Sacraments

"Baptism is the source of that new life in Christ from which the entire Christian life springs forth."  – CCC 1254

If You Are An Adult Seeking Baptism

Please contact Tim Cassady in the Parish Office at (810) 659-2501.

If You Are A Parent Seeking Baptism For Your Child

St. Robert celebrates baptisms on the second Saturday/Sunday of the month.

Baptisms, together with their Preparation Classes, are both scheduled beforehand with the Religious Ed office. Please call us at (810) 659-2501, or email us so that we can explain the full process and get you started. We can also send you the forms necessary for celebrating the baptism. Congratulations and we're excited to help you bring your child into the family of God!

 "In the life of the body, man is sometimes sick, and unless he takes medicine, he will die. Even so in the spiritual life, man is sick on account of sin. For that reason he needs medicine so that he may be restored to health; and this grace is bestowed in the Sacrament of Penance."  – St. Thomas Aquinas

Confession Times

Weekly confessions in St. Robert church are available on Saturdays from 9:00 - 10:00 am, and 4:00 - 4:45 pm.

Individual confession appointments with a priest may also be scheduled through the parish office.

Examination of Conscience

Before celebrating the Sacrament of Confession, we should prepare ourselves with an examination of conscience.  This is a “prayerful self-reflection on our words and deeds in the light of the Gospel to determine how we may have sinned against God”  (CCC, Glossary). You can view examples below of Examinations of Conscience that can aid you as you prepare for the Sacrament.

Examination of Conscience for Adults

Examination of Conscience for Children

Examination of Conscience for Teens

First Confession

Children generally celebrate their First Confession as part of their formation and preparation for First Eucharist, which occurs during Second Grade. In individual circumstacnes, those who are as young as Kindergarten and who manifest a disposition and desire for the sacrament may prepare to celebrate the Sacrament of Confession for the first time. For more information, please contact Sarah Voight, Director of Religious Education, at (810) 659-2501.

"The Blessed Sacrament is the greatest of the sacraments, the one dearest to God and the one most helpful to us.” 

– St. Alphonsus Ligouri

The Eucharist, for Catholics, is the source and summit of the whole Christian life. The other sacraments--truly, all ecclesial ministries and apostolic works--are bound up with the Eucharist and are oriented toward it. For in the blessed Eucharist is contained the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Jesus himself.

At the Last Supper, under the sacred signs of bread and wine,  Jesus blessed and communicated to his disciples a true participation in the sacrifice of his Body and Blood on the Cross, shed for the forgiveness of our sins. He commanded them to perpetuate this sacrifice through time in remembrance of him. The Eucharist is therefore the visible sign and faithful guarantee in every age that God has made a new and eternal covenant with mankind, which both satisfies divine justice and bestows divine mercy upon us.

We worship and adore Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament because he teaches us by faith that he is fully and substantially present to us in the Eucharist, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. Every Friday from 9:00am to 5:30pm, we expose Jesus in a monstrance upon the church sanctuary altar for the sake of inviting all to pass time with Our Lord in loving prayer and spiritual communion.

First Holy Eucharist

Children generally celebrate their First Eucharist during Second Grade. They are to make preparation for this sacrament either as students at St. Robert School or as children enrolled in Religious Education. You can contact principal Sarah Bushey at the school, (810) 659-2503, or Sarah Voight at the Religious Education office, (810) 659-2501, for more details.

"If you are who you should be, you will set the whole world on fire."  – St. Catherine of Siena

Confirmation is the sacrament through which we experience and receive the promised grace given by Jesus to his first disciples at Pentecost. Together with Baptism and Holy Eucharist, Confirmation fully initiates us into the life of Christ and the misison of his Body, the Church. Just as the first disciples were given power to witness and faithfully transmit the Gospel to the ends of the earth, so Confirmation deepens and perfects in us the graces of the Holy Spirit to accomplish our individual mission given us by God at our creation.

Youth Confirmation

Students are confirmed in the spring of their Eighth Grade year. Preparation for Confirmation starts in Seventh Grade. Candidates’ parents receive a booklet in the Fall of their child’s Seventh Grade year containing information explaining the requirements and process of preparation for this sacrament.  For more information, please contact the Religious Education office at (810) 659-2501.

Adult Confirmation

For a number of reasons, many adults have not completed their sacraments of initiation, though they may be active within the parish community. Adult Catholics who have not celebrated the sacrament of Confirmation are encouraged to call Tim Cassady at (810) 659-2501. We can help you take the appropriate steps to complete the process of preparing for Confirmation as an adult.

"By the sacred anointing and the prayer of the priest, the whole Church commends those who are ill to the suffering and glorified Lord, that he may raise them up and save them. And indeed she exhorts them to contribute to the good of the People of God by freely uniting themselves to the Passion and death of Christ."  – CCC 1499

The sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick is offered to those who are dying, as well as those who are seriously ill or about to undergo a considerable surgical procedure.  This powerful sacrament offers prayers for recovery and raises up and strengthens the soul of the sick person.

Please call the Parish Office at (810) 659-2501 or email us if someone is ill or hospitalized and would like to be anointed.  Please do not wait until the last minute to call for Anointing of the Sick!

This Sacrament is to be conferred on a person when:

• Within proximity of death
• Seriously ill
• Before a serious surgical procedure
• For an elderly person who has become notably weakened (even though no serious illness is present)
• A seriously ill child if they have sufficient use of reason to be strengthened by this sacrament

"Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let your perpetual light shine upon them. May their souls and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace."  – Requiem Aeternam Prayer

We at St. Robert would like to express our sincere sympathies to you and your family at the passing of your loved one. Our Catholic faith teaches us, through the resurrection of Jesus, to mourn with great hope in eternal life. Still, grieving the death of a loved one is a sacred experience that takes time and must be fully processed. We are here to help you prepare for the funeral liturgy and support you as you mourn in the weeks and months ahead.

You can make funeral arrangements by contacting the Parish Office at (810) 659-2501.

If you are looking ahead and would like to plan your own funeral Mass, please also let us know. Our staff will help you as you assist your family in communicating to them your future wishes.

"We become what we love, and who we love shapes what we become. If we love things, we become a thing. If we love nothing, we become nothing. Love means becoming the image of the beloved."  – St. Clare of Assisi

Congratulations!

If you would like to get married at St. Robert, you are invited to call Bonnie Mattar in the parish office at (810) 659-2501, to schedule an appointment with a priest and discuss marriage preparation.

“The priest does not go to heaven alone. If he goes to heaven, he takes his people with him.”  – St. John Vianney

The sacrament of Holy Orders has been given to us by God for the shepherding of his Church and exists for the service of God's people by the laying down of a man's life in the manner of Christ and at his invitation. 

Like marriage, Holy Orders is a vocation, not a function. This means that God, not man, is its author. God is the one who calls a man personally to follow him more sacrificially for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Through a special grace of the Holy Spirit, God imparts to him, according to the apostolic pattern, the authority to offer the holy sacraments to God's people and lead them along the way of salvation. By his life of prayer and humble sacrifice, this man becomes a faithful steward of the holy mysteries of God.

Discerning a vocation to Holy Orders requires prayer, attentive listening to your holy desires, and the willingness to be guided by the wisdom and discernment of the Church. If you are sensing a call to the priesthood, call our parish office at (810) 659-2501 and set up an appointment with one of our priests.