One of the events that we have that many people are not sure what it is or know what it is about is Tenebrae. Tenebrae is a service that draws us deeper into the fact that Jesus died. It is like a funeral for Jesus. That wold be the best way to describe it. There are readings and songs that take place. There are also candles that are lit at the beginning and as each aspect of the service is completed a light is turned off in the church and a candle is extinguished. It ends with the one candle lit as the light of Christ in the darkness of sin and death. It is deeply moving and powerful. I encourage you to take part in the service. It is on Good Friday at 7 p.m. in the church.

Also I realize that many people work during the day and it is impossible to get Good Friday off to take part in the Good Friday service (Tre Ore). That is why this year we will be showing The Passion of Christin the William B. Davidson Activity Center.  This is a great way to deepen your journey towards Easter. This is a powerful movie and makes what happened 2000 years ago more real. The showing will be at 8 p.m. in the Davidson Center on Good Friday. Go to Tenebrae and then come see the screening of The Passion.

During this time of Holy Week we need to pay close attention to our Lenten promises and not cheat. We are in the home stretch. Also during Holy Week, besides taking part in the variety of services and Masses we are offering, I ask you to pray the rosary each day and pray specifically the sorrowful mysteries. As you pray and remember Christ’s Passion, let us unite our prayers and sorrows with Jesus who died on the Cross. Everything we may be feeling and struggling with we should offer them up to Jesus on the Cross. Then on Easter Sunday pray the glorious mysteries in thanksgiving for what God has done for us.

I would like to thank you all for your prayers and support. As you know last week I told everyone that I had pneumonia. I told this not for sympathy, but to remind people to take care of their bodies as well as their souls. Our body is a temple of God and we are to take care of it. I pray you don’t fall like I did and wait 3 weeks to go to the doctor; this illness could have been prevented. Thank you to those who nagged me every day to go. I pray that if you have been sick for a while to go to the doctor and get checked out. Since I started antibiotics I feel the best I felt in 3 weeks.  Thanks again for the prayers for my health and know that my prayers are with you.

Fr. Mark

On January 15^th at 7pm is the annual Priest vs. Seminary basketball game will occur.  I will be playing in the game once again and Fr. JJ has agreed to be our coach again.  With his great coaching skills and his ability to talk to the score keeper into giving the priests a 45 point bonus at halftime I am sure the priests will win!  I invite everyone to come on down for this fun event.  It is a lot of fun and a great time for the family.  The seminary address is 2701 Chicago Blvd. Detroit MI 48206.  Hope to see you there.

Some of you have brought to my attention that it looks like I have been losing weight.  In truth I have lost about 12 lbs in the past month or so.  The reason for the weight loss is because I have been excersing and lifting weights.  Thank you for all words of encouragement.  I do encourage all of you to remember while we are to take care of our soul; we are also to take care of our bodies because our bodies are temples of God.  I hope everyone has a great 2010 and know my prayers are with you all.

Fr. Mark

Religious education is in full swing now. The children are all excited about the new year. Having the children around brings some added life to the parish. I would like to thank all the catechists, the hall monitors, and all people who have any role in religious education for all of the hard work they do. By their sacrifice and dedication they make these programs possible every year.

 Later this month CYO basketball practices will start. I ask for your prayers for all the teams, players, and coaches. I believe it is through sports we learn a lot about ourselves, team work, and God. I am hoping for a fun and successful season. Say a prayer for me as I coach the 7^th and 8^th grade girl’s team that I lead them well and that I do not end up with any more gray hair!

 Not that long ago I was involved in the creation of a Facebook page for the parish. This is a great tool for all of us to gather together who love St. Anastasia. I am on there regularly in case there is a discussion going on. I encourage all of you who use Facebook to look up this group and to join it. The group is called “St. Anastasia Roman Catholic Church.” I will soon be starting a group for young adults as well.

 This month on the 28^th I will be giving a talk at Faith@Work on the New Age Movement. This is the follow up talk to the one I gave on the occult. Hope to see you all on October 28^th at 7pm at Faith@Work.

 As we move on towards Advent, let us prepare our hearts for the best Christmas possible. Let’s pray that we continue to move our hearts towards Christ daily. I pray that you all have a blessed week.

 Fr. Mark

On September 21st we celebrate the feast of St. Matthew. We know St. Matthew as the author of the first gospel in the bible and also as an Apostle. He was probably born in Galilee and was a tax collector at Capernaum (Mt 9: 9-13) when he was called by Christ to follow Him (Lk 5: 27-32). This is a dramatic scene in the life of Jesus because he calls a tax collector, the lowest of the low in Jewish society, to be an Apostle. This shows that Jesus did not come into the world for the just, but to call sinners to Him. He immediately stood up and left everything behind; his way of life and his attachment to sin. He preached in Jerusalem and then eventually went to Ethiopia and was martyred in Persia (modern Iran). Matthew is recognized in liturgical art by an angel holding a lance, a coin, a pen, or a money box.

“The Occult and the New Age Movement”

Wednesday, September 30th at 7 pm

Fr. Mark Prill will address the threat of the occult and the New Age Movement in our sociey.

It is hard to believe summer is almost over. School supplies are now for sale and I can hear the Athens teams and bands practicing outside. This is not just a time for the students who are planning what subjects to take and preparing for school, but it is also a time for all of us who are not in school to figure out what we are going to learn more about in regards to our faith. There are a variety of programs that are taking place this year. I encourage you to take part in them to learn more about our faith. As I said in my homily last week, true wisdom is to live out our faith each and every day, but we are also to use our minds to learn more about our faith and Jesus. Truly living out our faith is learning more about it and living out our faith each day to the best of our ability.

In the theme of education, I would like to first invite everyone to my morning Bible study every Wednesday from 10:30 a.m.—12:00 p.m. We cover the upcoming Sunday readings to help prepare us for Mass and learn how to pray with Scripture. Also for the past 6 months or so, I have been giving coffee chats at Faith @ Work on a variety of topics. Some of the topics have been the Mass, Angels and Demons (not the book, but the teachings of the Church), prayer, and the four last things we experience; Death, Judgment, Heaven, Hell. When I have dates set up for future talks I will make sure to publish them. Please know that you are invited to join us.

I hope everyone enjoys the remaining days of summer and know that all of you are in my prayers.

Father Mark

I thought it would be a great idea to put a list together on some of the books that I am planning on reading this summer. For those who don’t know, I am avid reader. I encourage everyone to do some spiritual reading or some type of reading about our faith during the remaining months of the summer. I am planning on reading Credo for Today: What Christians Believe by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI). Church Fathers and The Apostles both books are written by Pope Benedict. These are both based on his Wednesday audiences and are quick reads. The Catholic Martyrs of the Twentieth Century: A Comprehensive World History by Robert Royal. The World’s First Love: Mary, Mother of God by Fulton J. Sheen. A Civilization of Love: What every Catholic Can Do to Transform the World by Carl Anderson. The final book is The Children of Hurin by J. R. R. Tolkien. I encourage all of us to do some type of reading to learn more about our faith. You can get these or any other good Catholic books at Faith @ Work. This is a catholic bookstore and coffee house just down the street.

I ask all of you to say a prayer for me as I leave for my vacation to Montana this week for the next two weeks. May God Bless you all.