SUNDAY, JAN. 17TH, 2021

12100 Beech Daly Rd.,

Redford, MI 48239 (248) 800-6081

www.stjohnxxiiiredford.org office@stjohnxxiiiredford.org

FR. GREG PIATT, PASTOR

MASSES

Saturday 1/16 | 4 p.m. Sunday 1/17 | 9:30 a.m. Tuesday 1/19 | 9:30 a.m.

Wednesday 1/20 | 6:30 p.m. Thursday 1/21 | 12 p.m. Saturday 1/23 | 4 p.m.

Sunday 1/24 | 9:30 a.m.

LIVESTREAM MASSES www.stjohnxxiiiredford.org

facebook.com/StJohnXXIIIRedford St. John XXIII Redford MI YouTube

EUCHARISTIC ADORATION Tuesday 1/19 | 10:30 a.m.-7 p.m.

BENEDICTION Tuesday 1/19 | 7 p.m.

CONFESSIONS By Appointment or

Drive-thru Saturday 1/30 | 12-2 p.m.

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Saturday: Heb 4:12-16/Ps 19:8, 9, 10, 15 [cf. Jn 6:63c]/Mk 2:13-17

Sunday: 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time 1 Sm 3:3b-10, 19/Ps 40:2, 4, 7-8, 8-9, 10 [8a, 9a]/1 Cor 6:13c-15a, 17-20/Jn 1:35-42

Monday: Martin Luther King Day Heb 5:1-10/Ps 110:1, 2, 3, 4 [4b]/Mk 2:18-22

Tuesday: Heb 6:10-20/Ps 111:1-2, 4-5, 9 and 10c [5]/Mk 2:23-28

Wednesday: St. Fabian; St. Sebastian Heb 7:1-3, 15-17/Ps 110:1, 2, 3, 4 [4b]/Mk 3:1-6

Thursday: St. Agnes Heb 7:25—8:6/Ps 40:7-8a, 8b-9, 10, 17 [8a and 9a]/Mk 3:7-12

Friday: Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Heb 8:6-13/Ps 85:8 and 10, 11-12, 13-14/Mk 3:13-19

Saturday: St. Vincent; St. Marianne Cope Heb 9:2-3, 11-14/Ps 47:2-3, 6-7, 8-9 [6]/Mk 3:20-21

Sunday: 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time Jon 3:1-5, 10/Ps 25:4-5, 6-7, 8-9 [4a]/1 Cor 7:29-31/Mk 1:14-20

We hope St. John XXIII Catholic Church is a blessing in your life. You are a blessing to us! Whether you’re visiting us, looking for a new parish, returning to the Catholic faith or interested in finding out more about the Catholic Church, we’re happy you’re here! To learn more about St. John XXIII Parish, visit our website or Facebook page. If you are new to the parish, we encourage you to register at the parish office. We look forward to meeting with you!

PASTORAL STAFF

Father Gregory Piatt, Pastor Fr.Greg@stjohnxxiiiredford.org Laura Scanlan, Pastoral Associate Laura.Scanlan@stjohnxxiiiredford.org Steve Morello, Deacon Deacon.Steve@stjohnxxiiiredford.org

PARISH STAFF

Linda Hudy, Secretary Linda.Hudy@stjohnxxiiiredford.org Frank Munoz, Maintenance Maintenance@stjohnxxiiiredford.org Colette Renaud-Maher, Bulletin stjohnxxiiibulletin@gmail.com Please email your bulletin submissions on or before Monday at noon.

COUNCILS & LEADERSHIP

Finance Council Jim Allan, Jim Francis, Michelle Poisson, Cheryl Roza, Fred Schneider & Jack Templin.

Parish Council Mark Cochran, Denise Zuzow-DeKett, Maureen Franklin, Chuck Sudekum & Jim Vote.

Parish Leadership Team Pam Condron, Shane Foley, Maureen Franklin & George Salloum.

