Author Archives: Tammy Houser
The Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, according to John
Gospel JN 18:1—19:42
Jesus went out with his disciples across the Kidron valley
to where there was a garden,
into which he and his disciples entered.
Judas his betrayer also knew the place,
because Jesus had often met there with his disciples.
So Judas got a band of soldiers and guards
from the chief priests and the Pharisees
and went there with lanterns, torches, and weapons.
Jesus, knowing everything that was going to happen to him,
went out and said to them, “Whom are you looking for?”
They answered him, “Jesus the Nazorean.”
He said to them, “I AM.”
Judas his betrayer was also with them.
When he said to them, “I AM, ”
they turned away and fell to the ground.
So he again asked them,
“Whom are you looking for?”
They said, “Jesus the Nazorean.”
Jesus answered,
“I told you that I AM.
So if you are looking for me, let these men go.”
This was to fulfill what he had said,
“I have not lost any of those you gave me.”
Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it,
struck the high priest’s slave, and cut off his right ear.
The slave’s name was Malchus.
Jesus said to Peter,
“Put your sword into its scabbard.
Shall I not drink the cup that the Father gave me?”
to where there was a garden,
into which he and his disciples entered.
Judas his betrayer also knew the place,
because Jesus had often met there with his disciples.
So Judas got a band of soldiers and guards
from the chief priests and the Pharisees
and went there with lanterns, torches, and weapons.
Jesus, knowing everything that was going to happen to him,
went out and said to them, “Whom are you looking for?”
They answered him, “Jesus the Nazorean.”
He said to them, “I AM.”
Judas his betrayer was also with them.
When he said to them, “I AM, ”
they turned away and fell to the ground.
So he again asked them,
“Whom are you looking for?”
They said, “Jesus the Nazorean.”
Jesus answered,
“I told you that I AM.
So if you are looking for me, let these men go.”
This was to fulfill what he had said,
“I have not lost any of those you gave me.”
Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it,
struck the high priest’s slave, and cut off his right ear.
The slave’s name was Malchus.
Jesus said to Peter,
“Put your sword into its scabbard.
Shall I not drink the cup that the Father gave me?”
So the band of soldiers, the tribune, and the Jewish guards seized Jesus,
bound him, and brought him to Annas first.
He was the father-in-law of Caiaphas,
who was high priest that year.
It was Caiaphas who had counseled the Jews
that it was better that one man should die rather than the people.
Simon Peter and another disciple followed Jesus.
Now the other disciple was known to the high priest,
and he entered the courtyard of the high priest with Jesus.
But Peter stood at the gate outside.
So the other disciple, the acquaintance of the high priest,
went out and spoke to the gatekeeper and brought Peter in.
Then the maid who was the gatekeeper said to Peter,
“You are not one of this man’s disciples, are you?”
He said, “I am not.”
Now the slaves and the guards were standing around a charcoal fire
that they had made, because it was cold,
and were warming themselves.
Peter was also standing there keeping warm.
The high priest questioned Jesus
about his disciples and about his doctrine.
Jesus answered him,
“I have spoken publicly to the world.
I have always taught in a synagogue
or in the temple area where all the Jews gather,
and in secret I have said nothing. Why ask me?
Ask those who heard me what I said to them.
They know what I said.”
When he had said this,
one of the temple guards standing there struck Jesus and said,
“Is this the way you answer the high priest?”
Jesus answered him,
“If I have spoken wrongly, testify to the wrong;
but if I have spoken rightly, why do you strike me?”
Then Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.
Now Simon Peter was standing there keeping warm.
And they said to him,
“You are not one of his disciples, are you?”
He denied it and said,
“I am not.”
One of the slaves of the high priest,
a relative of the one whose ear Peter had cut off, said,
“Didn’t I see you in the garden with him?”
Again Peter denied it.
And immediately the cock crowed.
Then they brought Jesus from Caiaphas to the praetorium.
It was morning.
And they themselves did not enter the praetorium,
in order not to be defiled so that they could eat the Passover.
So Pilate came out to them and said,
“What charge do you bring against this man?”
They answered and said to him,
“If he were not a criminal,
we would not have handed him over to you.”
At this, Pilate said to them,
“Take him yourselves, and judge him according to your law.”
The Jews answered him,
“We do not have the right to execute anyone, ”
in order that the word of Jesus might be fulfilled
that he said indicating the kind of death he would die.
