH Whether you take it on a running trail, in an adoration chapel, in a bathtub or in a reading nook in your own home, establish a time with your child(ren) as “mom time.” Be intentional about what you need. Maybe you spend 15 minutes in meditation, or maybe you take that time to update your weekly planner. Whatever you do, set aside specific time to regroup and refill your cup. Remember, our peace is our family’s peace, and our joy, their joy.

PRAYER: Lord, help to renew my spirit and fill me with your courage each day this week.

Lend me the energy and discipline to wake early each morning with you. Remind me, as St. Teresa of Avila so beautifully put it, “All things are passing. God is unchanging.”

UN L E A SH T H E G O SP E L. O R G |

@ UTGD ET ROI T

53

GOING DEEPER

THE ART OF PRAYER

Rose stained-glass window at Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament, mentioned in Father JJ Mech’s article.

W

AN

DD EEP ER W AY.

VISIO DIVINA the start of a meeting, I will often ask the person I’m with: “Would you mind if we begin with prayer?” I have yet to have anyone refuse.

The person instinctually bows their head, closes their eyes and then … silence. It is often a long silence.

They will eventually look up and, with terror in their eyes, ask: “You mean you want me to offer the prayer?”

AT

54

A R C HDIOCE SE OF DET ROI T

A IN

is the rector of the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament, the co-founder of Mary’s Mantle (a home for homeless pregnant women), a trustee for Sacred Heart Major Seminary and an artist and lover of art. He created and directed “Art for God’s Sake,” the largest sacred art show in archdiocesan history, and was commissioned by Archbishop Vigneron to develop the cathedral into an Apostolic Center of Arts and Culture.

NE

FATHER J.J. MECH

HOW

TO TO USE VISUAL BEAUT Y

Even the most seasoned disciple can surrender the task of prayer to a so-called authority. We create limits in our prayer experiences because we often feel inadequate in knowing how to pray. Maybe we believe we are not as experienced as we should be with prayer, or we feel uncomfortable with the intimacy of prayer.

Because the Lord loves us so much and wants us to be connected to him, we should never be

ENC

O

T UN

ER

GO

D

intimidated by prayer, nor should we limit ourselves to certain types of prayer. In fact, we should challenge ourselves to experiment with new forms of prayer as a way to deepen our faith life.

Real prayer lifts our minds, hearts and bodies to God. God is in all things true and beautiful and good.

Real art reflects this and can enrich our souls. Yet many of us would never think of praying with art.

Why not?

FATHER J.J. MECH, WRITER • MELISSA MOON, PHOTOGRAPHER

THE PRAYER OF ‘DIVINE SEEING’ Human beings created artistic cave paintings more than 30,000 years ago, and scholars hypothesize that these images convey a spiritual meaning surrounding the importance and success of the caveman’s hunt. If we crack open any art history text, it will be dominated by religious subject matter. The Roman Catholic Church’s role and support of the arts throughout the development of Western civilization cannot be underestimated. The importance of art to convey spirituality has existed since the dawn of civilization. Arguably, art and religious expression are inseparable.

Lectio Divina (Latin for “divine reading”) is a tradition that dates to the third century. It is the practice of reading Scripture, meditating on it and contemplating its meaning.

We have no problem understanding it as a valid form of prayer. But what about Visio Divina? This is the prayer of “divine seeing.” It is allowing God to speak to us in a multisensory way through art and images. The visual arts can offer some of the richest and most satisfying prayer experiences by engaging more of our senses.

THE IMPORTANCE OF ART TO CONVEY SPIRITUALITY HAS EXISTED SINCE THE DAWN OF CIVILIZATION. ARGUABLY, ART AND RELIGIOUS EXPRESSION ARE INSEPARABLE.”

VISIO DIVINA CHALLENGES US TO SEE MORE DEEPLY, BEYOND FIRST AND SECOND IMPRESSIONS, BEYOND OUR INITIAL JUDGMENTS OR UNDERSTANDINGS.” HERE’S WHAT TO DO How does one pray Visio Divina?

