BULLETIN - 8/29/10

FR. JOE’S JOTTINGS….

   On the occasion of her well-deserved retirement, St. Edward Parish gratefully acknowledges the dedicated service of our long-time music minister, Jo Beverly Cosgrove.  Over the years she has spent countless hours planning, practicing, and preparing for our weekend liturgies, and we not only thank her for her faith-commitment, but also wish her the very best in the years to come.

   I am happy to welcome Theresa Newman as our new music director, effective September 1.  She resides in Port Huron, and comes to us from Holy Family Parish in Memphis, where she served as music minister with great success.  Holy Family Parish’s loss is our gain, and I’m sure she’ll do very well here at St. Edward’s.

* * * * *

   Starting next month, we will be offering a new service for parishioners who’d find it easier to make their offertory contributions electronically.  Faith Direct is an industry leader in direct debit transactions (i.e., electronic funds transfers), and their process—for parishioners wishing to participate—is very simple and secure.

   No one is required to take part in this system, and those who prefer the traditional means of supporting the parish—that is, placing an actual envelope in the collection basket at Mass—will always have that opportunity.  However, in today’s technological society, many people find it more convenient to have automatic payments made from their checking accounts for various bills and services, and now they’ll have the chance to make Sunday offertory contributions in this same manner. 

   Electronic offertory giving is very secure; it allows you to determine how much to give and how often, lets you review your account and adjust it, if desired, and gives the parish a more predictable cash flow. An information letter, with answers to specific questions, will be sent out to all parishioners in the next few weeks.  If you wish to enroll immediately (or if you simply want to find out more about Faith Direct), you may go to www.faithdirect.net and enter our parish code:  MI293.

   As always, we appreciate your efforts to exercise Christian stewardship through your financial support of St. Edward Parish.

* * * * *

   In a related matter, this Tuesday, August 31, there will be a special meeting for parish leaders (i.e., parish staff, the parish council, and the stewardship commission) regarding long-term parish financial planning and goal-setting.  The consulting firm conducting the meeting has been hired by the Archdiocese of Detroit to assist us and other parishes in the diocese in this process.  The meeting will take place this Tuesday at 6:30pm in the parish hall; any interested parishioner is welcome to attend.

* * * * *

   The Holy Father’s prayer intention for September is “That the proclamation of the Word of God may renew people’s hearts, encouraging them to work toward authentic social progress.”

* * * * *

   Holy Trinity Parish in Port Huron will be offering two Scripture Study programs.  An Introduction to the Bible will be held on Monday evenings at 6:30pm, beginning on Sept. 13.  This series will last seven weeks; a six-week program called Study of the Book of Wisdom begins on Tuesday Sept. 14, with sessions at 10:30am and 6:30pm.  Both series will be held in St. Stephen’s School; the suggested donation for materials is $20.  To register, call Amy Miles at 987-5819.

* * * * *

   An information night for men considering the permanent diaconate will be held at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit on Wednesday Sept. 15 at 7:30pm, and again on Tuesday Oct. 19 (also at 7:30pm).  Married men are asked to bring their wives; to RSVP, or for additional information, call Katie Tremblay at (313) 596-7151 or go to Tremblay.Katie@aod.org.

* * * * *

   This year’s R.C.I.A. (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults), or catechumenate, will begin on Monday Sept. 20 at 7pm in the school library.  The catechumenate is intended for anyone wishing to become Catholic, and for adult Catholics who’ve not received the Sacraments of Confirmation or Eucharist.  To register, please call the parish office.

* * * * *

   A cheapskate husband promised his wife that on Friday evening he’d take her out to “dine royally.”  On Saturday one of the woman’s friends asked her how everything went, and she responded, “Just swell—we started out at Burger King and ended up at Dairy Queen.”

* * * * *

Thought for the Day:

   If you do the will of God, you will feel a strength in all your sufferings; you will feel an invisible hand which helps you, guides you, and does whatever you do within you.  In fact, when one does the Will of God, the work is more God’s than ours.

                                                -- Luisa Piccaretta

PRAY FOR PRIESTS PROGRAM

August 28^th/August 29^th ~ JOE & DEBBIE GIBBONS September 4^th/September 5^th ~SOMOGYFAMILY

A Family Perspective

by Bud Ozar

                As in today’s Gospel, Jesus often used a meal as the place to teach. Too often family meals are rushed, eaten in shifts or in the hypnotic glow of TV. Meals can be sacred times where we listen, share, appreciate and instruct one another. Don’t lose the opportunity.

SHARING TABLE: All parishioners are invited to bring any extra produce that they are willing to share to the “sharing table” that will be located in front of church, starting Labor Day weekend and continuing weekends through September. Everyone is invited to browse the table and take anything that you can use as we share God’s abundant blessings with one another.

