Pastor’s Corner — August 25th, 2024
Praying from the Heart: Getting The Most Out of Sunday Mass
As you’ve heard in my homily last weekend, it’s important that we understand that getting the most out of Mass isn’t really related to something being done better by those officiating or serving at Mass. It’s primarily a matter of the heart. I must admit even for me that it can be difficult at times to resist the temptations to go through the motions at Mass and fail to relate to God in humility and childlike faith. But like I mentioned in the parish mission on prayer, the disposition of faith we have towards God matters a lot. When it comes to the Eucharist, it’s no different.
One more note: I’m fully aware that focusing on the heart and our disposition of faith isn’t the easy “quick fix” or the “silver bullet” to renewing our experience at Mass that we sometimes find in Catholic commentary. Such approaches, in my opinion, conveniently miss and avoid the difficult matter of interior disposition which is ultimately really what our participation in the sacrifice of Christ is all about anyway. While some of those issues are important, the matters of the heart remain central to the concern of God and opening our hearts to what he has for us. In the end, as the Scriptures reveal, God is not primarily looking for good external worship. He’s looking for worshippers who truly offer themselves to him with his Son. Let’s give to him what he wants and open our hearts to what he has for us through thanksgiving and praise.
Thank you, Deacon Dave! (His Last Day is September 1)
It is with heavy heart that I announce to you that Deacon Dave Carignan, one of our permanent deacons at St Pat’s for years now, will be returning to the Archdiocese of Detroit where he will serve. Ordained for the Archdiocese of Detroit he only moved to the Diocese of Lansing because he and his wife Liz purchased a house in our Diocese back in 2020. Now as they downsize, he and his wife Liz found a house back in the Archdiocese and so they are moving back. More about this next weekend, which will be his last.
Parishioner Leon Demers, to be ordained a Deacon on May 17, 2025
In light of this sad news, I am eager to announce that parishioner Leon Demers, who has been in formation to the diaconate, just achieved a major step on August 13th, when he became an instituted Acolyte. The ministry of acolyte is a sacred office that enables him to serve in an official and permanent capacity in special ways at Mass with the deacons and priests. Becoming an acolyte is usually one of the final steps before ordination to the diaconate. You may see him perform more sacred functions, such as distributing Holy Communion more often as a result. He will be ordained on May 17th, 2025.
Parish Grouping Seminar: How to Pray As a Family (September 10th)
Most of you know that our parish belongs to a parish grouping, which is put together to help achieve the vision for healthy parishes in the Diocese of Lansing. We are grouped with Old St Patrick (Whitmore Lake), Holy Spirit (Hamburg), and St Mary (Pinckney). We’ve already discerned some key events and initiatives to start doing together around the theme of building the domestic Church for evangelization.
This first one our grouping is putting on is “How to Pray as a Family” which is a seminar to help parents learn how to transform their households into domestic “churches,” by giving them practical tips on how to pray with their children and with each other as parents. So if family prayer is awkward, intimidating, or just difficult, this seminar is for you. This event is September 10th at 5:30pm at St Mary’s in Pinckney.
Along with this topic, I’ll offer an additional great resource for families: The Peyton Institute for Domestic Church Life, which is a “think tank to develop new models of family prayer and spirituality.” The Institute was “formed to create a collaborative think tank of distinguished theologians, social scientists, and pastoral ministry professionals noted for their work and writings on family life.” It’s good to know that Dr Gregory and Lisa Popcak are the executive directors of this Institute.
Your servant in the Lord,
Fr. Mathias