HOMECOMING As we move into fall, the football season is well underway and a part of the "ritual" connected with the season is homecoming. The most important aspect of that "big game" is the implied invitation extended to all alumni and fans to come back home for the event.
This fall our bishop has extended a homecoming invitation of his own - to all those Catholics who have been away from the Church. From October to early December, our diocese will have four large, multi-media services (in Lansing, Ann Arbor, Flint and Jackson) in hopes of reaching out to those, who for whatever reasons, have ceased to practice their faith as a Catholic.
Newspaper, television and billboard ads will announce the invitation, but the most important part of our effort to reach these folks is YOU! You have friends, neighbors, relatives and co-workers who no longer participate in the life of the Church. Some have simply stopped going to Mass after they left their parent's home; some have been hurt by the Church's teaching or by a priest\sister or another Catholic. Some are divorced and remarried outside the Church.
This Reconciliation Service is an attempt to reach out to these folks and invite them back into full communion again. Repeated four times across the diocese, we are hoping that many of these folks who no longer practice as Catholics will be moved to rejoin. The service will include prayer, music, a short play, Scripture and homily by our bishop - which will include an apology by the bishop to any one who has been wounded by the Church and its representatives.
As I mentioned above, the most important aspect of reaching out to these folks is YOU!! In the next couple of weeks we are going to ask you to give us the names and addresses of these folks, so that we can send them a invitation to one of these Reconciliation Services. (No list of names will be kept, so you need not be concerned about any other use of the information you give us.)
Please give the idea some thought and prayer. Help us to reach out to the second largest group of Christians in the U.S. - non-practicing Catholics. It can't work without your help!
JUBILEE 2000 The homecoming services this fall are all part of our preparation for the beginning of the great Jubilee 2000 celebration.
JERRY BETTENS was injured on Wednesday, Sept 1, when he attempted to catch some vandals who had damaged his and other lawns in Shenandoah Sub. He continues to improve at U of M Hospital. Both he and the family would appreciate your continued prayer.
Fr. Dave Howell
If you would like to have a Liturgy celebrated for a special intention, arrangements can be made by calling Kay at the office. A contribution is usually made to pay for the cost of the bread and wine and all the other items that are needed for the celebration of the Liturgy.
Please pray that the sick will respond to God's healing will, especially: Larry Czap, Sue Keough, Miriam Marker, Matt Even, Eileen Auld, Cornelius Smits, Keith Kovach, Ellen Colombo, Ken Colombo, Emerson Brown, John Fay, Adeline Smith, Larry Cecil, Anna Cecil, Catherine Howard, Dottie King, Catherine Schumont, Ken Carson, Emily Cooper, Shirley Brake, Keith Dunn, Karen (Pat Spindler's daughter), Laurie Deirlein, Ron Schaar, Marilyn (Steve Crowell's mother), Jeannette Wood, Jane, Merle, Ed, Zora Kolef, Keith Freel, Tom Cavanaugh, Timothy Richards, Mary Kay Davis, Edith Reagan, Joseph Pasienza, Miren Mohrenweiser, Donovan and Gerry Bettens.
September is back to school month - hopefully this will include our adults as well as the kids, as this fall introduces several new studies for "big" kids.
Wednesday evenings and Thursday mornings are dedicated to the Parables of Mark, and Wednesday mornings will see the beginning of our M.O.M.S. programs. Please check the gathering area for a registration form or call me at 229-8624.
If you or someone you know has unanswered questions about what it's like to be Catholic
today, consider joining us on Tuesday evenings at 7:30pm in the Adult Formation Room. The
"Inquiry" gatherings are scheduled to resume on Sept. 14. Attendance comes without strings or expectations about becoming Catholic - for some it is the first step, but for others it is a time to explore Catholicism.
Yours on the journey, Marilyn
Religious Education classes begin next week. The children are eager to get back to learning, praying and sharing their faith. If you have not registered for the program, please give me a call. We are still in need of people to assist with the traffic flow after classes. If you are willing to help, please call me.
