Author: btobias

Register Now for the Busy Student Retreat!

This Lent, spend time with God in the midst of your regular hectic schedule. Bring the joys and concerns of your daily life into conversation with Jesus. Invite the Holy Spirit into your decision making.

Click here to register!

Retreatants commit to:

• An opening dinner on Ash Wednesday, February 10 at 5:30 pm
• 15 minutes of individual prayer each day during the retreat (February 7- March 27)
• 30-45 minutes of conversation each week with a spiritual companion
• A closing celebration on Sunday, April 10

The Campus Ministry team will match you with a Spiritual Companion for your Lenten journey, with whom you will meet once a week during Lent.

The cost is $10. Deadline to register is Sunday, January 31. While it is called the “Busy Student Retreat,” this retreat is also open to Grad Students and Young Professionals. If you have any questions and/or require financial assistance, contact Abby Braun.

Sign Up for Small Church Communities!

Click here to sign up for the 2016 Lenten session!

Lent is a time when Catholics traditionally have fasted and prayed with the hope that they would have time to think about the more important things in life. Why not try it this Lent? In our parish, we will have the opportunity to gather in small groups of 8 to 10 people, once a week, starting the week of January 31st.

When we gather, we will read Scripture, pray, and share our faith. This experience will provide more than you can imagine. Sign up for a day and time of the week that works for you. You will not be sorry.

One parishioner reflects, “Ever since my SCC has started, I find myself thinking more about the importance of God in my life and my faith daily. I have a long way to go, but I am trying to pray more and trying to walk with Christ on my journey.”

For more information, please contact Kelly Dunlop.

January Daytime Warming Shelter

During the month of January in Newman Hall our parish community provides a welcoming, safe, and warm environment where people experiencing homelessness can find companionship, compassion, kindness, and respect. It is a place of encounter that Pope Francis so often speaks about. We provide food, coffee, a warm place of rest, the opportunity for conversation, and the building of relationships. Solidarity and mutual giving are the values that guide this ministry.

Click here to sign up for a shift or to donate food items

The daytime shelter opens at 8:00 AM and closes each day at 4:00 PM. Is your schedule unpredictable? Do you want to help but can’t commit in advance? We’re encouraging residents and parishioners to simply stop by the shelter (no sign up needed) when they have time to meet and converse with the community.

We are also enhancing the giving and receiving of new and gently used donations by creating a gift registry. These needs may range from personal toiletries, winter gear, lightly used or new clothing, cleaning supplies, and well-kept furniture (some of our guests are recently housed). For furniture donations, you will need to transport the items directly to the person requesting; we will help connect you with the guest.

Click here to view the gift registry and sign up for specific items

Sign Up for 2015 Feast Day of Service

St. Mary Student Parish honors our patron Mary on her Feast Day by gathering for prayer and serving those in need.

If we, each doing our own part, if we do good to others,
if we meet there, doing good, and we go slowly, gently, little by little,
we will make that culture of encounter: we need that so much.
Pope Francis

Schedule for Saturday, December 5, 2015

Mass 10:00 AM at St. Mary Student Parish
Lunch Boxed lunches will be provided for those participating in the day of service.
Volunteer Service 12:00 Noon – 4:00 PM

Click Here to Register!

This is our first year utilizing online registration. For more information on service sites or to print the registration page and turn into the main office, please review the Feast Day of Service booklet below:

The Climate Consideration & the Common Good

On Thursday, October 22nd, parishioner Beth Gibbons presented on climate change and the impact it has on our local community.

While we may not see polar bears floating on the melting glaciers here in Ann Arbor, we do see more extreme weather patterns than ever before. Since 1951, annual precipitation in Ann Arbor has increased by 45% and the number of heavy storms has increased by 41.2%. That’s enough precipitation in one year to fill the Big House 117 times! Besides overwhelming our storm drainage systems and other resources, if this increase in precipitation continues, many of our fellow community members will be left without anywhere to live. This is because low-income neighborhoods and public housing in Ann Arbor are disproportionately located in flood plains. Over time, the city government will face the difficult decision to support neighborhoods that will simply be destroyed again.

In Pope Francis’ words, “The climate is a common good, belonging to all and meant for all.” Beth Gibbons’ lecture reinforces this message and shows us that in being good stewards of the Earth God gave to us, we will improve the lives of our brothers and sisters.

Click Here to view the slides from Beth’s presentation.

