FR. PIERRE S MESSAGE TO THE PARISH

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1 PARISH DIRECTORY Bishop Francis Kalabat Bishop of the Diocese of St. Thomas the Apostle of Detroit Fr. Pierre Konja Administrator Fr. Emanuel Rayes Retired in residence Linda Arabo Office Administrator Nancy Beba Pastoral Associate Office Hours Monday - Friday 8:00 am - 4:00 pm Tel: Fax: For masses schedule and information please see page 3. ONLINE GIVING Mother of God Parish offers online giving a web based electronic contribution application that is safe and secure. you can manage contributions online or continue having your offering envelopes mailed to you. To sign up for online giving please visit our website at This website will walk you through the process. Stay in touch with your parish on FACEBOOK Our Lady of Chaldeans Cathedral-Mother of God Chaldean Catholic Church July 31st, 2016 FR. PIERRE S MESSAGE TO THE PARISH 5th of Summer This week on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday all of the priests of the diocese will be on a retreat. We decided this year to go visit our church in Chicago, to show that we are one diocese, one people, and one church. As priests, it is very important for us to be men of prayer and men of community. We always discuss the importance of fraternity to help support each other s struggles and to encourage one another in the continuation of the preaching of Jesus Christ. Thus, when we take these few days away from our parish obligations, which we thoroughly love doing, it's time for us to join together as brothers, as priests with the same mission and the same heart, the heart of Jesus. The retreat consists of times of prayer, mass, talks and lectures, and time for personal prayer. There is also opportunity for us to pray with the Chaldean community in Chicago and for us as brothers, to enjoy fellowship with one another. البابا فرنسيس: ما هي مهام الروح القدس الثالث (continued on page 2) ان حلول الروح القدس على التالميذ هو حدث يتجدد مرارا الفتا إلى أن المسيح يواصل إرسال الروح المحيي إلى الكنيسة. الروح القدس يقوم بثالث مهام رئيسة: إنه يعلمنا يذك رنا ويجعلنا نتكلم. إنه معلم حياة وليس معلم عقيدة وحسب. إنه المعلم الداخلي الذي يقودنا في الدرب الصحيحة خالل ظروف الحياة التي نجتازها ويعلمنا كيف نتبع يسوع. كما أن الروح القدس يذك رنا بكل ما قاله لنا يسوع وهذا يعني أنه يساعدنا على الدخول في عمق معنى ومغزى الكلمات التي قالها الرب. وكل ذلك يتطلب منا ردا وكل ما كان هذا الرد سخيا كل ما أصبحت كلمات يسوع شهادة في داخلنا. الروح القدس يذكرنا بوصية المحبة ويدعونا إلى عيش هذه الوصية. إن المسيحي بدون ذاكرة ليس مسيحيا حقيقيا إنه أسير اللحظة التي يعيشها. بفضل عون الروح القدس يمكننا أن نفس ر الوحي الداخلي وأحداث الحياة في ضوء كلمات يسوع. كما تنمو في داخلنا حكمة الذاكرة حكمة القلب التي هي هبة من الروح القدس. الروح القدس يجعلنا نكل م هللا والبشر إنه يجعلنا نحاكي هللا بواسطة الصالة ونحاكي اآلخرين بواسطة الحوار األخوي (continued on page 2) 1 Mother of God Church Berg Road, Southfield, MI 48033

2 THE GOOD NEWS (Continued from page 1) I implore you to keep us in your prayers. You, as the people of God, deserve good, well-rounded, healthy, rested, and holy priests. The devil will continue to discourage us and to tempt us away from our vocation, but with your prayers and your sacrifices we will continue with the mission of the saints who have gone before us. (Continued from page 1) كما نرى فيهم أخوة لنا ونتفه م مخاوفهم وآمالهم. وعندما يدخل الروح القدس روح المحبة إلى أعماقنا يمكننا أن نصير عالمات وأدوات هللا الذي يحب يخدم ويهب الحياة. في يوم العنصرة أبصرت الكنيسة النور وانطلقت إلى األمام لتعلن على الجميع البشارة السارة. إنها الكنيسة األم التي تنطلق لتخدم لكن بدون الروح القدس ال وجود للرسالة وال وجود للكرازة باإلنجيل". Fr. Pierre Konja PRAYER FOR PRIESTS Gracious and loving God, we thank your for the gift of our priests. Through them, we experience your presence in the sacraments. Help our priests to be strong in their vocation. Set their souls on fire with love for your people. Grant them the wisdom, understanding, and strength they need to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. Inspire them with the vision of your Kingdom. Give them the words they need to spread the Gospel. Allow them to experience joy in their ministry. "كم أرغب أن تصبح األماكن ال تي تظهر فيها الكنيسة رعايانا وجماعاتنا بشكل خاص جزر رحمة في وسط بحر الال مبالة" البابا فرنسيس Help them to become instruments of your divine grace. We ask this through Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns as our Eternal Priest. Amen. 2

