Newsletter for Saturday, March 21, 2020
Welcome to St. Mary Student Parish’s first weekly newsletter!
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, St. Mary Student Parish has suspended all public masses, closed the church, and closed our parish office. If you need to reach us with an emergency, please call 734-531-7993, leave a message, and someone will return your call as soon as possible.
While all scheduled events at the parish have been cancelled, there are still many important updates we’d like to send to our parishioners and friends.
SUNDAY MASS STREAMING & MASS DETAILS
We will continue to live-stream mass on Sundays. English mass at 9 a.m. will stream live on our website, followed immediately by Spanish mass at 10 a.m. Recordings will be available immediately following the masses at the same location: https://michigancatholics.org/smsp-news/
Scheduled mass intentions will be offered by the Jesuit Community, but not necessarily on the scheduled date.
If there is a need for you to receive Communion at your residence, or you need to schedule confession, please call our parish office 734.663.0557 ext. 0 and leave a message.
ONGOING STEWARDSHIP
The necessary decision to suspend public masses for the greater health of our community deeply affects our parish finances. Like everyone, parish leadership is faced with difficult decisions on how to cut expenses and pay the bills, while mitigating the financial consequences for our parish staff.
Just under 50% of weekly offerings come through the basket during mass. Without mass, we rely solely on online donations. In addition to weekly giving, there is still time to give to our annual March fundraiser. To date we have received just over $8,000, which is just a fraction of our goal to raise $100,000 for Catholic campus ministry.
The parish depends on your continued help and support through the immediate crisis, and as we look with hope toward the year ahead. We ask you to think carefully about what you are able to offer during this challenging time.
Please consider giving online today: https://michigancatholics.org/about/give/. We are also on Venmo @SMSPumich.
CROSSROADS EASTER MEAL
On Easter Sunday, April 12, the St. Mary community will prepare and serve dinner at Crossroads Soup Kitchen in downtown Detroit www.crossroadsofmichigan.org. Donating and/or volunteering is a great way to share in and celebrate the love of the Easter season with Detroit community members and other St. Mary parishioners! The number of people Crossroads has fed over the last couple weeks has grown, so they expect to serve even more Easter meals than we have in past years.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are only seeking monetary donations and volunteers. This will limit the individuals that will need to go out to purchase items. (If you have already purchased items, we will accept them – please contact [email protected] to arrange this donation.)
Make a Monetary Donation
Your financial support of this communal meal with our brothers and sisters in Detroit is what makes it happen. Our preferred method of receiving donations is through our website https://michigancatholics.org/about/give/. When completing the information under “Gift Information” chose “Lent-Crossroads, Detroit” for the Fund.
Volunteer at Crossroads
Good Friday
+ Transport food/supplies to Crossroads
Easter Sunday
+ First Shift: 8:15am-12:00pm (Meal Preparation)
+ Second Shift: 11:15am-3:30pm (Dinner Serving)
If you would like to volunteer, please e-mail [email protected] with the following information: your preferred shift, a contact phone number, if you need a ride to Detroit or, if you can, the number of additional people you can transport.
To comply with current guidelines provided by the CDC, all meals will be made “to go” and handed out at the door. Because these guidelines continue to change, volunteers will follow what is recommended at the time of the meal.
LENTEN HOME-STUDY MATERIALS (SMALL CHURCH COMMUNITIES)
In the absence of parish events, we invite you to review our Lenten Small Church Community materials on our parish website: https://michigancatholics.org/parish-life/scc/. With three Sundays remaining before Easter Sunday, these materials offer reflection, meditation, and discussion on the Sunday readings. You do not have to be a Small Church Community participant to benefit from these materials – all parishioners are encouraged to take advantage of this parish resource.