Dear Friends in Christ,
Lent 2017. A time of grace, a time of receiving from God.
I think that Lent is my favorite Season of the Church year. Not so
much because I’m hooked on fasting or giving things up. I’m actually
not very good at that, truth be told. Which makes me glad Lent comes
around again each year to give me another try.
Rather, Lent is my favorite season because it’s a lot like life. We don’t always get what
we want, and really that’s for the best (fasting and abstinence). We should be serving
others all year round, not only during Lent (almsgiving), and Lent is a great time to do
just that. I don’t mean only giving to the Rice Bowl or the Catholic Relief Services, important as those are. I mean actually going out and serving someone in need with our
own hands, our own time. And prayer. So often in our lives prayer can happen in fits
and starts. How many of us have wanted to read Scripture more, only to find a few
months later that we have already allowed our practice of reading the Word of God to
be consumed by the busyness of life (prayer). Or we have committed to spending ten
minutes every morning just chatting with Jesus, only to find that our chats have been interrupted so often they rarely happen?
Lent is a lot like life. We know that Lent always ends with Easter, with the joy of the
Resurrection of Jesus. And indeed, that joy is experienced throughout the Lenten Season, as every Sunday of the year is a little Easter, a day to celebrate the Resurrection.
Lent is so very real. We are need of a Savior; the grace and love of God isn’t just icing
on the cake, it’s something we need. And we need as well to work hard and fight to receive and stay in that grace of God. Let’s make this the best Lent ever, a graced Lent, a
time of receiving from God.
Yours in Christ,
Fr. Scott Nolan
Liturgical and Sacramental Dates and Times
MASS DATES & TIMES
WEEKEND MASS SCHEDULE
Saturdays at 4:30p.m.
Sundays at 8:30 & 10:30a.m.*
*Youth Mass will be Sunday, March 26
during the 10:30a.m. Mass. Qualified and
trained youth are needed for this Mass.
Please contact Nancy Chandler in the Parish Office if your child is able to serve as a
Eucharistic Minister and/or Lector.
ASH WEDNESDAY
Wednesday, March 1, 2017
6:45a.m., 8:30a.m.*, 5:30p.m.
Each Mass will also include the distribution
of Ashes.
*Designates School Mass
PALM SUNDAY
Saturday, April 8, 2017, 4:30p.m.
Sunday, April 9, 2017, 8:30 & 10:30a.m.
CHRISM MASS*
Tuesday, April 11, 2017, 7:00p.m.
*Celebrated at the Cathedral of St. Andrew
This is a ticketed event and therefore not
open to the public.
HOLY THURSDAY
Thursday, April 13, 2017, 7:00p.m.
GOOD FRIDAY
Friday, April 14, 2017, 1:30p.m.
HOLY SATURDAY
(Easter Vigil)
Saturday, April 15, 2017, 8:30p.m.
EASTER SUNDAY
Sunday, April 16, 2017, 8:30 & 10:30a.m.
RECONCILIATION TIMES
WEEKLY RECONCILIATION TIMES
Tuesdays from 5:30 to 6:30p.m.
Saturdays from 3:30 to 4:00p.m.
THE LIGHT IS ON FOR YOU:
AN EVENING OF PENANCE
Thursday, March 16, 2017
5:00 to 8:00p.m.
RECONCILIATION SERVICE WITH
INDIVIDUAL CONFESSIONS
Sunday, March 19, 2017
3:00 to 5:00p.m.
Father Nolan and area pastors will be
available to hear individual confessions
after a short Reconciliation Service.
Giving of our Time, Talent, and Treasure
The foundational call of Christians to charity is a frequent theme of the Gospels. During Lent, we are asked to focus more intently on "almsgiving," which means
donating money or goods to the poor and performing other acts of charity. As one of
the three pillars of Lenten practice (pray, fast, give), almsgiving is "a witness to fraternal
charity" and "a work of justice pleasing to God." (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no.
2462).
