November 3 , 2025

Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in Grand Rapids, MI will host a year-long choral festival called Palestrina 500, celebrating the quincentennial birthday of the great Renaissance composer Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525-94). This anniversary provides our parish a lens through which we can promote the good, true, and beautiful to our greater community.

1 Year. 12 Monthly Events. Each event contains:

a Choral Meditation • Solemn Mass • Reception Afterwards

SCHOLA CANTORUM DETROIT

Missa da Requiem (with duCaurroy’s Requiem)
All Souls’ Day (transferred)

5:30 PM Choral Meditation
7:00 PM Solemn Mass
8:30 PM Reception

Help us fund Palestrina 500: https://palestrina500.org

Special nod to our festival media partner, Blue Lake Public Radio. 

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Palestrina 500 is proud to partner with Blue Lake Public Radio for this year-long music festival.

Sacred Heart will host a year-long choral festival called Palestrina 500, celebrating the quincentennial birthday of the great Renaissance composer Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525-94). This anniversary provides our parish a lens through which we can promote the good, true, and beautiful to our greater community. There will be monthly events starting December 2024 and ending December 2025 each with a Choral Meditation, Solemn Mass, and Reception.

We have decided that moving forward we would have one sign up per monthly event. Thank you for donating your time. The full list of dates is below.  If you are able to sign up for all events, let us know and we will sign you up.  Mike Tober dre@shgr.org or Laureen Fish lfish@shgr.org

If you’d like to volunteer at any upcoming event, click on a date below.  If you can help at the remaining events, please let us know and we will sign you up

Monday, November 3, 2025
Monday, December 8, 2025

Any questions or to sign up, please reach out to Mike Tober dre@shgr.org or Laureen Fish lfish@shgr.org. 

Descriptions for the various volunteer positions can be found here. 

Some parishioners have committed to attending four Grand Rapids events this holiday season to discuss the incarnation, accept prayer requests, and invite shoppers to Christmas Mass. Should you wish to be a part of this group, please contact Marshal Brummel at mbrummel14@gmail.com.

The dates are:

ChristKindl Market:
Saturday, Dec. 6th, 5pm-8pm
Friday, Dec. 12th, 6-8pm
Saturday, Dec. 20th, 4-8pm

Mark your calendars! Sacred Heart of Jesus will again be hosting a Women At Risk Pop-Up Christmas Boutique after all Masses this weekend. We’ll have a selection of jewelry, ornaments, apparel, spa products and other gift ideas available for purchase. The pop-up boutique will be available before and after all Masses. Can’t wait to shop? You can shop online at warchestboutique.com and use our special discount code (AD10) at checkout to save 10% on your order. The discount will be available until December 14th. We’ll make sure we have your order on hand for pick-up. Either way, your purchase supports survivors and artisans through the WAR Chest Boutique.

The Fratelli Ruffatti Organ-Building Crew has departed for home after 6 grueling, 70-hour work weeks at Sacred Heart. Few of us anticipated the complexity of this installation, an interdisciplinary endeavor involving master-level carpentry, metallurgy, mechanical and electrical engineering, millwrighting, and construction, in addition to a deep knowledge of the musical and liturgical nature of organs. The Ruffatti team were clearly experts. It was also evident that their success was strengthened in a significant measure by the numerous people from our parish (and even other parishes) who either saw a need and pitched in or responded to a specific call for help. We had top gun contractors, strategizers, heavy lifters, riggers, encouragers, trash cleaners, communicators – it was an amazing demonstration of our community stepping out of their normal rhythm for the greater good of us all. The Ruffatti crew has done work all over Europe, the USA, and Asia, so they know what’s “typical” and what’s “exceptional” for support from their customers. They mentioned specifically how impressed and thankful they were for our ongoing help. They were also thankful to various parishioners inviting their team for a home-cooked dinner. (Subway was never intended to constitute a steady diet.) All in all, we saw a BIG demonstration of the Catholic community at Sacred Heart. Thank you to everyone who stepped forward to assist both them and us in showing Christ’s love to our visitors. It was no accident that the installation team ended their labors on the Feast of St. Cecilia—they have built her a glorious shrine, framing her beautiful window with such a magnificent instrument. However, the organ is not yet finished. After Epiphany, another team from Italy will be with us until the end of February. This is the voicing and tuning team, responsible for adjusting the timbre, wind pressure, and resonance of each of the 2,000+ pipes. The upper church will be closed during the week due to their need for absolute silence. After 2 months of adjustments, the organ will be formally dedicated on the Feast of the Annunciation, March 25th, with a 5:30pm dedication recital given by our Music Director Jonathan Bading and a 7pm Mass featuring the choir of Aquinas College. Until that day, we will be using our digital organ to get us through the Christmas season. Good things come to those who wait!

Men’s Wild Game Dinner: Tables and tickets are now on sale for the annual Men’s Wild Game Dinner. Tables are $250.00 and seat 10 persons or single seat tickets are $25.00. Cost includes free chances to win, main meal and drinks! Contact Michael Tober at dre@shgr.org or call the parish office at 616-459-8362 to secure your table or spot. Event sells out fast!

Advent Candles are available for purchase in the parish office for $10/box while supplies last! Please bring exact change!

Opłatki are available for purchase in the parish office for $3 for an envelope of 4 wafers. Please bring exact change.

Our upcoming Authenticum lecture features REV. TADEUSZ PACHOLCZYK, PH.D, Senior Ethicist at the National Catholic Bioethics Center.

Join us Wednesday, December 3th in Cebelak Parish Hall for his talk titled: “CATHOLICS AND END OF LIFE DECISIONS: The Gift of Dying Well.”

REV. TADEUSZ PACHOLCZYK, PH.D. is the Senior Ethicist at the National Catholic Bioethics Center and a priest of the Diocese of Fall River. He writes and speaks widely on bioethics, having delivered hundreds of lectures and debates across the U.S., Canada, and Europe since 2001. Father Tad studied in Rome at the Gregorian and Lateran Universities, focusing on dogmatic theology and bioethics. His nationally syndicated monthly bioethics column appears in more than 40 U.S. diocesan newspapers and abroad. He has testified before several state legislatures on stem cell research and cloning and served on the NIH Fetal Tissue Research Ethics Advisory Board. His commentary has appeared on major outlets including NBC, CNN, ABC, NPR, and leading newspapers.

WEDNESDAY, DEC. 3

Cebelak Hall

151 Garfield Ave. SW Grand Rapids

Wine & Cheese Social 6:30pm

LECTURE BEGINS: 7:00PM

Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish

151 Garfield Ave SW, Grand Rapids, MI 49504

“Fostering Intimacy with Jesus”  led by Dr. Ralph Martin 

Saturday, December 13, 2025
8:30AM – 3:30PM
$20/registrant or $60/Households of 4+

Join us for fellowship, prayer, adoration, reconciliation and a series of reflections on “Fostering Intimacy with Jesus” led by Dr. Ralph Martin. All are welcome, and we hope you will set aside time this Advent to reflect on preparing our hearts for the Lord.

Sign-In begins at 8:30AM with light morning refreshments in Cebelak Hall (located in Church basement). Lunch will be served midday. Please note if your allergies or restrictions are more than GF/DF, please contact the office at ParishOffice@shgr.org, to discuss other options.

There is no child care available. The Parish Gym will be available for active children but one parent must be present with their child(ren). Families should plan accordingly if attending.

You may also contact the parish office to sign up by phone or email:

616-459-8362

parishoffice@shgr.org

Advent Day of Recollection Flyer