Fr. Chas Canoy, Pastor | St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church | Jackson, Michigan
Discover pastoral reflections and homilies from Fr. Chas Canoy, Pastor of St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Jackson, MI. Stay rooted in faith and parish life.
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Changes by Deacon Dave
And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3:18 Last Thursday I had just finished what I thought was the final draft of this, my first
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Six Obstacles of Intimacy with God
Dear Parish Family, I was golfing with one of our parishioners just this past week, and he mentioned just how much he had grown spiritually and how much his heart had been set on fire by the Holy Spirit. His realization of the reality of God and the Lord’s desire for us to know him
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Looking Back… and Moving Forward
Last summer at this time we were in the midst of promoting the upcoming Diocesan Assembly: Made for Happiness. And even if you weren’t able to attend the assembly last fall, you have undoubtedly noticed the ripple effects of that day here in our parish and diocese. Much of that impact was inspired by the
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Happy Father’s Day to our Parish Dads!
Dear Parish Family, Last month, I extolled the paramount importance of our mothers. Now it’s time to do the same for our fathers. There is something about the authority and influence of fathers that has a varying effect than the correspondingly important authority and influence of mothers. They complement one another, and both are needed.
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Listening to Jesus: Giving and Receiving
As a parishioner for over 40 years, I feel very comfortable speaking with fellow parishioners about sharing their time and talent in things like the Alpha program or one of our various awesome ministries that we will honor later in the month of June. In fact, I enjoy helping people find their “niche” within the
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Why Do We do That? Curiosity Corner…
We all have questions! This new “Curiosity Corner” is meant to give some answers about “why we do what we do” as Catholics. We recently had a parishioner ask this question: “Isn’t praying (worshipping) Mary wrong? I grew up Catholic, but now I wonder if it’s wrong to pray to Mary…1st Commandment: Thou shalt not
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Live the Resurrected Life!
Dear Parish Family, Welcome to St. John Parish! Each Easter Sunday, God’s breath of hope emanates from all the churches throughout the world because Jesus Christ has risen from the dead! In that victory, Jesus has defeated the spiritual forces that bind the human person from receiving freedom and life. Those evils Jesus defeats for
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Free Financial Advice from God
Honestly, I personally loathe dealing with money matters. It just bores the living daylights out of me. My wife Jill recently said: “We need our WILL done!” And I thought, “Ok, no problem honey!” So being a person that would rather just figure it out myself, I started down the path. Oh my! What a
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Generosity: The 5-4-1 Model for Giving (Homily 3-17-19)
If you missed Fr. Chas’ homily during the 2nd week of Lent, read it here to learn about the Generosity Challenge using the 5-4-1 Model that has been adopted by several of the Catholic parishes here in Jackson and beyond. Happy St. Patrick’s Day to everyone! I’ve had an eventful one so far. Around 2:30
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The Three Practices of Lent
If we lack discipline in our lives, we can often feel weighed down—spiritually, physically, and even materially. There is a reason why simplicity movements have become so popular these days. There is something liberating about not being weighed down by a lot of stuff. We regularly need to shed the excess in our lives, so
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After the Assembly Follow Up Meeting – First Sign of a Dynamic Catholic
Listen in to our talks on the first Sign of a Dynamic Catholic, a four part series that picks up where the Historic Diocesan Assembly left off. Listen to Fr. Chas, the Grubers, Shayne Slough, and more as they dive deeper into this topic of how to pray and how it can radically transform your
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Diocese of Lansing: The Man Event
Men, come to grow in your faith at the annual Diocese of Lansing’s Catholic Men’s Conference. In carrying out the tradition of providing an atmosphere of support and helping the Catholic men among us to courageously live a Christ-centered life in today’s world, this year’s theme will focus on how to ‘wear the armor of
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Physical & Spiritual Fitness through “Movement Toward Christ”
Dear Parish Family, I don’t know about you, but I gained a good number of pounds over the Christmas season! With the new year, many of us have the good intentions of getting back to healthier and more moderate eating, as well as more regular exercise. It’s often easier to be dedicated to this when
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Faith Journeys: Reflecting on the Magi
One of my mom’s favorite Christmas carols was “We Three Kings,” and partly for this reason this song has always spoken to me. What was it about the song the captivated her? I don’t know for sure, but maybe it was the rhythm that seems to magically capture the procession of the kings on their
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From the Desk of the Pastor: New Year’s Resolution
Dear Parish Family, As many of you know, we’ve recently begun the Year of Prayer, and thus, we’ve focused in this last month on the basics of how to have an interpersonal relationship with God through a regular prayer life. May I offer you a challenge for 2019? I encourage you to make the commitment
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A Christmas Message from Fr. Chas!
Dear Parishioners & Visitors, Christmas is about family: our immediate family and the family of God. By God’s family, I’m not just referring to Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. I’m referring to you and me! We are part of God’s family, sons and daughters of God the Father. But similar to what can happen in our
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Remembering Andy Bihl
As many of you know, Andy Bihl, our Director of Parish Operations, passed away on Saturday morning, November 24. His wife, Amanda, called me with the tragic news at about noon that day, and I drove out to Albion to the Bihl home to be with the her and the five children. The investigating Michigan
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From the Desk of the Pastor
Dear Parish Family, Happy feast day of Christ the King! We hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and that you’ve found our 3-part homily series, “Priest, Prophet, and King,” edifying. Fr. Brian’s and my hope is that we are not only more knowledgeable about our participation in this threefold office and mission of Jesus Christ,
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Funeral Mass for Andy Bihl
Dear St. John Family, On Saturday morning, November 24, our parish family suffered a great and unexpected loss. It is with heavy sorrow in our hearts that we let you know of the sudden passing of Andy Bihl, our Director of Parish Operations. His wife, Amanda, called me with the tragic news at about noon
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Diocesan Women’s Conference & On Becoming Dynamic Catholics
On November 3rd, over 2 dozen women from our parish enjoyed a beautiful day of fellowship and learning at the Diocesan Women’s Conference, “Arise, My Beloved,” in Lansing. Here’s what a few of our attendees had to say: **“I got so much out of the beautiful music, the words, and singing with such a crowd
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What’s next?
Dear Parish Family, On September 22, history was made for our Diocese of Lansing. I was amazed by how strong a showing our St. John Parish had at the Diocesan Assembly! Among the 13,000+ people at MSU’s Breslin Center, we were 350+ strong, which is more than one-fourth of usual weekend Mass attendance! That robust
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Prayer: Conversations with God
My bulletin article this week is something I have touched on before. And it’s about something that I am utterly and admittedly not an expert. However, because of the nature of my job, I have the opportunity to know people, talk with educated people practically every day, and learn things on a regular basis which allows
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Pilgrimage to the Holy Land!
Let Expert Guides Steve & Janet lead you through the Holy Land—just like in the movies! They’ve been to the Holy Land over 150 times filming, exploring & leading pilgrimages. Join this spiritually enriching biblical adventure. Fr. Chas Canoy and Todd Gale, Director of Faith Formation, invite you to join them on this once
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The Diocesan Assembly, Fall 2018
The slow change in temperature and the sudden surprise of color in the tips of leaves lately signal a change in season, a transition to fall. Most of us have a favorite season, and this just happens to be mine! What is it about the changing seasons that seems to captivate us? Is it the