So Pilate went back into the praetorium
and summoned Jesus and said to him,
“Are you the King of the Jews?”
Jesus answered,
“Do you say this on your own
or have others told you about me?”
Pilate answered,
“I am not a Jew, am I?
Your own nation and the chief priests handed you over to me.
What have you done?”
Jesus answered,
“My kingdom does not belong to this world.
If my kingdom did belong to this world,
my attendants would be fighting
to keep me from being handed over to the Jews.
But as it is, my kingdom is not here.”
So Pilate said to him,
“Then you are a king?”
Jesus answered,
“You say I am a king.
For this I was born and for this I came into the world,
to testify to the truth.
Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”
Pilate said to him, “What is truth?”
When he had said this,
he again went out to the Jews and said to them,
“I find no guilt in him.
But you have a custom that I release one prisoner to you at Passover.
Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?”
They cried out again,
“Not this one but Barabbas!”
Now Barabbas was a revolutionary.
Then Pilate took Jesus and had him scourged.
And the soldiers wove a crown out of thorns and placed it on his head,
and clothed him in a purple cloak,
and they came to him and said,
“Hail, King of the Jews!”
And they struck him repeatedly.
Once more Pilate went out and said to them,
“Look, I am bringing him out to you,
so that you may know that I find no guilt in him.”
So Jesus came out,
wearing the crown of thorns and the purple cloak.
And he said to them, “Behold, the man!”
When the chief priests and the guards saw him they cried out,
“Crucify him, crucify him!”
Pilate said to them,
“Take him yourselves and crucify him.
I find no guilt in him.”
The Jews answered,
“We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die,
because he made himself the Son of God.”
Now when Pilate heard this statement,
he became even more afraid,
and went back into the praetorium and said to Jesus,
“Where are you from?”
Jesus did not answer him.
So Pilate said to him,
“Do you not speak to me?
Do you not know that I have power to release you
and I have power to crucify you?”
Jesus answered him,
“You would have no power over me
if it had not been given to you from above.
For this reason the one who handed me over to you
has the greater sin.”
Consequently, Pilate tried to release him; but the Jews cried out,
“If you release him, you are not a Friend of Caesar.
Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.”
When Pilate heard these words he brought Jesus out
and seated him on the judge’s bench
in the place called Stone Pavement, in Hebrew, Gabbatha.
It was preparation day for Passover, and it was about noon.
And he said to the Jews,
“Behold, your king!”
They cried out,
“Take him away, take him away! Crucify him!”
Pilate said to them,
“Shall I crucify your king?”
The chief priests answered,
“We have no king but Caesar.”
Then he handed him over to them to be crucified.
So they took Jesus, and, carrying the cross himself,
he went out to what is called the Place of the Skull,
in Hebrew, Golgotha.
There they crucified him, and with him two others,
one on either side, with Jesus in the middle.
Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross.
It read,
“Jesus the Nazorean, the King of the Jews.”
Now many of the Jews read this inscription,
because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city;
and it was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek.
So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate,
“Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’
but that he said, ‘I am the King of the Jews’.”
Pilate answered,
“What I have written, I have written.”
When the soldiers had crucified Jesus,
they took his clothes and divided them into four shares,
a share for each soldier.
They also took his tunic, but the tunic was seamless,
woven in one piece from the top down.
So they said to one another,
“Let’s not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it will be, ”
in order that the passage of Scripture might be fulfilled that says:
They divided my garments among them,
and for my vesture they cast lots.
This is what the soldiers did.
Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother
and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas,
and Mary of Magdala.
When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved
he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son.”
Then he said to the disciple,
“Behold, your mother.”
And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.
After this, aware that everything was now finished,
in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled,
Jesus said, “I thirst.”
There was a vessel filled with common wine.
So they put a sponge soaked in wine on a sprig of hyssop
and put it up to his mouth.
When Jesus had taken the wine, he said,
“It is finished.”
And bowing his head, he handed over the spirit.
Here all kneel and pause for a short time.
Now since it was preparation day,
in order that the bodies might not remain on the cross on the sabbath,
for the sabbath day of that week was a solemn one,
the Jews asked Pilate that their legs be broken
and that they be taken down.
So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first
and then of the other one who was crucified with Jesus.