First, find an image that strikes you. It can be something overtly religious, or it can be something more abstract. Stretch yourself.

Pick something that is unfamiliar — an icon, something from another culture, contemporary art, images of nature, etc.

Next, prepare your heart for prayer. Be quiet. Close your eyes, breathe, clear your mind, let your spirit catch up with your body and ask God to enter this time of prayer with you. Ask him to speak to you through this image. State to him your intention. What do you want or hope for right now?

Give the experience your full attention. Allow the image to speak to your heart. Look over the entire thing and focus on the part of the image that draws you in. Is there a figure, shape, color or texture that calls to you in a special way? Gaze upon just that part of the image for a minute or two. Then close your eyes, still seeing that part of the image in your mind. Notice your reaction.

What do you hear God whispering into your heart? What thoughts or questions are raised by this image?

What feelings or desires do you notice? What could they reveal about God and your life? Continue to gaze and reflect long beyond what feels comfortable. Close and rest your eyes if needed. Pray through the image. As you look upon the image, respond to God. Open to him the words, images, emotions, questions and thoughts that are on your heart. Don’t judge yourself; just speak to God as you would your dearest friend.

Now, reflect and be with him. Rest in God’s presence. As you close out your time in prayer, express your gratitude. How is God asking you to take this experience into your life? Journal about your experience.

Hopefully your time has been a joint communication of love!

WHY EXPERIMENT WITH VISIO DIVINA? Several years ago, I entered our cathedral and noticed a lone individual who was crying.

Concerned, I asked him if he was all right. He choked out the words: “It is so beautiful.” He never looked at me but continued to gaze up at the rose window.

As I glanced up at a stunning piece of art I had looked at a thousand times before, I, too, was taken aback. It might have been the time of year or the time of day, but the sun burst through the stained glass in such a way that it made it appear as if the window were on fire. We both stood there speechless, soaking in the details of the cherubs and colors as they were animated by the sunlight. This experience allowed me to enter a conversation with God that I would not otherwise have had.

Visio Divina invites us to see all there is to see, exploring the entirety of an image. It challenges us to see more deeply, beyond first and second impressions, beyond our initial judgments or understandings.

It invites us to be seen, addressed, surprised and transformed by God, who is never limited to or tied to any image but speaks through them. As St. John Paul II said, “The proof of God is beauty.”

UN L E A SH T H E G O SP E L. O R G |

@ UTGD ET ROI T

55

PURSUING HOLINESS

KARI AND STEPHEN COLELLA, along with three other married couples, founded Annunciation Ministries in March 2015. Kari serves Annunciation Ministries as the executive director. Previously, Kari served the Archdiocese of Boston in marriage ministries from 2001-14.

While there, she oversaw the development and publication of the marriage preparation program Transformed in Love: Building Your Catholic Marriage. In addition to her primary work with Annunciation Ministries, Kari also serves as a consultant to the USCCB Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth. Kari has a bachelor’s degree in world religions from Mary Washington University and an MTS in systematic theology from Weston Jesuit School of Theology.

She is also a spiritual director and received her formation through the Lanteri Center in Denver. She enjoys serving as a spiritual director on silent retreats and accompanying people in the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises. Stephen serves the Archdiocese of Miami as the cabinet secretary of parish life. Prior to his current position, Stephen worked for the Archdiocese of Boston for 15 years in ministry and development. Stephen has a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and ethics from the University of Southern California and a master’s degree in theology from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.

56

A R C HDIOCE SE OF DET ROI T

WHAT HAS HELPED YOU STAY MARRIED, AND ACTUALLY HAPPY, AFTER 23 YEARS? STE P HE N : I think we have stayed happily married because we meant it when we vowed to God and to one another.

We stand on that commitment and count on each other and God to do so as well. We were friends first and still are.

We work hard, laugh together and keep on dating. Others have also helped us so we weren’t left alone in our marriage.

We try to look for those ahead of us who can be mentors, those around us who can accompany us, and those behind us whom we can try to mentor.

