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Stewardship: "It is in giving that we receive"

28 September 2009 - 2:53pm — joyce

 

These words from St. Francis’ peace prayer remind us of the benefits of generous giving. It might be interpreted to say, “when we give, a space is open in our hearts to receive.”
 
Jesus gives many parables about stewards. A steward is one who is entrusted with responsibility, to care for something that is not their own. We have been entrusted with the gifts of creation, to care for it as God’s gift. This makes us stewards of creation, to care for it, make it fruitful, and to find sustenance from it. We are also stewards of the Church, God’s family, a family that gives us sustenance. As members of a family, even God’s family, we have certain obligations and responsibilities to care for this gift. One dimension of how we care for each other in God’s family the Church is stewardship.
 
 

Active Participation at Mass

10 September 2009 - 11:46am — joyce

 ACTIVE PARTICIPATION AT MASS

The Church states that:
The faithful fulfill their liturgical role by making that full, conscious and active participation which is demanded by the nature of the liturgy itself… This participation (a) Should be above all internal, in the sense that by it the faithful join their mind to what they pronounce or hear, and cooperate with heavenly grace, (b) Must be, on the other hand, external also, that is, such as to show the internal participation by gestures and bodily attitudes, by the acclamations, responses and singing. The faithful should also be taught to unite themselves interiorly to what the ministers or choir sing, so that by listening to them they may raise their minds to God. (Musicam Sacram #15)
These words clearly teach us that “active participation” at Mass refers primarily to an interior disposition of the heart. One can describe the Mass as a movement of a group of people into the way of Jesus Christ, namely, his life, passion, death, resurrection, and ascension. The making present of this movement, led by the priest, involves singing, words, gestures, and other actions we call rituals. Rituals are symbolic actions that signify and communicate something much deeper, which in the Mass means the saving mysteries of Christ. When we are drawn into the movement of the Mass we become partakers, or participants, in the very mysteries that save us. For this reason, being conscious and aware of what we are doing at Mass is absolutely necessary for our spiritual health. 

Sacred Music

26 August 2009 - 4:35pm — joyce
 
Vatican II states: “the true purpose of sacred music, ‘…is the glory of God and the sanctification of the faithful’” (MS 4). Everything we do as Catholics should give glory to God and make us holy; sacred music does this in a unique way. Singing lifts our minds and hearts to God enabling us to move beyond ourselves to express our love for God. Singing is an art form that expresses what cannot be expressed by merely saying something. Singing and music can release parts of our hearts that cannot be released otherwise, reaching into emotions and even into the deep recesses of our hearts to praise God. How often do songs, even very secular ones, enter our minds triggered by certain memories or places? We are deeply affected by music and song. Sacred music taps into these places within us to express our deepest desires for communion with God.

St. Mary's Worship

20 August 2009 - 3:05pm — joyce

 Welcome to St. Mary’s University Parish here at CMU. I am Fr. Will Prospero, S.J., the pastor. My pastoral associate is Mr. Jeremy Priest, a lay minister. We are here to serve you. We hope that St. Mary’s will become your home away from home. We all come from different worship experiences in our home parishes. Some parishes have very lively music in very modern churches, even with drums, guitars and other instruments; some come from very traditional churches with very traditional music. Some come from churches where there is little participation in singing, others lots of  participation in singing. Some of your parishes have lots of youth involvement, maybe even a youth Mass. Some of you come from a mix of all of the above. All of these are part of the Catholic mix. Our hope is that you can feel at home here, and if you don’t please come and talk to us.

 

Back to the Books

18 August 2009 - 1:29pm — jpriest

Let’s not think about how much you’ll spend on books this Fall. Let’s think about books we actually want to buy! What book would you take with you onto a desert island? I ran across an article in last Christmas’ National Catholic Register entitled, “Necessary Books for the Well-Read Catholic.” Dr. Hahn recommended Immaculate Conception and the Holy Spirit: The Marian Teachings of St. Maximilian Kolbe by Father H.M. Manteau-Bonamy, OP – available in the parish library! Reserve your copy today! J

 
Mary and the Holy Spirit
Dr. Hahn writes, “This is the first book that I read about Mary, and it opened my eyes to the truth, beauty and depth of the Church’s Marian doctrine and devotions. As an evangelical, I’d always felt that Catholics tended to attribute to Mary what we Protestants ascribed to the Holy Spirit. This book about St. Maximilian’s teaching convinced me that both were right! 
 