This week we will install and pray for all who minister in the Religious Education
Program. Pray for the catechists, aides, hall monitors, and all who minister with us.
Sister Maryetta
Next weekend the leaders of our youth group will be on retreat together. There will be special presenters and time for team building. Pray that our weekend will be safe and meaningful.
Well, fall is officially here. I love this time of the year - the cooler weather, the colors, the parish picnic, and of course, football and the start of the school year. Tommy and I pray that everyone has a successful and safe year.
At the picnic, the teen games are for teens of all ages, including the students in 6, 7, & 8 grades. There will be basketball, volleyball, and soccer. The more teens involved, the more fun the games will be - so get involved!
We are selling t-shirts at the picnic this weekend. Each shirt will cost $6.00. There will also be teens painting faces for anyone who desires to have it done.
In the course of my reading through a popular youth magazine, I came across some words
of wisdom. I thought you might enjoy reading some of of it today and in upcoming bulletins.
"Don't be afraid to admit you're less than perfect. It's this fragile thread that binds us
together. We all make mistakes and have our weaknesses. Someone once told me that I am in
the company of very forgiving people when I am with the church community. I found that very
comforting because I was reminded that the only perfect person is Jesus. We are all given
different strengths and weaknesses, and because of those differences we can call on each other in our time of need.
Margaret Callaghan
Our next jr. high event is a dance scheduled for Saturday, Sept 25, from 7:30-9:30pm. There are yellow sign up sheets in the gathering space for the students to sign up and for adults to volunteer their time and talents. This dance is scheduled the same evening as the Spaghetti dinner. I can't think of a better way to spend the evening than to come and have dinner and then stay for more fun. So take time in the next three weekends to sign up for a great evening.
Remember the games being organized for the picnic this weekend, such as volleyball, soccer and basketball, are for students of all ages. So come and get involved.
Tommy and I pray that the middle school students will have a healthy, safe and successful school year as well.
Margaret Callaghan
MOST REVEREND CARL F. MENGELING, Bishop of Lansing, invites you to attend a special Mass and reception to celebrate the inauguration of a campaign for the new Father Gabriel Richard High School, Sunday Sept. 12, at St. Thomas the Apostle in Ann Arbor, beginning at 4:00pm with Mass. Reception follows immediately in the parish hall. Information, including pictures and plans of the proposed new regional high school, will be available along with diocesan staff, architects and consultants to answer any questions.
Fiscal Year runs from July 1, 1999 - June 30, 2000
Total income for the week of September 4/5, 1999:
Approximately 1013 people contributed:
Using Stewardship envelopes..............$10,261.00
Loose collection.........................$ 969.00
Building Fund payment on pledges.........$ 4,378.00
Other....................................$ 2,322.00
Total receipts...........................$17,930.00
Weekly expenses..........................$16,682.00
+/- for week.............................$ 1,248.00
+/- year-to-date.........................-$ 177.00
Thank you for your Gifts
FLU SHOTS will be available through McPherson Home Care here at St. Mary Magdalen on Saturday, Oct. 23, 5:30-6:30pm and Sunday Oct. 24, 10:00am-1:00pm. Individuals covered by Medicare will need to bring their cards. Those paying cash will be charged $10.00. If you have any questions, call Mary Lou (517) 545-6161.
The Parish Nurse Ministry announces monthly Blood Pressure Screening. This will begin September 18 and 19 following all three Masses. Come and begin to regularly monitor your blood pressure!
The first K of C Spaghetti Dinner of the year will be held on Saturday, Sept. 25, after 4:30 Mass and before Jr. High dance. This year, in an effort to plan food purchases better, we are asking people to sign up if they know they will be attending. The sign-up sheet will be in the gathering space the two weekends prior. Signing up does not guarantee a meal - its first come, first served! Profits benefit SMM service projects and charities. Call Gary Kinneer with questions (810) 229-2045.
