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To the Church of St. Francis Community,

Your warm welcome for Fr. Brian and me, when we came to preach about the Franciscan Challenge, was truly an example of the wonderful Franciscan hospitality for which your community is known.

Your care and support of the Franciscan Friars who serve you now, and those to come in the future, is evidence of the love you have for those who have served you in the past.

Thank you for your participation in our annual Provincial fundraising event. Your gift ensures that the Franciscan spirit will endure in our world and in our church.

Thank you for supporting the Friars and the people that we serve. You make our Love at Work possible for so many in need!

A special thank you to Fr. Andrew and all the friars, who faithfully serve this community, for welcoming us in such a wonderful, fraternal way.

Many blessings,

Fr. David Convertino, OFM

Executive Director
Office of Development
The Franciscan Friars of Holy Name Province

Please visit our website for more information or to donate to the Franciscan Challenge at: www.TheFranciscanChallenge.org

When you hear today’s second reading, you may think that you have heard this reading before…and you have – probably at a wedding.

St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians is famous for its use at weddings, but it is also very appropriate for our daily lives: “Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, it is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude…” (Read the rest yourself.) Where did St. Paul get this if not from Jesus?

In the Gospel for today, Jesus is in the synagogue and many were amazed at his words and teaching while others could not understand where this came from and even said in an insulting way: “Isn’t this the son of Joseph?” It is amazing how Jesus does not react to this, but as the Gospel goes on to say: “…Jesus passed through the midst of them and went away.” Love is patient, love is kind, it is not rude.

Last weekend our Franciscan brothers spoke to you about the Franciscan Challenge and asked for your assistance in providing funds for the education and training of our friars in formation,
care for our retired and sick and infirm friars and assistance to the charitable works of our ministries. We don’t receive any funds from any Diocese or Archdiocese, and over the years your support has made all these things possible. Thank you and all of our benefactors for your support over the years. I received my seminary education through these funds and in my old age will depend on them for the health care that I may need. Every day at Morning and Evening Prayer in the Friary we pray for our benefactors, living and deceased. May the Lord bless and keep you!

-Fr. Andrew Reitz, O.F.M.

Chapter 3: In the Light of the Master

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”

The world tells us exactly the opposite. Entertainment, pleasure, diversion and escape make for the good life. The worldly person ignores problems of sickness or sorrow in the family or all around him: he averts his gaze. The world has no desire to mourn; it would rather disregard painful situations, cover them up or hide them. Much energy is expended on fleeing from situations of suffering in the belief that reality can be concealed. But the cross can never be absent.

A person who sees things as they truly are and sympathizes with pain or sorrow is capable of touching life’s depths and finding authentic happiness. He or she is consoled not by the world but by Jesus. Such persons are unafraid to share in the suffering of others; they do not flee from painful situations. They discover the meaning of life by coming to the aid of those who suffer, understanding their anguish and bringing relief… They feel compassion for others in such a way that all distance vanishes…

Knowing how to mourn with others: That is holiness.

Below is a table comparing December 2017 collections to our current December 2018 collections.

As you can see our collections this year were below last year.

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.

You can sign up for online giving HERE.

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.

Who are the members of Holy Name Province?

There are 325 Franciscan Friars in Holy Name Province serving people of God in a wide variety of settings – colleges, parishes, ministry centers, and diverse social ministries along the East Coast. Today we continue the mission of Saint Francis to make the message come alive in our contemporary world. We live in , suburbs and rural areas. Our backgrounds are diverse and our ministries are varied; most of us serve in pastoral roles, while others work in education, social ministry, administration, and manual trades.

What is our mission?

The core of Franciscanism is in living out the Gospel of Jesus Christ within the Church according to the Rule of Life proposed and observed by Saint Francis of Assisi to preach this message to every creature. This is our purpose and mission. Our message is very simple: God loves each of us totally and unconditionally.

What makes the Franciscan Friars different?

The Franciscan Friars have always been thought of as “of the people and with the people.” Living in community is a core value and often helps the Friars put things a more “down to earth” perspective. The Friars never see themselves as better than anyone, and therefore they
are not usually judgmental and are very accepting of everyone, those who are in the faith community and those who are not.

All Are Welcome is at the core of Franciscan hospitality.

The Church of St. Francis of Assisi has a new look on the web!

Right before Christmas 2018 we launched our new website.   The new modern design gives visitors to our website the same experience across platforms: from their desktop computer to their smartphone.

We also hope that the new design makes it easier for new people to our church to get a sense of who we are and what we do, as well as give long time parishioners easy access to information that they need.

The layout is a big departure from what we had for the last 10 years.  So for those of you who were used to the old site, it may take a little time to get used to navigating the new site.

Mass and Confession Times

The most frequently sought information, the Mass Schedule and the Confession Schedule, are able to be reached from the “hamburger menu” at the top right as well as sitting prominently in the new section on the homepage called “We are here for you.”

Our Many Ministries

We have 15 major ministries at the Church of St. Francis of Assisi that serve our people and the wider community in a variety of ways, from teaching our Catholic faith, to peer based ministry groups, to helping people with immigration issues.  Our new site makes our ministries much more prominent on our site.  Take some time to see what our church does year round.

Find us and Contact Us

Directions to the church are right at the bottom of the homepage and now have a dynamic link to Google maps, so people can find us very easily.  There is also a quick link to email or call the church.

Presider and Confessor Schedule

The Presider and Confessor schedule, which many people consult to find out when certain friars are saying Mass or hearing Confession is accessible both from the Mass Times page and the Confession times page.  The link to the daily Mass readings is also on the Mass Times page.

Online Giving

Our online giving tool can also be easily reached right on the homepage in the “Giving” section so that you can make your donations with a credit card or bank account with ease. Remember you can set up your giving to be repeating or you can make a one time donation.

Security

Behind the scenes this new site offers users the latest security measures to protect their data when you sign up for a class, purchase a Mass card or fill out a form for information.  The security of our people’s data was a major concern when we designed the new site.  And the Church of St. Francis of Assisi never sells or shares your information with any other charity.  That is our commitment to you.

Please take some time to explore the new site.

There are a few more pages which will be appearing in the near future.  We hope you like our new look.

Thank you

The Church of St. Francis of Assisi contracted Square Cloud Web Design to rebuild our website.  Chris Richter, owner of Square Cloud, designed and built St. Francis’ last website which served us very well for almost a decade.  He did a great job with our current website.  We are grateful for the work he has done.  His technical ability and sense of style and design resulted in our new look and feel, while giving us the capabilities and security we were looking for.

Chris is not only our web designer, but Chris was also Baptized at the Church of St. Francis of Assisi in 2010 after attending our RCIA.

Thank you Chris!