Since entering the Church over 20 years ago, I’ve come to see Kolbe’s theology of the Holy Spirit and Mary represents a major theological breakthrough, as much as John Paul’s theology of the body, but one that many Catholics still haven’t discovered. This book provides a key for unlocking Kolbe’s basic discovery: Mary the Immaculata is an icon of the Holy Spirit’s presence in the Church, and the universal instrument of the Spirit’s mission to unite all men to Christ our Savior.” 
 

Taste and See the Goodness of the Lord.

7 August 2009 - 1:07pm — jpriest

 

Today we see Elijah being hunted down by Jezebel’s rage. He struggles to keep going and God feeds him during his journey of 40 days and 40 nights through the desert to Horeb, God’s mountain. In the simple bread and water that Elijah received he found hope to sustain him along the way. Hope is not a fleeting promise in the future. Rather, we are blessed with hope when we receive a down-payment on what is to come fully later-on. This hope is pledged to us in that God “has also put his seal upon us and given the Spirit in our hearts as a first installment,” (2 Cor. 1:22). 
 
“First installment,” or down payment translates the Greek word, arrabon, which was a technical word used in financial circles to indicate the good-faith payment that a person makes when he buys something on long-term loan. So it is with God and us, for we “have been purchased at a price” (1 Cor. 6:20). God’s down payment has been given to us in Baptism and Confirmation “because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us” (Rom. 5:5). 
The trick is this: we have to keep opening up our hearts to receive the weekly installment.

The Food that Perishes

2 August 2009 - 3:58pm — jpriest

Food
If you get to know me for very long you’ll learn that my favorite food is a Chipotle Burrito! It’s the best! There are some people who will try to tell you that it’s the same as Qdoba, but it’s just not. Unfortunately, we don’t have a Chipotle restaurant in Mt. Pleasant – though, there are two in Lansing – road trip!

The Food that Perishes
As good as Chipotle is (and let me tell ya!), I’m always hungry for more. I’m even hungry for Chipotle right after I’ve eater Chipotle – kinda like bacon in that way! [Whoa…stop the presses…what if they made Chipotle with bacon? Nope, even then I’d just want more.] That’s the problem with our appetites for earthly things: we’re never satisfied.

Vacation

21 July 2009 - 4:52pm — jpriest

Vacation
How has your summer vacation been?  I always look forward to spending weekends in Traverse City with my family, or taking a trip to Wisconsin to visit my sister, my godson and other family.  Some people love to golf.  For others vacation means going to the lake.  What’s restful for you?

Jesus saw the need of the Apostles and sought to take them to a place of rest because “people were coming and going in great numbers, and they had no opportunity even to eat” (Mk. 6:31).

Where Jesus Is, There Will be Crowds!
Many people like to get away from the crowds on vacation.  It was no different in Jesus’ day: “So they went off in the boat by themselves to a deserted place” (Mk. 6:32).  Sounds just like some friends of mine: get into the boat and get away from the hustle and bustle.  Sounds kind of nice, huh?

The Good Fight

16 August 2008 - 1:24am — jpriest

St. Ignatius Presents the Constitutions of the Society of Jesus to Pope Paul III, which he approved on September 27, 1540O God, who to spread the greater glory of Thy name, didst, by means of blessed Ignatius, strengthen the church militant with a new army: grant that with his help and through his example we may so fight on earth as to become worthy to be crowned with him in heaven.

Welcome Back Students!

16 August 2008 - 12:48am — jpriest

by Fr. Will Prospero, SJ

Welcome to all of you who are new at CMU!  St. Mary’s is happy to have you as part of our Catholic community of faith.  As a student-centered parish we depend upon your involvement to make this place come alive in faith!  There is a fire here burning in the hearts of believers that needs to be spread around.  In today’s Gospel Jesus explains that he has come “to set the earth on fire.”  The fire of Jesus is the fire of His love revealed in His passion for us.  Jesus’ fire is a purifying fire that opens us to new things, new ways of being disciples.

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