PRAYER REQUESTS

WEEKLY READINGS

St. John XXIII Parish has several ways in which we support each other in special personal prayer. Prayer requests and Mass intentions are accepted at the parish office. Mass Intentions are dedicated to the intentions of the petitioner and are mentioned out loud during the Prayers of the Faithful. Intentions for Mass may be for the support of the sick, for repose of the soul of a loved one, in thanksgiving, on the occasion of an anniversary or for other special intentions.

Jack Flanagan, Olga Hanzek, John Waling, Victor Waling, Eileen Roy, Dennis Sokol, Bob Frank, Joe Zasa, Enrico “Ricky” Canini, Ann Donoghue, Patricia Griffin, Fr. Larry Kaiser, Evelyn Martin and Bob Witt request your prayers.

Pray for our priests, nuns, and those who do God’s work.

Remember in your prayers all those affected by the coronavirus throughout the world.

Pope Francis’ Prayer Intention for January 2021: Human Fraternity—May the Lord give us the grace to live in full fellowship with our brothers and sisters of other religions, praying for one another, open to all.

REST IN PEACE

Barjas Haddad Esther Strohmer, the

Mother of Lisa Kirk Honesto Aquino, the

Brother-in-law of Erlinda Sallador

Sr. Mary Finn HVM Stephen Schifano

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Saturday, Jan. 16 at 4:00 p.m. Virginia Pezak By Family Robert Schneider By Fred & Renee

Schneider Giuliana Montebelli By Graziano

Canini

Sunday, Jan. 17 at 9:30 a.m. John and Mary Ritz By Family Giuliana Montebelli By Graziano

Canini

Tuesday, Jan. 19 at 9:30 a.m. Giuliana Montebelli By Graziano

Canini

Wednesday, Jan. 20 at 6:30 p.m. Giuliana Montebelli By Graziano

Canini

Thursday, Jan 21 at 12 p.m. Giuliana Montebelli By Graziano

Canini

Saturday, Jan. 23 at 4:00 p.m. Milford Schneider By Fred & Renee

Schneider Bob Dziadzio By Wife, Rita The Special Intention of Sylvia

Majkowski By Stella W., Marie T., & Sr. Barb

Peter and Genevieve Mucha By Son, Richard

Carolyn May By Friend, Richard Mucha

Sunday, Jan. 24 at 9:30 a.m. Maxine Vrtis (Anniversary) By

Marcia Allen Bill Condron (1st Anniversary) By

Wife, Pam Giuliana Montebelli By Graziano

Canini Jose Miraflores (1st Anniversary) By

The Sallador Family

AGGIORNAMENTO! By Fr. Greg Piatt

This weekend St. John XXIII Parish is selling

tickets to its CSA Raffle where the Grand Prize is $5,000.

The raffle will only have 150 tickets, and a ticket will cost $100 each. Up to five people can buy into one ticket and split the prize if they win. According to Michigan law, all 150 tickets need to be sold or the raffle then changes to a 50/50 raffle.

The drawing will be on Palm Sunday, March 28.

The parish holds the raffle annually to raise money to meet its Catholic Services Appeal target of $46,470. Buy a ticket and get a chance to win $5,000 while helping our parish meet our CSA target.

+++

Next Sunday, the parish Scripture Study, Unleash the Gospel in Your Life, begins after the 9:30 a.m. Mass.

This will be the first parish program in 2021 for parishioners to grow their discipleship. So, if you can stay for about half-hour after Mass, please attend.

Look for more another program to start next month. St. John XXIII plans to begin during Lent talks about the faith after Wednesday’s 6:30 p.m. Mass.

+++

Lastly, those who came to Mass last weekend saw our new church doors. For those who haven’t seen the doors, here’s a photo of our beautiful doors.

MASS INTENTIONS

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SOUPS FOR

A CHANGE Is back for the 6th year of

fundraising to help pay our CSA commitment!

