January
Month of the Holy Name
Year of Prayer for Priestly Vocations

Important: Read Fr. Borkowski's lastest message to the parish.

MARDI GRAS WINE TASTING
The St. Joseph Musical Society will be hosting another benefit wine tasting next month in the rectory. Click here for more information.

Don't forget Daily Mass!
Fr. Mark has reinstated daily Mass in our cluster. Mass is held Monday and Tuesday in Latin, and Wednesday in English at St. Joseph's at 12:10 p.m. Thursday noon Mass is at St. Josaphat's, and Fridays at Sweetest Heart of Mary, also at noon. Take the time for midday worship!

This is the Year of Prayer for Priestly Vocations, and there are events planned throughout the archdiocese. Please check the schedule for complete information.

ADULT FAITH FORMATION RETURNS
Adult faith formation is starting again in our cluster:
Time: 7:15 p.m., biweekly from October 6, 2005 through May 4, 2006.
Place: Parish hall at Sweetest Heart of Mary
Subject: The Gospel of Mark
Materials: Study guide to Ignatius Catholic Study Bible ($10.00)

We desperately need more advertisers for our church bulletin! At the present time we are down to one patron. We need 13 to pay for our printing. Suburban parishes are subsidizing the bulletins for St. Joseph & Sweetest Heart of Mary but will not continue to do so much longer. We will soon have a combined bulletin for our cluster. One unit of advertising 1 x 2 1/2 inches is $332.47 per year. A half unit 1/2 x 2 1/2 is $202.54. Please contact the parish office if you know of anyone who will advertise with us.

WE STILL NEED USHERS!
Mike Singelyn is the interim captain of the ushers' club. Men and women who are able to usher at our regular Sunday Masses and the monthly German Mass are asked to call Mike at 313-885-5333 to volunteer their services.

Choral Mass schedule

January 15 and 29
February 12 and 26
March 12 and 26
Easter Vigil Saturday, April 15

The music schedule can change, so keep an eye on it for updates and more details.

New choir members -- trained or not -- are very welcome!

News: January 29, 2006
FOURTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

St. Joseph Super Bowl Party
We have been approached by football fans who want to rent space in our parking lot for the Super Bowl. They are willing to pay $50 per parking space so we are opening the lot to the public that day and we will offer guarded parking from 3:00 pm to midnight. We will need as many volunteers as possible to help park the cars and to guard the lot. Please contact Patrick Degens at (586) 463-6178 if you are able to volunteer. The idea is to bring whatever refreshments or food that you might want in order to have a party atmosphere while we have the opportunity to raise significant funds for our very needy church.

Attention all bakers!
Our bake sales will resume next Sunday, February 5th. This will be Super Bowl Sunday and Gratiot will be closed from the I-375 Freeway all the way to downtown. Anyone exiting Gratiot from the freeway should be able to get to church without any problems. Anyone coming down Gratiot from the East Side should be able to turn on St. Aubin as usual to get to church.

Wine Tasting
On Saturday, February 25, 2006, you will have an opportunity to sample an interesting selection of wines and meet the people who make the music at St. Joseph Church, all in a Mardi Gras atmosphere. The Wine Tasting, which raises funds to support the 150-year tradition of beautiful music at St. Joseph’s, will be held at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, February 26, 2006 in the rectory. Sample several interesting wines, ask our wine expert questions, and hear some great music in a Mardi Gras atmosphere. Space is limited, so purchase your tickets early. Tickets are $35 per person or $60 per couple and are available before and after Mass on Sunday or by mail at: St. Joseph Musical Society, P.O. Box 43708, Detroit, MI 48243. For additional information contact sjms@ameritech.net.

Angel's Prayer
With the Blessed Sacrament suspended in the air, the angel at Fatima prostrated himself, and recited this prayer:

“O Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore Thee profoundly. I offer Thee the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifference by which He is offended. By the infinite merits of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary I beg the conversion of poor sinners.”

