Newsletter for Friday, May 8, 2020

“The Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9

As the world around us begins to reopen, we must rethink what it means to be a Catholic community, to care for those in need, and to be a people of hope. Though our doors remain closed, our ministry continues and we have a few updates to share with you:

Graduating seniors, their families, and SMSP staff members gathered last Friday via Zoom for a virtual prayer service in lieu of our annual graduation mass and reception. All parishioners are invited to watch a recording of the prayer service or view the accompanying photo slide show. Again, congrats to our many graduates and wherever you go, may you always remember you have a spiritual home at St. Mary.

Looking back just a few months, rising juniors and seniors at the University of Michigan were discerning their call to serve our parish as an undergraduate intern. While we do not yet know what the fall semester will look like, we would like to announce the 10 interns selected for the 2020-2021 academic year. Please join us as we acknowledge their desire and willingness to serve our parish in these challenging times. It is still unclear how each ministry will adapt to what the future holds, yet we will remain Christ-centered, focused on our mission.

Women of every age are invited to virtually join us via Zoom next Thursday, May 14 from 10:15 am – 12 noon to connect, be inspired, and celebrate their faith with one another with Women of the Heart. Sister Carol and Nancy have developed a program that is consistent with this year’s theme of journeying in hope. In their words, this Thursday’s session will reflect “on the pandemic, while tragic, as an opportunity to trust God more deeply, to appreciate the essential unity of the human family, and to look on the inevitability of death as an invitation to a future of indescribable happiness.” Please email Lanette lmele@smspnewman.org for the Zoom link and instructions on how to virtually join the meeting on your smartphone, tablet, or computer.

Read below for a Mother’s Day Blessing, an update from Fr. Jim on the parish feasibility study, and our weekly parish updates.

Haga clic aquí para ver las noticias parroquiales en español.

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-mass/

Scheduled mass intentions will be offered by the Jesuit Community, but not necessarily on the scheduled date.

MOTHER’S DAY BLESSING

All-loving God, we give you thanks and praise for mothers young and old.

Bless these mothers, who give life and tend to our every need; may they be blessed with patience and tenderness to care for their families and themselves with great joy.

Bless all our mothers who have nurtured and cared for us; May they continue to guide us in strong and gentle ways.

We remember mothers who are separated from their children because of war, poverty, or conflict; May they feel the loving embrace of our God who wipes every tear away.

We pray for women who are not mothers but still love and shape us with motherly care and compassion.

We remember mothers. grandmothers, and great-grandmothers who are no longer with us but who live forever in our memory and nourish us with their love. Amen.

DAILY REFLECTIONS

Our quick reflections on the daily readings continue with many wonderful contributions from SMSP staff members 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, especially Joseph D. Schwartz, Annie & Justin Siciliano, Bryan Tucker, Fred Gibby, Cynthia Lear, Barb Garren-Stratman, Jean Moeller, and Guillermo Foncerrada. May they all be comforted and cared for in their suffering, we pray to the Lord.

For those who knew they lacked nothing following the example of the suffering Christ during life, and who now have recently died, especially: Ron Dawson. We rejoice for now God has called them home, 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

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.). While our parish office is not open to the public, a few staff members are keeping up with essential administrative tasks.

Online Giving:

ParishSoft Giving Our new online portal!
Many of you have signed up for online giving, which is a great help to us. Thank you. Some of you may be open to doing so. We are introducing a new “online giving portal” through ParishSoft. This will eventually be the only online giving program that we will use. You can sign up (and allocate gifts to particular causes) HERE. Contact Kristen Gowman with any questions about this new online portal.

Legacy Online Giving Our original online portal
Legacy online giving is what we are calling the program we have been using prior to today. If you wish to change your allocations, you can do so using this LINK. (It would be ideal if you would establish an account using ParishSoft and then eliminate your one-time, weekly, monthly, etc., giving in the Legacy system.)

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.

FEASIBILITY STUDY – UPDATE FROM FR. JIM

Dear Friends,

Thank you so much for participating in the recent planning study conducted here at St. Mary Student Parish. The response was amazing from parishioners, alumni, and students. This positive response speaks of your love for St. Mary and our mission. The feedback you provided will be quite helpful as we look to the future. Click here to view the two page Executive Summary of the study.

As you know, these are difficult times. Living in this pandemic has not been easy for all of us. The future is unclear. I am encouraged by your positive feedback in this study, and your ongoing support of St. Mary Student Parish. The recommendation of the Steier Group is to move forward with a campaign to achieve the goals articulated in the summary. After prayer, consultation with both our Parish Council and Finance Council, we have decided to not move forward with a campaign at this time. Our more immediate concern now is the well-being of each other and the challenges we face in this pandemic. The data from the study will serve us in the future. We do hope to celebrate our Centennial in 2024 and will continue to discuss how we can do so. Leaders in the parish will work with the study to identify leaders, volunteers, etc., but this is not the moment to begin a fundraising campaign. Once we begin to move beyond this pandemic, we will gather again and discern next steps as a parish. I will keep you informed.

It is a privilege to walk with you here at St. Mary Student Parish. Your passion fuels my own. I look forward to the day when we are able to gather together again at the Eucharist. In this hard time, let’s continue to pray together, for those on the front line, those who are sick, those who feel isolated and vulnerable, and those looking for work. Thank you again for your input. This information will serve us as a parish well in the future. With Jesus guiding us and our parish, I know we will continue to be blessed and bless one another.

In the companionship with Christ we share,

Rev. James Gartland, SJ

YEAR TO DATE OFFERING REPORT AS OF 5/03/2020

Annual Budget Goal $1,020,000
Year-to-Date (YTD) Goal $880,000
Amount Collected: $873,339
Above (below) YTD Goal: ($6,661)

SUNDAY OFFERING REPORT AS OF 5/03/2020

Annual Fund Budget Goal: $440,000
Year-to-Date (YTD) Goal $404,858
Amount Collected: $380,066
Above (below) YTD Goal: ($24,792)

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 Anna Boesch aboesch@smspnewman.org.

RESOURCES

SMSP COVID-19 Resources Webpage
Our new webpage features a local guide of organizations offering free food, healthcare support, and financial assistance, along with links to spiritual resources and updates from Governor Whitmer.

Huron Valley COVID-19 Mutual Aid Form
Whether you’re requesting a need or offering a service – this is the form for you.

Mental Health Care: Coping with COVID-19
The University of Michigan shared these ideas for caring for your mental health and your loved ones! Even if you’re feeling okay, you’ll find creative ideas on checking in on loved ones and neighbors.

ADVOCACY

Support Vulnerable Communities Amid COVID-19
The Ignatian Solidarity Network (ISN) has cultivated a fantastic resource for opportunities in advocacy. Use this link for information and language around environmental justice, immigration, economic justice, international assistance, and criminal justice. You can use these resources to call or write your Representative or Senator.

Thank you for your prayers and advocacy!