Newsletter for Friday, June 19, 2020
Our banner is up! Thank you to those who responded to last week’s newsletter with your support. Based on parishioner feedback, we changed the small line underneath Black Lives Matter to read Live a Faith that does Justice. Taken from our mission statement, it reflects our call as Catholics to reach out to the marginalized.
Undergraduate students Cecilia Rivet & Emily Furtado put together this great list of racial justice resources, which along with Catholic resources and prayers, it includes a list of black-owned businesses in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti that you can support.
Today our nation celebrates Juneteenth, the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. There are two great events planned here in Ann Arbor to raise awareness and celebrate black history:
Today, June 19, 12-2 PM: Protest and Celebration on the University of Michigan Diag
Tomorrow, June 20, 9 AM – 12 Noon: One-Mile walk for Racial Justice
Click here for more details on these Juneteeth events.
A quick reminder that our parish office and church are open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday – Friday. During this time the office is staffed to assist with scheduling, questions, donations, etc. You may also enter the church for individual prayer. Masks and social distancing are required.
This Sunday, June 21, we will offer communion distribution between 11:30 a.m. and 12:00 noon. If you arrive early, please wait in your car. The parish will remain locked until 11:30 AM. Enter through the William Street doors unless you require handicap accessibility through the Thompson Street side. Masks and social distancing are required. Only 6 people will be allowed to enter the church at one time, which along with 2 priests and 2 ushers, brings the total count of people in the church to 10 (to adhere to current guidelines of a maximum of 10 people for indoor gatherings).
We will continue to live-stream our Sunday masses in English and Spanish for the foreseeable future. We are still working on plans to add a public Sunday mass but have no further updates to share this week. When we do reopen for public mass, we will continue to live-stream mass as well, prioritizing the health and safety of all parishioners and students.
Read below for our weekly parish updates, including a Father’s Day Blessing, a new link to a video supporting our annual Diocesan Services Appeal featuring the Center for Hope in Flint, MI, and scroll all the way down to the Faith Doing Justice section to read more on yesterday’s Supreme Court DACA decision.
SUNDAY MASS, DAILY REFLECTIONS, AND SPECIAL INTERCESSIONS
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 10:10 a.m. Recordings will be available immediately following the masses at the same location: https://michigancatholics.org/category/live-english-mass/
Scheduled mass intentions will be offered by the Jesuit Community, but not necessarily on the scheduled date.
DAILY REFLECTIONS
Our quick reflections on the daily readings continue with many wonderful contributions from SMSP staff members, parishioners, and Jesuits. With most reflections under 2 minutes, we invite you to watch these as a great way to start your day or to take a quick break during your day. All reflections can be found on our website here: https://michigancatholics.org/category/daily-video-reflections/
SPECIAL INTERCESSIONS
Let us pray for the sick who have been entrusted to our prayers. We pray especially for Dianna Nati. May all be comforted and cared for in their suffering, we pray to the Lord.
For those who believed during life that what is hidden will one day be made clear, and who now have recently died, especially: Debbie Gilbert, Remedios and Maria del Refugio Avalos, Geoffrey Riches, and Sherry Parks. We rejoice for long life remains in their hearts, we pray to the Lord.
If you would like a name added to either of these special intercessions, please email lmele@smspnewman.org.
ONGOING STEWARDSHIP
DIOCESAN SERVICES APPEAL (DSA)
Thank you to everyone who has made a gift or pledge commitment to our Diocesan Services Appeal (DSA). Here’s a great story about how you who donate to the Diocese of Lansing’s annual Diocesan Services Appeal or DSA helps bring the love of Jesus Christ into the lives of real people in our poorest communities – people like Kathy Morris from Flint, a single mother of four who was unable to work last year due to an injury.
“It’s hard when you’ve always worked and you haven’t ever had to ask for help. I was going through a lot of distress. I said, ‘Lord this is in your hands’,” says Kathy. That prayer led Kathy to Catholic Charities’ Center for Hope in Flint, where she was able to work, develop job skills and experience renewed stability.
For many, the Center for Hope is the beginning of a new path to recovery, offering access to counseling and mental health services, substance use treatment and recovery, housing assistance and referrals for food and furniture. For Kathy, the greatest gift she’s received is a renewed sense of hope in the loving providence of God.
The mission of Catholic Charities in the Diocese of Lansing is to share the love of Christ by performing spiritual and corporal works of mercy. Dollars donated to the annual Diocesan Services Appeal fuel that mission.
As of June 15th, St. Mary Student Parish has raised a total of $25,825 towards our goal of $97,785. If you have not yet made a gift or a pledge, you are invited to do so online today: www.dioceseoflansing.org/dsa. Your DSA gift will support the vital services and ministries that help bring the love of Christ to all we encounter.
SUPPORTING ST. MARY
Thank you for your generous support of our work here at St. Mary Student Parish. We are only able to do the work of ministry because of your generosity. As we strive to meet the needs of our parish and ministries during this pandemic, we want to make it as easy as possible for parishioners and friends to continue to support our ministries, though we are not able to gather together for Sunday mass in person.
OPTIONS FOR GIVING
Personal Check: These can be sent in our offertory envelopes or in another envelope with a note for allocation, such as offertory, Sunday mass, etc. These can be sent to our mailing address:
St. Mary Student Parish
331 Thompson Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
Please use precautions in the process to prevent the spread of viruses (washing hands, not licking to close the envelope, but using a sponge blotter or glue stick to seal the envelope, etc.).
Online Giving: ParishSoft Giving Our new online portal!
Tomorrow, June 20, is national egiving day! We prayerfully invite you to use ParishSoft Giving from your computer, smartphone or tablet to set up a recurring donation or make a one-time gift to our parish.
How ParishSOFT Giving benefits you and our parish:
• Consistent giving and community support
• Convenience of giving from home or any location
• Cost-effective and better for the environment
Please consider making a recurring or one-time donation today! It’s easy to get started! You can sign up (and allocate gifts to particular causes) HERE. Contact Kristen Gowman with any questions about this new online portal.
Venmo: St. Mary Student Parish is on Venmo @SMSPumich. Join many students and parishioners who use this payment app on their smartphone to send money from their bank account straight to the offertory each week.
YEAR TO DATE SUNDAY OFFERING REPORT AS OF 6/14/2020
Annual Budget Goal $1,020,000
Year-to-Date (YTD) Goal $984,000
Amount Collected: $981,051
Above (below) YTD Goal: ($2,949)
YEAR TO DATE ANNUAL FUND REPORT AS OF 6/14/2020
Annual Fund Budget Goal: $440,000
Year-to-Date (YTD) Goal $435,035
Amount Collected: $384,688
Above (below) YTD Goal: ($50,347)
UPDATES FROM FAITH DOING JUSTICE
“Inspired by Ignatian spirituality, we live a faith that does justice, reaching out to the marginalized.” Our parish mission remains at the heart of all we do. If you’d like to give directly to St. Mary parishioners affected by this pandemic through unemployment and other risk factors, please email Cathy Welch cwelch@smspnewman.org or donate online to Faith Doing Justice and add a note to your donation that references helping parishioners during the COVID-19 pandemic.
ADVOCACY
Supreme Court DACA Decision
Yesterday, June 18, the Supreme Court issued its decision to extend the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. While this ruling is a victory for DACA recipients, the program was never intended to serve as a permanent solution. Read this statement from the Ignatian Solidarity Network and you can watch a recording of yesterday’s press conference.
Thank you for your prayers and advocacy!