Thursday, September 18, 2014

Our Lady of Good Counsel-Plymouth

Our Lady of Good Counsel is a neighborhood church in the affluent suburb of Plymouth Township. You enter the church grounds off North Territorial Road where it is surrounded by beautiful scenery which includes large trees, bushes and assorted other plant life. Once on church property you will be amazed at the beauty of OLGC. There is a garden called Gethsemane Garden and the Our Lady of Lourdes grotto. They help highlight the beauty and elegance of the church grounds.

Our Lady of Good Counsel is a large parish and when you enter the church it may be easy to feel a bit overwhelmed at everything that surrounds you. However, once you get your bearings it is easy to feel and see God’s loving presence all around you. There are no doors at the entrance to the church area. The flow of the vestibule goes right into the church. The seating is made up of a mix of wooden chairs with cushioned seating and regular pews. The floors are concrete with a golden tinge to them.

The altar is as simple oak wood setup with leaf inlays and a single candle on each side. Over the altar is a large cross with Jesus with his hands held out stretched. Under the cross is written; “I Thirst for God”

Fr. John Riccardo is the pastor at OLGC. They also have two associate pastors; Fr. Steven Mateja and Fr. Clement Suhy. Fr. Steven was the celebrant at the Sunday Noon mass we attended. His homily focused on the need for all of us to increase our faith and trust in God.

The mass we attended was pretty large given that it was the last mass of the weekend. It consisted of a large cross section of God’s followers including many families, young adults and seniors. Together they gave OLGC a feeling of vibrancy and enthusiasm for God’s goodness.
We enjoyed our visit to Our Lady of Good Counsel and the opportunity to worship in this beautiful house of the Lord.

On a personal note, it is with a heavy heart that I inform you that our beloved wife and mother Maria passed away suddenly this past month. Maria was a kind and loving person whom everyone adored.  She always looked forward to visiting the different churches each month and sharing her faith with others that we’ve met on our journey.  We will miss her very much and our journey won’t be the same without her but we also know that she would want us to continue our journey, share our faith with others and continue to explore the Catholic Churches of the Detroit Archdiocese. So our journey will continue as a memorial tribute to Maria and I’ll continue to write and post pictures about the churches we visit in my blog right here.


Up Next: St. Robert Bellarmine-Redford

Our Lady of Good Counsel

Church Grounds

Part of the Gethsemane Garden



Our Lady of Good Counsel Church

Joseph, Mary and Baby Jesus

Entrance to Church

one of the many religious statutes at OLGC

Altar at OLGC

Another religious statute

The altar


View of altar from the side.

R.I.P. Maria You've been a good and faithful servant
May you rest in the loving arms of our Savior Jesus Christ
Maria and Alejandro at OLGC