This is the first in a series of Advent reflections.
By Fr. Richard Kropf
Special to The Catholic Times
Advent means a “coming” or “approach.” So we tend to think of the liturgical season of Advent as the beginning of a new liturgical year as we look forward to the coming or arrival of Christ —something we will celebrate on Christmas. And so we spend Advent, it almost seems, as if we were the Jews of old, waiting for our promised Messiah.
However, historians and other Church scholars tell us that it was not always so, and that before Christmas became a popular feast day, especially in the Christian west, that the Church year once began in January, beginning with the first week after the feast of the Epiphany, which is still the major feast of this time of the year in the Christian east. It is this feast of the Epiphany that celebrates the “appearance” or “manifestation” of Christ not just to the chosen people but to all the nations or peoples on earth — a process that is still going on and which is something that will not be complete until Christ returns at the end of time at the event we generally call the “Parousia” or the “Second Coming.” (more…)
By Mark Haney
The Catholic Times
Lansing Catholic High School tennis coach Ron Landfair talked to teens about mixing their faith with sports during the Diocese of Lansing Jamboree on Sunday, Nov. 7, at the Lansing Center.
LANSING — Do competition and Christ mix?
That was a question Ron Landfair put to teens during a breakout session at the Diocese of Lansing Jamboree, “Where Would Jesus Be?” on Sunday, Nov. 7, at the Lansing Center.
Landfair, tennis coach at Lansing Catholic High School the past 10 years and director of the diocese’s Office of Multicultural Evangelization, addressed that question in “Jocks for Jesus.”
“A lot of you have these bracelets on — Where Would Jesus Be? “ he said to a room filled with teens from around the diocese. “Would Jesus be on the practice field? Would Jesus be in your locker room? Would Jesus be in your group? Would Jesus be in your heart? Would Jesus be in your coach’s heart?
“If we are serious about this ‘Where Would Jesus Be’ as athletes, He’s going to be in our hearts, in our attitudes, in our thoughts. Part of the problem is you, all of you sitting in this room. Because you know what is missing? “ (more…)
This is the first in a series of Advent reflections.
By Sr. Sarah Doser, F.S.E.
Special to The Catholic Weekly
It’s amazing how the simplest things can make you paranoid. This occasional state of mind is not only exasperating, but irrational. Take those hard, plastic chairs that torture you during conferences and meetings. The kind that get stacked on a small cart the minute you leave. I have a nagging notion that the maker of this form of bodily abuse designed plastic stacking chairs with me in mind.
Recently at a meeting, as I squirmed to find a comfortable position, the speaker began to talk about hope. I was just cynical enough to picture hope as the latest massage chair or the immediate termination of the meeting. Granted the speaker was animated, but hope was beyond me at the moment. I sipped cold, bitter coffee and feigned interest. My mind drifted to my understanding of hope as a child — certainty Santa would bring the exact presents I had carefully described in my letter to him. Then I yearned for car keys and my parents’ willingness to trust me with the family car. The list grew longer as I continued this revelry. (more…)
MUSKEGON — The students at Muskegon Catholic Central School spent some time before the holiday to consider what Thanksgiving means to them. Here is what some of them wrote:
Thanksgiving to me means coming together with loved ones and being thankful for everything God has given us. Thanksgiving is a time to respect all our gifts and possessions, including our talents. Everyone has something to be thankful for, big or small. Whether it’s getting a new car or getting a smile from a stranger. Giving thanks is everywhere we just need to notice it.
Victoria Bernhardt
Grade 8
(more…)
LANSING — State Catholic conferences that utilize Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms are strongly supporting Bishop Ronald Herzog’s speech to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ annual gathering on the need for the Church to engage further in social media.
According to Bishop Herzog, the Catholic Church must begin to adapt to social media platforms, otherwise she risks incurring a third millennium digital version of the Protestant Reformation.
“Twitter, Facebook and YouTube are just a few of the more popular social networking sites that state Catholic conferences are utilizing to share with Catholics what is taking place in the public square,” said Dave Maluchnik, director of communications for the Michigan Catholic Conference. “As technology fields continue to grow and expand, communication mediums such as social networking help the laity become more involved in legislative advocacy. By engaging Catholics through social media platforms, we believe we can be of service to our bishops in their role as teachers and shepherds.” (more…)
Caleb Roty reads the "Good News" to the assembled teens at the start of the Diocese of Lansing Jamboree on Sunday, Nov. 7, at the Lansing Center.