KARI : I thank God all the time that we are still together and happy. It’s been one of the hardest things and best things I’ve ever done and suspect I will ever do. I think I would boil down our happiness to the perspective, tools and support God’s given us. I’ve come to understand marriage as my path through which I will “work out my salvation.” In this light, the daily grind, the highs and the lows, the triumphs and the trials all become the sun and rain, thunder and lightning, that are shaping me to become more fully who I am, who God created me to be. Seeing marriage as my path, the way in which I will be perfected by love, has changed everything for me.

WHAT DO YOU SUGGEST TO MARRIED COUPLES TO RESOLVE A CONFLICT OR DISAGREEMENT IN THEIR REL ATIONSHIP? STE P HE N : First, remember that you are both on the same team and that any issue doesn’t belong in between you but out in front of you so you can tackle it together.

Communication is crucial. It is tough to really listen well and listen with empathy. We have to constantly practice it.

Listening with empathy means focusing on what my wife is saying and trying to understand what the situation is like for her (given her temperament, family of origin, expectations, hopes, etc.) and not for me.

KARI : I second what Stephen said. To listen with empathy means to let your spouse know you understand their point of view — even if you disagree with it. We teach listening with empathy within the context of using the acronym G.R.O.W. — giving, receiving, offering understanding and working together to grow in intimacy. I heard once that intimacy can be understood as into-me-see. I really like that.

It says a lot in a succinct way. Good communication helps us see into our spouse, and that builds intimacy and unity.

We encourage couples to listen and express understanding with these six words: “What I hear you saying is … X, Y or Z.” And then finishing with these three words: “Is that correct?”

This allows the spouse to say, “Yes, you got it!” or if not, to provide further clarification.

ABBY CONSOLI, PHOTOGRAPHER

WHAT’S THE BEST MINISTRY F OR COUPLES TO SERVE IN? S TEP HEN: Just as each of us is unique and unrepeatable, so is every married couple. I do not believe that there is a single “best” ministry to serve in, but I do believe that serving as a married couple strengthens any ministry because you are giving the extra witness to the vocation of marriage while you serve. Marriage ministries (preparation, enrichment or youth education) are a great area to serve in because of the great need and confusion in marriage now. Once properly trained, you can also be “parish marriage missionaries” who are equipped to mentor and accompany other couples along the highs and lows of their journey, as Pope Francis and other popes have challenged us to do.

KA RI : Through Annunciation Ministries, we do quite a bit of formation for married couples who do serve in their parishes (in everything from marriage ministry, to youth ministry, to RCIA, to running a parish event like a carnival). A general rule of thumb we offer is that “inspirations” to serve God outside our homes should never conflict with, but only complement, our “duties” to our state in life — that is, to our marriage and family life. For example, it can sometimes be easier to run an adoration chapel at the church than to care for our family as we should. But, if we are married, it is through our marriage that we know, love and serve God in the everyday duties and obligations of married life. Duties and obligations to marriage and family, therefore, always take precedence over any other ministry we may feel inclined to serve in.

WHAT ADVICE DO YOU HAVE F OR SINGLE YOUNG ADULTS LOOKING F OR A SPOUSE? S TEP HEN: We get this question a lot. I believe what the Church teaches through the various saints and popes who have said that marriage reflects the Trinity. This means there is a triangle of relationships in marriage made up of God, husband and wife. As a man, I am either growing toward intimacy with both at the same time, or I am growing apart.

So, when single young adults ask for advice, I encourage them to work on their personal relationship with God, because that is the relationship right in front of them. This holds true whether you’re currently dating or not. Is the relationship drawing you closer toward God and the other person or just the other person? Work on your own prayer life and discernment skills first without the other. Sometimes, young adults are relieved to hear this advice, and other times they are agitated by it. We have had some couples get engaged realizing they were bringing each other closer to God and some split apart realizing they were not. The more intimate you are with God, then the clearer God’s will for your life will become, which includes recognizing your future spouse.

UN L E A SH T H E G O SP E L. O R G |

@ UTGD ET ROI T

57

Reach more than 90,000 Catholics with your message in Unleash the Gospel.

