Religious Ed News

May 17, 2022 / CL / News, Religious Ed

Please keep the following children in your prayers who will be receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation on Wednesday, May 18 at St. John Vianney Catholic Church:

Sabrina Deloney, Laura Sharpe, Brailey Stroup, Kylee Stroup and Vinnae Stroup.

Have you ever considered becoming a catechist? Are you interested in learning more about Catechesis of the Good Shepherd? St. Robert is hosting Catechesis of the Good Shepherd training for level 1 catechists this summer. Classes run June 3-4, 6-9 for part one and will finish up with part two in June of 2023. For more information, please contact Jackie through the parish office or by email:

jackiedanahodre@gmail.com.

Relig ious Ed Registration Form (print and fill out)

Online Registration Form

20th Anniversary of Ordination Celebration for Fr. Prabhu

May 2, 2022 / CL / KofC, News

Celebrate Easter’s 50 Days!

April 16, 2022 / CL / News

Family Activities to Celebrate the Easter Season

Easter is the most important feast of the Christian year—so important that the Church sets aside a seven-week season to rejoice in Christ’s victory over sin and death.

1. Use a special candle at family meals to recall the light of Christ.

2. Every day, read together from the Easter story: Matthew 28; Mark 16; Luke 24; John 20-21.

3. Plan fun family activities—one for every week of Easter.

4. Put up a sign or banner that proclaims, “He is risen!”

5. Was anyone received into the Church during your parish Easter Vigil? Have them over.

6. Add an “alleluia” song—or three alleluias—to your grace before meals.

7. Put on an Easter play. Invite relatives and friends to a performance.

8. Make a poster of a life-giving cross. Add paper flowers and leaves to it throughout Easter.

9. Celebrate new life by doing something as a family to support unborn children and their parents.

10. Keep fresh flowers around.

11. Use the old Easter greeting and response: “Christ is risen! – He is risen indeed!”

12. Visit a lonely neighbor or do some other family act of kindness to express thanks for the resurrection.

13. Talk about baptism. Tell stories of family members’ baptisms.

14. Plan a family outing to a river, lake, stream, or ocean.

15. Drape your crucifixes and crosses with a strip of white cloth.

16. Make cookies in the shapes of Easter symbols. Freeze some to serve throughout the season.

17. Learn how other cultures celebrate Easter. Try out some of their customs and foods.

18. Make cards announcing the good news of the resurrection.

19. Use a special container for newly blessed water from church. Show your kids how to use holy water.

20. Throw some water balloons!

21. Listen to Handel’s Messiah and other Easter music.

22. Read about the Emmaus disciples (Luke 24:13-35); take a family walk.

23. What about a short trip to an interesting shrine or church?

24. Place a resurrection icon or picture in a place of honor.

25. Discuss what it means to be Christ’s “witnesses” (Luke 24:48)? Help each family member to see that their witness matters.

26. Wear more white, or even gold! They’re the season’s special colors.

27. Pray the Liturgy of the Hours together in the morning or evening (www.liturgyhours.org).

28. If your family likes to sing and play instruments, have people over for a musical Easter celebration.

29. Read about the disciples’ amazing catch of fish (John 21:1-14). Then go fishing together.

30. Or imitate Peter, and go swimming (John 21:7).

31. The Sunday after Easter is Divine Mercy Sunday. Explore this relatively new devotion (www.marian.org/divinemercy).

32. Talk about how the disciples hid (John 20:19) until the Spirit’s coming at Pentecost. Follow up by playing hide and seek.

33. Plant some seeds.

34. Honor the risen Lord’s mother by learning about “Mary gardens” (www.mgardens.org).

35. Read Luke 24:50-53 or Acts 1:6-11. Ask family members to imagine themselves present at Jesus’ ascension. How would they have felt about it?

36. Watch a movie with an Easter theme (For ideas, see the list from the U.S. Catholic Bishops’ Conference: www.uscbb.org/ movies/filmsforlent.htm).

37. Just before his ascension, Jesus blessed the disciples. Pray Numbers 6:24-26 together as a way of communicating his blessing to one another.

38. On Ascension Thursday, choose a family intention. Make the nine days till Pentecost a novena to the Holy Spirit.

39. Add some Pentecost red (for fire) to your Easter decorations.

40. Read Acts 2, the Spirit’s coming at Pentecost. Read it in all the languages family members speak! (See the Bible translations at www.biblegateway.com/languages).

41. Decorate a cake with Pentecost flames and other symbols to celebrate the birthday of the church.

42. Talk about the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit (see Isaiah 11 and 1 Corinthians 12; also the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1830-1832).

43. Make a Pentecost hanging or mobile that features a dove and tongues of fire.

44. Learn a prayer to the Holy Spirit to use in your family prayer time.

45. Play “twenty questions”: Have someone choose a Bible character or thing from the Easter and Pentecost stories. The group gets twenty questions (yes or no answers only) to guess the right answer.

