Hello dear brothers & sisters in Christ! I pray the good Lord continues to fill your hearts with the joy of knowing the risen Lord! As we arrive at this Divine Mercy Sunday, we give thanks to God for opening the depths of His merciful love to us through the Sacred Heart of Jesus, from which poured forth blood and water from the Cross symbolizing the sacraments of Baptism (which gives us divine life) and the Eucharist (which nourishes us with divine life). In addition to the gift of the Holy Rosary, I can’t recommend highly enough the devotion to Divine Mercy that Jesus revealed to St. Faustina. The Second Sunday of Easter is known as Divine Mercy Sunday and on this day we give great thanks for His merciful love for all!
In His merciful love, God has given all of us charisms for the building up of His kingdom. Here in the Cathedral Cluster we will be blessed with a very special opportunity to help us to identify and understand what our charisms are. In a recently issued document from the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, the CDF explains, “the word ‘Charism’ is the transcription of the Greek word chárisma, which, found frequently in the Pauline letters, also appears in the first letter of Peter. This term has a general sense of ‘generous gift’ and, in the New Testament, is used only in reference to the divine gifts. The charisms are recognized as a manifestation of the ‘multiform grace of God’ (1 Pt 4:10). They are not, therefore, simply human capacities.”
In St. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, chapter 4 speaks of disciples of Jesus being equipped for the work of ministry and for the building up of the body of Christ (the Church). Understanding what charisms God has given to us and how to use them is an amazing way of being equipped for the work of ministry so we can bear abundant fruit for God’s glory! The Church teaches us in the Catechism of the Catholic Church that “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.” (paragraph 799, CCC) The Church also teaches us, as God tells us in the writings of St. Paul, that all receive charisms from!
Along with Fr J.J. and our entire pastoral staff I am enthusiastically inviting you to attend the Cathedral Cluster’s upcoming Called & Gifted workshop: a five part series to that helps disciples to discover their God-given Charisms. The workship will run from 10:00 AM -11:45 AM on five Saturday mornings in May (20 & 27) & June (10, 17 & 24). The cost of this workshop is $20. We are gratefully able to offer this workshop at a low cost because of the support of the Archdiocese of Detroit’s Black Catholic Ministries & Evangelization offices. To sign up for Called & Gifted, or to inquire further about this workshop, please email Marian Bart or call her on 313-865-6300. God bless you friends; we hope to see you there! –Fr. Patrick