The Swap is FREE with no limit. You bring what you no longer use or want, than take what you need. Please sort clean and folded clothes by size. You are expected to unload the clothes that you bring and place onto marked tables. We ask that clothing be in gently used condition.

Bring family, friends, neighbors and co-workers. The more the better. All the remaining clothes will go to charity when the Swap is over.

Questions or if you can help contact Courtenay at 248-396-5132 or email at grabowski4@comcast.net.

Make a difference in the lives of mothers in our community by taking a baby bottle , filling it with your spare change (change, cash, or check) and bringing it back on Father’s Day, June 17. This simple act makes a lasting impact in the lives of women and babies by giving them an opportunity to learn, to grow, and to choose life. It may seem small, but the impact is huge. To learn more visit: www.crossroadspregnancy.org Questions, call Mary Beth Boucher, 248-391-2767.

We are looking for Christ the Redeemer parishioners to join us as Team Members / Fundraisers for this years walk. The Celebration takes place from June 2/3 at Friendship Park in Lake Orion. The money raised through Relay For Life helps to fight Cancer on all fronts. Help us celebrate those who have survived, remember those who have lost their fight, and provide means to fight back against Cancer. Contact Jim Jenkins 248-953-8484 or Jen Roncone 248-393-3955 for more information.

The Service Commission held the annual Baby Shower to benefit the Oxford Problem Pregnancy Center. Gift cards and baby items are due Sunday, May 20.

Just outside of Jerusalem, in the Chapel of the Ascension, there is a footprint of a right foot in the rock, as if Jesus had used it as a launching pad. The images in today’s readings of Jesus going up in the clouds and taking his seat on the heavenly throne at the right hand of God seem to give legitimacy to this idea. We might conclude that having completed his work on earth, Jesus is going home to the Father.

Dominican Fr. Timothy Radcliffe reminds us “Jesus could not make a journey back to God, as if the Father lived on some fluffy cloud in the sky. Perhaps it would be better to think of the disappearance of Jesus as part of our homecoming. Jesus says in John's Gospel: 'When I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.' The disciples had been at home with Jesus. They had shared his company, eaten and drunk with him, walked with him to Jerusalem, and witnessed his death and Resurrection. He had been their companion, the center of the community. But Jesus must disappear if they are to be not just with him, but at home in him.

With the Ascension and Pentecost, Jesus is transformed from being someone with whom the disciples are at home. Instead he becomes their home. They used to be with his body. Now they are becoming his body, as we are the Body of Christ. They have to lose him, paradoxically, if they are to discover this new intimacy. It is the opposite of our own birth. When we are born, we lose the warm cozy home of the womb so as to be at home with our mother. We lose the intimacy of being in our mother's body so as to be able to see her face to face. The joy and the pain of birth is that we lose one form of intimacy, snuggling up inside our mother, being one body with her, so as to gain another and deeper intimacy, which is seeing her face, being with her, and eventually being able to talk to her.

We lose God as over against us, a powerful stranger, the Big Guy who runs the Universe, so that we can discover him at the very heart of our existence. St Augustine famously said that God is closer to us than we are to ourselves. 'Late have I loved, O beauty so ancient and so new. For behold you were within me and I was outside; and I sought you outside. You were with me and I was not with you.' As Thomas Merton, the Cistercian said, we loose him as an object so as to find him as a subject, the core of our own subjectivity. We do not look at God so much as with God.

It is all part of our coming home to God, or God's making his home in us. So the Church should be a sign of our home in God. But let's be honest. It does not always feel like home. Lots of people do not feel at ease in the Church. This may be because we feel that God does not want us here. If that is the case, then we are living with some image of God that needs to disappear.

We must let these images of God fade away so that we can discover the God who delights in our very existence, and dwells at the core of our being. The apostles who witnessed the disappearing of Jesus still clung on to images of God that took time to go. It took them time to realize that the God who only wanted to have Jews in his community was gone and that we Gentiles also are at home. We are all learning. The chapel of the Ascension is both a Church and also a mosque, a shared holy place for Christians and Muslims. It is a sign of God's unimaginably spacious home. (Timothy Radcliffe OP)

The Activities Committee is considering a late summer golf outing. We would like to know, from our parishioners, if there is an interest in such an event.

