Opening Prayer:

God our Father,
Look upon us with love.
You redeem us and make us your children in Christ.
Give us true freedom and bring us to the inheritance you promised.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
God, forever and ever.

Catechism Quote of the Week:

Christ Opens the Way to Heaven.

CCC 661: “This final stage stays closely linked to the first, that is, to his descent from heaven in the Incarnation. Only the one who “came from the Father” can return to the Father: Christ Jesus. “No one has ascended into heaven but he who descended from heaven, the Son of man.” Left to its own natural powers humanity does not have access to the “Father’s house”, to God’s life and happiness. Only Christ can open to man such access that we, his members, might have confidence that we too shall go where he, our Head and our Source, has preceded us.”

CCC 662: “”and I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself. “The lifting up of Jesus on the cross signifies and announces his lifting up by his Ascension into heaven, and indeed begins it. Jesus Christ, the one priest of the new and eternal Covenant, “entered, not into a sanctuary made by human hands, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.” There Christ permanently exercises his priesthood, for he “always lives to make intercession” for “those who draw near to God through him”. As “high priest of the good things to come” he is the center and the principal actor of the liturgy that honors the Father in heaven.

CCC 663: “Henceforth Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father: “By ‘the Father’s right hand’ we understand the glory and honor of divinity, where he who exists as Son of God before all ages, indeed as God, of one being with the Father, is seated bodily after he became incarnate and his flesh was glorified.””

CCC 664: “Being seated at the Father’s right hand signifies the inauguration of the Messiah’s kingdom, the fulfilment of the prophet Daniel’s vision concerning the Son of man: “To him was given dominion and glory and kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.” After this event the apostles became witnesses of the “kingdom [that] will have no end.””

CCC 1023: “Those who die in God’s grace and friendship and are perfectly purified live for ever with Christ. They are like God for ever, for they “see him as he is,” face to face: ^‘By virtue of our apostolic authority, we define the following: According to the general disposition of God, the souls of all the saints and other faithful who died after receiving Christ’s holy Baptism (provided they were not in need of purification when they died, or, if they then did need or will need some purification, when they have been purified after death, already before they take up their bodies again and before the general judgment – and this since the Ascension of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ into heaven-have been, are and will be in heaven, in the heavenly Kingdom and celestial paradise with Christ, joined to the company of the holy angels. Since the Passion and death of our Lord Jesus Christ, these souls have seen and do see the divine essence with an intuitive vision, and even face to face, without the mediation of any creature.”

Heaven

CCC 1024: “This perfect life with the Most Holy Trinity-this communion of life and love with the Trinity, with the Virgin Mary, the angels and all the blessed-is called “heaven.” Heaven is the ultimate end and fulfillment of the deepest human longings, the state of supreme, definitive happiness.

CCC 1025: “To live in heaven is “to be with Christ.” the elect live “in Christ,” but they retain, or rather find, their true identity, their own name. For life is to be with Christ; where Christ is, there is life, there is the kingdom.”

CCC 1026: “By his death and Resurrection, Jesus Christ has “opened” heaven to us. the life of the blessed consists in the full and perfect possession of the fruits of the redemption accomplished by Christ. He makes partners in his heavenly glorification those who have believed in him and remained faithful to his will. Heaven is the blessed community of all who are perfectly incorporated into Christ.”

Who Art in Heaven

CCC 2794: “This biblical expression does not mean a place (“space”), but a way of being; it does not mean that God is distant, but majestic. Our Father is not “elsewhere”: he transcends everything we can conceive of his holiness. It is precisely because he is thrice holy that he is so close to the humble and contrite heart. “Our Father who art in heaven” is rightly understood to mean that God is in the hearts of the just, as in his holy temple. At the same time, it means that those who pray should desire the one they invoke to dwell in them. “Heaven” could also be those who bear the image of the heavenly world, and in whom God dwells and tarries.”

