When the link opens it will ask you first for the number of subjects(people plus animals) that will be in your portrait. Once you have selected a number the dates for portraits will lighten in the calendar, if you want a date in May, click the arrow on the calendar to advance it to May. All the available dates will lighten and you can choose from them.
Click here to sign up for an appointment time. To learn more about the Pictorial Directory see the article information.
The Story Behind the New Crucifix in the Church
You may have noticed that there is now a permanent crucifix on the large oak cross in the church. There’s a wonderful story behind how all this came about.
Several years ago, Bishop Boyea noted that we did not have a permanent crucifix in the church near the altar. He asked me to work on making sure that one was put in place. At first, I thought that a large crucifix suspended over the altar would be a good solution. After pricing large crucifixes (between $30,000 and $50,000), I decided this would not be an option—especially since we were still in the midst of the debt reduction campaign. I just didn’t feel comfortable approaching the parish community with yet another special collection at that time. However, as the saying goes, God does work in mysterious ways.
A family approached me some time later with a request. One of their long-time friends who had the bishop’s permission to have a chapel in her home was aging and was faced with the need to move to senior living. She had to sell her home and it meant finding a new place of honor for the beautiful crucifix that had been in that chapel for many years. They asked if the crucifix could find a new home at St. Jude. See where this is heading?
They brought the crucifix to church some time later and the moment I saw it I knew that it was meant to be the permanent crucifix in the church near the altar. I carried it to the large oak cross and held it in place. It was home. The contrast between the ebony color of the cross and the color of the oak in the church is perfect. Indeed, the size and scale of the crucifix are perfect, too—it was exactly the size that was needed to fit beautifully on the cross. In addition, the corpus (the statue of Christ’s body hanging on the cross) was equally beautiful. The crucifix had found its new home!
Thanks to Roger Pline who lovingly cleaned it and the large oak cross and then mounted the new crucifix in place. Roger also fashioned the new bracket and wall mounting that are used with the processional crucifix. The processional crucifix will continue to be used for each Mass in the main church as well as for weekday Masses and any other Mass that is celebrated in the gathering space.
Please make sure to take the time to step up close to the new crucifix and admire it. It is a wonderful work of art. My thanks to the parish family who helped to make all this possible.
Bridge Street Construction and Repaving
You may have noticed that one of Michigan’s two seasons (construction—the other season is winter) has come to downtown DeWitt. The city has begun the process of installing sidewalks along the west side of Bridge Street from downtown to the north edge of the church property. After the sidewalks are finished, Bridge Street will be resurfaced from downtown DeWitt all the way north to the city boundary. The city has assured us that the resurfacing project will require just a few days to accomplish and will be done with as little inconvenience as possible. We’ll try to keep everyone posted once we know a firm date for the start of the resurfacing work.
6:00 PM Sunday Evening Mass Schedule
for the Month of May
Over the last few years, we have developed the pattern of not celebrating the 6:00 PM Sunday evening Mass on holidays and certain other special weekends. We will continue this pattern. Here is the schedule for the 6:00 PM Sunday evening Mass for the entire month of May:
May 12 NO 6:00 PM Mass (Mother’s Day)
May 19 6:00 PM Mass will be celebrated
May 26 NO 6:00 PM Mass (Memorial Day)
The Sunday evening Mass will go on its summer vacation beginning Sunday, May 26, and will return Sunday, September 8, the Sunday after Labor Day.
Offertory Envelope Booklets Now Available for Pick-up
Our 2013-2014 annual offertory envelope booklets are now available for pick-up in the parish hall. Picking up your annual envelope booklet helps to save the parish almost $2000 in postage!