For advertising options, pricing and creation of the perfect ad to tell your story, please contact:

Michelle St. Pierre stpierre.michelle@aod.org 313.224.8004

Watch This is the Day on CTND BrightHouse 15, Comcast/Xfinty 398, Wyandotte 73, Roku, Apple TV, Samsung Smart TV, free apps and online at www.CatholicTV.com.

Send in pictures of how your family or community celebrates Easter and they could be featured on “This is the Day�. Email pictures to ThisistheDay@CatholicTV.org or tag us on social media using the hashtag

#50daysofEaster

To help CatholicTV grow onto more carriers, visit www.GetCatholicTV.com and make your voice heard!

To volunteer to be a CatholicTV promoter at your parish, email Bonnie BRodgers@CatholicTV.org.

KA R I : First, a comment to say that I know it can be very hard and painful when someone wants to be married and is not. God does not want any of us to feel lonely nor alone. He created us for relationships.

If marriage is not happening, and you want it to, here are some thoughts: Step 1: Look up! Everything in life makes sense by looking up to God. He alone brings peace in any and every situation we find ourselves in — good, bad, otherwise. Step 2: Tell God your thoughts, feelings and desires honestly. Don’t judge them as wrong. Don’t excuse them as right. Tell him honestly. Step 3: Leave it all with him. He will either meet your needs or change your heart if your thoughts, feelings and desires are not in line with his will for you. Step 4: Continue to do what you can to develop good, healthy, life-giving relationships. Invest in the relationships God has already given you — your relatives, friends, co-workers, etc. Allow God to use those relationships to feed your soul with friendship, laughter and love. God wants us to be filled with peace and joy despite the circumstances we are in.

He can make that possible.

IT SEEMS EVERYONE IS POL ARIZED TODAY. WHAT DO YOU THINK IS NEEDED IN THE CHURCH AND IN OUR CULTURE? STE P HE N : Like an argument in marriage, everyone has to take a step back to see the wider perspective and move back from face-to-face binary conflict in order to get shoulder to shoulder to utilize the variety of gifts we have been given to solve real problems. We have lost listening skills personally and culturally. I strongly suggest getting off social media and unplugging in order to live life more fully.

We need to become the best versions of ourselves so we can enter into relationships with others inside and outside the church without being threatening or being threatened. There is also a very serious crisis of virtuous leadership today. We need leaders who are not barbarians nor wimps but who can lead, engage, manage and serve the majority of the people who are good and want what is true and beautiful. The Church and the world are getting desperate for people to be more than nice in person and harsh online. Now is a great time for disciples to work on being prudently involved, to stand up for justice against all injustices, to be balanced and strong, to share the Good News from a deep well-formed faith, bringing real hope to others and spreading true charity for all. Both the Church and the world need the witness and voice of Catholics again, in the family, in the workplace and in the public square.

KA RI : Good marriages and healthy families. Marriage and family life are the petri dish wherein difference, when accepted, gives way to, as Pope Francis said, a “‘unity in diversity,’ or ‘reconciled diversity.’” (139) Not uniformity.

We have lost sight of the fact that we are all equal but different. The big push today is that we all have to be equal and the same. Not possible. Difference is what makes us unique. Difference is built into our DNA, our gender, our uniqueness — no two of us are the same. We are equal and different. The most important sentence, in my opinion, in all of Pope Francis’ The Joy of Love is what I see as a summary of many of the key concepts of St. John Paul II’s Theology of the Body: “The family is the principal agent of an integral ecology, because it is the primary social subject which contains within it the two fundamental principles of human civilization on earth: the principle of communion and the principle of fruitfulness.” (277) That is a huge statement — the family contains within it the two fundamental principles of human civilization: communion and fruitfulness. That is, man and woman together create the unity through which new life happens. And these are the fundamental principles of human civilization. Women alone cannot create new life.

Neither can men alone. Yet, we are called to fruitfulness.

And only together is fruitfulness possible. In many ways we have lost sight of this. The two fundamental principles of human civilization — communion and fruitfulness — are contained not in one sex alone nor in independence, but through complementarity and relationship, expressed primarily in, and nurtured primarily by, the natural institution of marriage and family life. What is polarization doing today? Dividing us all. The Good News? The Gospel.