SOUP MENU SCHEDULE

Jan. 16-17 • Navy Bean w/ Ham • Italian Sausage Zucchini • Chicken Noodle

Jan. 23-24 • Loaded Baked Potato • Wild Mushroom • Chicken Pot Pie

Jan. 30-31 • Minestrone • Garlicky White Cheddar

Bisque • Chicken Butternut

Feb. 6-7 • Brisket Chili • Tomato Basil • Calico Bean w/ Ham The soup cost is $10 per quart,

of which $5.50 is donated to our parish CSA campaign. Orders must be placed by 9 p.m. on Tuesday nights by phoning (248) 470-6611 or emailing jjvotes@aol.com. Due to the smaller capacity levels allowed in the building, there will be a smaller amount of extras for purchase after Mass, so PLEASE make sure that you pre-order so that you are not left out.

STEWARDSHIP We are grateful to all who make every effort to give consistently whether electronically or through the weekly offering basket. It really helps us plan and meet our budget.

Check out an easier way to give. Go to www.osvonlinegiving.com/4663. It’s simple! It’s safe! And it keeps God at the top of your giving list! If you would like to learn more about this easy, safe and secure way of giving, please contact the parish office or check out the website. DEC. 2020 Dec. 6 $4,418 Dec. 13 $5,162 Dec. 20 $2,979 Dec. 27 $2,197 Total $14,756 Monthly Needed $18,268 Monthly Shortage $3,512 Weekly Needed $4,567 Weekly Shortage $878 DEC. 27 37 Envelopes $1,406 13 E-Envelopes $630 Loose $104 Immaculate Conception $30 Maintenance $27 Sub Total $2,197 Catholic Charities $100 Religious Retirement $20 Total $2,317 CHRISTMAS 83 Envelopes $16,710 5 E-Envelopes $360 Loose $56 Flowers $70 Solemnity of Mary $90 Maintenance $25 Total $17,336 DEC. 31 10 Envelopes $765 Loose $24 Solemnity of Mary $253 First Offering $55 Immaculate Conception $30 Maintenance $40 Sub Total $1,137 Christmas $3,212 Total $4,349

JAN. 1 3 Envelopes $70 Loose $5 Solemnity of Mary 105 First Offering $45 Maintenance $5 Sub Total $230 Christmas $255 Religious Retirement $45 Total $530 JAN. 3 61 Envelopes $2,860 15 E-Envelopes $1,335 Loose $42 Solemnity of Mary $255 All Souls’ $30 All Saints’ $30 Immaculate Conception $55 First Offering $334 Maintenance $243 Christmas $2,820 Total $8,004 JAN. 10 71 Envelopes $5,037 12 E-Envelopes $565 Loose $138 Solemnity of Mary $280 All Souls’ $5 All Saints’ $5 Immaculate Conception $5 Flowers $5 First Offering $126 Maintenance $172 Sub Total $6,078 Religious Retirement $15 Total $6,093 Christmas $275

CSA Your generosity to our CSA appeal is appreciated. If you are paying by check, please make checks out directly to CSA and not St. John XXIII. JAN. 6 Goal $46,479 Pledged $27,179 Payments $24,972 Together we can envision our yellow brick road and see our sacrifices as gold bricks helping us reach our CSA goal of $46,479—our Emerald City!

Chicken Soup

for the

CSA!

5

ALL THINGS CATHOLIC By Fr. Greg Piatt

THE SANCTITY OF LIFE

For the Church, the sanctity of life has been sacred for 2,000 years

Since Christ founded the Catholic Church, the Church believes all life is sacred from conception until natural death.

And why is life sacred? The Church teaches that human life is sacred because of God's creative action from our very existence in the womb where life begins. And God's creative action is life-giving because it's the Father's will, and ending that life through abortion and euthanasia is a human decision and not God's will.

In God's creative action, there is a special relationship between us and our Creator—God wants us to know Him, love Him, do His will in this world, and be with Him forever in eternity.

As a Catholic, God needs to be our sole end, and the Church stresses that in its 1987 document, Donum Vitae (Gift of Life):

"God alone is the Lord of life from its beginning until its end: no one can under any circumstance claim for himself (or herself) the right directly to destroy an innocent human being."

Every year, The U.S. Catholic Bishops have declared the Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children in January. This year it's Friday.