St. Mary Magdalen Knights of Columbus is having a fall golf outing Sunday, October 10, at Faulkwood Shores golf course. 18 hole scramble w/cart, hot dogs, hamburgers and refreshments provided. Members/wives and prospective members/wives are invited. Cost is $45 per player. Contact Dave Guidos (810) 229-4728 or John Reineke (810) 225-2040 for information/registration by October 1.
SIGN UP FOR "SUNDAY EVENINGS WITH THE DEACON" is now in progress. Beginning September 14 we will spend eight weeks "running" through the Scriptures. We will spend 4 weeks on the Old Testament (Overview, The Torah, The Prophets, and the Writings), and 4 weeks on the New Testament (Synoptic Gospels, John's Gospel, Paul's Letters, and the Other writings). We meet from 7:30 to 9:00 (usually 9:30 by the time everyone leaves).
PREGNANCY HELPLINE announces An Open House Sunday, Sept. 26, 2-5:00pm at the Life Choice Pregnancy Center, 9560 Highland Road, Hartland. Tour their newly expanded facility and learn about their vision for the future, meet the new medical director and our new President, visit our loan closet, and find out how you can be involved in this life-giving ministry. Call 810-632-5656 for more information.
ST. PATRICK COUNCIL OF CATHOLIC WOMEN will hold a card party on Friday, Sept. 24, 7:30pm in McCann Hall, Brighton. All ladies and gents are invited to enjoy their favorite card game or any other board games. Table prizes, door prizes and raffle prizes will be awarded. Tickets are $5.00 and may be purchased at the church office. Call Mary Jane (810) 229-4107 for more information.
The next meeting will be Sept. 23 at Old St. Pat's, 5671 Whitmore Lake Rd., Ann Arbor. Speaker, Dr. Richard Shellenberger, will speak on Osteoporosis. Mass will be at 8:30am, followed by a potluck luncheon and speaker. All ladies are invited! Call Marianne Gonyo (734) 996-0089 for more information.
The Charity & Justice Ministry Team continues to ask you to save your VG's receipts and return them in the container provided in the Gathering Area. Through these receipts organizations can collect 1% of the receipt total. These funds will be used to help those in need within our parish.
BRIGHTON AREA CROP WALK has set a goal of 200 walkers to raise $16,000 to help stop hunger in our community and around the world through self-help development initiatives. A portion of the funds raised will benefit St. Vincent de Paul, Lacasa and the Livingston Food Bank. Family, friends and co-workers of cropwalkers are urged to sponsor them. Sponsor envelopes will be available in the gathering area soon. Call Maureen or Steve Crowell (810) 227-3734 for more information.
LIVINGSTON COUNTY CATHOLIC SOCIAL SERVICES FALL PROGRAMS: Call (810) 227-2151 for information.
Families Experiencing Divorce, a 6-week support program for children of separated/divorced parents, begins Tuesday, Oct. 5, 7pm at LCCSS in Brighton. Children and parents participate.
Effective Parenting, a 4-week series at LCCSS in Brighton, begins Thursday, Oct. 7, 7pm. It focuses on building communication, raising self-esteem, and discipline alternatives.
How to Understand Grief and Loss, a 2-hour session, will be presented Monday, Sept. 27, 7pm here at St. Mary Magdalen, in an educational format and will explain some of the many responses to grief.
Who Will Make Your Health Care Decisions when You Can't, an information night on medical durable power of attorney and estate planning, will be held Monday, Oct. 4 at 7pm at St. Pat's, Brighton. Learn basic tips on the right to refuse medical care, estate planning, Medicare and Medicaid, and nursing home care.
FOCCUS/Sponsor Couple Marriage Prep Formation Training will be held here at SMM Oct. 4, 11 and 18 from 7-9pm, and Oct. 7, 14 and 28 at St. John, Hartland. Training is for experienced FOCCUS couples as well as newly recruited couples. Call the parish office for more information. Deadline to register is two weeks prior to date of first class.
Parents of students in Grades 7 and 8 are invited to the open house to be held November 14 from 1-5:00pm. This is a great help in the decision making process for the future education of your children. Come and see what Catholic Central has to offer.