Jesus came to remind, restore, renew and make unity and fruitfulness possible — raising the natural institution of marriage to a sacrament— giving couples the grace to live communion and fruitfulness as intended. This is what we need to learn and live today. And it begins with the way you and I treat each other, most especially our spouse. Want to be part of the solution to the polarization today? Go home, give your spouse a kiss and work on your marriage. Do what it takes to be reconciled to one another and to live in peace — not by your efforts alone, but by the grace of God in Christ — for your salvation, the well-being of your children, the good of society and the greater glory of God!

“ BOT H T H E C H U RC H A N D T H E W O RLD NE E D T H E W I T N E S S A N D V O I C E O F CATH O LI CS AGA I N , I N T H E FA M I LY, I N T H E W O RK PL ACE A N D I N T H E PU B L I C S Q U ARE .”

— ST EP HEN COL EL L A

UN LE A SH T H E G O SP E L . O R G |

@ UTGD ET ROI T

59

UNLEA SHE D Q UESTIONNA IR E

MARY

WHOM DO YOU ADMIRE?

CALLAGHAN LYNCH

WHAT WAS THE LAST BOOK YOU READ? The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell by Robert Dugoni. I loved this book. An easy read: a sensitive coming-of-age story of a Catholic boy who is raised by beautiful parents of faith and his turbulent journey of faith.

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST FEAR? Something irrevocable happening to my children or grandchildren.

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST PET PEEVE? Bullying. I find it inexcusable and have seen its debilitating effects.

60

A R C HDIOCE SE OF DET ROI T

My parents. The fact that they raised their 18 children with a fierce indoctrination of faith, hope and love and lived their Catholic faith — to the fullest — is a model we all can aspire to.

IF YOU HAD UNLIMITED RESOURCES, WHAT WOULD YOU DO? I would open mental health facilities that would be free to those in need.

The criminal justice system is full of mentally ill souls who shouldn’t be in a punitive environment.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE FEAST DAY? St. Patrick’s Day. It has always been a joyous day for me. From growing up and my mother putting a green ribbon in my hair — something to adorn that Holy Name uniform — to singing on the Paul W. Smith St. Paddy’s broadcast, to going to Most Holy Trinity and singing there.

WHAT IS YOUR BEST QUALITY? Resilience.

DIEGO DIAZ, ILLUSTRATOR

WHAT IS THE BIGGEST RISK YOU’VE TAKEN?

WHAT IS YOUR VISION OF HEAVEN?

WHO IS YOUR FICTIONAL HERO?

Starting the Motor City Lyric Opera, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that brings the transformative art form of opera (with a message) to inner-city kids, free of charge.

We are currently bringing an anti-bullying opera to 10,000 students annually via our Opera on Wheels outreach program.

That the mystical body of Christ would be complete with peace.

No war. No strife. No suffering.

Anne of Green Gables. Love her fierce spirit, her unwavering ability to faithfully do what she believes in no matter the consequences.

A behind-the-counter fountain waitress at Kresge’s.

WHICH SAINT DO YOU TURN TO FOR INTERCESSION THE MOST?

WHAT VIRTUE DO YOU MOST ADMIRE IN OTHERS?

WHAT IS YOUR MOST CHERISHED POSSESSION?

Our Blessed Mother. When stressed, I immediately start saying a “Hail Mary”!

Courage.

My mother’s engagement and wedding rings. Being one of eight daughters, I was completely stunned and honored when she gave them to me a few months before she died.

WHAT GIVES YOU THE MOST HAPPINESS? Aside from being with my family, performing brings me great joy.

WHAT’S THE FIRST THING YOU DO WHEN YOU WAKE UP IN THE MORNING? Pray. Meditate. My favorite prayer is the eighth verse of St. Patrick’s breastplate.

“Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ within me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ at my right, Christ at my left, Christ in breadth, Christ in length, Christ in height.”

WHAT TALENT OR SKILL DO YOU WISH YOU HAD? Painting. Oh, to be a portrait artist!