MONDAY AUGUST 30^th

        8:00 A.M.      JUDY LECHNAR (RIP)  Requested by Sharon Armstrong

TUESDAY AUGUST 31^st

     8:00 A.M.        SPECIAL RETIREMENT INTENTIONS FOR JO BEVERLY COSGROVE         Requested by St. Edward Parish Staff

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 1^st

     8:00 A.M.        HARLENE MARAGET (RIP)  Requested by John & Debbie Baska

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 2^nd

     7:00 P.M.        SPECIAL INTENTIONS FOR JEAN HAYMAN

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 3^rd

8:00 A.M.            DECEASED MEMBERS OF THE JOHN HOMES FAMILY (RIP)

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 4^th

8:00 A.M.      DECEASED MEMBERS OF AIRBORNE RANGER COMPANY, KOREA 1951-1953 (RIP)    Requested by Ted Holmes

5:00 P.M.      LYNDA JOHNSON (RIP)   Requested by Ted Holmes

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 5^th

        8:00 A.M.      PEOPLE OF THE PARISH

        9:30 A.M.      PAUL DEHRING (RIP)  Requested by Wife, Barbara

     11:30 A.M.      WILLIAM SNYDER (RIP)  Requested by Family

FINANCIAL STATEMENT

SUNDAY (8/22) COLLECTION..…………………..$10,250.00

CHILDREN’S ENVELOPES...………………………......$28.00

DEVOTION CANDLES...………………………………..$50.00

FUEL…………………………………………………….. $55.00

**BUDGETED AMOUNT NEEDED FOR EACH SUNDAY COLLECTION IS:…......................................................$8943.00

SPONSOR OF THE WEEK

Eastern Michigan Bank

BULLETIN - 8/22/10

FR. JOE’S JOTTINGS….

      Today we have a special Healing Mass at 2pm, in which a silent laying-on of hands and/or the Sacrament of Anointing will be available for those seeking physical, spiritual, or emotional healing.  (Attendance will count for the Sunday Mass obligation.)

   In his book A Miracle to Proclaim, Fr. Ralph DiOrio—a priest known for his powerful healing ministry—writes:

   “Great multitudes followed Jesus because they saw the miracles He performed on those who were diseased.  Then, once blessed and renewed in some material fashion, their hearts and minds were opened for the preaching of His gospel.  Preaching the gospel, with signs and wonders following, gives further proof that we are not living in a dead religion but in Resurrected Power!  This was the pattern set forth by Jesus and followed by the early Church.  It is also the order of this age, because neither our Lord nor mankind has changed!  Our Blessed Lord continues to confirm His word with signs and wonders wherever, according to His directives to the Apostles, His Gospel is proclaimed. . . .

   “The miracle of healing, whether, in the judgment of human minds, it be ‘big’ or ‘small,’ is really to experience God’s presence alive in us, and then to witness to others the truth that God intervened with sincere interest in the lives of countless persons. . . . He will use anything to bring us to Himself:  even if He has to use the obstacles we place before Him. . . . God will even use sickness and disease, if need be, to bring us to our senses.  There is no better time to look up to the heavens than when one is ill, lying on a bed of pain. . . .

   “Faith is never—and will never be—born of our human sympathy, nor through our human pity.  It will never be born through our discussing with people their pains and their aches, their weaknesses and their sicknesses.  Faith unto healing is born only when we hear the word of truth, and enter His sacramental life, that life that shed itself so copiously from the wounds He bore while hanging on that Cross” (pp. 19-20).

   Sometimes illness or other suffering is part of the cross Jesus asks us to carry as we follow Him (cf. Lk. 14:27), and trying to do this in a spirit of trust will help us find the way to Heaven.  On other occasions, however, the Lord will grant us a physical, spiritual, or emotional healing as a sign of His power and as an opportunity for us to bear witness to His love.  In each case, we are called to praise His Name and, by our words and example, invite others into a deeper relationship with Him.                                                                                 

* * * * *

   Blue Water Hospice will once again be conducting a series of training sessions for volunteers.  These sessions will begin on Tuesday September 21; for further information, please call 989-2452.

* * * * *

   The Archdiocese of Detroit has engaged the services of a professional consulting firm to meet with parishes and assist them with long-range goal-setting and financial planning.

   A special meeting for this purpose will be held on Tuesday August 31 at 6:30pm in the parish hall.  The purpose of this meeting is to conduct a ten-year financial planning exercise, and to discuss possible capital campaign scenarios and their impact and benefits to St. Edward Parish.  (Similar meetings have been or will be held at other parishes throughout the Archdiocese.)

   While this session is especially intended for members of the parish staff, the parish council, and the stewardship commission, any interested parishioner is welcome to attend.

