Mass Handout 12 October 2014

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Holy Cross
Posts: 28
Joined: Fri Jul 25, 2014 9:51 pm

Mass Handout 12 October 2014

Post by Holy Cross »

â??Mass Mobsâ?? Aim To Keep Pews Full At Old Churches
In Detroit, a group of Catholics borrowed the idea of flash mobs for â??Mass mobsâ?￾ to help revitalize urban churches.
Every month a group called Detroit Mass Mobs picks a church, spreads the word on Facebook or other social media- and just like that, the church fills up with the buzz and the energy that it once had. St. Florian Catholic church is an eight-story, magnificent red brick building with priceless stained glass rose windows and vaulted granite columns that was built in 1908 by the Polish families who flocked here to work for Dodge, Ford, and Packard. It seats 1500 people, but normally only about 200 people attend noon Mass. On a recent Sunday, Thom Mann, an organizer with Detroit Mass Mob whoâ??s not a regular at St. Florian, had to get here early because, he says, â??thereâ??ll be standing room only.â?￾
â??People are upset that the churches are closing, but the simple reason is, people donâ??t go,â?￾ Mann says. â??When you have a church that seats 1500 people, and thereâ??s 100 people there or less, how are they going to keep them open?â?￾
The Detroit Mass Mob started earlier this year after Mann saw an article about a similar effort in Buffalo. The first event in Detroit was in April and drew 150 people. The Detroit Free Press ran an article right before the second event. â??And it doubled our attendance. We filled that church at 400.â?￾ Mann says. Nine-hundred came to the third Mass. And they started looking for bigger churches. At the recent Mass mob at St. Florian, 2000 people showed up.
â??Iâ??ve always wanted to see the insides of a lot of these places,â?￾ says Thom Kinney. Itâ??s his fifth Mass mob event. Kinney says there is something special about coming to Mass with so many other people. â??To be in attendance when itâ??s full, as opposed to just being sparse. Thereâ??s an electricity thatâ??s amazing,â?￾ he says.
â?? National Public Radio, (NPR) Morning Edition
Our little church of the Holy Cross might not seem, at first, to be likened to the magnificence of Detroitâ??s St. Florianâ??s... (which by the way, the larger Muslim community there have been eyeing/itching to take it over and transform it into a Mosque).... but likewise, not so much our Catholic visitors to the Island thank God!, but our own Catholic Islanders, summer and winter, are choosing to remain away from praying and worshipping together as a Catholic community here on The Beaver. Are we are losing sight of the Gift we have been given by the Lord Himself in His Presence in His Word and His presence in The Breaking of Bread. In this regard, St. Augustine addressed this in his encouragement to his first century Christian community; it is equally applies to us: â??Receive the Body of Christ.... Become who you are, the Body of Christ.â?￾
The reason might very well be, that we are losing sight of the precious Gift and the very need for the Eucharist. For whatever reason our Christian, Catholic community of Beaver Island summer and winter are choosing to stay away for whatever un-founded reasons.
Our little Island called The Beaver, as well as our historic Church of The Holy Cross nestled here in Lake Michigan, may seem small to outsiders, but to us Islanders, it rings with the magnificence of the largest of islands and Cathedrals. Yet, our doors, could likewise find themselves locked tight, should our Island Catholic community simply stay away. As in Detroit we also have Facebook, Beaver Island News on the net streaming events, The Beaver Beacon, The Northern Islander, our Beaver Island Forum and the fledgling radio station WVBI (100.1 FM). These social platforms, which are in place for us to use here on The Beaver, could be great helps for us and all our Christian church communities to fill up our pews for prayer together. It may very well take also the hands-on gift of goodwill from all of us to help each other to physically get to our places of worship. Holy Cross has had a very real taste of suffering when our numbers were way down missing the spark of the Spiritâ??s energy that the strength of numbers would surely bring. May we not miss this opportunity!
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Our Island Food Pantry/Our Island Treasures Resale Shop
Many of our Islanders have already left for the warmer winter shores... please be mindful of our â??Food Pantryâ?￾ housed in the Gregg Community Centre, and our Island Treasures Resale Shop. These are beautiful and necessary gifts for our Island Community....Please help keep their coffers filled.
â?￾For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was Thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger, and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothingâ?￾... (Matthew 25:35).

Charity is at the center of Christian discipleship. These words of Jesus reach into deep into the fabric of our minds and hearts. The release of love and compassion, to paraphrase, Pope Francis...â?￾is where we can recognize Christ because He smells like the beloved sheep He accompanies, and invites us to do the same.â?￾
This is the meaning of Godâ??s preferential love for the poor, for the stranger, and alien.
The preferential option for the poor may tell us nothing about the poor, or about the alien, (who are sinners like the rest of us), but it tells us a lot about God- or, at least about the God whom we worship. And it tells us a lot about ourselves, we who ourselves are but strangers and aliens â??on the road.â?￾

God Bless and Peace,-
Father Jim
kateg
Posts: 33
Joined: Fri Jul 20, 2012 6:10 pm

Post by kateg »

Father Jim,
I loved your post. And I totally agree. Living in the Detroit suburbs, we have experienced the sad closing and merging of many wonderful churches. I think about Holy Cross a lot and how our grandparents, parents and ourselves were baptized, made First communions, and were confirmed in that wonderful church. I don't think there are many island families who haven't been involved in those sacraments, as well as marriages or funerals at Holy Cross. As we watch Christians being murdered for their faith in Iraq and other countries, we have to realize how important it is to stand up and support our churches and our faith. I pray that Catholicism and Holy Cross continue to grow stronger every day.
Kathie McDonough-Gonyeau
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