Come and listen!
Enjoy original poems by members of the Adult Education Program and friends of the parish.
This free program will take place
Monday, November 19
6:00 to 8:00 PM
in the Clare Room on the first floor of the St. Francis Parish House.
This is a free event.
The Korean Community at St. Francis of Assisi will host its
15th Annual ‘Love Concert’
on Saturday, November 17th
at 7:00 PM in the church.
The concert will be presented in two parts. In part one, EnoB (Innovative Bridge) will present various classical music by renowned musicians.
The second part will include Korean traditional instruments and songs as well as the Korean community choir under the direction of Jin-Ok Lee.
Tickets are $20 and can be purchased at the reception desk in the lobby of the Parish House.
Are you called to the consecrated life?
Be holy by living out your commitment with joy.
Are you married?
Be holy by loving and caring for your husband or wife as Christ does for the church.
Do you work for a living?
Be holy by laboring with integrity and skill in the service of your brothers and sisters.
Are you a parent or grandparent?
Be holy by patiently teaching the little ones how to follow Jesus.
Are you in a position of authority?
Be holy by working for the common good and renounce personal gain.
Let the grace of your baptism bear fruit in a path of holiness. Let everything be open to God; turn to him in every situation. Do not be dismayed, for you can do this in the power of the Holy Spirit, and holiness, in the end, is the fruit of the Holy Spirit in your life.
As we approach the end of the Church’s liturgical year next Sunday, we hear Scriptures that speak of the end of this present age. It is tempting to notice what is happening in the world today and apply this to the scene in the Scriptures. Hopefully, when the Son of Man returns, he will find us busy with attending to our daily lives and living the Gospel and not sitting around worrying. Christ is already present in our midst and our attentiveness to His presence and living out our discipleship keeps us close to Him. This is what we are asked to do in order to be prepared for the end of time. The conclusion of today’s Gospel says, “of that day or hour, no one knows neither the angels in heaven nor the Son, but only the Father.”
It is good to be back home. Our recent church pilgrimage took us many miles and we saw many beautiful and inspiring cities with many cathedrals and religious shrines, historical sites, beautiful landscapes, and beautiful people in Poland, Hungary, Austria and the Czech Republic. Next year at this time, we will be offering a pilgrimage to the various shrines and cities in France. There is information available for next year’s Pilgrimage in the lobby of the Parish House.
A Blessed and Happy Thanksgiving from the Friars and Staff of St. Francis Church! You are a blessing to you and we are grateful for all that you do for St. Francis Parish!
-Fr. Andrew Reitz, O.F.M
The Church of St. Francis of Assisi will observe Veterans Day on
Monday, November 12th.
Masses will be celebrated at 8:30 and 11:30 AM.
There will no confessions and the church offices will be closed for the day.
The American Church historian, John Gilmary Shea, comments on the significance of Fr. Alexander Martin’s enlarging of St. Francis Church: “By this enlargement he gained much space for the accommodation of his parishioners, who, as the buildings increased in that part of New York, began to fill the church beyond its means: the devotion of many English-speaking Catholics to the great Saint Francis of Assisi and his Order, leading them to make this church their special resort.” Until this time all sermons had been preached in German but the increasing number of English-speaking communicants at Saint Francis required the newly initiated English service.
Fr. Alexander completed his term as pastor in 1858 and was ordered by his superiors to join the newly erected Franciscan Custody in Cincinnati. He decided to leave the Order, became a diocesan priest, and died in 1865.
There was no friar to succeed Fr. Alexander as pastor, so his assistant, Fr. Charles Frederick Rudolph, a diocesan priest from Mainz, Germany, was appointed to shepherd Saint Francis Parish. Fr. Rudolph is credited with doubling the parish school enrollment and was known to be a kind and compassionate priest. He died on June 15, 1864.
As early as 1848, the Archdiocese of New York had considered entrusting Saint Francis Church to the Franciscans in order to provide future stability. In 1861, the Custody of the Immaculate Conception had been formally established in Allegany, New York. When Fr. Rudolph died, Archbishop McCloskey contacted Fr. Pamfilo da Magliano in Allegany, and asked the Custody of the Immaculate Conception to assume the permanent responsibility of Saint Francis Church in New York City. Fr. Pamfilo (pictured here) agreed and appointed the well seasoned and multitalented Fr. Andrew Pfeiffer as pastor in 1864.
This is the fourth in a series of articles on the history of our parish which will be published throughout our 175th anniversary year. They are adapted from the writings of Fr. Flavian Walsh, O.F.M., Pastor from 1985-87.
I would like to insist primarily on the call to holiness that the Lord addresses to each of us, the call that he also addresses personally to you, “Be holy for I am holy.”
The Second Vatican Council stated this clearly: “Strengthened by so many and such great means of salvation, all the faithful, whatever their condition or state, are called by the Lord – each in his or her own way – to that perfect holiness by which the Father is perfect”
…The important thing is that each person discern his or her own path, that they bring out the very best of themselves, the most personal gifts that God has placed in their hearts rather than hopelessly trying to imitate something not meant for them … For God’s life is communicated “to some in one way and to others in another.”
Below is a table comparing October 2017 collections to our current October 2018 collections.
As you can see our collections fell short of our budget.
We need everyone to do their part to keep St. Francis on firm financial ground. The best way to use this is to make your offering using our online giving system.
We ask all of our members and visitors to offer the equivalent of ONE HOUR of their weekly salary per week to support the mission of the church.
Thank you to all of you who are already doing your part.
A poor widow is the hero of today’s Gospel. Heroes according to Jesus’ teaching could be ordinary folk who showed in a clear way that they understood what Jesus taught and put it into practice in their daily lives. The poor widow was probably embarrassed because she was noticed and that Jesus held her up as a model for being charitable. He speaks about those who love to be noticed and think only of themselves while letting others suffer. He says: “They will receive a very severe condemnation.” Another Gospel tells us about being “rich in what matters to God.” This is always something to keep in mind in all of our actions, especially in what we do for God and our sisters and brothers. A good attitude that reflects Christ’s attitude will take us a long way.
As you read this, I am in Budapest, Hungary with our 44 pilgrims. We spent several days in Poland after our arrival and now we are in the beautiful city of Budapest. Buda is on one side of the Danube and Pest is on the other side of the river. There have been many inspiring, beautiful sights along the way and we had Mass in many beautiful settings. Next, we are off to Vienna and Prague. Pray for a safe pilgrimage for us; we pray for you at Mass every day!
Check out our Pilgrimage for next year (2019): early November in France, and our May, 2020 Pilgrimage: The Passion Play in Oberammergau, German.
– Fr. Andrew Reitz, O.F.M