But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead,
they did not break his legs,
but one soldier thrust his lance into his side,
and immediately blood and water flowed out.
An eyewitness has testified, and his testimony is true;
he knows that he is speaking the truth,
so that you also may come to believe.
For this happened so that the Scripture passage might be fulfilled:
Not a bone of it will be broken.
And again another passage says:
They will look upon him whom they have pierced.
After this, Joseph of Arimathea,
secretly a disciple of Jesus for fear of the Jews,
asked Pilate if he could remove the body of Jesus.
And Pilate permitted it.
So he came and took his body.
Nicodemus, the one who had first come to him at night,
also came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes
weighing about one hundred pounds.
They took the body of Jesus
and bound it with burial cloths along with the spices,
according to the Jewish burial custom.
Now in the place where he had been crucified there was a garden,
and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had yet been buried.
So they laid Jesus there because of the Jewish preparation day;
for the tomb was close by.
2019 DSA Update
DSA 2019
Thank you to all who have pledged to the Diocesan Services Appeal. Sacred Heart 2019 DSA goal is $25,627.00.
To date we have 68 families, pledging $17,335.00 to DSA. This is 68% of our goal!
We ask that you please prayerfully consider your generous gift. Every gift is tax deductible. You can make a one time gift using cash, check or credit card or make a pledge to be paid over time on a schedule of your choosing. Envelopes can be found at the end of the pews and at the entrances in church, or you may use the envelope included in the DSA edition of FAITH magazine, or you may click here for the DSA brochure or click here for a pledge form.
If you would like to give your gift online, please click here.
2019 DSA Prayer
Loving and gracious God, we praise you and we thank you for the bountiful gifts that you have bestowed upon us.
You have called us to discipleship, to share your gift of salvation with everyone we meet.
Please bless our efforts to form our parish as a community of missionary disciples, united across the diocese in our commitment to go and announce the Gospel of the Lord.
Instill in us the courage to sow bountifully, without sadness or compulsion, so that we may produce a bountiful harvest in service to all and enduring forever.
Amen.
Please take a few moments to listen to Bishop Boyea Appeal for DSA.
SHS 5K
We are pleased to invite you to our eighth annual SHS 5K race. Exercise is an important part of good health, and every step we take leads us closer to being physically fit. Our students at SHS learn the importance of being spiritually, physically, and mentally fit. While participating in our running club activities, students race toward a healthier lifestyle.
5K Start time: 9:00 am
Running Runts 1k: 8:30 am
Truckin’ Tots: after the 5k
Packet Pick-Up begins at 7:15 am in the School Cafeteria (208 S. Market St. Hudson, MI)
5k Cost: $20.00
Running Runts 1k: $13.00
Truckin’ Tots Cost: $10.00
Fr. Todd Bulletin, April 21 2019
Dear Sacred Heart Family
Happy Easter!
It is a funny thing- we can have a hard time knowing exactly how to celebrate Easter. We just spent 40 days of Lent. That is a season that has clearly outlined parameters to enter into a penitential season to help us prepare for Easter through a renewed focus on fasting, prayer, and almsgiving. But now that we are here, at Easter, the Church doesn’t give us specific guidelines. They are simply to celebrate Jesus alive and present in our hearts, victorious over the realities of sin and death. The cues for how we are to celebrate this Season are to be found in the stories and encounters we will hear in the Gospel’s throughout Easter.
Immediately after Jesus’ resurrection He began showing up to the Apostles and disciples, often in times of their own fear or confusion. In a way that surprised and shocked them Jesus addressed people’s hurts, their fears, their lack of belief. All things that seemed insurmountable until they could be surrendered to His presence. Often, He was not recognized at first but He came and spoke the words each needed to hear. Over time they came to realize exactly who was present with them giving them the comfort and direction they needed. Even when the doors were locked, He would come in. We will meet all of these people as we move through Easter- Mary Magdalene , the disciples on the road to Emmaus, the twelve in the upper room, Thomas who wouldn’t/couldn’t believe, Peter on the shore of the Sea of Galilee.
This is exactly how we are meant o celebrate Easter. It is exactly how Jesus longs to come to us. Some of the graces of the Holy Season of Lent is that is brings us face to face with our wounds, our hurts, our sins, our fears, our doubts, our questions. Far from being a discouraging reality let this be the very foundation for celebrating Easter. Just like Jesus did after His resurrection invite Him into those places Lent highlighted that He might heal and make new. This Easter time invite Jesus intentionally again into your life, your heart. Like those who walked with Jesus and didn’t recognize that He had actually been with them for a while may this season be a time to realize just how close He is to us.