There are several special opportunities for almsgiving through donations to Church
ministries for which collections are conducted during the Lenten season including:
CRS RICE BOWL: Join our parish community - and
nearly 14,000 Catholic communities across the United
States - in a life-changing Lenten journey with CRS Rice
Bowl. Pick up your family’s rice bowl from the back of
church the First Weekend of Lent (March 4 & 5).
CATHOLIC RELIEF SERVICES: The Catholic Relief Services Campaign will be held March
25 & 26, 2017. Please watch the bulletin or visit the Catholic Relief Services website at
www.crs.org to learn more about what the campaign financially supports.
CHILDREN’S OFFERTORY ENVELOPES: Grab a few envelopes - or more - for your child
and begin to teach them about Stewardship and ways to offer their Time, Talent, and
Treasure to the Church. Envelopes are available in the back of the church.
CATHOLIC SERVICES APPEAL (CSA) 2017: The annual
Catholic Services Appeal (CSA) draws together all
Catholics in the Diocese of Grand Rapids in a unique
way in the service of the Lord. Every financial gift to
the CSA helps sustain programs that would not otherwise be possible through one individual or parish. In a
time when our world is becoming increasingly secularized, these works of evangelization, charity, and education carry a renewed importance, both in our 11-county diocese
and throughout the world. This year, our parish will be participating in an earlier Lenten
campaign. An informational packet will be mailed to you around March 20. We humbly
ask that you prayerfully consider your gift to this year’s appeal. Thank you, in advance,
for your continued generosity!
ELECTRONIC GIVING: Did you know the parish of St. Stephen offers online and electronic giving, making it even more convenient for you to fulfill your call to Stewardship
in the Church? Your gift can be given on a recurring basis or as a one-time gift using
your credit card or through your checking or savings account. Please visit
www.ststephenparish.com/donate to download the Electronic Giving Form. Kindly contact Lora Bennett in the Business Office with any questions at (616) 243-8998 ext 203.
Keeping a Holy Lent
“The Word is a gift. Other persons are a gift.” Pope Francis’s 2017 Lenten Message
LENTEN SCRIPTURE SERIES WITH FR. SCOTT: All are invited to join Fr. Scott as he leads
us in prayer with Scripture this Lenten season through Collatio - studying the Bible in the
context of a community of faith that can deepen and enrich the experience of individual
study. This series will be held on every Monday during March (6, 13, 20, and 27) at
7:00p.m. in the church.
STATIONS OF THE CROSS: The Stations of the Cross will be prayed every Friday at
6:00p.m. in the church. This year, the Living Stations of the Cross will be prayed on Friday, April 14 at 12:30p.m. Volunteers are needed to participate at Biblical characters.
Please contact Nancy Chandler in the Parish Office for more information and/or to volunteer.
LENTEN SOUP SUPPERS: On Fridays during Lent, everyone is invited to
enjoy a supper of vegetarian soup and bread immediately following the
Stations of the Cross. This year’s host schedule is as follows: March 3 Scout Group; March 10 - Knights of Columbus; March 17 - Ladies’ Thursday Morning Bible Study Group; March 24 - Teachers of St. Stephen
School; March 31 - St. Stephen Choir; April 7 - Spring Break (supper will be offered only
if the demand requires it).
BEST LENT EVER® WITH MATTHEW KELLY: We all know the things that make us happy, but we don’t always do them. Lent is an opportunity to change that. This year, we
invite you to do something different. Sign up for Best Lent Ever, a FREE, video-based
email program featuring internationally acclaimed speaker and New York Times bestselling author Matthew Kelly. From Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday, Matthew will help
you identify what stands between you and happiness...and what to do about it. Are you
ready for your best Lent ever? Sign up online at dynamiccatholic.com/bestlentever/.
WORD ON FIRE WITH BISHOP ROBERT BARRON: Exciting news!
