Corpus Christi August 6 email
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1. Mass/confession schedule changes: this week and this month
There will be 8:30am masses on Thursday and Friday this week, but no 6:00pm mass on Thursday or 12:15pm on Friday. This change is just for this week.
There will be just one mass on Sunday this week at 11:00am, which will also be livestreamed. We will still have mass at 4:00pm on Saturday. While mass attendance is low amid the Coronavirus, we'll have just one mass on Sunday for a month and as mass numbers increase we'll go back to having two Sunday masses. Thank you for your understanding!
One last liturgical note, confessions are usually offered from 1-3pm on Saturday outside the Activities Center. There won't be confessions this Saturday (August 8th) but we'll continue with the Saturday Confessions on August 15th.
God bless you,
Fr. Patrick
2. Encountering Jesus -- Fr. Patrick story and recommendation
Dear Corpus Christi Family,
I pray this email update finds you well and staying safe and healthy! I’d like to share with you in this communication a treasure close to my heart. I'm convinced that, after the gift of life, the most precious gift anyone can receive is a relationship with Jesus. Encountering Jesus brought me out of addictions, agnosticism, suicidal thoughts and really, a life headed hard and fast towards death.
Something amazing happens when a person encounters Jesus, a whole new horizon opens up, a horizon filled with hope and breathtaking grace. Like someone who has been held captive being set free is what my experience was like...a whole new love, freedom and joy came into my life when Jesus got hold of my heart.
Then as we walk with Jesus, we start have a real sharing of his heart, longing that those around us would have this most precious gift that is worth giving everything to have. We start to burn in our hearts with compassion for others and want not only to see them have the help they need in that moment, but to have a relationship with the one who will walk them all the way to heaven. Disciples of Jesus have a unique ability to impact the world with the power and love of God that has been poured into us through the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5). Many of us need help unlocking that power and letting it become a way of life for us...a life lived in the Holy Spirit.
The joy of the Gospel flows out of our lives as we live intentionally engaged with God, wide open to the promptings of the Holy Spirit and ready to cooperate with God in The Great Co-Mission. Out of the intimacy of prayer where our identity continues to be refreshed in God's love comes a radiant joy. Hearing the voice of the Lord (John 10:27) inspires us in our daily lives and in our ability to share the love of Jesus with others. Day by day, as we grow more intentional in living as a joyful missionary disciple, we come to experience that it really is a co-mission and the Holy Spirit guides, accompanying our efforts with signs and wonders. Most of us need help to get activated into a lifestyle of discipleship that looks more like the early Church in the Acts of the Apostles than our lived experience. There is more and I want to invite you to consider a great way to access the more of the Holy Spirit in your life.
I have just completed the two-year School of Ministry Program offered by Encounter Ministries and it is the real deal. I grew exponentially in my interior life, in my ability to hear the voice of the Lord for myself and others, in the ability to pray for both physical and inner healing, in evangelization and in leadership abilities. The atmosphere of the school is amazing, and for those who don't live near a campus, an online campus is available. For those who sign up for on-sight classes (one night a week), online classes will be offered if the Covid-19 situation shuts down in person classes. The main campus of Encounter School of Ministry is in Brighton (35 minutes from Corpus Christi).
There was an ancient heresy in the history of the Church called Gnosticism which essentially boiled down to a simple principle that there were special people who had special insight and if you didn't have it or get it from them you were on the outs...tough luck. That's not what this is. Yet there is something special bubbling up from Encounter Ministries, and it's beautiful teaching and activation experiences that help disciples of Jesus to effectively live their lives like the 120 who left the Upper Room at Pentecost full of the Holy Spirit. Encounter Ministries is authentically Catholic and teaches from the heart of the Church.
I have the joy of serving as an Associate Instructor at the Encounter School of Ministry this year on Monday nights and want to invite you to look at the School Website and pray about it, asking Jesus if he is inviting you to receive this beautiful formation in the life in the Holy Spirit. Thank you for reading this lengthy post; as a priest I so want to see the Church impacting the world like the early Church. To see, as Archbishop Allen Vigneron wrote in his masterpiece on evangelization "Unleash the Gospel", the church vibrantly living chapter 29 of Acts of the Apostles. What made the first 28 Chapters of Acts so thrilling was disciples full of the Holy Spirit wide open to the adventure of life where we agree to let Jesus walk the face of the earth through us (Gal 2:20). I know no better way to grow in the ability to do that than the formation Encounter School of Ministry offers. Be assured of my prayers for you as you consider it, and please know there is no pressure from me; it’s just a something I wanted to share with you to consider. https://encounterschool.org/
Love & Blessings,
Fr. Patrick
3. First Communion Photos
Click on button to go to website photosFirst Communion Website Photos
4. Links for signing-up for or for viewing this weekend’s Masses
Our Masses are: Saturday, 4pm; Sunday 11am. The livestreaming of this weekend’s Mass will again be 11:00am Sunday morning. Click on the button below for viewing the Mass. [Videos of Masses from prior weekends are also available at this site.]Click Here to View Mass via Video
If you wish to attend a Mass in person at church this weekend please register by clicking on the button below … before noon on Saturday.Register for In-Person Attendance
If you have not registered (by noon on Saturday) to attend Mass in person and you still wish to attend a Mass at church this weekend please:
- park in the parking lot a little ahead of Mass time,
- go to the parking lot side entrance,
- and ask the staff at that doorway if there is still available room.
If there is room in church they will do a check-in process for you. Based on the slightly relaxed directions from AOD there is now more space available in the church to attend Mass in person.
5. Fr. Don’s 50th Anniversary
Hello Church Family!
It is with great disappointment that I have to announce that you can Un-Save The Date, Sunday, August 23. Due to the upswing of Covid cases and last week’s executive order by Governor Whitmer limiting the size of outdoor gatherings to 100 people, we have canceled the outdoor Mass, celebration of Fr. Don’s 50th Anniversary of Ordination and mini Ice Cream Social which was scheduled to happen that day. We plan, God willing, to take another shot at this on our Parish Feast Day, Sunday June 6, 2021.
Fr. Patrick said he was teasing Fr. Don about him having the best 51st Anniversary of Ordination celebration ever. Looks like that will be true.
Thanks to everyone for your flexibility. Stay safe and well.
Peace,
Mary Davis, Staff Liaison, Hospitality Commission
6. Still can sign up for Coronavirus Testing here at Corpus Christi!
Alliance for Coronavirus Testing (ACTdetroit)
What? Antibody and COVID-19 Testing
When? August 12th, 2020 from 10am-2pm
Where? Corpus Christi Catholic Church – 19800 Pembroke Ave, Detroit
Central City Integrated Health (CCIH) and Corpus Christi Catholic Church are working together to bring Antibody and COVID-19 testing to Northwest Detroit. To get an appointment, please register before Monday, August 10th at 4:00pm by calling CCIH at 313-831-3160.
Who is CCIH? We are an integrated community health center in Midtown Detroit. We have been providing services to the community for over 40 years. To learn more about our agency, please visit our website at www.centralcityhealth.com.
For other Frequently Asked Questions click on red buttonFrequently Asked Questions
7. How to Begin Reading the Bible
A personal endorsement: Having taken classes from SHMS and the four-year course on the Bible from Catholic Bible School of Michigan I can strongly support this joint effort of these two organizations! It is on-line. And it is free! Just follow that link: shms.edu/bible. Dcn Paul
8. Links to Website and to Bulletins:Click Here for CC Bulletins