Nativity of Our Lord Detroit

A Year of Faith Journey to Detroit's places of Catholic worship.
Nativity of Our Lord Church.

We Are Here to Stay! proclaims a sign at the front of Nativity church. Recalling the East side neighborhood I just drove through, the sign has a powerful meaning.

Our Christian faith, the universal church, has endured for over 2,000 years. Neighborhoods may crumble, membership may dwindle, wars may destroy and yet the church endures.  The church is more than just a sum of the earthly parts. Ours is a church that exists here on earth and in Heaven. While cities rise and fall, and loved ones pass from the face of the earth our Church and God's love endures. With tears of lamentation or with shouts of joy the Body of Christ continues to proclaim the Good News. Our church continues, ever ancient, ever new.

The sign at Nativity church sums up the whole of Church history, we are here to stay

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Saints Peter and Paul West Side Detroit

A Year of Faith Journey to the Catholic worship sites of Detroit


Near the end of the homily the priest at Saints Peter and Paul began the first of his "Things we forgot about the Catholic faith" lessons. Using a copy of the Baltimore Catechism, an updated version he assured us, he began with the first of the Ten Commandments.  You Shall Worship the Lord Your God and Him Only Shall You Serve

So often, the priest instructed, we let the gods of our disposable culture come between us and loving God or come between us and loving our neighbor. The priest rattled off a familiar list of false gods; mindless consumption, the drive to buy more and more. Loss of value and worth for all we consume and discard. When was the last time you repaired something? Obsessions with gossip, celebrity or personal power. And then a jolt as the priest mentioned one final obstacle, one final false god. Are we too busy comparing ourselves to others, he asked.

Are we too busy comparing ourselves to others? Are we too concerned how others perceive us. Could this really prevent us from having a relationship with God? We paused to reflect on our own disruptions.

It has been many years since the catechism classes of my youth and a refresher course is certainly needed.  Perhaps I should mention these weekly lessons at Sts. Peter and Paul to my parish priest. Maybe we could organize a weeknight class for adult Catholics to learn anew what makes our faith so rich and beautiful. A Catholic should reflect on what we believe and why, for it will certainly bring us closer to God. The priest at Sts. Peter and Paul understands this and with a few minutes taken at the end of each homily to teach our faith he is strengthening that love.

When was the last time you read a book about Catholicism? Perhaps this is a good week to select one from your library or bookstore. A beautiful feature of our faith is the wealth of writing available to us. From the ancient Christians writers to those of the present, we are a religion that loves to write!

Suggestions

The Mass: The Glory, The Mystery, The Tradition

Consuming the Word: The New Testament and The Eucharist in the Early Church

The Bad Catholics Guide to Good Living

Fearing the Stigmata (very funny and touching)

The Bible

Confessions- Saint Augustine

All Saints - Detroit

I double checked my list of weekday Mass times and locations. And I even took a minute to telephone the rectory so I could hear the recorded Mass schedule once more. Driving out along Fort Street past endless industrial buildings and empty commercial spaces I wondered more than once if perhaps this Catholic church had already closed. As I neared the location of the church the traffic of semi tractor trailers was growing thicker. Then in the near distance I saw a massive complex of a building with a sign atop proclaiming Detroit Produce Terminal. The trucks were like bees swarming in and out of a hive. Each trailer was emblazoned with the name and logo of a grocery store familiar to Detroiters. I had found where our produce comes from but would I find this church?

Not much farther I spotted All Saints church. And better yet, I spotted many people milling about the side entry of the brick church. I promptly parked and made my way over to the group of parishioners. When I informed them I was here for Mass, they looked at me quizzically and told me that Mass was not celebrated on Wednesday morning. This group of parishioners was here as volunteers for the soup kitchen in the church's social hall. Then the words of a nun I met at St. Christopher in Detroit sprang into my head, her gentle reminder that Christ has called us all to help one another in any way we can.

God gave me reminder that morning. We are here to serve one another, we are here to love one another. I stayed and helped at the soup kitchen and silently said a prayer of thanks to God.