Once again, Bishop Barron will be offering daily email reflections
throughout the season of Lent. Each day from Ash Wednesday through
Easter, Bishop Barron will send you a short email with an uplifting reflection pertaining to the daily Gospel reading, uniting us all even more with
the Church’s sacred liturgy. The best part? It’s TOTALLY FREE! Sign up at
www.lentreflections.com and join Bishop Barron and over 300,000 people on this journey through Lent.
YOUTH GROUP: The Middle School and High School Youth Groups will take a short
break during Lent and the first few weeks of the Easter Season while Brittany is on maternity leave. Stay tuned for more details on the year-end party!
Keeping a Holy Lent
One of the wonderful things about Youth Ministry is the countless resources available to
help “bring teens closer to Christ.” One of my very favorites is LifeTeen, whose mission
statement is just that - bringing teens closer to Christ. The following article is just a small
taste of the vast content you can find on their blog of articles for young and old at
lifeteen.com/blog. I hope you enjoy one of my personal favorites.
- Brittany Renne, Coordinator of Religious Education and Youth Ministry
When Lent Feels Joy-Less: 7 Tips to Make it Joyful
by ELLIE BORKOWSKI
Here we are again. Lent — a season for Christians that often brings thoughts of
despair, loneliness, and (sometimes unwilling) sacrifice. We focus on what we are going
to give up — maybe it’s ice cream, maybe it’s Netflix, maybe it’s picking your nose in
public — whatever “it” is, and I often go through Lent thinking about how horrible the
rest of the season is going to be because I’m going to miss my daily dose of Netflix.
But I want this Lenten season to be different. I want to go through Lent with serious focus and attention while also preparing for His (and my) joyous rebirth. Here are 7
things I’m trying this year to find joy in Lent:
1. Take a break on Sundays: A great way to remember the joy that is coming after Lent is
to celebrate it on Sundays. Every Sunday, no matter the liturgical season, is a celebration
of Christ’s resurrection. We celebrate His victory over sin and death, and we praise Him
saying, “thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:57). We normally celebrate by going to Mass and taking a day of rest, but
during Lent, we can have extra celebration and take a break from our Lenten fast. Plus,
there are two Solemnities that fall during Lent. These two days are treated as Sundays, so
there is no need to fast: The Solemnity of Saint Joseph (March 19), and the Annunciation
(March 25).
2. Give up and give of: Lent is a great time to give of ourselves, in remembrance of how
Jesus gave of Himself for us. One great way to give of ourselves is to offer ourselves in
service to God’s children. When Lent falls during a time that can contain the coldest
months of the year, helping those without a home can be especially meaningful. When
we feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked,
care for the ill, visit the imprisoned, we do these things to Christ (Matthew 25:40). To
bring joy to those least brothers and sisters is to bring joy to Christ, and ultimately bring
joy back to our hearts.
3. Make time for praise: Whenever I am feeling most tempted, I like to make time for
God, especially through music. I take a little time out of my schedule to just be with
Him who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13). While I enjoy praise of the musical variety,
there are many other ways to praise God. We can spend time in silent prayer, read
Scripture, go to adoration, go to daily Mass, do an Lent-inspired dance or any number of
Keeping a Holy Lent
other things that bring glory to God. When we find joy in Who God is, our hearts are
filled with that same joy.
4. Read a book: I have a long list of books that I have been meaning to read for a while,
but haven’t made the time to pick up recently. With the extra time I’ll have now during
Lent, it will be harder to make the excuse that I don’t have the time to read. A couple
books that I have read recently that brought me joy in realizing what a beautiful Church
we are a part of were Rediscover Catholicism (Matthew Kelly) and Rome Sweet Home
(Scott Hahn).