This day of prayer wraps up this time where life is honored from the womb to the tomb as we mark the anniversary of

the 1973 Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade that legalized abortion in the United States.

With 60 million babies aborted in the United States since 1973, Catholics are called to observe this day of prayer with the penitential practices of prayer, fasting, and/or almsgiving.

While the abortion argument is highly politicized, this column will look at the Church's position on life through history.

The Church's stance against abortion developed early on and began with Christianity's Jewish roots. In the ancient Jewish world, the Israelites were surrounded by different cultures in Palestine that practiced infanticide, infant sacrifice, and abortion.

As a result, Jews of the Old and New Testaments and Orthodox Jews of today believe God is the author of human life. And His creative power produces the child in the womb and brings it to full life.

In the Roman Empire at the time of Jesus, abortion and infanticide were practiced, so much so that there was zero population growth in parts of the empire.

Just as the Jews, the early

Christians upheld the sanctity of life. Those first Christians upheld what the Jews believed, and the sacredness of life in the womb comes from the mystery of the Christ Incarnation in Mary's womb.

The Church believes that Jesus' life was sacred in Mary's womb, and thus all life is sacred from conception.

This is shown in Scripture: Mary's Visitation with Elizabeth. John the Baptist leaping in Elizabeth's womb attests to the sanctity of life and the unborn child's personhood. Elizabeth tells Mary: "Blessed, are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb."

There is a meme out on social media showing Mary meeting Elizabeth, and the meme says: "The first to recognize Jesus was an unborn child."

Given these Scriptural revelations, along with an emphasis on the Incarnation the Son of God, the Catholic Church has condemned the practice of abortion for 2,000 years.

Early Church writings condemned abortion, and they include The Didache, which dates from 80 AD. The Didache states: "You shall not procure an

abortion. You shall not destroy the newborn child."

Other early Church writings condemning abortion: the Epistle of Barnabas dating 138 AD and A Plea on Behalf of Christians by Early Church Father Athenagoras (133-190 AD).

For 2,000 years, the Catholic Church has consistently upheld the sanctity of life and condemned the act of abortion and euthanasia.

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By Fr. Greg Piatt

In January, we move on from Bethlehem and the Christmas season and are called to a journey into Jesus Time, the Church's Ordinary Time, to grow as disciples.

Now, Jesus is an adult, coming to the Jordan River to begin his public ministry of teaching, healing, forgiving, and on His way to the Cross on Mt. Calvary.

As Jesus grew up, He saw all types of sinful behavior. Jesus, who was sinless, saw all the sins, and He came forward to be baptized by St. John the Baptist in the Jordan River.

The Jordan represents the pool of sin, a kind of sin soup, from people washing away their sins in the river.

Think of used bathwater with Jesus immersing Himself into humanity's sins to take them on, soaked with them, and dying for them to redeem us.

As we enter Jesus' Time and hear of Jesus' Baptism, it should remind us of our own Baptism, where we were grafted onto Christ.

But we can't stay at the Baptismal font because we need to begin our journey as Christ's followers. It's on that journey that we hope to be transformed into a disciple, dropping our nets of life, just as the disciples did, and following Christ always.

It is during the ordinary time in our lives where life is mostly lived. It's where people are born, grow up, marry, age, and die. That's why, as disciples, we need to live the ordinary time in our life in Jesus' Time to experience a conversion to Christ.

Do you want to live a more Gospel-focused life? Well, beginning January 24, after the 9:30 a.m. Sunday Mass, join other parishioners for about a half-hour in the church to Unleash the Gospel in your life.

The Scripture program will begin with prayer, reading that Sunday’s Gospel, a short history and context on the Gospel, group discussion, and a closing prayer.

If you have been looking to strengthen your faith or discuss issues of faith in your life, this is an opportunity in this time of pandemic to do this in the church after the 9:30 a.m. Mass. We hope you’ll attend to Unleash the Gospel in your life.