3 PARISH SCHEDULE AND WEEKLY INFORMATION BAPTISM: We celebrate Baptism at 2:00 pm on the 1st and 3rd Sunday of the month. Please call the parish office at least two weeks in advance to see if a date is available. ANOINTING OF THE SICK: Please call the parish office to make arrangements for Anointing or to receive the Eucharist. MARRIAGE: Please schedule at least six months before you plan to be married and before you make arrangements for the reception, please call the parish office to make an appointment with the priest to begin the necessary preparations. LITURGICAL SCHEDULE Saturday Vigil Mass 4:00 PM English Sunday Masses 8:30 AM عربي/ Arabic 01:11AM English 11:30 AM Morning Prayer 12:00 PM سورث/ Chaldean 7:00 PM English Weekday Masses 8:00 AM English at ECRC 9:30 AM Morning Prayer 10:00 AM سورث/ Chaldean NATURAL FAMILY PLANNING CLASSES First and third Wednesday of every even month from 7:30-9:30 pm. MARRIAGE CLASSES First, second and third Thursday of every odd month from 8:00-10:00 pm. Wednesday 5:00 PM Adoration 6:00 PM English Mass Confession 5-6 pm Wednesday 6-7 pm Sunday (or by appointment) Thank you to our parishioners for their contribution of ($3,551) on Sunday July 24th as a donation to our Chaldean church Mar Shimon Bar Sabbae in Georgia The Assyrian Chaldean Catholic Church in the Republic of Georgia FINANCIAL STATUS Sunday Goal: $6,000 Sunday Collection (July 24th): $4,979 Over/(Under): ($1,021) Monthly Online Donation Goal: $4,000 Monthly Online Collection (June): $1,025 Over/(Under): ($2,975) *Sign up for online donation at 3

4 Jesus Teaches with Parables The Lord Is My Shepherd. He Gives Me Everything I Need! 4

5 THE CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH PART ONE THE PROFESSION OF FAITH SECTION ONE "I BELIEVE" - "WE BELIEVE" CHAPTER THREE MAN'S RESPONSE TO GOD III. THE CHARACTERISTICS OF FAITH The necessity of faith faith" 52 in sharing the darkness of her son's suffering and death; and to so many others: "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith." Believing in Jesus Christ and in the One who sent him for our salvation is necessary for obtaining that salvation. 42 "Since "without faith it is impossible to please [God]" and to attain to the fellowship of his sons, therefore without faith no one has ever attained justification, nor will anyone obtain eternal life 'But he who endures to the end.'" 43 Perseverance in faith 162 Faith is an entirely free gift that God makes to man. We can lose this priceless gift, as St. Paul indicated to St. Timothy: "Wage the good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting conscience, certain persons have made shipwreck of their faith." 44 To live, grow and persevere in the faith until the end we must nourish it with the word of God; we must beg the Lord to increase our faith; 45 it must be "working through charity," abounding in hope, and rooted in the faith of the Church. 46 Faith - the beginning of eternal life 163 Faith makes us taste in advance the light of the beatific vision, the goal of our journey here below. Then we shall see God "face to face", "as he is". 47 So faith is already the beginning of eternal life: When we contemplate the blessings of faith even now, as if gazing at a reflection in a mirror, it is as if we already possessed the wonderful things which our faith assures us we shall one day enjoy Now, however, "we walk by faith, not by sight"; 49 we perceive God as "in a mirror, dimly" and only "in part". 50 Even though enlightened by him in whom it believes, faith is often lived in darkness and can be put to the test. The world we live in often seems very far from the one promised us by faith. Our experiences of evil and suffering, injustice and death, seem to contradict the Good News; they can shake our faith and become a temptation against it. 165 It is then we must turn to the witnesses of faith: to Abraham, who "in hope... believed against hope"; 51 to the Virgin Mary, who, in "her pilgrimage of faith", walked into the "night of ARTICLE 2 WE BELIEVE 166 Faith is a personal act - the free response of the human person to the initiative of God who reveals himself. But faith is not an isolated act. No one can believe alone, just as no one can live alone. You have not given yourself faith as you have not given yourself life. The believer has received faith from others and should hand it on to others. Our love for Jesus and for our neighbor impels us to speak to others about our faith. Each believer is thus a link in the great chain of believers. I cannot believe without being carried by the faith of others, and by my faith I help support others in the faith. 167 "I believe" (Apostles' Creed) is the faith of the Church professed personally by each believer, principally during Baptism. "We believe" (Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed) is the faith of the Church confessed by the bishops assembled in council or more generally by the liturgical assembly of believers. "I believe" is also the Church, our mother, responding to God by faith as she teaches us to say both "I believe" and "We believe". I. "LORD, LOOK UPON THE FAITH OF YOUR CHURCH" 168 It is the Church that believes first, and so bears, nourishes and sustains my faith. Everywhere, it is the Church that first confesses the Lord: "Throughout the world the holy Church acclaims you", as we sing in the hymn "Te Deum"; with her and in her, we are won over and brought to confess: "I believe", "We believe". It is through the Church that we receive faith and new life in Christ by Baptism. In the Rituale Romanum, the minister of Baptism asks the catechumen: "What do you ask of God's Church?" And the answer is: "Faith." "What does faith offer you?" "Eternal life." Salvation comes from God alone; but because we receive the life of faith through the Church, she is our mother: "We believe the Church as the mother of our new birth, and not in the Church as if she were the author of our salvation." 55 Because she is our mother, she is also our teacher in the faith. 5

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