5. Challenge yourself If you’re anything like me, you might tend to fall into a rut of giving up the same thing each Lent out of convenience. Well, I gave up soda last year and
it wasn’t so bad, so… But if it “wasn’t so bad,” then maybe it’s time to step it up. Think
about the last time you challenged yourself in some area. When you finished the challenge, you felt good, right? You had accomplished something that you weren’t sure that
you could do, and it felt good to prove yourself wrong! Challenging yourself during Lent
can help you to both grow closer to God and bring more joy to your heart. Possible
challenges: going to daily Mass more, going to adoration more, training for a race, committing to a longer period of daily prayer, etc.
6. Read the Gospel A great way to hear God’s words for your life is to pick up His Word
and read it. But don’t just take my word for it, here’s what Pope Francis had to say,
“Reading the Gospel every day reminds us of the joy that Christ offers and how we can
experience it today.” You could start with following along with the daily readings.
7. Find joy in the little things As much as doing more for God’s glory will help you grow
closer to Him, a lot of what He does for us goes unnoticed. By praying for the Holy Spirit to open our eyes, we can find more reasons to praise Him and more reasons to find
joy. Maybe it’s in the way the breeze feels against your skin, the friend you reconnected
with, a cool opportunity that came your way, a good grade, a song you like, or anything
else that brings you joy in your day—don’t forget to thank God for it. When we form a
habit of gratitude, praise flows naturally and we see God’s blessings all over our lives.
Raise up the Needs of the Parish in Prayer
We ask that you keep in your Lenten prayers those published in the bulletin prayer list
and all the unspoken special prayer requests of our parish. Bless us all, O Lord, and eve-
ryone for whom we pray: the homeless, those who are suffering in any way, the dying,
those mourning and grieving, and all who need God’s mercy. Give us strength, comfort,
faith, and hope that You will embrace us with Your peace and love always.
Dates to Remember & Upcoming Events
Baptism Weekend - Sunday, March 12, 2017 following the 10:30a.m. Mass
The Light is ON for You: An Evening of Penance - Thursday, March 16, 2017, 5:00 to
8:00p.m. in almost every parish of the diocese. Visit www.dioceseofgrandrapids.com/
penance for more details.
Reconciliation Service with Individual Confessions - Sunday, March 19, 2017, 3:00 to
5:00p.m.
SHINE Rally (Middle School Youth Group) - Saturday, March 25, 2017, 1:30 to
8:30p.m. at West Catholic High School. All 6th - 8th grade students are welcome, however 8th grade students being Confirmed this year must attend as part of the Confirmation process. Cost is $25. Deadline to register is March 18.
Youth Mass - Sunday, March 26, 2017, 10:30a.m.
Confirmation Brunch - Sunday March 26, 2017 immediately following the 10:30a.m.
Mass
Confirmation - Tuesday, March 28, 2017, 7:00p.m. at the Cathedral of St. Andrew.
Spring Break - April 3 - 7, 2017
Divine Mercy Sunday - April 23, 2017
Youth Mass - Sunday, April 23, 2017, 10:30a.m.
Baptism Weekend - Sunday, April 23, 2017 following the 8:30a.m. Mass
First Communion - Sunday, May 7, 2017 during the 10:30a.m. Mass
May Crowning - Wednesday, May 10, 2017 during the 8:30a.m. School Mass
Mother’s Day - Sunday, May 14, 2017
Baptism Weekend - Saturday, May 20, 2017 following the 4:30p.m. Mass
Graduating Senior Breakfast and Mass - Sunday, May 21, 2017 following the 10:30a.m.
Mass
Pentecost - June 4, 2017
8th Grade Graduation Mass - Tuesday, June 6, 2017 at 6:30p.m.
Parish Block Party - Sunday, June 11, 2017 Time TBD
Father’s Day - Sunday, June 18, 2017
Baptism Weekend - Sunday, June 18, 2017 following the 10:30a.m. Mass
High School Mission Trip - June 25 - 30, 2017, Nashville, TN; $175 per student. Contact
the Parish Office for additional information.
Baptism Weekend - Sunday, July 9, 2017 following the 8:30a.m. Mass
Baptism Weekend - Saturday, August 5, 2017 following the 4:30p.m. Mass