CCC 2795: “The symbol of the heavens refers us back to the mystery of the covenant we are living when we pray to our Father. He is in heaven, his dwelling place; the Father’s house is our homeland. Sin has exiled us from the land of the covenant, but conversion of heart enables us to return to the Father, to heaven. Jn Christ, then, heaven and earth are reconciled, for the Son alone “descended from heaven” and causes us to ascend there with him, by his Cross, Resurrection, and Ascension.”

CCC 2796: “When the Church prays “our Father who art in heaven,” she is professing that we are the People of God, already seated “with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” and “hidden with Christ in God;” yet at the same time, “here indeed we groan, and long to put on our heavenly dwelling.” [Christians] are in the flesh, but do not live according to the flesh. They spend their lives on earth, but are citizens of heaven.”

Catechism of the Catholic Church,
Numbers 661-664;1023-1026; 2794-2796.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

• ST. ANNE WOMEN’S GROUP MEETING: Monday, May 15, 2023 at 7pm in Maria Hall. All women are welcome!
• ST. ANNE CEMETARY CLEAN-UP: Will be Saturday, May 20, 2023 at 10:00 am at the Cemetery. All volunteers are welcome.
• FR. JOHN’S GOING AWAY PARTY MAY 19 @ 5:30PM: St. Catherine will be having a potluck to celebrate the time we had with Fr. John. There is a sign-up sheet at the front of the church to sign up for what you would like to bring.
• GOODBYE POT LUCK LUNCHEON FOR FR. JOHN: Will be on Sunday, May, 21, at 12:00 noon in Maria Hall at St. Anne. All 4 parishes are invited to come and help celebrate with Fr. John.
• MOTHER’S DAY BREAKFAST: May 14, 2023 there will be a Mother’s Day Breakfast at St. Anne Church after the 11:00 am Mass by the Men of the Parish.
• ST. GABRIEL CALVARY CEMETERY CLEAN-UP: Tuesday, May 9th at 5:00 pm with a rain date of May 10 at 5:00 pm. All volunteers are welcome. Please remove any items on graves that you wish to keep before clean- up or they will be disposed of.
• ST. CATHERINE CLEANERS NEEDED! There is a sign up sheet available at the front entrance of the church for parishioners to sign up to help clean the church. We are in great need of parishioners help. Times and dates will be on the sign-up sheet. Thank you in advance.
• ST. ANNE CHURCH CLEANING PERSON NEEDED: St. Anne needs Volunteers to clean the Church for June through December 2023.
• COFFEE & DONUTS:
  St. Catherine: Coffee and Donuts will resume on May 14,2023!
  St. Anne: Coffee & Donuts after mass on Sundays!
  St. Raphael: Refreshments will be after mass on Saturdays!

ANNOINTING OF THE SICK MASSES:

• Wednesday, May 17, 2023 at 11:00 am at St. Catherine Ossineke
• Thursday, May 18, 2023 at 5:30 pm at St. Raphael

This is for anyone who is suffering from an illness, disease, injury or will be having surgery in the near future.

MEMORIAL MASS FOR MARIJANE MACERI

Memorial Mass for Marijane Maceri will be held on Wednesday, May 17, 2023 at St. Anne Catholic Church. Everything will begin at 5:30pm.

MEMORIAL MASS FOR ZANETTA BIELUSIAK

Memorial Mass for Zanetta Bielusiak will be held on Saturday, May 20, 2023 at 11:00 am at St. Anne Catholic Church.

This month, we are raising funds for the annual Catholic Services Appeal (CSA). Your support makes a difference for important ministries in the diocese and beyond. Thanks to generous support of the CSA, thousands of families in our parishes, Catholic schools, and ministries are supported each year. Our parish is asked to support the CSA to help provide for these diocesan programs that no single parish could provide on its own. The CSA effort is a means by which we work together to care for the Church by sharing the gifts God has given to us.

Our parishes goals are:
St. Anne’s Goal is $22,555.
St. Raphael’s Goal is $7,633.
St. Catherine’s Goal is $26,923.00.
St. Gabriel’s Goal is $5,341.00.

Please make a gift today to support this important mission. Learn more and give online at DioceseofGaylord.org/CSA23.