St. Anastasia Roman Catholic Church
The Earth-bound Cure

It seems to me that the last barrier we humans must defeat to live as authentic Catholic Christians is the somewhat awkward stage in our lives when we do not actively desire Heaven.  Though we may whole-heartedly pray, worship, serve, and love, we can still remain supremely and stubbornly comfortable in our earthly robes and mortal slippers.  Some of us can vaguely admit to Heaven’s distantly benevolent existence, but when the invitation to personally begin to experience Heaven arrives, we tend to mumble and quickly flick to a new subject.  Or some of us do allow ourselves to think about Heaven, but tend to regard it as a feeble joke, a nuisance, a bummer, or a wishy-washy tedium – something, in other words, to be rather avoided.  Indeed, our human minds and hearts can stop far short of dwelling on – dwelling in – God’s Eternity. Oh my.

Wow…when was the last time you’ve seen so much snow? The good news is that we’ve been able to keep our parking lot clean and the sidewalks salted. The bad news is that we are in serious jeopardy of going over our snow   removal budget. We budgeted $25,000 for snow removal/salting and just prior to this last “snowmaggedon” we had spent just shy of $20,000. We’re close, we may eek through—but I anticipate going over budget. It is Michigan and it is only the end of February. Mother Nature always seems to have one last surprise for us in March.

I was reading over the readings for this weekend and was especially touched by Matthew’s gospel. We are experiencing some very difficult times.  Jobs are scarce and there are many homes being repossessed in record numbers due to overdue mortgages.  Yet today’s gospel tells us not to worry, in fact it seems very insensitive given today’s times. However, the first people to hear this message were for the most part even more financially disadvantaged than most of us. The gospel does not deny that there are basic human needs that need to be met. It does invite us, however, to adjust our priorities. Will God be the one who guides and blesses our life? Or will it be the possessions of life that receive our trust and devotion?

I would like to call your attention to two activities coming up in March. First is the St. Anastasia – St. Alan – John A. Reuter Men’s March retreat at Manresa. The retreat begins at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, March 4 and ends on Sunday, March 6 at 1:00 p.m. Fr. Peter Fennessy, S.J. is the scheduled retreat director. To reserve a space or to get more information call Manresa direct at 248-644-3933 or contact St. Anastasia Captain Bob Tuomey, at 248-689-0730 or Lt. Dominic Bologna at 586-731-8192. The theme of the retreat is “The Spiritual Exercises in Art and Music.” You can also reserve a space at www.manresa-sj.org.

MARRIAGE HELP – Two weeks ago we celebrated World Marriage Day. I spoke with a couple who had experienced trouble in their union and had come back from the brink by participating in a Catholic program called Retrouvaille. I asked them to share their story since it may help others who are experiencing a challenge in their marriage. This is what they wrote: “Retrouvaille – loosely translated means “rediscovery”.  I’d like to tell you that this is exactly what we got from our experience with this peer ministry. Like many other married couples, we were busy “living life” and going from one thing to the next as fast as we could manage. Unfortunately, somewhere along the way, we lost track of the fact that marriage is something that two people do together. We were busy living a married “singles” lifestyle with our own time demanding activities. Sure, we’d pass each other at the end of each day’s activities but, we weren’t really living our sacrament together like we had promised. We thought our marriage was good and that we loved each other. But we each had other priorities that somehow found their way to the front of the line and ate away at our relationship over the years. 

You have most likely heard about the new English translation of the Roman Missal that we will begin using this Advent (see Fr. J.J.’s Jottings from last week below). As we journey towards this change in how we celebrate the Liturgy, the Worship Commission invites you take advantage of the opportunities to learn more about the new texts. 

Over the next months articles will be in the bulletin that address the different changes that will take place. Links to the articles along with other helpful and informative links will also be on our webpage. Look for the above logo—it will be used both on the website and with the bulletin articles. 

As we get closer to the first week of Advent 2011, we will also offer other opportunities for you to become more  familiar with the changes through Q & A sessions, a mock Mass and other events.

Next week:

What Is The Roman Missal and
Why Is It Changing?

My wife and I had a wonderful time on our cruise. There is something to be said for temperatures in the high 70’s and 80’s in mid-February when you’re from Michigan. I know many of you have been on cruises and those of you that haven’t, I highly recommend it. There is almost no way you can’t enjoy yourself on a cruise;  of course I won’t get on a bathroom scale for at least two weeks…after the way I ate on this cruise it would just depress me.

Preparing for the New Missal

Pope John Paul II issued the third edition of the Roman Missal to celebrate the Millennium Jubilee. This is the “formal version” of the liturgical book used as a basis for all translations of the prayers we use at Mass. A previous edition translated to English after the Second Vatican Council, was promulgated in 1975 under Pope Paul VI. A revised edition, where prayers were added (John Paul II added many saints after 1975 and new prayers for feast days were needed) and a Eucharistic Prayer for Reconciliation that are used presently at Mass was issued in 1985. The prayers that were already part of the 1975 edition were largely unchanged, thus it was a revision and not a new text. This is also the case of this third edition of the Roman Missal. The Latin text has remained the same, unchanged. However, as with the 1985 revision, it includes new proper prayers for the feast days of saints who have been canonized since 1985, as well as a Eucharistic prayer that has been approved since that time (Eucharistic Prayer for Various Needs and Occasions). This third edition of the Roman Missal (in its Latin version) is the original Missal that was developed under Pope Paul VI immediately after the Second Vatican Council. The Latin text of the third edition appeared in 2002 and since then, language groups have been working to translate the text into the vernacular (for us that means English).

In his apostolic letter Vicesimus Quintus Annus, Pope John Paul II wrote:

“The Liturgy of the Church goes beyond the liturgical reform. We are not in the same situation as in 1963: a generation of priests and of faithful which has not known the liturgical books prior to the reform now acts with responsibility in the Church and society. One cannot therefore continue to speak of the change as it was spoken of [in the past]; but rather one has to speak of an ever deeper grasp of the Liturgy of the Church, celebrated according to the current books and above all as reality in the spiritual order.”

We are excited to announce the formation of a book club.  Please visit this recently-added website page to find out more!