WHAT ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF? Aside from my two magnificent children, I am so proud that I was Aretha Franklin’s operatic voice coach for almost 20 years.

WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST JOB?

WHAT IS YOUR MOST EMBARRASSING MOMENT? When I was in Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up?, I had a quick change offstage and came back onstage with one knee sock on and one off, and my fellow actor just kept staring at the leg without the sock while we did an entire scene.

HOW DO YOU DEFINE A “MISSIONARY DISCIPLE”?

A disciple of Christ. One who is willing to walk the walk, not just talk the talk.

WHAT KEEPS YOU UP AT NIGHT? Insomnia.

HOW DO YOU WANT TO BE REMEMBERED WHEN YOU DIE? As a loving, intuitive person who did her best to do the will of God.

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE MOTTO OR MANTRA?

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE HOBBY OR PASTIME?

“Let go, let God.” Certainly not easy, but I do try.

Going to the theater, opera, etc.

Attending any arts performance.

WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH? My children and grandchildren.

They each can be absolutely hysterical.

WHAT DO YOU VALUE THE MOST IN YOUR FRIENDS? Loyalty.

HOW DO YOU DEFINE SUCCESS?

WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE AUTHOR?

To be true to yourself, to live and love mindfully and to nurture a strong relationship with our Lord.

The inimitable Thomas Lynch, who also happens to be my brother-in-law!

is artistic director of the Motor City Lyric Opera, having spent more than 28 years as a performer herself. A graduate of Marygrove College and the University of Michigan, Mary is the daughter of Mary O’Brien Callaghan, from whom she inherited her fine soprano, and church organist John Callaghan, who taught at Marygrove and was music director at St. Bernard’s & St. Catherine’s of Detroit and Holy Name Parish in Birmingham. Mary grew up in an Irish Catholic family that observed the liturgical calendar and marked its occasions with song, drama and holy music. Her parents believed in St. Augustine’s dictum: Qui cantat, bis orat — “Who sings, prays twice.” And with 18 children, there was never a shortage of song or prayer in the Callaghan home.

UN L E A SH T H E G O SP E L. O R G |

@ UTGD ET ROI T

61

#ASKUTG #ASKUTG QUOTES ARE SOURCED FROM SURVEY RESPONSES TO THE MONTHLY QUESTION IN THE UTG NEWSLETTER. LOOK FOR MORE #ASKUTG QUOTES ON @UTGDETROIT SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS AND SIGN UP FOR THE NEWSLETTER AT UNLEASHTHEGOSPEL.ORG.

It means surrendering to the guidance of the Spirit and making yourself teachable and formable to his will for you. It requires you to retune your ears and mind to the subtle breeze of his whispers and learn to filter his message from the noisy, confusing din of the world.

It becomes a conscious decision to then follow his guidance confidently and allow yourself the joy and peace that surely will follow!

- GLENN O’CONNELL, ST. ANASTASIA, TROY

TO ACCEPT HIS STRENGTH AND BELIEVE HE WILL CARRY YOU THROUGH YOUR PROBLEMS. -KATHLEEN KINNEY, ST. EPHREM, STERLING HEIGHTS

I DO A EUCHARIST SERVICE AT AN ASSISTED LIVING PROPERTY, WHICH INCLUDES A REFLECTION ON THE READINGS. I ASK FOR THE HOLY SPIRIT’S HELP IN ALL THAT I DO. HIS INVOLVEMENT IN MY LIFE INSPIRES ME AND GIVES ME CONFIDENCE.

For me, to be docile to the Holy Spirit means to attempt to quiet my mind and allow the Holy Spirit to guide me, instead of following my own plans for my day and my life.

-TOM MOENING, ST. REGIS, BLOOMFIELD HILLS

-MARINA LAROCCA, ST. LAWRENCE, UTICA

62

FOR ME, IT MEANS TO STOP, LISTEN AND SIT QUIETLY, HAVE AN OPEN MIND AND HAVE A CHAT WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT. ASK THE HOLY SPIRIT TO GUIDE YOU AS TO WHAT IT IS THE HOLY SPIRIT WANTS YOU TO DO. READ PSALMS, SCRIPTURE OR PRAYERS THAT YOU LIKE AND ASK THE HOLY SPIRIT TO OPEN YOUR MIND TO UNLEASH THE GOSPEL. AND, OF COURSE, ALWAYS THANK THE HOLY SPIRIT FOR THIS GREAT GIFT FROM GOD.

