Parishes ask parishioners to invite Christmas Massgoers, non-regular church attendees to experience God's mercy in a new way

DETROIT — Maria Kiser entered Ste. Anne de Detroit Church with curiosity, and left with the conviction of God’s merciful love.

The parishioner of St. John the Evangelist in Allenton made the drive south from her western St. Clair County parish to be part of the Archdiocese of Detroit’s first Mercy Night, a series of praise and worship events hosted by the Franciscan Friars of the Holy Spirit.

“I came here to see what it was all about and get some spiritual healing,” said Kiser, who told Detroit Catholic she first saw information about the Mercy Nights on the archdiocese’s website. “It was very moving for me because it was really emotional and had a lot of good stuff. There were several times I felt the priest was speaking to me directly.”

The night began with praise and worship music in the historic church. A trio of musicians played while lyrics were put on a projector screen, inviting people to stand or sit, sing or just listen to the words.

The Blessed Sacrament was then exposed in a monstrance and placed on the altar, allowing people to be in the true presence of the Lord. Fr. Benedict Mary Lieb, FHS, delivered a talk on the presence of Christ on earth and what it means to experience his mercy.

During the talk, attendees had the opportunity to celebrate the sacrament of reconciliation as four confessionals were open.

“The Mercy Nights are designed to be filled with grace,” said Fr. Athanasius Fornwalt, FHS, a Franciscan Friar of the Holy Spirit who works in the archdiocese’s Office of Evangelization. “The Church offers us a lot of vessels, avenues to receive grace in the sacraments, with reconciliation, Eucharistic adoration, songs and hymns of praise. There is great power in Christians praying with one another.”

The Mercy Night at Ste. Anne de Detroit was the first of five that will be taking place across the Archdiocese of Detroit. The nights stem from the Parish Day of Renewal and are designed to be “shallow entry point” events in which parishioners can invite guests who attended Christmas Mass to come and experience Christ in a new, less formal setting.

Mercy Nights are set to take place at St. Mary Parish in Monroe (Jan. 25), St. Hugo of the Hills Parish in Bloomfield Hills (Feb. 8), St. Thecla Parish in Clinton Township (Feb. 15) and a Spanish version at the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Detroit (Feb. 22). Each event will start at 7 p.m.

“For those who grew up Catholic and maybe have fallen away from the faith, they could think of the Church as something that is kind of the same old rituals and routines,” Fr. Fornwalt said. “This is just different, with songs and dynamic preaching geared toward people who are looking for that encounter.

“It’s also on a Friday night, so it just feels different than a Sunday or Saturday,” Fr. Fornwalt continued. “The Church offers manifold ways to bring about an encounter with the Lord, and this is another way to show people that God’s presence on earth is real, and His mercy is real.”

Helping the seekers to find

Mercy Nights are part of a continuous rollout of programs the Office of Evangelization has in store that are geared toward helping people to encounter God in a new way.

Coupled with Mercy Nights are the “Kerygma Nights,” a four-part series to help guide attendees when it comes to the Gospel’s answers to some of life’s biggest questions.

The series will take place at three different locations throughout the archdiocese in the coming weeks, with each location offering a different day of the week:

• On Mondays at Sacred Heart Parish in Dearborn (Jan. 28, Feb. 4, Feb. 11 and Feb. 18)
• On Tuesdays (in Spanish) at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak (Jan. 22, Jan. 29, Feb. 5 and Feb. 12)
• On Wednesdays at Jolly Pumpkin Restaurant and Tap House, 419 S. Main St., Royal Oak (Feb. 6, Feb. 13, Feb. 20 and Feb. 27)

Each event is an hour and a half long, from 7 to 8:30 p.m.

The Kerygma and Mercy Nights are both designed to introduce — or reintroduce — people to Christ and his Church, and what it means live in a Gospel-preaching community that is rooted in the sacraments, said Michael King, evangelization coordinator for the archdiocese’s Northeast Region.

“Part of the idea behind these events is for people to be able to invite a friend or neighbor to something to experience Christ in a deeper way,” King said. “The idea is that people who went to Christmas Mass will go and say, ‘Wow, that was pretty different.’”

“It is all about invitation, something anyone can do,” King continued. “The process is designed to lead people through, to show an authentic, relatable experience of being a following of Christ.”

Living in God’s mercy

For Mark Hartman, a second-year seminarian at Sacred Heart Major Seminary studying for the Companions of the Cross, the first Mercy Night at Ste. Anne was a chance for people to contemplate the true meaning of mercy and think of what it means to let God’s mercy into their hearts.

“The Lord really wants to set his people free so they can experience the fullness of life that He has planned for them,” Hartman said. “Mercy is sometimes misunderstood, but one thing that really helps me understand mercy is to think of it in relationship to judgment. Mercy doesn’t make sense without judgment, and judgment doesn’t make sense without mercy.  

“So when we hear the priest preach the Word of God as if Christ were here today, we can open our hearts to God, knowing that no matter where you go, or what you have done, we have a God who is here, a living God.”

Kiser said there were many moments that struck a chord with her during Fr. Lieb’s talk, which focused on the need for mercy for everyone.

“It was almost like a sign from God that I was where I’m supposed to be,” Kiser said. “Mercy to me means forgiveness, a forgiveness of yourself and a forgiveness of others. And that is what I felt tonight.”