The Gospel reading this week is construed as being about stewardship…well, yes it is and no it isn’t.  The message of today’s Gospel is an old familiar one, “You can’t take it with you.” There is an old saying, “You can’t take it with you, except the things you gave away.” We all might be looking for the loopholes, but there aren’t any.  The last line of the reading makes me reflect on just what does “matter to God.”   We all have things of great value, emotionally, materially, historically. My life is full of little and large sacraments from people that have passed on that matter …I have many of my Dad’s tools and when using them, special memories of him flood my mind…pictures of my parents when they were young, before children…small memento’s of my grandparent’s that initially meant little and now mean the world to me. These and many others are what I consider my wealth. I know I cling to them as if they were of great monetary value, they mean much more than money to me. 

   The man in the parable today is quite self-satisfied; he is preparing himself for a life of easy living. Maybe his neighbors will think more highly of him, because of his bigger barn. But he’s lost contact with his own life and with God.  He has not been sharing and so he will take nothing with him. What seems to matter to him is himself and his “earthly” possessions.  Importantly, the parable does not say that he will not receive eternal life with God in heaven. The parable reminds us all that life is short and fragile and what matters to God has to do with God becoming bigger in our lives than our material possessions.

God Bless, Franz

Hm.  Perhaps I need an anger management class. Or… perhaps what I need at these times is a big dose of reality.  Because the reality is that despite that fact that we are often confused, bumbling, sinful, doubtful, and just plain wrong, we can walk with Christ every day of our lives.  We can converse with Him in prayer, share the very most intimate of meals with Him at the Eucharistic table, hear His voice in Holy Scripture, look deeply into His eyes when serving others, lean on His strength through our bonds of Baptism and Confirmation, and whisper secrets to Him in the Divine Mercy chapel.  We can bring our friends to Christ through intercessory prayer, fasting, and personal invitation. We can even expose and eradicate our paralysis through the great gifts of Reconciliation and Anointing.  We have the Church.  We have the Sacraments.  We have the Priesthood.  We have the Bible. We have Each Other.  “HEY!” I hear the Apostles calling. “Open your eyes.  That’s the King of the Universe.  He’s right there.”

Let’s revel in it.  Together.

For more information on St. Anastasia’s sacramental opportunities, the chapel, adoration, prayer teams, RCIA, Bible studies, and/or Christian Service, feel free to give us a call or just keep clicking around our website!

Your Pickle,

Marian Bart

Religious Education Registration Forms 2010-11

“From this day all generations will call me blessed.”

With these words of Mary’s, found in the first chapter of the Gospel of Luke, we come to realize with greater depth the special role God had asked this humble young girl to play within His plan for our salvation.  In the more than two thousand years since these words were first spoken by our Blessed Mother, the Church has continued to grow in its understanding of Mary’s role in our salvation – and indeed, all generations since have and will continue to call her “blessed.”

The Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary – celebrated annually on August 15^th – is the Church’s means for recognizing and expressing the truth of Mary’s miraculous Assumption – body and soul – into heaven.  It is fitting that the Church acknowledges in this particular manner the honor bestowed upon Mary by God.  It is by virtue of the grace of her Immaculate Conception, her unselfish acceptance to being the mother of the Word Incarnate, her place of honor at the side of the Cross, and finally her being present with the Apostles at the start of the Church – on Pentecost – that God, at the end of her earthly existence, called her completely, body and soul, into His loving presence.

Our faith community of St. Anastasia wishes to join the prayers and celebration of this feast with the Universal Church in honoring our Blessed Mother with a special procession at the start of our 5:00 p.m. Mass on Sunday, August 15th.

Please join us in this special procession, which will begin outside of the Church, in such a way that we will make known to ourselves and to our greater Troy community, the love and affection we have for one another, our Blessed Virgin Mary, and particularly her Son, our Lord and Savior – Jesus Christ.

“OK, we’re in” you say… “now, how do we begin?!”  Easy!!!

Please email me with this information and any questions you may have.

God bless you, Chris Stark

Your pickle,

Marian Bart

I am happy to announce that we now have WiFi in the Davidson Center, the Church, and the Rectory.  This will aid in the DC and Church whenever we have guest speakers that need to access the web or if we’re doing presentations in-house for you. The Rectory has been wired for WiFi for some time now and comes in very handy whenever we have visiting priests or guests. We elected not to put WiFi in the Pastoral Center or Administrative Center as they are already completely wired for internet and it would not have made sense to do so. We’re still looking at the Social Hall and will reserve judgment on that for now. The cost per WiFi installation is right around $400.

