Invited: In today’s Gospel we hear how the King (God the Father) has a wedding banquet for his Son (Jesus). However, some people refused to come. Others ignored the invitation. Others are too busy or have other things to do that seem more important so they don’t attend the wedding banquet either. At every Sunday Mass we celebrate the wedding banquet of Jesus, the Bride-groom, which is a foretaste of the heavenly banquet.
Experience: This Sunday we begin our four-part series on the Sunday experience. Why are we there? What if Mass is boring? Hope we can answer these and many other questions. The four-part series ends with an explanation of the Mass the weekend of November 4 – 5. And just a reminder, the weekend of Nov. 11 – 12 I will be giving a state of the parish address at all the Masses.
Frankenmuth: I really enjoyed the priest convocation in Frankenmuth last week. Our guest speaker was Dr.Constance Nielsen from the Diocese of Madison. She was an excellent presenter. She discussed Catholic Social Teaching based on documents written by popes over the last one hundred plus years. She emphasized that the Church is always interested in the human person and their needs. We don’t put ‘things’ above the ‘person.’ She also remarked that many people try to satisfy the ‘spiritual’ with ‘physical’ things—which ultimately leaves us unsatisfied. In summary, she said that the ‘Key to the Universe’ was from Vatican II Gaudium et spes, #24: “Indeed the Lord Jesus when He prayed to the Father, ‘that all may be one,as we are one’ (John 17:21-22) opened up vistas closed to human reason, for He implied a certain likeness between the union of the divine Persons, and the unity of God’s sons in truth and charity. This likeness reveals that man, who is the only creature on earth which God willed for itself, cannot fully find himself except through a sincere gift of himself.” Besides that, I enjoyed playing cards with Fr. Gary and his brother Fr. Todd one afternoon and enjoying some walks along the Cass River. And yes, I ate lots of chicken!
Capacity: This weekend Fr. Dan and I will be busy helping out with the women’s Christ Renews His Parish (CRHP) retreat. This is always a great weekend. The number of women attending is at capacity. Please pray for all involved. The men’s CRHP retreat is the weekend of Nov. 4-5 and I hope that reaches capacity too!
Heart: Been hearing some great remarks from our on-going ALPHA series. It’s not too late to attend as participants encounter the deepest questions of the human heart.
Lansing: Our building committee has been meeting every two weeks. This Tuesday, Oct. 17, some of our committee will meet with the diocesan building committee in Lansing to discuss the plans for our Church’s renovation.
Usher’s Dinner: I will be joining our ushers who are being treated to a dinner at Brick Street on Tuesday evening. Thank you to all who serve in this very important ministry!
Euchre: This Friday, October 20, beginning at 6:30 pm, we begin our euchre games to help support seminarian education. Hope to see you there.
Vows: This Saturday eight engaged couples from the Genesee County region will partake in our Marriage prep formation class. The talks include: ‘God gave me you;’ ‘Communication-the Heart of Marriage;’ ‘The spirituality of Marriage;’ and ‘Personalities-Understanding Each Other.’ It’s always great to see the joy of these couples.
40 days: Our Holy Family Parish needs help to cover twelve hours of prayer, from 7 am to 7 pm, at the 40 Days for Life vigil at 3371 Beecher Rd, on Saturday, October 28. I plan on attending for an hour or so and I hope to see you there.
Old: This past Tuesday at our school Mass Fr. Dan was the celebrant. One of our 1st graders asked our principal, “where’s the old priest?” So now we have one less student in our school ☺.
Hope you enjoy the beautiful fall weather.
Love and prayers,
Msgr. Jerry
Words of St. Ignatius of Antioch, martyr of the early church. His feast day is October 17.
“Christianity is not a matter of persuading people of particular ideas, but of inviting them to share in the greatness of Christ. So pray that I may never fall into the trap of impressing people with clever speech, but instead I may learn to speak with humility, desiring only to impress people with Christ himself.”
“We recognize a tree by its fruit, and we ought to be able to recognize a Christian by his action. The fruit of faith should be evident in our lives, for being a Christian is more than making sound professions of faith. It should reveal itself in practical and visible ways. Indeed it is better to keep quiet about our beliefs, and live them out, than to talk eloquently about what we believe, but fail to live by it.”