46. List the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23; Catechism, 1832) on separate slips of paper. Have each family member randomly select a fruit to cultivate.

47. Fly a kite to celebrate the wind of the Holy Spirit.

48. Find ways to make Sunday meals special during the Easter season.

49. Continue the “special Sunday meal” tradition to celebrate Jesus’ resurrection all year.

50. Discuss why Sunday is holy (see John Paul II’s Apostolic Letter, On Keeping the Lord’s Day Holy; Catechism, 2174-2195). Decide how you can keep the Lord’s Day as a family.

Blessing of the Bikes

March 13, 2022 / CL / KofC, News

The Knights of Columbus will host the Blessing of the Bikes on Saturday, June 4, 2022, sign in starts at 10 a.m., Blessing at 11 a.m. See the below flyer for all the details.

Blessing-of-the-Bikes-2022

Young Adult Events

January 13, 2022 / CL / News

Want to connect with other young Catholics? The Diocese of Lansing’s Young Adult Ministry offers many ways to get connected with others 18+ years of age. They have events, prayer groups, retreats and more!

Young Adult Ministry Events

UPCOMING EVENTS

Go on a weekend adventure with Catholic young adults from all over Michigan being drawn deeper into the heart of Jesus.

THE OPPORTUNITY:
Two nights of camping at Cheboygan State Park on Lake Huron with meals for all of Saturday and Sunday breakfast. Arrive Friday evening when you can (dinner on your own). We’ll begin as a group about 7:45pm but it’s ok if you cannot arrive until later. We will begin Saturday with a 7-mile hike on the North Central Trail followed by 2 hours of rafting on the Sturgeon River. We will end the pilgrimage hike at the Shrine of the Cross in the Woods and return to camp for dinner. We will have mass both mornings and an overall pilgrimage experience with the opportunity to meet new friends while growing closer to God.

THE DETAILS:

– For ages 18-39
– Cost: $85
– Register at here.
– Registration deadline is July 1st, but available space will fill up sooner than that. Don’t wait too long to purchase your ticket to reserve your spot.

– Transportation & Tents: You may be able to carpool with others from your area, and others may have tents large enough to share. But you are ultimately responsible to confirm your own transportation to the campground Friday and back home Sunday. You are responsible to bring your own sleeping gear, tent or confirm sharing with someone. Men and women must have separate tents unless they are married.

– Difficulty Level: Hiking 7 miles straight can be challenging. It is a mostly level gravel/dirt path. Bring the proper hiking shoes and be certain that you can hike that distance. Also, you must be comfortable rafting on a fast-moving, shallow river, though no experience is required. Rafts do not usually flip, but people sometimes fall into the river (you will have a life jacket). This is not white-water rafting, but it’s not a lazy river either. It can be exciting and a bit challenging. The Sturgeon River is the fastest river in Michigan’s Lower Peninsula with an average river depth of just 3-4 feet, however, there are deeper pools that can reach 5-8 feet.

– Individual cancelations may be possible upon request up to 3 weeks before this event. No refunds will be given after that time.

Questions? Contact Dawn at dhausmann@dioceseoflansing.org or 517-342-2506, or Patrick at dcya@aod.org For more information and to register click here.

Spring, Summer or Fall in Kraków

Have you ever dreamed of study abroad? How about Catholic study abroad, with dozens of other students who think like you do? Let’s go to Poland! Based in Kraków, Poland, our semester abroad program affords undergraduate students ages 18-29 the opportunity of a lifetime!
For more information click here.

Crisis in the Church

September 2, 2018 / CL / No Category

We hope you will find these resources helpful.

Bishop Robert Barron’s Video Why Remain Catholic? (With So Much Scandal)

May the below encourage you and offer some things that we all can do to help bring about a renewal in the church. As Ralph Martin said in his letter, ” Jesus is still Lord and will use the current grave problems to bring about good.” Jesus told us he will not abandon us, and the gates of hell will not prevail against the Church.

Here are some other resources, which provide light and hope during this dark period:

Joseph Ratzinger’s “Way of the Cross” meditations and prayers (given in 2005 at the Colosseum in Rome)
Hours of Eucharistic Adoration in Reparation
Prayer of Reparation
Meditation on Reparation and Divine Intimacy
A Holy Hour of Reparation

Additional Prayers:

Together let’s pray for the victims and the entire Body of Christ.
Let’s also pray the rosary daily as Mary requested, for peace in the world and true renewal in the Church.

Our Lady of Sorrows… Pray for us!

what can we do as we continue to pray for the pope and our leaders that God may give them the wisdom and courage to deal with the root of the rot and bring about a real renewal of holiness and evangelization in the Church?

»We need to go about our daily lives, trying to live each day in a way pleasing to God, loving Him and loving our neighbor, including the neighbor in our own families. We need to look to ourselves, lest we fall.