By Mark Haney
The Catholic Times
LANSING — The rumble of hundreds of simultaneous conversations arose from an amoeba of young people, filling every empty space in the Lansing Center.
An adult woman 10 feet away leaned in toward her companion, straining to catch what the other woman was saying.
“Darius,” a louder voice shouted as a young black man emerged from the huddled young people, wearing an outrageous pair of red sunglasses that clearly were not his. A tall white teen chased him in vain through the crowd, always arriving a split second too late.
“Darius,” he shouted again, raising a giggle from another young black who was watching the chase with obvious glee.
The rest of the teens talked on, unabated and apparently uninterested in the game of chase going on around and through them. They talked in small groups that shifted and changed as people joined a conversation and others moved on to talk to someone else. (more…)
Singer Steve Angrisano entertained the teens at the Diocese of Lansing Jamboree on Sunday, Nov. 7, with songs and stories.
By Mark Haney
The Catholic Times
LANSING — Unlike other past keynote speakers, Steve Angrisano didn’t come to this year’s Diocese of Lansing Jamboree to preach to the assembled teens.
He came to the Lansing Center on Sunday, Nov. 7, to entertain with inspirational and participatory songs. And he came to tell a few stories.
He told them about Caesar, the organizer of a similar youth event in Indianapolis who took Angrisano to a restaurant for a meal when the Highland, Colo.-based singer and speaker was part of that event.
“There is no way to describe this guy,” he said. He’s just a guy who manages to make things happen. He’s not a youth director or a priest or part of the diocese hierarchy. He just pulls the thing together, gets the bishop to come and be part of it. He just gets things done.” (more…)
CLARE — National recording artist, songwriter and speaker Sarah Schieber will appear in concert at St. Cecilia Church at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 21. A free will offering will be accepted.
In the summer of 2007 Schieber and her husband, Chad, a 15-year veteran of the Midland police department, were on the verge of launching a new ministry to married couples, intended to compliment her growing music ministry. After singing in a regional Christian group for nearly a decade, she had just finished her debut solo CD entitled “Gratitude.” (more…)
KALAMAZOO — “What I Have Heard and Seen,” the first pastoral letter from Bishop Paul J. Bradley, has been released and will be distributed in parishes the weekend of Nov. 13-14.
In his debut pastoral letter, Bishop Bradley draws on the experiences of visiting all of the 22 Catholic schools and all 59 parishes within the diocese as well as numerous interactions with the priests and groups of the faithful to offer a reflection on the state of the Church in Southwest Michigan.
Additionally he details a preview of his hopes and vision for the future:
In the Gospel according to St. Matthew, we are told that John the Baptist, who was nearing the end of his own life and ministry, sent his disciples to ask Jesus: “Are you the one who is to come or should we look for another?” (Matthew 11:3)
Jesus’ response to this question is very intriguing: “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: the blind recover their sight, cripples walk, lepers are cured, the deaf hear, dead men are raised to life, and the poor have the good news preached to them.” (Matthew 11:4-6) (more…)
Elderly women who live at Emmanuel House get sisterly care
A member of the Servants of God's Love visits with a resident of Emmanuel House, which for the past 11 years has tended to elderly women in the Ann Arbor-Ypsilanti area who have little or no family or money and who no longer can live on their own.
By Lisa Briggs
The Catholic Times
ANN ARBOR — For seven elderly women, Sr. Fran DePuydt and five other sisters from Servants of God’s Love will be their final family.
The women live at Emmanuel House in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti, which for the past 11 years has tended to elderly who have little or no family or money and who no longer can live on their own. For the sisters and crew of 40 volunteers, though, this isn’t work. It’s an adoption.
“We love them,” said Sr. DePuydt. “The residents become our family and we become their family. We treat them just like we would treat our own mother or grandmother. We take care of them, celebrate holidays with them and know everything about them.” (more…)