The Archdiocese of Detroit has announced that the new standard for electronic Church Record Management will be software called “Parish Soft” and all parishes will be required to adopt this platform in the near future. Currently we use software called “CMS” or Church Management System and it has served us well. For our financials we use Quick Books. We have not yet been informed of what programs the Parish Soft will replace…whether it will be Church Record Management and/or Financials as well.  Several of us will be attending informational meetings in August and we’ll let you know more at that time.

Our conference room enlargement / modernization is coming along well. Sound system and the carpeting are scheduled for next week and that should pretty much finish it off. We also took the opportunity to arrange for new carpeting to be installed in the Church by the Baptismal Font. If you take a look at that area it shows a lot of wear and tear and it was just a matter of time until the carpet started to delaminate and disintegrate completely.

God bless, Franz

O.K., enough about money for now…I have been reassigned as the Deacon at St. Ronald in Clinton Township by Archbishop Vigneron for another 3 years, through June 2013.  It’s a nice division being the Deacon at St. Ronald and the Business Manager at St. Anastasia.  I really have the best of both worlds and I do mingle both ministries at both locations…my Diaconate impacts decisions I make at St. Anastasia and my Business Manager mind set impacts decisions I make at St. Ronald.  Our pastor over the last 10 years Father Jim Andres OFM Capuchin at St. Ronald was asked by his order to take over the administration of the Capuchin Retreat Center in Washington, MI as of July 1st…our new pastor at St. Ronald is Msgr George Miller, formerly Judicial Vicar of the Tribunal and Administrator of St. Jude.  We’re all excited and just a bit nervous at having a new pastor, but we’re confident in the direction God is taking us.  I do ask for your prayers for the Parishioners and staff at St. Ronald as well as for Msgr Miller as he undertakes his new ministry. 

May God Bless You All, Franz

CLOTHES MAKE THE MAN? A very active woman in our parish wrote me a note and asked me to address a certain issue: appropriate dress at Mass. This is often a sensitive issue, but one that is a global concern. The Archbishop of Manila in the Philippines was so upset about people’s attire at Mass, that he issued guidelines for his archdiocese on what folks are to wear. A little strong, maybe, but a good reminder here and there can never hurt. But, never forget our slogan, “Always Loved, Always Welcome”.  So come to Mass! The number one thing to celebrate is that we have this opportunity. Some people may attend certain Masses — say the 5:00 p.m. Mass — on their way home from their construction jobs, for example and not have time to change. Fine! Never let circumstances out of your control make you feel embarrassed or keep you away from the Sacraments! The pendulum swings back and forth though: remember the brouhaha over the girls volleyball team who met the President at the White House and they were all dressed in flip flops? Well, we come to Mass, not to meet the President, but to meet the Lord. We should always wear clothes that are modest, and, if possible, all things being equal, clean and the nice. It’s certainly not a matter of showing off one’s finery — lots of people don’t even have fine clothes. The real fact is that it is a matter of showing respect to God and to others. If you were on your way to a wedding, a date, heck even a graduation party, you most likely would dress pretty well. We do feel differently when we dress differently and remember whom we greet.  

NEITHER RAIN NOR SLEET NOR SNOW . . .  Speaking of folks writing letters, you may not be aware, but as pastor I receive a boat load of mail every day. Because of this, my office often looks like a hurricane hit it. I do my best to keep up with it, but regardless, it is not uncommon for me to open an invitation even weeks or months after the event took place. I try to correspond back to every letter; it just sometimes takes a while. Many folks will write with a concern about something in the parish, i.e. something they are upset about. These often go to the top of my pile so I can address them. Why I write this, is that Fr. Mark recently showed me a letter with no name connected to it. I instructed him to not read it, but throw it away. Why? If the person does not have enough integrity to give their name, it does not deserve our time. These squeaky wheels do not deserve any oil in my opinion. I guess the anonymous letter has been around for quite some time!  In the “Youth’s Educator for Home and Society” book, published in 1896 there is a chapter on “Letter Writing”. In this section it gives a few hints and said: “Never write an anonymous letter. It is cowardly; the recipient of such a letter should quietly burn it. The man or woman who dares not sign his or her name is unworthy of notice.”

