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Member's Minutes

1/24/2016

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FAILURE IS GREAT TEACHER IN SECOND HALF OF LIFE.
Came across a 2004 article from the Michigan Catholic, written by an Oblate priest, Fr. Ron Rolheiser, who is a famous theologian and authored award winning books. Since I could not reprtint the whole article I took the liberty of printing what I thought were the most important lines.
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During the second half of life success no longer teaches us anything. It still feels good but we don’t learn from it. Now we learn more from failure. Several years ago I was homilizing on the “Martha and Mary” story, where Mary sits at the feet of Jesus doing nothing while her sister Martha is busy with all the necessary task of hospitality and serving. Martha asks Jesus to reprimand Mary for her inactivity but Jesus, in a now famous phrase tells her “MARY HAS CHOSE THE BETTER PART.” In my teaching I had quoted some pretty credible sources: Mother Theresa, Henri Nouwen, Jean Vanier, all of whom point out that we need to develop our sense of self-worth not from what we do, but from what we are, name from our innate dignity as human beings. WHAT WE ARE IS MORE IMPORTANT THAT WHAT WE DO. It’s dangerous to rely on achievement and success to feel good about ourselves. A man approached me after the service and asked me “Have you ever noticed that the people who tell us that it isn’t important to achieve anything are most great achievers? Mother Theresa has won a Nobel Prize; Henri Nouwen has written more than fifty books and receives invitations from all over the world. It’s easy, I suppose to feel good about yourself after you’ve done something; but how am I to feel good about myself when I have not done a thing to impress anyone?” He makes an important point, namely that there is a season for everything, including achievement and success. A healthy self image is just not handed to us on a platter. Part of our tasks as youths is to do the kinds of things that not only build up the world, but also help to build up ourselves. Some things in our first half of life are mandated; such as being in the work force; caring for our family; paying a mortgage; giving ourselves to serve others which also gives meaning to our lives. It isn’t our time then to just sit at the feet of Jesus. They why does success lose its importance in the second half of life? First, to rely on success to feel good about ourselves could be at some point like a cancer…then we have to continue this pattern (which is impossible to do). Too often success can inflate our ego rather than mellow the soul. Aging is a time for grieving, forgiving, letting go, accepting vulnerability, and moving beyond the greed, ambition, competitiveness, and perpetual disappointment of our youth. No longer do we need to prove anything in our second half of life; our task now is to become selfless beyond proving anything, least of all our own worth. A healthy dose of failure is helpful in teaching us this. Success always feels good but at a certain age it no longer works its magic. That does not mean it’s wrong to continue to be successful; IT ONLY IS WRONG WHEN WE NEED TO SUCCEED TO FEEL GOOD ABOUT OURSELF! (I love this article because it strikes a chord!! Especially the part about “elders” not having to prove our worth). Hope you also have a new insight from Fr. Ron’s article! May our God continue to have His/Her way with all of us!
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Council Coments

1/17/2016

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Celebrating the Gifts of Life
Last week Fr. Ray spoke to us about a childhood memory that he remembered about his Dad’s Christmas decoration of placing a wreath on the front door and then adding a spotlight. Today we enter into the Second Week of Ordinary Times, but it was only two weeks ago that we celebrated The Epiphany of The Lord. We were told of the Magi following the bright star that lead to the newborn King. Little is known about the three visitors from the east who paid the Holy Family such astonishing homage, but their story invites us reflect on their willingness to journey so far to meet Jesus and their reverence for mystery.

In today’s Gospel we hear that Mary puts her son Jesus in the spotlight as she tells him that there is no more wine. It is through her sensitive awareness that Jesus cam to know the bridegroom’s predicament. In this story, she is not only the mother of Jesus; she also represents the Church. “The wedding feast of Cana is the setting for Jesus’ first miracle in his public ministry—another “epiphany,” or manifestation of God’s intervention in human affairs. Like the Gospel about the Magi and last week’s Gospel about the baptism of Jesus, this story from John announces that God transforms the human condition. The changing of the water into wine is not intended to be an exhibition, but a “sign” of the glory of God that Jesus would continue to reveal throughout his mission.” - At Home with the Word 2016

Celebrating the many gifts that happen within our lives like childhood memories from Fr. Ray that you can laugh about, and even those that may make you feel a little sad, are memories that we should all re-visit and even share. This weekend we are once again celebrating the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. When I was a little girl our principal that we would meet in the school auditorium, I was young and not prepared to hear with great sadness about the assassination of Dr. King, but I remember the crying even to the point that our music teacher was unable to lead us in singing “We Shall Overcome.” This memory is sad but it is a part of history.

