Epiphany: This Sunday is the Feast of the Epiphany. Epiphany is an appearance. We celebrate our Lord manifesting Himself to all people. The Lord continues to reveal Himself to us. How each one of us responds to the Lord Jesus is the great drama in human life.
Baptism of the Lord: Usually the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord is celebrated on a Sunday, but this year we are celebrating this feast on Monday, January 9. In the baptism of Jesus, a voice from heaven cries out, “this is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased.” Did you know that when you were baptized a voice from the heavens said the same thing: “this is my beloved daughter (or son) with whom I am well pleased.” Lord, please help me (and all) to remember who we are: beloved children of our Heavenly Father!
K of C Breakfast: This Sunday the Knights of Columbus are providing another breakfast. It’s hard to beat the food and the price. All the proceeds help the Knights of Columbus help others. Hope to see you there.
New Life: Through the invitation of the St. Luke N.E.W. Life Center in Flint, some of our parish staff are going to visit there this Thursday, Jan. 12, to find out more of what they do and how we can help as a parish. Their mission is to provide life skills, education and workplace training and to empower women and men to become self-sufficient.
Five percent of our weekend collection: Speaking of helping others, for the Year of Mercy we initiated giving five percent of our weekend collection to a charitable organization. We were planning to continue that process, but our finance council suggested we make some adjustments. Instead of giving five percent every weekend, we are now going to give five percent on the first weekend of the month as part of “Others First” weekends.
Favor for our school: Our school benefits from Education box tops. If you purchase any product (usually cereal boxes) with an education box top, please clip them out and drop them off at our school or in the church entryway. Many thanks for taking the time to do this.
Movie: Fr. Gary preached about the movie Hacksaw Ridge in his homily a few weeks ago. I finally got to see the movie over the break. I enjoyed the movie and really appreciated what Fr. Gary emphasized in his homily, “Lord, help me get one more.” Now I am looking forward to seeing the movie Silence. I read the book several years ago. The book depressed me a bit because a couple of priests renounced their faith in the midst of severe and brutal persecution in Japan several centuries ago. However, many people died for their faith as martyrs during this time.
Prayers: Fr. Gary mentioned in his homily last week-end about the sudden death of his 22-year-old cousin, Curtis Felpausch. He was at work when he died suddenly. Our hearts and prayers go out to Fr. Gary’s family during this time. They still do not know the reason for his death.
All-Commission Meeting: Looking forward to meeting with all of our commissions on January 25.
Capital Campaign: Thanks again to all of you who generously gave to our capital campaign. As I write this, we are still waiting for up-to-date totals from the diocese.
Vacation: I took some time off from December 27 – January 1. The first few days I spent with my mom. And then I flew to Florida to visit my brother and his wife in Orlando (frequent flyer miles are great!). He also had an extra ticket to the Michigan – Florida State game. I enjoyed watching the game, but I didn’t enjoy the stadium experience. The stadium loud speaker was way too loud for me, and at every break they were blaring music. I felt like I was at a concert. Additionally, I visited the Basilica of Mary, Queen of the Universe, in Orlando and also had breakfast with a priest friend of mine. That was great.
Please know of my love and prayers for you. Have a blessed week.
Msgr. Jerry
A couple saint quotes on Baptism (Baptism of the Lord is January 9).
The Lord was Baptized, not to be cleansed Himself, but to cleanse the waters, so that those waters, cleansed by the flesh of Christ which knew no sin, might have the power of Baptism. – St. Ambrose of Milan
Every baptized person should consider that it is in the womb of the Church where he is transformed from a child of Adam to a child of God. – St. Vincent Ferrer