»We need to remember that even though we have this treasure in earthen vessels (or as some translations put it, “cracked pots”), the treasure is no less the treasure. Don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater! Baby Jesus is the treasure, and He is still as present as ever and still as ready to receive all who come to Him. And the Mass! Every day, He is willing to come to us in such a special way. Let’s attend daily Mass even more frequently, to offer the sacrifice of Jesus’ death and resurrection to God the Father, in the power of the Holy Spirit, for the salvation of souls and the purification of the Church.

»We need to remember that the Catholic Church is indeed founded by Christ and, despite all problems, has within it the fullness of the means of salvation. Where else can we go? Nowhere; this is indeed our Mother and Home, and she needs our love, our prayers, and our persevering in the way of holiness more than ever.

»We need to remember that there are many truly holy and dedicated bishops and priests, and we must pray for them and support them. They need and deserve our support.

»We need to remember that this isn’t the first time such grave problems have beset the Church. In the fourteenth century, St. Catherine of Siena bemoaned the “stench of sin” coming from the papal court and prophesied that even the demons were disgusted by the homosexual activity he had tempted priests into and the cover up by their superiors! (See chapters 124-125 of Catherine of Siena’s The Dialogue.)

That isn’t to say that we don’t need to take seriously and do all we can in response to the grave scandal we are facing in our time. And yet we need to remember that all this is happening under the providence of God, and He has a plan to bring good out of it. It was even prophesied strongly in Mary’s apparitions in Akita, Japan. Jesus is still Lord and will use the current grave problems to bring about good.

And finally, I’m beginning to see why the Lord has impressed on me so strongly in the past year the urgent need to heed the appeals of Our Lady of Fatima. Indeed, as Mary said,

“Pray, pray very much, and make sacrifices for sinners; for many souls go to hell, because there are none to sacrifice themselves and to pray for them.”

Let’s continue to pray and offer sacrifices for the conversion of sinners and as reparation for sin, and let’s pray the rosary daily as Mary requested, for peace in the world and true renewal in the Church.

taken from Letter by Ralph Martin “Dear Troubled Catholics”

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IF YOU HAVE BEEN ABUSED OR VICTIMIZED BY SOMEONE REPRESENTING THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

*Please believe in the possibility for hope and help and healing. We encourage you to come forward and speak out.

If I have been the victim of child sexual abuse by someone representing the Catholic Church, whom should I contact?
Contact the Victim Assistance Coordinator for the Diocese of Lansing, Cheryl Williams-Hecksel, LMSW, 888-308-6252 or cwilliamshecksel@dioceseoflansing.org.

What if I am an adult victim of sexual harassment, abuse, or other types of harassment by someone who works for the Catholic Church?
Contact the Lighthouse Incident Reporting service, 844-446-0009, or Lisa Kutas, Human Resources Director, 517-342-2511 or lkutas@dioceseoflansing.org.

Ways You Can Take Action

July 17, 2016 / CL / No Category

Please Urge the Senate to Approve the Conscience Protection Act!
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ACTION! With voices all over Michigan and all over the country encouraging its passage, the U.S. House of Representatives approved the Conscience Protection Act this week by a 245-182 bipartisan vote. The measure allows for health care providers and payers to protect their rights in court should they be forced to participate in abortion. Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York and Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore, the respective chairs of the pro-life and religious liberty committees at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), applauded the vote and urged continued action as the bill moves forward to the U.S. Senate. Please send a message to the senate now: http://www.micatholic.org/advocacy/catholic-advocacy-network/vv/?vvsrc=%2fCampaigns
Please Urge Congress to Approve the First Amendment Defense Act!
The First Amendment Defense Act (H.R. 2802, S. 1598) would bar the federal government from discriminating against individuals and organizations based upon their religious beliefs or moral convictions that marriage is the union of one man and one woman or that sexual relations are properly reserved to such a marriage. Please send a message now: https://www.votervoice.net/USCCB/Campaigns/43794/Respond

Download our Parish App!

January 22, 2015 / CL / No Category

At Good Shepherd we are pursuing new opportunities to foster a stronger parish life and better engage the New Evangelization. As a part of these efforts we are happy to announce that Good Shepherd now has it’s own app for Apple and Android phones.

Our new app will allow us to send you useful and important messages throughout the week regarding our parish life and events, and allow you to reply to messages or RSVP for events.

There will be no need for parishioners with smart phones to remember to silence their phones before Mass. The app will send you a reminder to silence your phone 20 minutes before the Mass you select. Many more great features will be a help to all of us, such as, daily Mass readings, Catholic news, prayers and prayer reminders, quick access to online tithing, Confession reminders, and our weekly bulletin.

So, be sure to download the app by visiting myparishapp.com or searching for myparish on your phone’s app store, or text APP to 55321 and stay connected with us all week long.

Once downloaded open the app and search for Good Shepherd Church 400 N. Saginaw St. click on that. That’s it!

Click Below to Get App

Check out some of the features

creating-account-in-app-to-join-group