* * * * *

Twelve Things to Remember

by Marshall Field

     1.  The value of time.

     2.  The success of perseverance.

     3.  The pleasure of working.

     4.  The dignity of simplicity.

     5.  The worth of character.

     6.  The power of kindness.

     7.  The influence of example.

     8.  The obligation of duty.

     9.  The wisdom of economy.

   10.  The virtue of patience.

   11.  The improvement of talent.

   12.  The joy of originating.

* * * * *

   An elderly man went out to the lake to do some fishing one morning when he suddenly heard a frog call out to him.  “Excuse me, sir,” said the frog, “but I’m a bewitched princess.  If you pick me up and kiss me, I’ll become your beautiful bride!”  The man reached down, picked up the frog, and put it in his coat pocket.  The frog cried out from the pocket in disbelief, “Hey, mister, didn’t you hear me?  I said that if you kiss me, I’ll turn into a beautiful bride!”  “Thanks for the offer,” the fisherman replied, “but at my age I’d just as soon have a talking frog.”

* * * * *

Thought for the Day:

   Others still heal the sick by laying their hands on them, and they are made whole.

                                                -- St. Irenaeus

PRAY FOR PRIESTS PROGRAM

August 21^st/August 22^nd ~JUD & TINA KASTNEY

August 28^th/August 29^th ~ JOE & DEBBIE GIBBONS FAMILY

~Booster Club Raffle~

Raffle tickets are available after all Masses for $5 each or 3 for $10. All profits are for our School Roof. The prizes will be cash this year.

1^st - $500

2^nd - $100

3^rd - $50

MONDAY AUGUST 23^rd

        8:00 A.M.      ST. CLAIR COUNTY JUVENILE CENTER CHILDREN & STAFF

TUESDAY AUGUST 24^th

     8:00 A.M.        PEOPLE OF THE PARISH

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 25^th

     8:00 A.M.        PEOPLE OF THE PARISH

THURSDAY AUGUST 26^th

     7:00 P.M.        ROCCO FORTUNA (RIP)  Requested by Family

FRIDAY AUGUST 27^th

8:00 A.M.        ROBERT SNYDER (RIP), 8^TH ANN.  Requested by Mary & Family

SATURDAY AUGUST 28^st

8:00 A.M.      PAUL DE LANEY (RIP)  Requested by Pat & Family

5:00 P.M.      DECEASED MEMBERS OF THE MOLINARO FAMILY (RIP)

                        Requested by Joe & Debbie Gibbons

SUNDAY AUGUST 29^th

        8:00 A.M.      PEOPLE OF THE PARISH

        9:30 A.M.      HELEN & SHELDON RICE (RIP), 60^TH WEDDING ANN.

                                Requested by Rice Family

      11:30 A.M.      PATRICK & ROSEMARY O’BRIEN (RIP)

                                Requested by Reddigan Family

FINANCIAL STATEMENT

SUNDAY (8/15) COLLECTION..……………………$7,307.00

CHILDREN’S ENVELOPES...………………………......$23.00

DEVOTION CANDLES...………………………………..$40.00

FUEL…………………………………………………….. $60.00

**BUDGETED AMOUNT NEEDED FOR EACH SUNDAY COLLECTION IS:…......................................................$8943.00

SPONSOR OF THE WEEK

Karrer-Simpson

THURSDAY, AUGUST 26^TH

PARISH HALL - 1:30 to 6:30pm. Your blood could help save a life! . Walk-ins are always welcome!

~Sunday morning Religious Ed. Program is in need of 3 teachers for 1^st, 4^th, & 5^th grade. Please call Paula McCarthy, DRE at 385-5428.

FOR WIDOWED MEN & WOMEN

Mass, Support &  Dinner  in Port Huron

SUNDAY, SEPT.  12th  -  11:00a.m.

Widowed Friends, a peer group in the AOD, invites widowed men and women to  celebrate mass together at 11:00am at St. Joseph Church, 1317 Seventh St. and Chestnut (3 blocks N. of Oak) in Port Huron (48061) on Sunday Sept. 12^th. The first 3 pews on the left are reserved for us. Meet for dinner at 12:30 at the Pilot House/River Grill, 3136 Military Street in Port Huron. For information or to RSVP call Julie 810-388-0868 or Wilma 586-786-9583.

POKER NIGHTS

Come have some fun with your friends & family at the Maverick’s Poker Room at 1639 Garfield Street in Port Huron (right behind the Rite Aid at the end of I-94)! 50% of the profits go directly to the school! Our first dates are September 4-7^th. Keep checking the bulletin throughout the year for the dates we will be there. Thank you for your ongoing support of the school; we are very blessed to be a part of the St Edward community. We hope to see you there! For further details, call Lynn Heithoff at 385-5093.

A Family Perspective

by Bud Ozar

            We are familiar with being “narrow minded” but are you aware of being “narrow hearted?” This serious ailment is the inability to accept another person who doesn’t measure up to our criteria. This ailment is fatal in a family because it prevents individual identity.

St. Edward on-the-Lake School - 6995 Lakeshore Road - Lakeport, MI 48059 - 810.385.4461