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

Monday, January 6, 2025
Friday, February 14, 2025
Tuesday, March 25, 2025
Friday, April 25, 2025
Thursday, May 29, 2025
Friday, June 27, 2025
Wednesday, July 16, 2025
Friday, August 15, 2025
Monday, September 15, 2025
Tuesday, October 7, 2025
Monday, November 2, 2025
Monday, December 8, 2025

Any questions 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. 

January 6, 2025 Sign Up

Join us for Caroling around the Sacred Heart neighborhood on Sunday, December 22 at 5PM.  Bring a lantern, dress warmly, and meet on the Church steps.

Our upcoming Authenticum lecture features  Dr. James Matthew Wilson,  Cullen Foundation Chair in English Literature and the founding director of the MFA program in Creative Writing at the University of Saint Thomas! 

Join us Thursday, January 9th in Cebelak Parish Hall for his talk titled: “THE CATHOLICITY OF BEAUTY.” 

JAMES MATTHEW WILSON is the Cullen Foundation Chair in English Literature and the founding director of the Master of Fine Arts program in Creative Writing at the University of Saint Thomas. The author of fourteen books, his most recent collection of poems is Saint Thomas and the Forbidden Birds. The Strangeness of the Good, won the poetry book of the year award from the Catholic Media Awards. In addition to his role at the University of Saint Thomas, he serves as poet-in-residence of the Benedict XVI Institute, scholar-in-residence of Aquinas College, editor of Colosseum Books, and poetry editor of Modern Age magazine. Wilson joined the University of Saint Thomas, Houston, in 2021, when he co-founded the Master of Fine Arts program. 

January 9, 2024

Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish

151 Garfield Ave SW, Grand Rapids, MI 49504

Doors open at 6:30 PM for Wine and Cheese Social

Lecture begins at 7:00 PM

Join us on this new date of Thursday, December 19 for the Advent service of Lessons & Carols. This beautiful service of scripture readings and hymns will take place at 1:30 PM in Sacred Heart church in Grand Rapids, MI. Students in grades 5-12 in Deacon Fish’s music classes and Academy Choir will be singing.

Sign-ups for the high school-age parish Mission Trip to the Gulf Coast are taking place.  If your child is in high school and would like to attend please contact Michael Tober at dre@shgr.org to sign up. Spots for the Mission Trip are first-come, first-served and will go fast!  

The Baby Blanket Marathon is our annual endeavor to provide a greater awareness for the Sanctity of Life, to assist the local Catholic Help Crisis Pregnancy Center, and to raise necessary funding to offset the travel cost to Washington D.C. for the March for Life.

Please prayerfully consider donating fleece, so that our students can make blankets to donate to the HELP Pregnancy Center. We accept fleece all year long for this event. The only criteria is that the colors and the patterns be baby-friendly. You can drop fleece off at the back of the church or the parish office. Contact Laureen Fish at lfish@shgr.org with questions.

Did you adore our Lord during our 40 Hours Devotion? Would you like to adore Him every First Friday? We are in need of those willing to commit to an hour of adoration every First Friday. We particularly need adorers for the 5:00pm and 10:00pm hours. If you would like to sign up or want more information, please call Noelle in the parish office at 616-459-8362.

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

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

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). In an effort to pull off an endeavor of this magnitude we are looking for volunteers who can commit to a specific need below, for ALL 13 events. We understand the commitment necessary from you to make that work, and we appreciate you praying about it. Our hope is that we end up with a solid team so that we can run like a well oiled machine. Please scan the QR code, visit https://bit.ly/VolunteerP500 or email Mike Tober,
dre@shgr.org or Laureen Fish, lfish@shgr.org with questions.

Enjoy this beautiful video created for our recent annual auction:

The Fruit of Love is Service – Auction Video 2024