I will be gone this April 22nd-30th for my yearly retreat. My twin brother and I are going to a retreat center outside the twin cities for the week long retreat and then we will spend a couple days visiting our brother who is in seminary in St. Paul along with the other seminarians for the Diocese of Lansing studying there. Please keep us in your prayers and I will be praying for you!
Fr. Todd
Deacon’s Corner, April 21 2019
From the moment we walk into church today, we KNOW something wonderful has happened. We can see it and we can feel it. There are signs of new life. The Lenten purple and starkness are replaced with bright colors and flowers. The vestments are white and alleluias are everywhere. The church is crowded and the kids are excited. There is a buzz in the air saying This is the day the Lord has made! Let us rejoice and be glad! But, what happens when Mass is over and we’ve gone home; when the Easter ham and dessert are finished; when the company has left, and we begin to get ready for the routine of the week ahead? Do we really understand the significance of the day and what it means to our lives? Because without Easter, Christmas would just be another pagan holiday in December to celebrate the winter solstice.
Easter remembers the very foundation of Christianity: Jesus is raised from the dead and He is God. Those who believe share in a resurrection to new life. Today is so significant that we continue to celebrate the Easter Season for the next fifty days until God sends His Advocate to us, the Holy Spirit, on Pentecost. It was only natural for the very first followers of Jesus to hold this moment sacred, to celebrate and re-experience Jesus had risen and will always be with them.
His death occurred on the most important of all Jewish feasts: the Passover. His resurrection fulfilled all that the Passover had meant to them as Jews. It was an exodus, or passage, from the old times and oppression of slavery to spiritual freedom. Jesus was the Paschal Lamb (Pasch, from Hebrew Pesach, meaning “Passover”) slain and sacrificed to achieve this freedom. Jesus’ resurrection was the sign of the beginning of a New Covenant with God. A Covenant which frees us from the slavery of worldly wants, and promises us happiness. Happiness through spiritual growth from our sufferings, while being content with the blessings He has given us and sharing them with others.
What is Easter all about? It’s about our Christian roots and celebrating what Jesus did for us. As the Exsultet decrees on Easter Vigil “THIS IS THE NIGHT, WHEN CHRIST BROKE THE PRISON BARS OF DEATH, AND ROSE VICTORIOUS FROM THE UNDERWORLD. OUR BIRTH WOULD HAVE BEEN NO GAIN, HAD WE NOT BEEN REDEEMED!”
May you have a blessed and joyous Easter Season!
Deacon John
Principal Anne Atkin Bulletin, April 21 2019
Happy Easter
Upcoming Events:
April 26- Founders Day
Join us for Mass at 9:00, followed by a pancake breakfast with alumni in the Church Hall, a slideshow of SHS through the years and a look at our history.
May 19th- Grandparents Day
Grandparents arrive to school at 9:00. Tour the school with the students and visit the Scholastic Book Fair. Mass at 10:00, followed by an all school production in the Church Hall. Lunch provided by the SHS staff.
May 26th- Family Appreciation Day
11:00- All-school production in the Church Hall followed by a luncheon for our families and student celebration!
June 7th- 25 Cent Event
A ladies night out in the Church Hall. Doors open at 5:30. Bidding begins at 7:00.
June 8th- SHS 5K
Registration and packet pick-up begin at 7:15. Race starts at 9:00.
June 8th- Taste of Summer – Food Fair and Raffle
5:00-8:00- Sacred Heart Parish Parking Lot. Sample food from community amateur chefs. Listen to music and let the children enjoy fun activities. Raffle winners pulled at 8:00. It is easy and fun to be a food vendor. Contact Anne Atkin at the school if you can help. 517-448-6405 or email aatkin@sacredhearthudson.org
Alleluia, He is Risen,
Anne Atkin, Principal
Parish News & Upcoming Events
UPCOMING EVENTS at Sacred Heart
Sunday, April 28 ~ Called & Gifted ~ 1:00 – 3:00pm
Sunday, May 5 ~ First Communion ~ 11:00am Mass
Wednesday, May 8 ~ Confirmation ~ 7:00pm at Sacred Heart
Sunday, May 19 ~ Blessing of the Bikes ~ following the 11:00am Mass
Sunday, June 2 ~ Graduation Mass ~ 11:00am Mass
Friday, June 7 ~ SHS 5K, Food Fair & Raffle
Saturday, June 8 ~ SHS 5K, Food Fair & Raffle
Saturday, July 13 ~ SHS Annual Golf Outing
We are in need of snacks for the reception following the Easter Vigil on Saturday, April 20. There are sign up sheets in both entrances of the church. If you are able to help serve the food, please contact Linda Higgins at 517-286-6426.
