JUST A WORD OF THANKS to Sandi & Rick Phillips and all those who were responsible for our sixth Parish Picnic. You did an outstanding job and we appreciated it.
Thanks, too, to our Knights of Columbus for the new concrete pad! This is the beginning of a picnic pavilion which will turn the old stable into an outdoor area for parish gatherings.
MIS-INTERPRETATIONS I am constantly dismayed by the continued mis-interpretation of the U.S. Constitution, especially the first and second amendments.
The first states: Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people to peaceably assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievance.
The intent of this article was to guarantee freedom to - worship, speak, publish, gather, ask for justice. For the most part, this intent has been upheld through the last 200 years, except with regard to religion.
Written in an age when there was a state or established Church or denomination, it was decided that our country would not be like that. There would be no official Church, no "church tax" collected by the government, no pastors on the state's payroll to do parish work and so on. The earliest interpretations of this article called for a "wall separating the state from the church".
The first section of this article was meant to grant all people the freedom to practice their faith, whatever it may be. All faiths would be equal, none would be chosen above another.
Strangely enough, this freedom to has been interpreted as freedom from religion. The wall separating has become a wall to isolate. Over recent years, increasing antagonism toward religion and its morality has led some to re-interpret the first amendment in a way never envisioned by those who wrote it.
The same is true for the second amendment, which states: A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed upon.
With strident voices, some in our society shout about the last part of the amendment: "the right of the people..." Yet I am amazed at how the reason for the right is not only ignored, but even contradicted. The almost unlimited access to guns has hardly added to the security or freedom of the people of our nation.
My only hope is that some day real campaign finance reform will be passed. Then perhaps our law makers will understand the full meaning of the second amendment and make laws that will uphold the purpose of this amendment to the Constitution.
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, Merle, Ed, Zora Kolef, Keith Freel, Tom Cavanaugh, Timothy Richards, Mary Kay Davis, Edith Reagan, Joseph Pasienza, Miren Mohrenweiser, Donovan, Jessie, Mary Swift and Gerry Bettens.
Our sixth annual parish picnic was a great success! First, thanks to God for the cooperative weather. As usual, our Saint Mary Magdalen volunteers put in their 150% effort! Thank you to all the 1999 committee coordinators and coordinators-in-training (for next year's picnic). Thanks to all the help in the office, our music and hospitality ministries, to Dan Schifko for his tractor rides, Bill Frank for the wagons, Debbie Clonan for the fantastic balloons and our youth group's games. A big thanks to ALL our volunteers who put in many hours of work; and most of all, thank you to everyone who joined us, sharing your food and fellowship. It was an awesome day and we hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.
We appreciate the support of the following people and businesses for
their 1999 donation:
Gerry & Carla Bettens John & Shannan Knapp Tom Zuyus
Varsity Ford Weingartz Equipment Farmer Jacks
Whistlestop Ice Cream Depot BFI VG's of Brighton
Timeless Photo Imaging-Novi Target Sandi & Rick Phillips
The Scripture and Stitches group is planning a field trip to the Shroud of Turin exhibit at Domino's Farms this Tuesday, Sept. 21. Everyone is invited to join us. We will begin our caravan at 10:30am from the church parking lot and will return around 2:30pm. Admission is free, small children must be accompanied by an adult. We are also planning to dine on pizza and browse through the gift store. (Surprise, surprise!)
On Sunday, Sept. 19, we will resume Deacon Dave's evenings with an Overview of the Bible. Thursday mornings are dedicated to the Parables of Mark, and Wednesday mornings will see the beginning of our M.O.M.S. programs. It is not too late to sign up for any of these, please see the gathering area for a registration form or call me at (810) 229-8624.
If you or someone you know has unanswered questions about what it's like to be Catholic today, you might consider joining us on Tuesday evenings at 7:30pm in the Adult Formation Room. The "Inquiry" gatherings took a brief break over the summer but resumed 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 understand or explore Catholicism.
We have begun a sign up for facilitators for our Small Faith Communities for the fall.
Entitled "A Year of Favor from the Lord", our materials are coming from the Archdiocese of
Detroit and offer discussion topics related to the Millenium and our Church. They will begin meeting the week of October 10, and run for five weeks. It is an excellent opportunity to meet your neighbors and share your faith. For more information please call me.
Yours on the journey, Marilyn
The Religious Education Program begins this week. It is a very exciting time for our parish. This year we have many new catechists, lots and lots of new children and wonderful
children from other years who have returned. Please know that we still have some places open on Thursdays for classes. If you have any questions, please feel free to call the office.
Sister Maryetta
Tonight is our first meeting since school has started. All senior high students are welcome to come. In fact, we hope to see a lot of new faces tonight, so stop by at 7pm.
