The Rite of Acceptance will be celebrated this Sunday

The Rite of Acceptance is the first ritual that punctuates the journey of people who are entering fully into the Catholic Church through the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA).  During this ritual, converts are introduced to the community and initiated into the Liturgy of the Word.  It is a time when a person goes from inquiring into our faith somewhat privately to  proclaiming publicly that they desire to learn the Gospel from Christ himself among us.  During this Rite they “meet the family” by being introduced to the community during Mass and after this point they join the “family dinner” each week by coming with us to Mass on Sunday.

At this Rite we also hand over to the converts our most cherished blessing: the sign of the cross.  We hand over this ancient ritual to them and we commend them to the protection of the Lord who Himself will lead his new disciples to the waters of Baptism, to Confirmation and to the Eucharist.

We will celebrate this Rite at the 5 PM Mass on Sunday, November 2oth.

Join us at the Mass and at our after Mass hospitality to welcome our candidates.

Here are photos of the Rite of Acceptance from 2021.  Photos courtesy of Keith Kemp.

Days of reflection for Priests

 

 

Due to lack of registrations our Priest Days of Reflection have been cancelled for 2023.
For more information or to find out about potential future Priest Days please contact Fr. Michael Carnevale, OFM at Carnevale1@me.com

 

THE CHURCH OF ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI invites you to
A MORNING OF RECOLLECTION FOR PRIESTS
Mondays
12 / 5 • 2 / 27 • 5 / 1
9: 45am – 12:00 pm
(coffee and pastries & lunch provided)
San Damiano Hall
129 W 31 Street • NYC

CANCELLED.
We apologize for the inconvenience however the Dec. 5th priest reflection has been cancelled. Please join us for the February and May reflections.

Kevin Mullen, OFM
December 5, 2022

Fr. Mullen has served as the 16th Provincial Minister of the Franciscan Friars of Holy Name Province, the largest province of the Order of Friars Minor in the U.S., since 2014. A native of Paterson, N.J., Fr. Mullen’s pastoral ministry includes nine years at parishes in Bergen County, N.J., as pastor and parochial vicar, and nine years as rector and guardian at St. Anthony Shrine in Boston, Mass. During his 46 years as a Franciscan friar, Fr. Mullen has held several administrative and leadership positions for the Province, Order of Friars Minor, and Franciscan institutions of higher education. He holds a doctorate degree in moral theology from Catholic University of America in Washington, and a master’s in divinity from Washington Theological Union.

 

 

 

 

CANCELLED.
We apologize for the inconvenience however our priest reflection days have been cancelled for 2023.

Kenneth Himes, OFM
February 27, 2023

Kenneth Himes, OFM is a professor of theology at Boston College. His research and writing focus on ethical issues in war and peacebuilding, the development of Catholic social teaching, and the role of religion in American public life, as well as fundamental moral theology. He is a past president of the Catholic Theological Society of America and the editor of Modern Catholic Social Teaching (Georgetown University Press).

 

 

 

 

CANCELLED.
We apologize for the inconvenience however our priest reflection days have been cancelled for 2023.

Dan Horan, OFM
May 1, 2023

Daniel P. Horan, OFM is the Director of the Center for Spirituality and Professor of Philosophy, Religious Studies, and Theology at Saint Mary’s College in Notre Dame, IN. He previously held the Duns Scotus Chair of Spirituality at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. He is a columnist for National Catholic Reporter and the author of fourteen books including the award-winning Catholicity and Emerging Personhood: A Contemporary Theological Anthropology (2019) and The Franciscan Heart of Thomas Merton: A New Look at  the Spiritual Influence on his Life, Thought, and Writing (2014).

Veterans Day Observance 2022

The Church of St. Francis of Assisi will observe Veterans Day on Friday, November 11th, with one Mass at 12:00 PM.

There will no confessions and the church offices and adult education center will be closed for the day.

We offer our thanks, appreciation and pray for all those who have served our country in the armed forces, especially those who were injured in the line of duty. May your bravery and courage not go unrewarded!

Mass to Remember our Deceased Friars

Join us Saturday, November 5th at 1:00pm, as we gather for a Memorial Mass remembering all of the deceased friars who have served here.

Come and give thanks for the 300+ men who have helped make this place what it is today!