As Christians, we are encouraged to resolve our differences with other believers. But setting forth our differences in anonymous letters only insures that they will not be resolved. There are two main ways to resolve our differences: one is to let our differences go (Be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. Always keep yourselves united in the Holy Spirit, and bind yourselves together with peace, Eph. 4:2-3).  A second way to biblically resolve an issue would be to lovingly discuss things, face to face, being “…quick to listen and slow to speak” (James 1:19). That way, both sides can fairly represent their point of view and real understanding can be gained. Anonymous rebukes guarantee that neither of these courses are taken. The writers of anonymous letters already know that these are a bad way to deal with problems. That’s why they’re embarrassed to sign them. The very fact that the letter is sent unsigned is the writer’s acknowledgement that its delivery and they lack integrity. This is not a quality of a disciple of Jesus (Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable, Rom. 12:17). This is a good issue to raise because it speaks not only to writers of anonymous letters, but to any of us who have treated a brother or sister badly: those we’ve snubbed or spurned or neglected or abused or treated unfairly.  

If you wrote the letter I’m talking about (I am not sure what it is about, since I did not read it), your stomach is probably churning as you absorb these comments. But don’t worry, there is a way to settle your indigestion. It’s not easy, but it’s right. The right thing to do is sometimes the hard thing to do, but it’s always the best thing to do.

God bless,
Fr. J.J.

At its most basic (and also its highest?) level, the beatitude means we are blessed to realize that this world contains suffering and evil, and that the next one erases them completely – that there will indeed be comfort in our future.

On another level, Jesus tells us we are blessed when we acknowledge our own weaknesses and faults before God, when we feel sorrow for our own sins.  Only then are we receptive to His boundless mercy, grace, and compassion.  That’s comfort, indeed, and I don’t know about you, but I’m always in need of it.

On yet another level, we who grieve for the dead are BLESSED.  A loved one’s death causes deep wounds of separation.  These wounds are so profound, they cannot be easily ignored.  Their pain must cause us to consider the deceased’s life here on earth and his/her afterlife.  Those who witness the incredible difference between an animated body and a lifeless one recognize the stunning absence of a soul.  Where is it?  Can it have been extinguished?  But don’t we still feel its palpable presence?  And – What impact did this person have here on earth?  What impact have I had? The answers to these questions help us to solidify our faith and propel us to act.  We are thus blessed.

Let’s consider also, that those who mourn must actively choose to do so.  Because of the nature of this fallen world, opportunity for mourning will surely come to those who have loving relationships. (And to those who love only themselves, mourning remains a distant myth – Blessed are those who mourn!) When the opportunity arises, we can refuse to mourn by hiding behind stoicism, bad habits, grudges, addictions, or long-term denial.  If you and I choose to mourn, though, we candidly admit our love for our fellow creatures and recognize our deep desire to be united with them again in God’s embrace.  To not be able to do that would be a tragedy.  To be able to mourn is, for real, a blessing.

In the miraculous feeding of the five thousand, there is a critical starting point: when the apostles pose the problem of the crowd’s hunger to the Lord, His reply is, “Give them some food yourselves.”  And so, they bring forth all they can: five loaves and two fish.  It seems hopelessly inadequate, but, in God’s hands, it’s enough.  More than enough.

Every day, God requires our gift, so He can turn it into His glory.

Accordingly,each weekend, during the sacrifice of the Mass, we contribute to a new tradition at St. Anastasia. During the Presentation of the Gifts, we will add a ceremonial presentation of food items, with the intent of sharing this offering with our Food Pantry recipients.

Specific items will be collected each week in the narthex as you enter church. Please check the BOTTOM of the homepage on the website, the board in the narthex, or the Good News bulletin to find out what kind of item to donate.

For next few collection we are asking for:

July 17/18: This week’s collection will be sent to St. Aloysius to assist them in their ministry to the homeless.  They are in need of: New men’s white socks, New men’s white t-shirts, Styrofoam cups, bowls and small plates

July 24/25: This week we are collecting breakfast items, such as complete pancake mix, syrup, oatmeal, healthy cereals, breakfast bars…

July 31/Aug 1: We are in need of hearty soups and canned meats (tuna, spam, complete meals like chicken and dumplings…)

Aug 7/8: This week we are asking for every pantry’s staple – Peanut Butter and Jelly.  All flavors and sizes are welcome.