News: January 22, 2006
THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

OUR SICK
Gertrude Preis, is confined to home following a fall in early December where she broke the socket of her shoulder in four places and required surgery. Gertrude has been a member of St. Joseph Church for over 50 years and usually attends the Latin Mass. She sits by the pastor’s confessional. Leonard Gabriel has left St. John’s Hospital and is undergoing therapy at Lake Pointe Villa nursing home in Clinton Township. At the present time, he is unable to walk but is putting great effort into his therapy. Alex Hart, the distinguished looking man who volunteers as lector at the noon Mass on Sundays, has suffered a stroke. Alex is a retired school teacher who makes his home in Highland Park. His sister lives across the street and found him collapsed on his floor. He was hospitalized for one week and is now recuperating at home. He has great difficulty in speaking so that he is unable to converse with anyone by phone. Please remember these and all of our sick in prayer!

The Sisters now have a website
The Sisters of Christian Love, the new order resident here at St. Joseph's, now have their own website at http://www.clsisters.org. You may have seen their founder, Sister Judie Ann Ruggirello, and her sidekick Kristina, at mass, in the social hall, or recently on the TV news. If you have wondered about the sisters and their work, you can get the basic lowdown at their site.

The Wednesday novena to St. Joseph after the noonday Mass concludes with veneration of a relic. This relic consists of fragments of clothing from our Blessed Mother and Saint Joseph. In the archives of our own St. Joseph church, there are numerous accounts of favors granted to those who have appealed to the Mercy of God through the intercession of Saint Joseph. Here is a sample as recorded by Fr. Schneider in the 1940s:

SAINT JOSEPH IS WORKING OVERTIME
A 17 year old girl whose whole body is filled with cancer, who is pronounced incurable, who was compelled to resort to anesthetics every two hours, days and nights, to partly relieve her severe suffering, has been relieved from her pains, and has not taken an anesthetic since she kissed the relic (part of the garment of St. Joseph and the Blessed Virgin). One young man who had been out of work for 14 months received three offers for a job on the feast of St. Joseph, March 19, the day he completed the nine day novena to St. Joseph.

Acts 19:11-12: “Meanwhile God worked extraordinary miracles at the hands of Paul. When handkerchiefs or cloths which had touched his skin were applied to the sick, their diseases were cured and evil spirits departed from them.”

News: January 15, 2006
SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

Parish Council Meeting
The Parish Council will meet tomorrow, January 16, at 7:00 p.m. Meetings are open to all parishioners and everyone who is interested in the future of our parish is encouraged to attend these meetings.

Bishop Quinn visits
Bishop John Quinn is here today for his first official visit to St. Joseph Church as our regional bishop. He will be coming to the Social Hall after the noon Mass. Since it is Doughnut Sunday, everyone is invited to the hall after Masses today to meet Bishop Quinn and welcome him to the parish.

Passing of a long-time parishioner
Helen Slyker, a parishioner here for over 30 years has passed away and was buried from St. Joseph Church, on Saturday, January 7th. Parishioners will remember Helen coming to the noon Mass with her daughter, Mary. She was the dear little old lady bent with age who always had a ready smile. Helen had reached 98 years at the time of her passing. May her soul and all the souls of the faithful departed rest in peace.

TAKING DOWN CHRISTMAS!
Volunteers are needed next Sunday, January 22, after the noon Mass, to take down the Christmas decorations in the church. Lunch will be provided for the workers.

Anyone who donated a poinsettia in memory of a loved one may take their plant home after either Mass next Sunday. The poinsettias that were donated are the largest plants in the sanctuary. The plants were donated in loving memory of the following people: Shaker Aubrey offered by Mrs. Aubrey Frank E. Audretsch offered by Dolores Audretsch Kenneth L. Audretsch offered by Dolores Audretsch Rev. Thomas Bresnahan offered by Rev. Mark Borkowski Ernest Clark offered by Quentin Clark Myrtle (Clark) Scott offered by Quentin Clark Mr. & Mrs. F.H. Lee offered by Dr. C.P. Lee Meier Family offered by Don & Dolores Ziegler Michael L. Pye offered by Mrs. Loretta Pye Patricia Soulliere offered by Don & Dolores Ziegler Ziegler Family offered by Don & Dolores Ziegler

The next Bake Sale
Our bake sales will resume on February 5. We still need more folks to bake. Our sales are proving to be very successful and we are grateful to everyone who has responded so generously, but several parishioners are baking as many as 10 items per sale. We encourage more volunteers to spread the work around.