Join us every 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month from 12:30 to 1:30 pm at Medilodge Nursing Home, 1333 W.Grand River, Howell. For more information contact Lisa Klein (810)229-0607.
This is a time set aside to honor and recognize senior members of our parish communities, and it will be celebrated throughout the Diocese from September 27 through October 1. All Livingston County seniors are cordially invited to attend a Mass for this purpose at St. Agnes, Fowlerville, Thursday, September 30, at 11:00am. Lunch and entertainment follows. Donations will be accepted. Please make your reservations by September 21 by calling Betty Polaske (810) 227-5370. Transportation arrangements can be made at that time.
"Kitchen Kommittee" will be meeting on Sunday, September 26, after the 11:00 o'clock Liturgy to formulate some general policies and practices to help us maintain an orderly and practical kitchen. If you belong to a group that uses the kitchen on a regular basis, please consider coming. It shouldn't take us more than an hour. We hope to start at 12:15.
SMM PARISH LIBRARY has nearly 300 items for loan. Since opening, we have been very pleased with the number of parishioners who have checked out books, periodicals, and videos. Still, we know there are many more who would find this service helpful. Be sure to visit the library in the Adult Ed. room near the office.
Sunday, Sept. 12 Diane Kubus
Monday, Sept. 13 Kathy LaTarte, Laura Meader
Tuesday, Sept. 14 Christine Reid, Kathy McKay
Wednesday, Sept. 15 Lisa Konieczka,Chris Kovanda
Thursday, Sept. 16 Betty Polaske
Friday, Sept. 17 Pam Hurn, Sandi Phillips
Saturday, Sept. 18 Leo Camden
Prayer Intercessions may be filled out each weekend and placed in the basket located between the inside glass doors in our Gathering Area.
Livingston Community Hospice's Fall Volunteer Training begins
Saturday, September 11,18 and 25;
and Wednesday October 6 at McPherson Hospital in Community Room 3.
Classes take place between 10:00am and 1:30pm, except on October 6, when it will be from 9:30-11:30.
Volunteers are needed in all areas by providing support to the terminally ill and
their families.
Tues., Sept. 14, The feast of The Holy Cross. The feast of the Holy Cross celebrates a double anniversary: the discovery of the Lord's cross by the empress, St. Helena, in 320, and the dedication of the Constantinian basilicas at the sites of the Holy Sepulcher and of Calvary in 335. It became a major feast, and any Christian who could make the pilgrimage to Jerusalem would try to be there for the celebration. The whole 40-day period between Transfiguration Day (Aug. 6) and Holy Cross Day became a time of pilgrimage to welcome the autumn season. Wed., Sept. 15, The feast of Our Lady of Sorrows. Mary lived in a country oppressed by the Romans. She knew how it felt to be an unwed mother, a refugee, the mother of a political prisoner and criminal. She experienced poverty, and she was a widow. Her sufferings have been shared by many people of our times, especially in places around the world that endure political oppression and war. In the thirteenth century, Jacopone da Todi wrote a "sequence" song in honor of this day. This song is often sung when people pray the stations of the cross.
"At the cross her station keeping,
stood the mournful mother, weeping,
close to Jesus to the last."
By the 14th century, the sorrows of Mary numbered seven: The presentation of Jesus in the Temple, the flight into Egypt, Jesus being lost in Jerusalem, the meeting of Mary and Jesus on the way to Calvary, the crucifixion, the taking down of Jesus' body from the cross, and his burial. Look on our wall of Mary to see three of the sorrows pictured there.
Before each weekend Liturgy begins, there is a three minute explanation of a segment of the Mass.
This column offers additional information.
PREPARATION FOR COMMUNION The third part of the Communion Rite is the preparation for and the reception of the Eucharist. In this section, the Eucharist is prepared for distribution while the presider privately prepares himself to receive and the assembly prepares with a communal prayer sung in litany form, the Lamb of God.