Please contact Jim Jenkins at 248- 953-8484 or email at jjenkins@semac.us if interested.

THANKS and KUDOS

Our school year Faith Formation program has concluded for this year, and it’s easy to lose sight of the people who served all year as catechists and facilitators in those programs. So, just a moment of “heartfelt thanks” –

To the teachers and aides in our Sunday childcare, preschool and kindergarten sessions: Your loving care models Jesus as a Good Shepherd, tenderly caring for the little sheep. Heartfelt thanks to you!

To our catechists in the elementary program: Sunday afternoons, your family schedule was interrupted to share God’s Word and the traditions of our faith in less than ideal settings. How grateful we are…you modeled Christian life to the children of our parish.

To those who share Liturgy of the Word with our children during Mass: you helped open the hearts of the children to God’s message for them… heartfelt thanks to you!

To those brave and energetic souls who challenged our middle school youth to take God’s Word seriously and live it in their lives. We honor you and thank you!

To those who helped in any way with the young people preparing to celebrate Confirmation…the older teen facilitators, the adult interviewers, those who facilitated the retreat: The Spirit of Jesus flowed through you and we are grateful!

To the myriad of people who work with our teens, especially as they walk the road of service and justice: the time and love you so graciously give to these young people is a blessing to us all.

And finally, a special thanks to the staff of the Office of Family Ministry… thanks for the diligence with which they guide all these people, for the blessing they are to so many, for their own rich faith lives. They serve our parish with care, compassion and passion…and we are all so grateful.

St. Paul probably says it best: “We never think of you without thanking our God.”

Lectio Divina means “sacred reading” and is a particular model for praying the Scriptures. I would like to start a lectio group at the parish. If you might be interested in learning this process, please join us for “Lunch and Lectio” on Thursday, May 24th at 12:15. (If you are interested in “lectio divina” but are not available on this particular day, please let me know...I'd rather pick a different day and have someone take advantage of this opportunity than cancel it due to lack of interest.) Bring a brown bag lunch...and we will meet in the parish library for 15-20 minutes of prayer followed by lunch and reflective sharing. (I am hoping this might work for men and women who work nearby and can take an hour for lunch...could be a wonderful addition to your work week. Call Nancy for more information and details.

Several weeks ago, I invited you to think about small groups that might be of some interest. One family responded that perhaps families with special needs children might enjoy some fellowship and support. So, let's do it! Call or email Nancy (248 391 4074 or ctrdirector@ameritech.net) if you might be interested in joining with other families to have fun together, pray together, share life together. This is what parish is about.
 
 
 
 

On Sunday, June 24, the Social Justice Committee hopes to partner with the Activities Commission to sponsor a “green” Ice Cream Social. Details are still on the table, but we hope it to be a fun way to learn more about the environment and our call to care for the earth. Watch this space for details.

We are always looking for individuals or families who might be interested in putting some creative energy into this project. Have you ever made a ‘green smoothie’ or used recycled materials for new purposes? Have you watched a video that inspired you to be more environmentally aware? What have you learned that you’d like to share with others related to earth stewardship? What would you like to explore together? We invite your participation in creating a selection of opportunities for us to choose from during our upcoming ice cream social. Mark your calendar now for Sunday, June 24 after the 11:00 Mass. But call right away (Dianne Zande 391 2746 or e-mail dougzande@ yahoo.com) with ideas of interest. Young, old, families and singles, something for everyone who loves ice cream and our ‘Mother Earth’.

Bake Sale to Benefit Motor City Blight Busters

During our Summer Mission work week we use a number of dumpsters in our work with the Blight Busters. Each dumpster costs $500 and we have been known to use up to ten! In order to help offset this cost, the youth will be sponsoring a bake sale the weekend of June 16/17 after each Mass. We are looking for volunteers to donate items for this sale. End of May we will have sign up. If you have any questions, please contact the Youth Ministry office for more information. Thanks for your support!

