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Dear Parishioners and Friends of St. Francis of Assisi Church,

May the Lord give you peace.

St. Francis of Assisi Parish in New York City is greatly blessed by our LGBTQ members. Your gifts are a great blessing that helps to form and nurture the Body of Christ. I am deeply saddened by the recent statement by the Vatican. We are wounded by this statement and feel a new depth of rejection. In view of it all, I call to mind that we are the Church. We, all together, in all of the richness of our diversity are the Body of Christ. Everyone is needed, everyone is essential. The body is incomplete without each person’s gift.

As I reflect on my few months here and my many years of ministry, I know that the LGBTQ community brings the Church several remarkable gifts. What immediately comes to mind is resilience. Despite years of struggle and pain, we together continue to live the Gospel, to break the bread of the Eucharist, and to care for the poor. This resilience is a great strength and a prophetic proclamation.

There is strength in the continued affirmation of the power of the Spirit to be life-giving. The strength is seen in the companioning of those who were dying during the AIDS pandemic, the care for LGBTQ youth, and the ministries of healing, teaching, the arts, and service. Within our community we have ministers who are lectors, musicians, servers, teachers, and ministers of the Eucharist. There is a witness to prophetic life in “coming out”- being the person God has created us to be. With Paul, we can say, “by the grace of God-I am what I am … his grace is not in vain.”

It is this prophetic proclamation that understands Paul’s words, “nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord.” There is no statement, no prohibition, no theological construct that transcends the love of God. We are all radically loved by God.

It is of this same love that the Letter of John notes, “where there is love, there is God, for God is love.” I have seen the love of LGBTQ couples who heal one another, nurture children, and endure the failure of love from those unable to see the manifest ways of God’s presence in diversity.

We remember Jesus’ parting words to his disciples, “Do not let your hearts be troubled, have faith in God and faith in me…. I am the way, truth, and life.” We put our trust in him and pray that the all will one day realize the depth and wonder of the diversity of God’s gifts in the lives of all God’s daughters and sons.

Ultimately, we are all blessed by God, and we know loving unions reflect the presence of God. We cannot limit God. God is free and has called us to share in that freedom.

We, St. Francis of Assisi Church, again affirm the incredible gifts of the LGBTQ members of our community and the larger Church. We are blessed in the graces of resilience, prophetic proclamation, love, and God’s presence.

Blessings and Peace,

Thomas M. Gallagher, ofm
Pastor

Each weekday, Monday through Friday, for the whole season of Lent, the friars from 31st Street will be offering a brief daily video reflection.  We will post these here on this page and on our Facebook page each day.  We hope that these reflections help you to enter this time of grace as we journey together from ashes to Easter and the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost.

Listen to Him, by Fr. Kevin Tortorelli, OFM

This book is a collection of homilies by Fr. Kevin Tortorelli, OFM, who spent many years ministering at the parishes of St. Francis of Assisi and Holy Name of Jesus in Manhattan. Based on Fr. Kevin’s personal prayer, study, and the practice of Lectio Divina these reflections help open the Word of God with powerful images and insights.

It is available in the lobby bookstore

As a parish in the Archdiocese of New York, we are part of the fabric of the larger Church of New York.  We share in the benefits and the responsibilities of the ministry of our Archbishop and of the Archdiocese. The Cardinal’s Annual Stewardship Appeal is part of our financial support and part of our participation in the life of our Church outside the walls of our beloved Church of St. Francis of Assisi.

WHERE YOUR 2021 GIFT GOES:

• 48% Assistance for Financially Vulnerable Parishes
• 27% Charitable Outreach and Pastoral Support
• 10% Evangelization and Catholic Education
  5 % Formation of New Parish Priests
• 5% Care for Retired Parish Priests
• 5% COVID-19 Relief

For more information about what your contribution is used for click here.

Here is a message from Cardinal Dolan for this year’s appeal:

If you would like to make a contribution to this year’s appeal click HERE.

Please remember to select “Direct my gift to” and select “St. Francis of Assisi, New York” from the drop-down menu.  This does not mean that St. Francis will receive these funds, it just means that the Archdiocese knows that your donation came from our community.