Last evening some of us traveled up to St. Michael's in Flint for a high school dance. It was fun to meet new people and to participate in an activity elsewhere. We all had a good time.
Our leadership retreat this weekend is going quite well. We have learned a lot about ourselves and each other. We also learned a lot about being leaders among our peers. We attended Mass at 9am and ended with a speaker afterward who awarded us with leadership certificates. Thank you for your continued support through your prayers.
Well, this is the last of my interesting words of wisdom from my youth magazine article. I hope you have enjoyed the encouraging words and food for thought. Don't
give up when you still have something to give. Nothing's over until the moment you stop trying. Even if you think you have nothing to give, you do! For it's the smallest things that make the biggest difference. Think about a difficult time in your own life and try to remember what things made the biggest impact - a letter written, a card sent, or food made and brought over for you and your family. To think you have nothing to offer would be a mistake and an opportunity missed to make a difference.
Margaret Callaghan
I hope your calendars are marked for the jr. high dance scheduled for Saturday, Sept 25, from 7:30-9:30pm. There are still 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. What a great way to spend the evening together! Come and have dinner, then stay for more fun. Pizza and pop will be provided, and we'll also be playing games (as the posters state). A $2.00 donation will be taken at the door. So please take time to sign up for a great evening!
Margaret Callaghan
Fiscal Year runs from July 1, 1999 - June 30, 2000
Total income for the week of September 11/12, 1999:
Approximately 1300 people contributed:
Using Stewardship envelopes..............$12 870.09
Loose collection.........................$ 780.00
Building Fund payment on pledges.........$ 2,460.00
Other....................................$ 1,707.00
Total receipts...........................$17,817.00
Weekly expenses..........................$16,682.00
+/- for week.............................$ 1,135.00
+/- year-to-date.........................$ +959.00
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 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.
CHARITY & JUSTICE will sponsor a clothing drive during the month of October. We invite all parishioners to participate in this project. Please donate only clean usable clothing and shoes. Mary Lou Brown Mission in Detroit is the recipient of your generosity. Items for men, women, teenagers and children are welcome. We are in need of volunteers for this project. If you can help sort or deliver, call Mary Korch (810) 227-8384 or Dave Scharf (810) 299-8624.
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.
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.
Share our Joy and Gratitude by celebrating the 25th anniversary year of St. Francis Prayer Center, October 3, 1999, 2:00pm. Come and enjoy an outdoor liturgy celebrated by Bishop Kenneth J. Povish.
Celebrate the Year of the Father Friday, October 8, 1999, 7:00pm at a generational healing Mass at St. John Catholic Church, Fenton.
SPEAK UP! is a presentation on suicide prevention, education and awareness for kids at Pinckney High School media center Monday, September 20, 7:00pm. Dr. Cheryl King, U/M Dept. of Psychiatry will speak at an evening for parents, students and concerned citizens about teen depression and suicide. Join this community wide prevention effort to make an impact in the lives of area youth. Call Livingston Family Center (810) 231-9591 for more information.
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. 19 Dennis Wagener
Monday, Sept. 20 John Bellanti, Joyce Muehler
Tuesday, Sept. 21 Kathy Clark, Shirley Caster, Pat Spindler
Wednesday, Sept. 22 Barb Colley, Pam Hornsberger
Thursday, Sept. 23 Laura DeLaMarre, Mary Cavanaugh
Friday, Sept. 24 Colleen Atwood, Christine Camden
Saturday, Sept. 25 Cindy Sultana
Prayer Intercessions may be filled out each weekend and placed in the basket located between the inside glass doors in our Gathering Area.
Mon., Sept. 20, The memorial of Andrew Kim Taegon, priest, martyr, Paul Chong Hasang, catechist, Martyr, and their companions, martyrs.
Today we honor 103 Koreans, clergy and lay people, young and old, martyred between 1839-1867, including Andrew Kim of Taegu(+1846), first native priest, and Paul Chong of Hasang(+1846), seminarian and catechist. Several persecutions followed Andrew Kim's and Paul Chong's martyrdom, and Catholics fled to the mountains, still spreading the faith. In 1864, a new persecution claimed the lives of two bishops, six French missionaries, another Korean priest, and eight thousand Korean Catholics. The Korean martyrs of 1839, 1846, and 1867 were canonized in Korea in 1984 by Pope John Paul II.
Tues., Sept. 21, The feast of Matthew, Apostle, Evangelist. Also called Levi, or Matthew the Levite, he was probably born in Galilee and worked as a tax collector at Capharnaum when Christ called him to follow him. Matthew was the author of the first Gospel, written between 60-90. It was probably in Hebraic or in Aramaic in its original form. Some scholars believe Matthew was in Antioch, Syria, when he wrote the Gospel. He preached in Jerusalem and then went to Ethiopia, where he was martyred in Persia (modern Iran) or in Ethiopia. Matthew provides a telling portrait of Christ in his Gospel, including his genealogy, ministry, passion, and Resurrection. The entire work is designed to provide a true recognition of Christ as the Messiah. Matthew is represented in liturgical art by an angel holding a lance, a coin, a pen, or a money box.