PEACE & JUSTICE When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the

Lord commanded him... Matthew 1:24

Pope Francis has declared 2021 as the Year of St. Joseph. In addition to being the Patron of the Universal Church, St. Joseph is the saint to pray to for peace and justice issues.

St. Joseph is associated with workers, immigrants, refugees, persecuted Christians, the poor and homeless, as well as the sick and the dying. To name just one example of his powerful intercession, prayers to St. Joseph saved Sicily from famine during the Middle Ages.

If you are interested in learning more about St. Joseph, search for “Year of Joseph” at www.vaticannews.va. For a comprehensive book on the virtues of St. Joseph, visit www.consecrationtostjoseph.org.

Last weekend, St. John XXIII Parish’s Society of St. Vincent de Paul held its second bottle and can drive since fall last as parishioners generously donated plastic

garbage bags full of returnables.

Hampered by the Coronavirus pandemic, like many organizations, the Vincentians held the drive to raise funds to help those in our area that are in need.

Last fall’s drive on returnable cans and bottles raised more than $1,300 for our parish’s Vincentians, who help people with emergency rent and utility payments and food, among other things.

ST. VINCENT DE PAUL BOTTLE DRIVE

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LET GO & LET GOD! By Laura Scanlan

As one can see, the first reading and the Gospel have the same theme, "Come Follow Me." In the first reading, Samuel does not recognize that God is calling him. Why not? Samuel's mother, Hannah, prayed for a son. She promised God that she would dedicate him to the Lord if she had a son and leave him at the temple. Once he was old enough, Hannah kept her promise. Samuel was dedicated to the Lord, not called by the Lord, so he did not know God's voice, like Abraham and Isaiah did. Once Eli told Samuel that it was God calling him, he responded quickly to the call.

This week's Gospel is St. John's version of the apostles' call; however, unlike the other Gospels, these apostles follow Jesus instead of being called. The scene opens with John the Baptist standing with two of his disciples when Jesus walks by. When John refers to Jesus as the "Lamb of God," John's disciples immediately leave him to follow Jesus. It is as if John has fulfilled his responsibility to these two men. He has helped them to recognize Jesus.

Jesus turned and saw that they were following him and said to them, "What are you looking for?" They said to him, "where are you staying?" Jesus tells them, "Come, and you will see." To me, this response of Jesus certainly did not answer their question. In this sense, stay means "remain," referring to the mutual, abiding relationship with the Father, Jesus, the Spirit, and believers. Jesus does not tell them where he "stays" but invites them to see for themselves, and they "remain" with him. This is discipleship.

Does Jesus remain with us in our hearts? Do we share this Jesus with others in word or deed? Do we Let Go and Let God be a part of our daily activities? The year has just started. There is still time!

Facebook Post of the Week ANNIVERSARY MASS

Saturday, Feb.13, 2021, at 4 pm You may ask how we can have an Anniversary

Mass during the pandemic. I hated not holding this Mass because I am sure we have a lot of anniversary couples this year. So, let’s see how we can do this:

• The anniversary couple and their family can sit in one pew.

• Pews are 6-ft apart. • We can use the whole church for this Mass and

the church hall for non-Anniversary parishioners if we need to.

• Pictures are taken of individual couples. • We will not have you come forward when we call

your name, and we will ask you to stand in your pew.

• We will have flowers as usual. • Instead of dinner, there will be Meals after Mass

for take-out.

So, what do you think?

On Saturday, February 13, 2021, we will be celebrating our Anniversary Mass. This is an open invitation to all St. John XXIII couples celebrating their 1st, 5th, 10th, 15th, 20th, 25th, 30th, 35th, 40th, 45th, 50th + and above in 2021. Couples who have been married 50 + years deserve to celebrate their anniversary every year at this annual Mass. We cordially invite you and your family to attend this Mass.

Please plan on attending.

Please complete the form below and return it as soon as possible either in the collection basket or mail it to the parish office.

Last Name ________________________________

Husband’s Name ___________________________

Wife’s Name ______________________________

Address __________________________________

Phone ___________________________________

What anniversary will you celebrate?____________

Month/Day ________________________________

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