Catholic Community of St. Jude at 801 North Bridge Street, DeWitt, MI 48820 US - Home

Welcome, Fr. Bob Irish!

 

 Bishop Boyea has decided to send Fr. Bob Irish to serve our parish community in place of Fr. Pieter Van Rooyen. Fr. Bob has been working in hospital ministry for a number of years, most recently at a Catholic hospital in Las Vegas, NV. Fr. Bob has decided to return to parish work within the Diocese of Lansing, and will begin his service to the parish on June 26, 2013. In turn, this will allow Fr. Pieter to begin his advanced degree work a year earlier than originally anticipated. Here are some words of greeting from Fr. Bob:

 

“Happy Easter to the family at St. Jude!  I grew up in Grand Ledge with 8 brothers and sisters and an even larger family with 24 nephews and nieces, 42 grand nephews and nieces and 6 great-grand nephews and nieces, many of whom still live in the mid-Michigan area.  I was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Lansing in March 1992. Prior to priesthood, I served as a police officer, professional minor league baseball umpire and high school teacher and coach. I have served St. John’s parish in Jackson, St. Patrick parish in Brighton, and as pastor of Holy Trinity Student Chapel in Ypsilanti. For the last 16 years I have ministered outside the diocese in Catholic healthcare. I spent the last 5 years as Vice President of Mission in a Catholic hospital in Las Vegas. There will be time to tell you more about my story and I look forward to hearing your story in the months to come.  I am humbled to be assigned to your parish community and look forward to my continued ministry as priest with all of you.  As this period of transition will occur on June 26, I ask that you keep both Fr. Dwight and me in your prayers as we each adapt and grow with our respective new community.”

 

Please help Fr. Bob to feel welcome here in our parish community. I know Fr. Bob from my first assignment at St. Thomas in Ann Arbor and used to help out when he was at Holy Trinity, Ypsilanti. I think his skills and priestly experience will be a great benefit to all. Let’s also wish Fr. Pieter well as he looks forward to his return to school.

 

Fr. Dwight

 

Parish Pictorial Directory

When the link opens it will ask you first for the number of subjects(people plus animals) that will be in your portrait.  Once you have selected a number the dates for portraits will lighten in the calendar, if you want a date in May, click the arrow on the calendar to advance it to May. All the available dates will lighten and you can choose from them.
Click here to sign up for an appointment time. To learn more about the Pictorial Directory see the article information. 

 

Memorial Day Mass in DeWitt City Cemetery

Memorial Day began in 1868 as a day toremember all those who died in the Civil War. Now it  honors all United Statescitizens who died in war. Unfortunately, that meaning ofMemorial Day often gets lost when we see that day as the “unofficial” start to our summerholidays.

Congress has encouraged Memorial Day as a time to remember all who have died in war (combatants and innocent civilians) and as a day to renew our efforts for just and lasting peace throughout the world. To mark this day, we will celebrate Mass in the DeWitt City Cemetery at 9:00 AM on Monday morning, May 27. Mass will be celebrated in section “D” of the cemetery, which is directly across Bridge Street from the church. This is also the area of the cemetery in which DeWitt’s memorial to its Civil War dead is located.

Please park in the church parking lot and walk across Bridge Street to the cemetery. Please reserve parking in the cemetery only for those with mobility problems. Bring lawn chairs forseating. At Mass we willremember all those who have died and a special prayer for visiting the grave of a loved one will beavailable for quiet prayer after Mass. If it’s raining at 8:00 AM that morning, Mass will becelebrated in the church. Mass will be followed by coffee and donuts in the community center.

 

Take Time to Make Appointments with God this Summer—and All Year ‘Round

Remember that even when summer vacation begins, we don’t take a vacation from our need to thank God for all our blessings, because God never takes a vacation from loving us. The summer is a perfect time for us to help our children and young people understand that faith is one of the highest priorities in our life and in theirs. Their opportunities to be involved in sports and many other activities will be only for a very small part of their lives. Their need to be involved in the life of our parish community is both for now and for eternity—literally. Long after soccer and baseball and dance and gymnastics have faded into memory, the need for a strong, living, loving relationship with God will see each of us through both the most enjoyable and most challenging times of our lives. That relationship with God is formed in large part through making sure that our shared faith is a lived, outward reality every day (and every Sunday!).

With the busy-ness of everyday life, I encourage everyone to make it a priority to “make appointments with God.” We make and keep many other kinds of appointments on our calendars, and our time with God should be a choice, rather than just something we squeeze in when we can or only when it is convenient. “Making an appointment with God” means sitting down with the family schedule(s) and seeing how Mass here at St. Jude (or visit www.masstimes.org for wherever your travels may take you) will be a part of your regular weekly schedule—year-round. With three Mass times available through the summer and with the resumption of the Sunday evening Mass the Sunday after Labor Day, there should be ample opportunity to make sure thanking God by coming to church together as a family is part of the usual routine—and a good   expectation.

Beyond taking the time and effort to make and keep appointments with God, you may wish to make Saturday evening or Sunday morning Mass a real family event. Make breakfast or dinner. Spend some quality family time together before and after Mass, enjoying one another’s company. These summer times and opportunities to be together are a precious gift and something that we shouldn’t let slip away.

 

6PM Sunday Mass 

The Sunday evening Mass will go on its summer vacation beginning Sunday, May 26, and will return Sunday, September 8, the Sunday after Labor Day.

 

Offertory Envelope Booklets Now Available for Pick-up

Our 2013-2014 annual offertory envelope booklets are now available for pick-up in the parish hall. Picking up your annual envelope booklet helps to save the parish almost $2000 in postage!

 

If You Are Hospitalized at Sparrow, Lansing

Sparrow Hospital has recently implemented an electronic medical records system for all its patients. If you are hospitalized at Sparrow, make sure to have your record note that you are Catholic, that you belong to St. Jude, and whether or not you wish to have communion brought to you by one of the many laypeople who do so on a daily basis. Without these vital pieces of information, we won’t be informed that you are hospitalized.

It is also very helpful to have a family member or friend (with your permission) call the parish offices to let us know that you have been admitted to the hospital, as there can be some lag-time before we are notified by Sparrow. Making sure to let us know here at the parish and making sure to inform the folks at Sparrow is the best way to make sure these bases are covered.

I and the other members of the pastoral staff are happy to come visit folks at any of our area health care facilities, but it’s best if you or someone you love let us know, rather than assuming that the hospital or care facility either can or will share that information with us. Because of HIPPA privacy laws, the sharing of such information is no longer automatic.

 

 

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