2015
Prep for the Pope’s Visit to the US
Prepare for the Pope’s visit and check out our events right here at St. Mary!
Join Our Watch Party
As part of his visit to the United States, Pope Francis will address a joint session of Congress on Thursday, September 24, 2015 bringing together faith and politics. His address to Congress will be an opportunity to invite legislators to reflect on the U.S.’s response to those who are marginalized by poverty and injustice, especially migrants, those plagued by climate change, and workers treated unjustly while challenging all of us to live more fully the Gospel call to mercy and justice and promoting a culture of life.
St. Mary Student Parish will host a watch party in Donnelly Hall (9:30 – 11:00 AM) to view this historic event. If you are available, please stay after the Pope’s address for discussion and a call to action. All are welcome!
Ig.nite: Pope Francis Edition
Undergrads! Join us for a special edition of Ig.nite on Thursday, September 24th. Mass begins at 5:10 PM followed by dinner and a student-led panel discussion to react to Pope Francis’ address to the United States Congress. On theme with Pope Francis’ background, we’ll be serving a South American dinner specialty:
grilled skirt steak and chorizo sausage with chimichurri sauce,
empanadas, chipa rolls, and of course dulce de leche tiramasu!
For more information on the Pope’s historic visit, click here to download our flyer containing information on his background, itinerary, and past papal visits to the US.
2015
Register for Small Church & Busy Student Retreat
Fall is here and we have some great opportunities for spiritual development. Join a Small Church Community (SCC) for weekly small group faith sharing, or join the Busy Student Retreat (BSR) for one-on-one spiritual direction that fits into your busy schedule.
Small Church Communities
Faith sharing groups help to make our big community feel a little smaller. There are a variety of SCC groups for all ages that meet at various times beginning in October. Together with your group, reflect on faith experiences and discover how the word of God applies uniquely to your life.
Register online before Sept 23. Register Here
The SCC program is open to all parishioners. Contact Elise Huber for more information.
Busy Student Retreat
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.
Retreatants commit to:
- An opening dinner on Sunday, October 4 at 7:00 pm
- 15 minutes of individual prayer each day during the retreat (Oct 4 Nov 22)
- 30-45 minutes of conversation each week with a spiritual companion
- A closing celebration on Sunday, November 22 at 6pm
Cost is $10. Register Here
The BSR program is open to undergrads, graduate students, and young professionals. Deadline to register is Sunday, Sept. 27. If you have any questions and/or require financial assistance, contact Abby Braun.
2015
Seeking Welcome Week Volunteers!
Each September, our parish community welcomes new and returning students to St. Mary’s and to life at the University of Michigan. Welcoming students is one way every parishioner and family can participate in our mission of campus ministry.
Here’s how it works in 3 easy steps:
1. Click this link to go to our invitation page on VolunteerSpot
2. Enter your email address (You will NOT need to register an account on VolunteerSpot)
3. Sign up! Choose your spots – VolunteerSpot will send you an automated confirmation and reminders.
Note: VolunteerSpot does not share your email address with anyone. If you prefer not to use your email address, please contact Susan and she will sign you up manually.
2015
Fr. Dan Reim Legacy ASB Scholarship Fund
As we said goodbye to Fr. Dan earlier this month, we were truly in awe of his 11 inspiring years at SMSP. Active in our community – tackling social justice issues – and always smiling, he will be greatly missed.
We have set up a Legacy ASB Scholarship Fund in his name to honor his remarkable contributions. When he arrived in Ann Arbor, there were 3 active ASB sites. This past year we participated in 9 domestic and 3 international sites, sending over 130 students from our community to serve those in need.
If you are interesting in donating to the Fr. Dan Reim Legacy ASB Scholarship Fund, envelopes are available in the parish office or you can give online.
2015
Open Registration for Family Faith Formation & Teen Confirmation
We’re excited to announce registration is now open for Family Faith Formation and Teen Confirmation!
We recommend reading our program guide prior to registering. At this time, registration is only open to registered parishioners. Click here to access the registration form and payment information.
2015
2015 Diocesan Services Appeal
Thank you to everyone who made a pledge to the Diocesan Services Appeal last weekend. If you were unable to pledge last weekend, please consider doing so. You can also give online by clicking the yellow GIVE icon at the top of this webpage.
Please prayerfully consider a gift, within your means, in support of the future of our diocese. It is important to remember that no gift is too small.
As you prayerfully consider your gift to DSA, allow yourself to be motivated by gratitude to God, making a generous gift within your means, to the Lord for all the blessings in your life.
Our 2015 DSA theme, “For Everything is From You, and What We Give Is What We Have From You,” reminds us that we bring nothing material into this world and we take nothing out of it. Everything we have is a gift from God.
As Christian stewards we serve God out of love and gratitude for all his gifts to us, knowing that it’s not how much we have, but what we do with what we have, that is important. Sharing our financial resources with others in need is a loving and just act – a way of thanking God for all His blessings.