This weekend over four-hundred and twenty five youth and adult volunteers gather together at Sacred Heart Church Activities Building to celebrate and remember Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Young people came to serve in the City of Detroit by joining in solidarity with thousands of young people across America. Today at Mass our young people will read petitions based on Dr. King’s teachings of nonviolence and peace. What a great memory and teach moment for them and for us.

Their solidarity puts the spotlight on them and in return they become an illuminating star that we can all look to with hope. They are the dream…

“Epiphanies fill us with joy. They generate spontaneous worship and the urge to offer holy gifts. They mark our encounter with Christ, the fulfillment of our lifelong journey to peace, to the God of peace”. –John Dear
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Amazing Peace
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Member's Minutes

1/10/2016

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No loud without quit, or calm without storm
There has to be cold to be glad when you’re warm

Abandoned in darkness, you appreciate light
What is the day, if never the night

Who speaks of seat-and-blood, or earning your keep
If people never rest, no pleasure in sleep

No good without evil or joy without sorrow
No here and now without yesterday and tomorrow

We can’t have forever without having an end
It takes the pain-of-an-enemy to value the love –of-a- friend

Dichotomy describes everything we view
It seems our whole world is broken in two

And how could there be faith in a world without doubt
No need to believe if every fact is found out

You won’t sit on a chair If you think it will fold
Or step-out on a bridge If you think it won’t hold

Faith is the first step behind every deed
And faith is reward to teach us to need

God hopes in the end
We’ll knock on his door
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Pastor’s Pen

1/3/2016

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Today we celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany. We celebrate the journey of the Magi and the wondrous star that led the three Wise Men to the Christ Child. The whole season of Christmas has been about the power of the light shining in the darkness. It truly is the season of hope! The Magi remind us that our journey in life may take many twists and turns along the way and we may grow weary at times but ultimately we will see Christ face to face at the end of our journey.

I’ve often thought what I must have been like for the Wise Men as they made their way to Bethlehem following the star. What happened on those cloudy nights when the star could no longer be seen? What happened when they’d go nights without seeing the star? Did they want to give up and go back home? I suspect when one of the Magi would lose hope that they would ever see the King, another would remind him about how good God has been to them. Maybe the other Magi would tell jokes or be silly just to keep them from giving up. The bottom line was that they made it even on the cloudy and stormy days because they had each other to remind them that the journey was not in vain.
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It’s the same with us. There are days when all of us lose our way and no longer see any star. There are moments when we want to just give up and go to a place that’s comfortable but we realize we can’t give up. We have to keep going and looking for the star until the clouds pass by. In those moments of cloudy nights we are called to encourage each other to keep moving and remind one another that the star will be our again. Sometimes we just have to be patient and wait for the star to appear. So let’s keep going and carry our gifts to the King. Then, at the end of our journey, we will carry our gifts, the gifts of our lives, to present to our Beloved Christ. The gifts that we will bring are the gifts that we have used throughout the journey of our lives: our courage in the face of adversity, our love for those who were difficult, our faith during those moments of darkness, and the joy and hope we brought to those fellow travelers along the way. The rest of our life (our great accomplishments, our brains, our wonderful personalities, our good looks, our wealth, etc) will not matter to Christ. What will matter is whether we were a light in the darkness throughout our lives. What will matter to Christ is that we held on even when it would have been more comfortable to take the easy road. What will matter to Christ is that we gave the gift of ourselves generously to those people closest to us along the way. What will matter to Christ is whether the world was a bit more hopeful because we were here. Those are the gifts that matter. So let’s keep walking and find the Star in our own lives that leads us to Christ and not give up until we see Him face to face!
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