St. Anastasia Roman Catholic Church
Do You Love To Garden?

The mission of the “Garden of Giving” (formerly known as the Victory Garden) is to “encourage families to experience God’s wholeness through gardening, to raise their own produce, and to share with those in need.”

Would you like to play a part in the “Garden of Giving” here at St. Anastasia?  We are looking for a few people to help out this spring and summer to help weed and water the garden.  Since the garden is located in the courtyard it can only be accessed from inside the church during business hours. This is a great opportunity for teens to complete their service hours!  Please give me a call or email me if you are interested. Cheryl Goniwiecha 248-879-2597.

The Christian Service Department, in conjunction with our St. Joe’s Workshop ministry, is providing St. Anastasia the opportunity for all of us to support each other’s dignity and financial upkeep by publishing a directory of registered parishioners who are available for hire.  Some examples of professionals we would want to publish information for are: painters, plumbers, landscapers, CPAs, stylists, spiritual directors, pet trainers, daycare providers, and electricians.  (Those are just a few!)  This guide will be updated bi-monthly on our website.  We will also have some paper copies available, updated once a month.

If you are interested in participating as a service provider,  visit this page.  You will see a the form you can fill out and submit online; it’s called “Professional Services Information Submission.” Or, if you wish, you may pick up a form in the parish office – near the fax machine – and turn it in to my mailbox.

Those wishing to hire a parishioner will soon see, on the same website page, the listing of all our available professionals.  Caveat emptor, of course.

In his encyclical Caritas in Veritate, Pope Benedict XVI urges us to remember that we all need to be concerned with doing and supporting each other’s decent work.  He says, “What is meant by the word “decent” in regard to work? It means work that expresses the essential dignity of every man and woman in the context of their particular society: work that is freely chosen, effectively associating workers, both men and women, with the development of their community; work that enables the worker to be respected and free from any form of discrimination; work that makes it possible for families to meet their needs and provide schooling for their children, without the children themselves being forced into labor; work that permits the workers to organize themselves freely, and to make their voices heard; work that leaves enough room for rediscovering one’s roots at a personal, familial and spiritual level; work that guarantees those who have retired a decent standard of living.”  Let us strive together to provide such decency within our St. Anastasia family.

I have been very blessed, over the last 5 years, to teach our faith to a set of 22 amazing young people.  Of course I have not had all 22 of them in classes and Scripture studies every time, but I still think of each one of them as “mine.” They are currently in eighth grade.  Recently, some of “my kids” opened my eyes to an unsettling fact.

Please Respect Life, Even If I’ve Confused Your Socks Off – I apologize for any confusion about the request for your participation in the 40 Days For Life Campaign. It’s true that we’re supporting two different events during that lonnnng (Like the Flood! And Lent!) timespan. First, from our Respect Life group, there was an opportunity to commit to an hour of prayer in the chapel or at home back on February 27. Now, there is a chance for you to sign up for an hour to pray for life on the days our Knights of Columbus have “adopted,” March 14 and 15. Anyone who would like to still volunteer for that, please contact Tom D’Alio at 586-925-1451.

I have this idea.  It’s been percolating around my brain for about two years now.  It must be good idea, because it’s a bit intimidating (“Are You sure, God?”) but it won’t go away (“Yes, I AM sure.”).  So today I am going to propose it to you, dear friends, and see what happens next.

“Love your neighbor,” God pokes me.  I flinch, and duck my head.

“But she’s so difficult!” I groan.  ”I know she loves You, and You love her. (Chuh! She talks about it all the time!) Isn’t that enough?  What do You need ME for?  I’d just be a third wheel. Besides, I need to get to work now.  At… um, Your church.”

“Love your NEIGHBOR!” He insists.

Over a year ago, I stumbled across a Christian website with a Q&A feature. The question that caught my eye – and made me feel a bit queasy – was, “How can Catholics call themselves Christians?” The instructor replied that, well, Catholics do believe in Christ. (Did you KNOW that people are surprised by that? How must you and I personally make our faith more evident?)  He then added his opinion that the major divergence between Catholics and other Christian faiths is in what we believe about the conditions of our salvation: that Catholics believe that both faith and good works are necessary for salvation, whereas other Christians believe that only faith is needed.

What is Mary’s Mantle?

Mary’s Mantle will be a Catholic residential home for expectant mothers that are in need of shelter and support. The home will serve women of all faiths that are at least 18 years old. Our hope is that by immersing them in an environment rich in love, compassion, faith, and positive role models they will grow in self confidence and self knowledge, and will work towards a better way of life for themselves and their babies. Our desire is to open the doors this spring.

Last year at this time, I published the following list of ministries that we wanted to begin working on here in 2009. Good news! We have made significant progress on all the ones that are in bold print, and at least a measure of progress on the three in italics.

St. Anastasia has a rich history of Christian Service. We currently support over thirty active service ministries to suit all kinds of personalities, abilities, and time constraints. Opportunities abound for YOU no matter how you want to serve…