2015
Director of Worship and Music
We are pleased to announce we are seeking a full-time Director of Worship and Music! If you are interested in joining our dynamic parish staff and have a passion for liturgy, visit Serve At Our Church for details and how to apply and for this and other opportunities at our parish.
2015
Undergrad Summer Program
Staying in the Ann Arbor area for the summer? Looking for something to do in a faith-based community?
Look no further than the Undergrad Summer Program at St. Mary Student Parish.We will be meeting twice a week during the summer: Tuesday nights will be an SCC, a chance to share your faith with other students, and Thursday nights will be a variety of activities like game nights, going out to eat, or watching a movie together.
Fill out the online form to get onto our summer email list!
2015
Take the Risk
Written by Abby Braun on Good Friday
“ My soul is sorrowful even to death. Remain here and keep watch.” –Mark 14:34
I didn’t answer the first time the phone rang. It was 11:00 p.m. on a weeknight and I was getting ready for bed, so I let my friend Sara’s call go to voice mail. When she called again two minutes later, I knew it was important so I picked up. Sara had just learned that her dad, who was in the middle of what was supposed to be a relatively minor heart surgery, was probably going to die before we saw the sun rise again. She called to ask for my prayers and also to ask for something more tangible of me. Would I travel home to Philadelphia with her (we were both living in St. Louis at the time) and spend the week with her and her family as they walked the difficult road of burying her dad?
I often think about that week that I spent with my friend Sara. Sitting in the funeral home for hours while people filed through to pay their respects and say goodbyes. Standing in the cemetery on a crisp fall day, holding my friend’s hand. Lots of tears and laughter and meals and stories shared. It was a week of profound grace for me. Sara asked me to go with her because my own father died when I was in high school, so she knew I understood something about what her heart needed without having to say anything.
Certainly that was part of the grace of that week for me, that I was able to offer love and my simple presence in a way that was helpful to her and her family, because I had been there. But the other grace – the one that has stayed with me even more – was the fact that my friend took the risk to invite me into one of the most sacred, most painful, most vulnerable moments of her life. It was an act of courage on her part, to ask so much of me. And in the end, that act of courage and vulnerability was remarkably transformative for us both: our lives and our friendship were blessed and enriched beyond measure because of it.
That week is on my mind in a particular way as we keep watch this Good Friday and walk with Jesus through his own suffering, death, and burial. I have often been inspired by the witness of the disciples who stay with Jesus to the bitter end, when all hope seems lost. But as I heard the Passion story last Sunday, with ears fresh from having fumbled through another Lent, what hit my heart most was the image of Jesus in the garden, admitting to his friends that he is sad and afraid, asking them to stay with him. How vulnerable he must have been, admitting this to the ones he had been leading, asking them to give what he knew they could not give. And yet that did not stop him from taking the risk to be fully human and to share his whole self.
All of this leaves me asking myself the question, am I willing to be like Jesus and my friend Sara, to take that same risk, to share my whole self and invite others into my own darkest hours? Am I willing to walk the long road with Jesus, and also to ask him to walk my long road with me? After all, that’s the only way we get to the resurrection. Now is the time, right?
Questions for Reflection:
When have you been invited into a vulnerable place in someone else’s life? How did this experience transform you?
What are the dark places in your own life and your own heart right now? Ask Jesus to enter into those places with you.
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Abby Braun
Abby has served as a campus minister at St. Mary’s since 2012. After studying theology at the University of Notre Dame (BA ’05) and Pastoral Ministry at the University of Dayton (MA ’08), Abby spent four years as a Campus Minister at Saint Louis University where she met her husband, Bob. She is especially grateful to be a part of a Jesuit Parish that serves a University community. Abby works part-time at St. Mary’s and spends the rest of her days at home/toddling around Ann Arbor with her one-year-old daughter, Eleanor.
Email: aabraun@umich.edu
2015
Holy Week at SMSP
Schedule of Events
Wednesday, April 1
5:10 PM – Mass
6:00 PM – Confessions
6:30 PM – Pray the Rosary in Spanish
Thursday, April 2 – Holy Thursday
7:30 PM – Mass of the Lord’s Supper and Adoration until Midnight
Friday, April 3 – Good Friday
9:00 AM – Noon – Eucharistic adoration
12:10 PM – Good Friday Service
7:30 PM – Bilingual Stations of the Cross
Saturday, April 4 – Holy Saturday
8:30 PM – Easter Vigil & Reception following Mass
Sunday, April 5 – Easter Sunday
Masses at 8:30, 10:00 & 10:10 AM
12:00, 12:10, 2:00 (Spanish), 5:00, 7:00 & 9:00 PM
Monday, April 6 – Easter Monday
Office Closed until 4:30 PM
5:10 PM – Daily Mass