Before each weekend Liturgy begins, there is a three minute explanation of a segment of the Mass.
This column offers additional information.
THE PRIVATE PREPARATION AND COMMINGLING The Lamb of God is a chant sung by everyone except the presider. The medieval French Mass books contain various prayers that were privately prayed by the presider to foster his own devotion to the Eucharist. This custom eventually came to Rome and was included in the Mass book of Pius V in 1570. Included among these prayers was the prayer for peace which was to be prayed even when the greeting of peace was not exchanged.
Many of these prayers were retained in the Sacramentary of Paul VI in 1969, but the prayer for peace was moved and is always prayed for the whole assembly. The other prayers are always to be quietly prayed by the presider as the Body and Blood are prepared for distribution.
The conclusion of these prayers includes the Commingling of the Body and Blood. Historically, the Roman Liturgy has known various commingling rites each expressing unity. It began in Rome first for pastoral reasons. If, for some reason a priest was unable to celebrate the Liturgy with the pope or if he was sent out to rural areas for Liturgy, he received a small portion of the Body of Christ, called the fermentum from the papal service. The priest then placed the fermentum in his own chalice as a sign of unity with the pope. As this custom diminished another took its place. The fermentum became a particle of the Eucharist consecrated at a previous Mass, thus symbolizing the continuity of Sacrifice of Christ.
The present commingling rite originates from a custom introduced by another Syrian pope in the early eighth century. In Antioch, the consecration and the breaking of the Body were seen to symbolize the death of the Lord. Thus the uniting of the Body and the Blood in the commingling symbolized the resurrection. The private prayer of the presider during this action still suggests this symbolism, "May this mingling of the Body and Blood of Christ bring eternal life to all who receive it."
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 19
Is 55:6-9/Phil 1:20c-24,27a/Mt 20:1-16a
Monday, September 20 - Andrew Kim Taegon, presb., Paul Chong Hasang, catechist, and companions, martyrs
Ezr 1:1-6/Lk 8:16-18
9:00 a.m. Harry F. Machowski
Tuesday, September 21 - Matthew, apostle, evangelist
Eph 4:1-7,11-13/Mt 9:9-13
9:00 a.m. Harry Machowski
Wednesday, September 22
Ezr 9:5-9/Lk 9:1-6
7:00 p.m. Mary Struhar
Thursday, September 23
Hg 1:1-8/Lk 9:7-9
9:00 a.m. Col. Walter Cabral
Friday, September 24
Hg 1:15b - 2:9/Lk 9:18-22
9:00 a.m. Irene McElligatt
Saturday, September 25
Zec 2:5-9,14-15a/Lk 9:43b-45
Sunday, September 26
Ez 18:25-28/Phil 2:1-11/Mt 21:28-32
4:30 St. Mary Magdalen Parishioners
9:00 a.m. Henry Miller
11:00 a.m. Brianna Edoff
Monday, September 20
7:30 p.m. Property Meeting (Room 3)
7:30 p.m. Knights of Columbus (Rectory LL)
Tuesday, September 21
7:00 p.m. BeFriender Training (Rectory LL)
7:30 p.m. Adult/Child Inquiry (Conference Room)
7:30 p.m. Sponsor Formation (Adult Formation Room)
Wednesday, September 22
9:30 a.m. M.O.M.S Group (Adult Formation Rm.)
6:30 p.m. Religious Education
7:00 p.m. BeFriender Training (Rectory LL)
7:45 p.m. Scripture Study-Mark (Adult Formation Room)
Thursday, September 23
10:00 a.m.Scripture Study-Mark (Adult Formation Room)
6:30 p.m. Religious Education
7:00 p.m. NCYC Meeting (Youth Room)
7:30 p.m. Music Ministry
7:30 p.m. Baptism Workshop
Friday, September 24
NO ACTIVITIES PLANNED
Saturday, September 25
7:30 a.m. Men's Breakfast (Rectory Basement)
4:30 p.m. Baptism
5:00 p.m. Spaghetti Dinner (Social Hall)
7:30 p.m. Junior High Dance(Social Hall)
Sunday, September 26
9:30, 11 & 5:45 Religious Education
10:00 a.m. E-Team
12:15 p.m. Kitchen Committee (Kitchen)
7:00 p.m. Youth Group (Youth Room)
7:30 p.m. Bible Overview (Adult Formation Room)
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