Feed the Homeless in Ann Arbor

Sunday, November 8 at 5:00 PM
CLICK HERE to sign up!

Our Social Justice Ministry is seeking volunteers to help feed the homeless in Ann Arbor. We are committed to providing a Sunday meal quarterly for the former Camp Take Notice (CTN) residents that meet weekly at Mercy House for dinner.

Meal format is set and sign-up is done electronically. Other Sunday meal opportunities are scheduled for 1/24/16, 4/17/16 and 7/17/16.

How to Volunteer:
1. Provide a specific food donation such as an entree or dessert
2. Provide staple donations such as napkins, water bottles, etc.
3. Provide monetary support for the purchase of needed items
4. Provide transportation and/or serve food on the given day
5. Provide help in coordination of the donations

For more information or questions about this ministry, please contact Erin Telemaco, CTN Quarterly Sunday Meal coordinator at [email protected] or 734-368-5826.

Student Office Assistant Needed

We are seeking a student to work in our busy parish office.  Responsibilities include greeting and assisting visitors, answering phones, assisting campus ministers with general office work, creating simple Excel spreadsheets, flyers, brochures, preparing certificates and recording sacraments in church records. Must be able to prioritize as well as pay close attention to detail and be flexible.  Strong computer skills, including experience with Microsoft Word, Publisher and Excel are desired. Spanish speaking helpful.  8 – 10 hours per week, evenings and weekends.  Please send cover letter and resume outlining your work and volunteer experience as well as your experience with the Catholic Church to Lanette Mele.

Faith Sharing Fridays October 9, 2015

Readings for Sunday, October 11th, 2015

If I met Jesus on the streets of Ann Arbor today, longed to follow Him, yet was asked to radically change my life before taking one more step, would I be dejected? Stopped in my tracks, certainly. Would I turn away? Or be prepared to make room in my heart for Christ?

At first thought, I wouldn’t consider myself materialistic. But if I’m honest, I’m pretty weighed down sometimes. Taking up room in my heart are emotional possessions; human attachments and fears; anxieties of succeeding as a Ph.D. student while being present to myself, my community, and my relationship with God.

At the end of a long day, do I have the strength to take another deep, longing breath toward Christ? Too often, the answer is “I sure hope so.”

Yet Jesus, looking at the man, loved him—loves me. I imagine a gentle touch on my shoulder as He recognizes the gravity of what He’s asking me to do. In His humanity Jesus knows the pressures and pull of this life. Indeed, He’s on the same path that I am in this very moment. 

Still, I hear Jesus kindly and lovingly prodding me to realize that I lack the same thing the man did: Space. Openness in each relationship, each task, each prayer for the work of the Spirit.

I’m sure the disciples were anxious and frustrated when confronted with the reality of such deep, all-encompassing change. And I’m sure that, like me, they stumbled along the way.

Yet, while fearful, I am in total awe that I’ve been met today with the very grace that makes salvation possible. Jesus reminds me not only of God’s power, but that I walk the path of this human life with His breath inside me. He will touch every piece of my life, shake it up, and transform it. But the first challenge is mine: Make space for His work.

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I return over and over to St. Ignatius’s Suscipe as I pray for the strength to let go of those things that take up space in my life and in my heart. This musical setting beautifully captures the release and trust that I long for, and that Jesus reminds me I must work toward on today’s journey.

“I surrender, Lord, all I have and hold.
I return to you your gifts untold.
Give me nothing more than your love and grace—
These alone, O God, are enough for me.”

What do you need to let go of in order to turn and follow Jesus on His journey? What scares you about doing so? Where do you need Jesus’s gentle prodding in your life?

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Colleen McClain is a Ph.D. student in the Michigan Program in Survey Methodology and a member of the GRAD/YP and Small Church Community lead teams at SMSP.

Ignatian Family Teach-in For Justice

November 7-9, 2015
Washington, D.C.

Ignation Family Teach-In For Justice (IFTJ) is an annual gathering for members of the Ignatian family (Jesuit institutions and larger church AKA everybody) to learn, reflect, pray, network, and advocate together in the context of social justice and solidarity. It is a place where you will be empowered, reenergized, inspired, challenged, and supported by a community that believes social justice works in union with faith. Join your peers (soon to be friends) from SMSP and University of Detroit Mercy for a weekend you will never forget! All are welcome!

For more information, contact Bill Alt or Meredith Burke or click here to visit the IFTJ site.

Click Here to Register