Well, we should probably break it down to more easily understand the statement. To be docile is to be calm, gentle, like a package in the mail, marked “handle with care.” The Holy Spirit is the third person of God, the silent messenger God sends through our soul to (help us) make choices (according to) God’s will. I remember one pastor saying, “God is speaking to us, especially in prayer. All we need to do is be quiet with him and listen.”

As a grown adult, it sounds easy, but it can be very difficult in this day.

- SUSAN ANGEL, ST. LUCY, ST. CLAIR SHORES

- CHAD GEIGER, SACRED HEART, BROWN CITY

A R C HDIOCE SE OF DET ROI T

THE HOLY SPIRIT HAS GIFTED ME WITH WORDS. SOMETIMES HE’LL GIVE ME WORDS TO GIVE TO SOMEONE GRIEVING. SOMETIMES HE GIVES ME WORDS TO ENCOURAGE SOMEONE. BUT I ALWAYS KNOW WHEN THEY ARE FROM HIM AND HAVE LEARNED TO LISTEN AND SHARE THEM. SOMETIMES HE GIVES THEM WHEN I DON’T KNOW YET TO WHOM THEY ARE TO GO. BUT IN AN HOUR OR A DAY, SOMEONE COMES AND I KNOW THEY ARE TO HEAR OR SEE THOSE WORDS. IT’S AMAZING AND SUCH A JOY AND PRIVILEGE WHEN THAT HAPPENS! -NANCY PIOTROWSKI, SACRED HEART, AUBURN HILLS

‘docile to the Holy Spirit’?

I AM STANDING IN LINE AT THE GROCERY STORE. I HAVE BEEN STANDING THERE FOR 10 MINUTES. THERE ARE SEVERAL PEOPLE BEHIND ME IN LINE. I SPY AN OLD WOMAN ALONE IN AN AISLE NEAR THE CASH REGISTER. SHE IS STRUGGLING TO SEE THE INFORMATION ON A BOX OF SOMETHING SHE IS CONSIDERING BUYING. SHE HAS BEEN THERE FOR A COUPLE MINUTES. I HAVE NO URGENT ERRANDS TO RUN. I DO NOT HAVE TO BE SOMEWHERE FOR THE REST OF THE DAY. I DON’T WANT TO LOSE MY PLACE IN LINE, BUT AT THE SAME TIME, I FEEL A TUG OF PITY IN MY GUT FOR THE OLD WOMAN. I CHOOSE TO GO HELP HER, GIVING UP MY SPOT IN LINE. I AM BEING DOCILE TO THE URGINGS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. GREAT GIFTS IN HEAVEN AWAIT THOSE WHO DO THE LITTLE THINGS. BEING A SAINT IS NOT DOING BIG THINGS THAT CHANGE THE HISTORY OF PEOPLE AND THE CHURCH. IT IS DOING GOD’S WILL — WHICH COMES TO US THROUGH THE URGINGS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT — IN MEASURE WITH OUR DUTIES IN LIFE, WORTHLESS AND INSIGNIFICANT AS THEY MAY SEEM AT THE TIME.

Docile to the Holy Spirt, to me, means being open to change.

Remember, we are on this earth to try to find the good in others.

Everyone changes. We are to accept people for what they are.

Trust the Holy Spirit. He will never put you in harm’s way.