When Jesus celebrated the Passover at His Last Supper, He conformed to most of the ritual even as He transformed it. Christ took the bread, said the blessing, broke it and gave it to His disciples. But the addition of His words, consecrating His life to us, utterly transformed this ancient ritual as well as the bread and wine. He became the lamb of sacrifice; His body was broken, His blood poured out. The apostles understood this as they continued to meet for the "breaking of the bread" (Acts 2:43). It was only with the development of the Eucharistic Prayer that the breaking of bread was separated from the prayer, and that breaking was the beginning of the Communion Rite.
When the assembly was smaller, all could share in the one loaf which was broken after the Eucharistic Prayer. This gesture symbolized the unity of the community as the Body of Christ (see I Cor. 10:17). As the number of Christians increased, by the fourth century this part became quite elaborate.
In Rome, very large cups and plates were fashioned so that there would be only one cup and one bread placed on the altar for the Eucharistic Prayer. So after the greeting of peace, the pope returned to the chair while the assisting priests and deacons filled many smaller cups from the large one, and the Body of Christ was broken and also placed in smaller vessels for distribution.
In the Middle Ages, the use of smaller hosts for the assembly greatly diminished this action, as did the decline in the frequent reception of communion. What once had taken several minutes, now took only seconds.
The reforms of 1969 again highlighted the symbolic meaning of the rite by suggesting that only one container of bread and one of wine be placed on the altar. We, though many, are one in Christ. This is again symbolized by preparing several vessels for the distribution of communion.
There is a nationwide ministry available to traveling Catholics providing free information on the location of the nearest church and times of Masses on weekends and holy days. This service is available to all parishes by calling 1-800-627-7846 or checking the internet at www.masstimes.org.
Sunday September 12
Sir 27:30 - 28:9/Rom 14:7-9/Mt 18:21-35
Monday, September 13 - John Chrysostom, bp., doctor
1 Tm 2:1-8/Lk 7:1-10
9:00 a.m. Our BeFrienders
Tuesday, September 14 - The Holy Cross
Nm 21:4b-9/Phil 2:6-11/Jn 3:13-17
9:00 a.m. Our Inquiry Group
Wednesday, September 15 - Our Lady of Sorrows
1 Tm 3:14-16/Jn 19:25-27
7:00 p.m. Irene McElligatt
Thursday, September 16 - Cornelius, pope, and Cyprian, bp., martyrs
1 Tm 4:12-16/Lk 7:36-50
9:00 a.m. Those Preparing for Marriage
Friday, September 17
1 Tm 6:2c-12/Lk 8:1-3
9:00 a.m. Our Catechists
Saturday, September 18
1 Tm 6:13-16/Lk 8:4-15
Sunday, September 19
Is 55:6-9/Phil 1:20c-24,27a/Mt 20:1-6a
4:30 Gladys Scharf
9:00 a.m. Mary & Carl Wojewodzki
11:00 a.m. St. Mary Magdalen Parishioners
Monday, September 13
7:30 p.m. Infant Baptism Workshop
Tuesday, September 14
7:00 p.m. BeFriender Mtg. (Rectory LL)
7:30 p.m. Inquiry Adult/Child (Conference Room)
7:30 p.m. Charity & Justice
7:30 p.m. Community Life (Social Hall)
7:30 p.m. Art & Environment
Wednesday, September 15
7:30 p.m. Pastoral Council
7:45 p.m. Scripture Study - Mark
Thursday, September 16
6:30 p.m. Scripture Study - Mark
7:00 p.m. Basic Catholic Teaching (Adult Formation)
7:30 p.m. Music Ministry
Friday, September 17
NO ACTIVITIES PLANNED
Saturday, September 18
8:00-4:00 p.m. Super Saturday for Livingston County
Youth Leadership Retreat
4:30 p.m. Liturgical Ministry Sign-Up
Sunday, September 19
Youth Leadership Retreat
9 & 11:00 a.m. Liturgical Ministry Sign-Up
9:30, 11 & 5:45 Religious Ed begins
7:00 p.m. Sr. Youth Meeting
7:30 p.m. Bible Overview
7:00 p.m. Youth Group
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