Special All Soul’s Day Mass was again a moving remembrance

On November 2 at 7 PM our church was again filled with people who came to remember their lost loved ones at a special Mass of Remembrance.  We hold this Mass each year and it gives people a chance to come together to pray and remember their loved ones with their photos in the sanctuary, candles lit, incense rising to God, and beautiful music.  Fr. Tom Gallagher, our pastor, presided at the Mass last night and gave a beautiful homily which reminds us that as Christians we know that our loved ones are with the Lord and still with us.

This Mass is particularly important to people who live far from family and friends that pass away and can’t share in the rituals that hold us up in times of grief and sadness.  So we share those rituals together in our own sacred space with our community at St. Francis.

If you would like to watch the 2022 Mass of Remembrance, we have posted it here:

Do you know someone interested in getting Baptized or receiving Confirmation?

Are you or someone you know interested in exploring Catholicism or completing Confirmation?

    • If you or someone you know is not Catholic but is interested in learning about our beliefs and practices, feel free to contact us.  There is no pressure whatsoever to join.  Curious people are welcome to ask questions, learn, investigate and then choose to either stay or go.
    • If you are already Christian but raised in another Christian community and are interested in possibly becoming Catholic, call us.
    • If you are an adult Catholic who never received Confirmation or First Communion and are thinking about completing your sacraments, we can prepare you for that.

If any of these apply to you or someone you know, feel free to contact us.

The process by which people explore our faith and prepare to join the church is called the “Order of Christian Initiation of Adults” (OCIA).  Until recently the process was called the “Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults”, and you will still often see it referred to as the RCIA.  You don’t need to worry about that though.  If you are curious about Christianity in general or Catholicism in particular, all you need to do is contact us and we can help.

What is the Schedule?

Our OCIA will begin Tuesday, September 17th, 2024.  We meet every Tuesday from 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM.

The OCIA at St. Francis of Assisi is free of charge.

If you would like to find out more about our Order of Christian Initiation of Adults, please contact:

Joseph Nuzzi
Director of Evangelization
212-736-8500 x365
jnuzzi@stfrancisnyc.org

 

Here is some more information that might be helpful:

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How do we prepare adults for Baptism, Confirmation and First Communion?

God calls people all the time, even in a pandemic.  When God calls people to the Church, it is the Church’s responsibility to welcome them and prepare them to be disciples of Jesus.  The main way we do this, is through the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults.  You will often see this referred to simply as the “RCIA.”

Why do people ask about our RCIA program?   

People give all different reasons for exploring Catholicism.  Some people come to the Church because they fall in love with someone Catholic and they are interested in exploring their partner’s faith.  Some people come from a nominally Catholic family but were raised by their parents to have no religious affiliation and they are looking to reconnect with a lost family tradition.  Some people move to the US from a country where religious practices are suppressed and they want to learn about spirituality.  People give all kinds of reasons for expressing interest.

Some people are looking for meaning.  Some people are looking for spirituality.  And some people don’t really know why at first, but they just feel like they feel good coming to church.

But why do people decide to convert to Catholicism?

This is a different question than why people call or email about a program.  People actually decide to convert because they feel closer to God in the Church.  That is it.  That is why they join and why they stay.

What is it that makes them feel closer to God here?  The answer to that is probably the same given 2000 years ago in the Acts of the Apostles:

They devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life, to the breaking of the bread and to the prayers.
(Acts 2: 42)

They devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles – in other words to the Gospel.  They learned about Jesus and Jesus’ teachings directly from the people who knew him, who listened to him and who ate with him, the people who were there when Jesus died.  They heard the witness of the people who first experienced Jesus’ resurrection.  They felt close to God through the message.

 

They devoted themselves to the communal life – in other words they joined the community of people who gather to live out Jesus’ commandment to love one another.  Community is an integral part of the Catholic experience of spirituality.  During this pandemic we were all given a painful reminder of how important community is to all of us when we were been forced to socially distance ourselves to stop the spread of the virus.  Ancient Christians felt closer to God in the community.

 

They devoted themselves to the breaking of bread – this is an ancient reference to the ritual celebrations of the church (what we call the “sacraments”) and specifically to the Eucharist.  In other words, they felt closer to God in the Church’s rituals, especially Communion.

 

…and they devoted themselves to the prayers.  So many people who ask about the RCIA express that they do not know how to talk to God.  In other words, they don’t know how to pray.  That is OK.  It’s part of what we teach.  Ancient Christians felt closer to God in their personal prayer life and in the communal prayers of the Church.

These are many reasons for becoming Catholic. These are some of the the reasons that led the first generation of Christians to convert and they are the same that lead many today to join the Church.

 

 

© St. Francis of Assisi 2018. All Rights Reserved.
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