Each year at Christ the Redeemer, we hold a very special Mass for our graduates. In the past, this Mass was followed by a brunch for the graduate and their family. This year, we are switching things up. Rather than Mass and Brunch, we are going to try a Mass and Dinner to be held Saturday, June 2 with Mass at 5:00 and dinner following. We do our best to get letters out to all our graduates, but in the event your student did not receive an invitation, please contact the Youth Ministry office and we will correct our records. Please put this date on your calendars and give us the privilege of celebrating this huge event with you.

Each year, teens from grades 9 - 12 spend a week in the Old Redford District of Detroit working with an organization called the Motor City Blight Busters. This is a group that has spent the last 25 years revitalizing the city of Detroit by cleaning up parks, alleys, and emptying lots of illegal dumping, painting murals and teaching art classes, as well as tearing down abandoned buildings to make room for new growth and energy. We have worked with John George and the Blight Busters for 15 years and have a wonderful relationship and sense of ownership in their dream. The week of Monday, July 9 – Friday, July 13 we will participate in helping this dream to grow.

There will be a parent information meeting on Thursday, June 7 and a teen orientation meeting on Tuesday, June 19. We need much adult help to provide the proper support and safe work environment for the teens. If you are going to join us, you must have an adult that can devote some time to the week as well. For more information, please contact the Youth Ministry Office at ctryouth@ameritech.net or call (248) 391- 4074 ext. 33.

Find out more about how you can help the orphans and children in foster care. You are invited to attend the May 21 meeting in the Library at the Christ the Redeemer, starting at 6:45 pm and ending by 8:30 pm.. We will host a speaker from ChildHelp, an organization committed to helping children in foster care, speak about mentoring and respite care opportunities. Attend this meeting or contact Mary if you want to make a difference in the life of a child. Some of these children have been beaten, abused or neglected by the adults in their family or have parents that are too ill to provide for them or parents that have died. These children have many needs. Learn more about the ways you can reach out to these children. It only takes a few hours out of your monthly calendar and at times convenient to your schedule.

For more information contact Mary Pergeau at 248-884-1082 or email resources@ flash.net.

The weekend of May 12/13 the following children were welcomed to the Lord’s table: Gabrielle Damerow, Taylor Hartline, Elizabeth Kaznowski, Madison Skorupski, Mark Woodcock and Olivia Richie.

All members of Christ the Redeemer’s Kroger Rewards Program will need to re-enroll to continue earning rewards for May, 2012 May, 2013. To re-enroll just visit www.krogercommunityrewards.com, click on “Michigan” and click on “Re-enroll” to re-register.

Non participants can join in the rewards program by going to the website listed above and clicking on “Enroll” to register for the first time.

Meet and talk with exhibitors that specialize in care and services for us as we age and as we retire. Admission-FREE

Do you have a special needs child? Please join us at. Joseph Church on Lapeer Road, Meeting Room 2 on Wednesday, May 23 at 7:00 p.m., for snacks, conversation, encouragement, and prayer.

For more info, contact Valerie Giggie at VRGG@ATT.net or 248 236- 0462.

 
I Was Very Unsure!!!

My life was spiraling downward after my divorce. I felt alone and very afraid of the future and I was worried about my children. I thought I would try having a Stephen Minister but needed more information. I found out that I could set the meetings to fit my schedule, everything is confidential, and visits usually last about one hour weekly. It was the best thing I did for myself during this very stressful time. My Stephen Minister didn’t try to solve my problems, but listened, cared, prayed, and helped me find my way as I was healing from such a big change in my life.

If you are in need of a Stephen Minister or would like more information about becoming a Stephen Minister contact: Judy Bas (248)693-3047 or Jkbas99@yahoo.com

(Christ the Redeemer, Lake Orion)