-ROSALIE YOUNGBLOOD, OUR LADY STAR OF THE SEA, GROSSE POINTE WOODS

-SHAWN BURNS, SACRED HEART, AUBURN HILLS

UN L E A SH T H E G O SP E L. O R G |

@ UTGD ET ROI T

63

PHOTO E SSAY

ST. JOSEPH S T. JO S EPH PARISH W A S F O U NDE D IN 19 2 8 TO SERVE THE GRO WIN G N ORT H OA K L AND COUN T Y PO PU L AT I ON . FIRST BUILT IN T HE SHA PE OF A CROSS, THE CHU R CH EXPANDED IN THE M I D - 1900S TO ACCOMMODATE T HE GR O WIN G COMMUN IT Y. F EAT U RES OF N ATURE AN D CR EAT I O N ARE PROMIN E NTLY D I SPL AY ED THROUGHOUT T HE A R CH ITE CTURE AN D D ES I GN: FIE LDSTONE FROM LO CA L FA RMS; BEAMS FROM LO CA L PI NE AN D OAK TRE E S; H A ND - CA RVE D IMAGES OF D EER (REFERE NCING PSALM 4 2), A S W ELL AS TRE E S A N D W AT ER ON THE OAK A LT ER ; A ND FLO WE RS AND W H EAT I N THE STAINEDG L A SS W I NDO W S. THE I N CO RPO R ATION OF THE SE E LEM ENT S LIFTS THE COMMU NI T Y’S HE ARTS TO G O D A ND CONN E CTS THE BEA U T Y O F GOD’S CRE ATION W I T H T HE SACRE D SPACE T HAT HA S BEEN A SPIRITUAL H O ME TO MANY.

64

A R C HDIOCE SE OF DET ROI T

With nearly 3,000 families, St. Joseph Parish is a large and vibrant community with an abundance of young families, and children are always welcome.

JAMES SILVESTRI, PHOTOGRAPHER, WRITER

Father Mike Verschaeve came to St. Joseph as pastor in 2003.

He is a spiritual leader with an appreciation for a broad spectrum of spiritualities.

Over the course of his time as pastor, Father Mike has appreciated the growing diversity of the parish.

He has a true love for the liturgy and deep respect for the Eucharist.

On World Marriage Day (Feb. 9, 2020), pastoral associate Kathy Hasty spoke of the importance of being a light for each other in a marriage. “Like God’s first words, ‘Let there be light,’ be the light … in a world that needs it.”

UN L E A SH T H E G O SP E L. O R G |

@ UTGD ET ROI T

65

LIKE GOD’S FIRST WORDS, BE THE LIGHT FOR OTHERS. BE THE LIGHT IN A WORLD THAT NEEDS IT.”

Hospitality is a key feature of St. Joseph’s parish life. Parishioners greet and engage one another after each Mass and visitors are always welcome!

66

A R C HDIOCE SE OF DET ROI T

This beautiful stone church sits high atop a hill, standing as a light and a beacon to those who hunger and thirst for God.

St. Joseph is a strong, eucharisticcentered parish where members gather to experience God in the word, the sacraments and one another.

UN L E A SH T H E G O SP E L. O R G |

@ UTGD ET ROI T

67

A deep eucharistic spirituality is present within the parish.

Christ’s presence in the Eucharist is celebrated and respected as a source of ongoing strength.

With nearly 3,000 families, St. Joseph Parish is a large and vibrant parish with an abundance of young families where children are always welcome.

68

A R C HDIOCE SE OF DET ROI T

A thriving and well-supported parish school has been in operation since 1952, offering faithbased education and academic excellence to students from pre-K through eighth grade.

Students at St. Joseph Catholic School are encouraged to live out the Gospel message by sharing their gifts of time and talent with others.

UN L E A SH T H E G O SP E L. O R G |

@ UTGD ET ROI T

69

Valid on initial consultations only. Some restrictions apply. Must present ad. Expires 5/31/20.

C AT H O L I C F U N E R A L & C E M E T E RY S E RV I C E S

Be at rest with the family of your faith.

HE IS RISEN!

GETTY IMAGES / ROMOLOTAVANI

P R E P L A N N I N G YO U R C AT H O L I C F U N E R A L A L O V I N G G I F T F O R Y O U R FA M I LY 313.879.3741 | cfcsdetroit.org Holy Sepulchre | Our Lady of Hope | St. Joseph Holy Cross | Mount Carmel | Mount Hope