We now have Wi-Fi in the parish hall.
Wi-Fi name: JCisLord
Password: 49247shh
Discover YOUR Spiritual Gifts!
“Whether extraordinary or simple and humble, charisms are graces of the Holy Spirit which directly or indirectly benefit the Church, ordered as they are to her building up, to the good of men, and to the needs of the world.” (CCC,799)
Join us in the Sacred Heart Parish Hall on Sunday, April 14 and April 28 from 1-3 pm for an Introduction to the Called and Gifted program. You will have an opportunity to take a Spiritual Gifts Inventory-to begin to discover your charisms and explore the Spiritual Gifts Discernment Program by Sherry Weddell.
The Michigan Monarchs are searching for Host Families for college baseball players who will be members of their team this summer. The Monarchs play in Adrian at Siena Heights University. The Monarchs are part of Catholic Baseball Players for Christ and play in the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League. The 8 Week season begins in early June and ends in late July. The players have their own transportation and are able to provide for themselves. If interested or you would like more information, please call 734-626-1166 or e-mail jim@lakeeriemonarchs.
“Send your Holy Spirit to form our parish as a community of missionary disciples…… guide me to deepen my commitment as a disciple of Jesus”…
PRAYER and PRAISE.. The next Prayer and Praise is scheduled for THURSDAY, MAY 2 from 7-9 pm in the St. Teresa of Calcutta Room in the St. Anthony Education Building in Hillsdale. Join us for SONG (mostly contemporary Christian), Prayer and Sharing how the Holy Spirit is acting in our lives. This month sharing will be from a seminar on how to hear God’s voice more clearly for yourself and the world around you. All are welcome. Invite a friend. JUNE 6 will be our final meeting until fall.
HEALING NOTES: Jesus promised, “These signs will accompany those who believe…they will lay hands on the sick and they will recover.” –Mark 16:17
Encounter Ministries will be offering the School of Healing on April 26 (evening) and April 27 at St. John the Evangelist Parish in Jackson. Presenters are Fr. Mathias Thelen (St. Patrick’s, Brighton) and Patrick Reis. To register or for more information visit encounterministries.us
Public Healing Service SATURDAY, APRIL 27 at 7:30 pm at St. Mary Star of the Sea in Jackson. Come and experience God’s supernatural love! All are welcome. No registration necessary.
Interchurch Ladies & Girls Brunch
May 11 ~ 10:00-12:00
Hudson Wesleyan Church
Guest Speaker Bronna Kahle, 57th District Representative
Anyone who belong to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun……….. II Corinthians 5:17
RSVP to 448-6411 or online at www.hudsonwesleyan.org/brunch.
Cost is a Free will donation.
A WEEKEND RETREAT FOR WOMEN
The women of Sacred Heart Parish are invited to St. Francis Retreat Center in DeWitt on April 26-28, 2019 for annual retreat. This retreat is a great opportunity for you to spend a weekend away from the distractions of daily life and focus on deepening your relationship with Christ in fellowship with other Catholics.
This year’s retreat theme is; “From Chaos to Order: A Scriptural Guide to Building a Life Giving Community.”
You may register by call St. Francis Retreat Center at 517-669-8321 or by visiting www.stfrancis.ws. The suggested offering for this retreat is $175.00.
Natural Family Planning builds strong families. It is medically safe, morally acceptable and highly effective. A class to learn more about NFP and the Billing Ovulation Method will be offered at St. Mary Star of the Sea, Immaculata Hall on Monday, May 6, 2019 from 7-9 pm. Pre-Registration is required. To register, please call the parish office at 517-784-7184 or Maria Ansett at 517-974-2330. Info on the Billing method is available online at www.billingslife.org or www.boma-usa.org