News: January 8, 2006
Epiphany of the Lord

Parish Council Meeting
A meeting of the parish council will be held on January 16 at 7:00 p.m. in the church hall. All are welcome to attend, especially if you have a concern to bring up to the group governing the parish.

Stolen Van
The Prince of darkness has been reigning here at St. Joseph Church for some time. His minions usually arrive sometime after 1:00 in the morning and try to break into the various buildings on our property. Monday night, December 26/27, the garage was broken into and the nuns’ van was stolen. This vehicle is crucial to their ministry because they transport children to the hospital on a daily basis for cancer treatment. These children come from families who live below the poverty level. None of them have cars. Doctor Seuss wrote about the fictitious Grinch who stole Christmas. That dastardly character pales in comparison to the thieves who stole the nuns’ van.

Bill Spencer of WXYZ Channel 7 News came to the rescue along with Charity Motors who donated a 9-year-old van to Sister Judie Ann. Unfortunately the driver’s side window fell in between the door as Sister drove home from Charity Motors. One of the parishioners drove the van down to Henderson Glass near the Belle Isle Bridge. They fixed the window for free and Charity Motors has assured Sister that if anything else goes wrong with the van, they will send a mechanic down to fix it. Besides this, Sara Sell from Channel 4 News also did a special on this tragic chain of events and solicited donations for Sister Judie Ann and her work. Remember all these folks in your prayers of thanksgiving.

If you are good at writing letters, consider one to the Detroit Police Chief, Ella Bully-Cummings at 1300 Beaubien, Detroit, and ask if the St. Joseph Church property can be regularly patrolled. Also a letter to Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick at the Detroit City County Building, 2 Woodward, Detroit. We know that crime is rampant throughout our country, but it seems that the time is right to declare war on the criminals who prey on churches. Ours is not the only church in Detroit to fall victim to criminals. The list is endless, but maybe if our churches were regularly patrolled, it would send a message to those who apparently have no conscience.

If you ever need to donate a car to a charitable organization, please remember:
Charity Motors, 21501 W. Eight Mile, Detroit, (313) 535-9000

News: January 1, 2006
Mary, Mother of God (Octave of Christmas)

Special Thanks to all of our faithful volunteers who stayed after the noon Mass on December 18 to clean and decorate the church for Christmas. May our Lord Jesus Christ richly reward you for your faithfulness.

And...

Roman Catholic Churches, cluster of three, hearts of one.
Everyone’s efforts are appreciated and bring good cheer
to Christmas and all the year.
There are too many to thank
and not enough words to convey for all the giving:
the time, the help, the efforts.
We are thankful Jesus shines through you each and every day.
The “Giving Tree” of love makes so many have a joyful day.
Thank You. Thank You. Thank You.
May God bless and reward you in each and every way.
Happy New Year.
Kristina and Sister Judie Ann

Break-In
Active parishioners already know that there have been many repeated attempts to break into the rectory garage and steal things. Previously, work equipment was stolen, but early Tuesday morning theives succeeded in taking off with the van Sr. Judie Ann used to transport terminally ill children for treatment. Luckily, two local TV stations met her at the precinct house when she was reporting the crime, and the story made the six o'clock news. A new van was donated to the sisters by Charity Motors, to whom everyone is grateful. The garage will now have to be even further secured, however.

In the charity of your prayers, remember the sick

New stories in Patrick's History Corner

More thoughts posted on the Meditations page

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