Dear Parishioners and Friends of St. Francis of Assisi,

May the Lord give you peace.

I thank you for your participation in our celebrations of the Feast of St. Francis last weekend. They were wonderful opportunities for us to remember our Holy Father St. Francis and to recommit ourselves to living the Gospel in love. Your presence, in person or via live stream, was a gift for all. We thank our friars, lectors, servers, musicians, camera persons, and ministers of hospitality for the ministry that made the celebrations joyful and enriching. We are indeed blessed in so many ways.

While there is a new normal coming to life during this pandemic, there are many opportunities for us to connect as we deepen our life in Christ. We have Scripture Sharing Groups available via Zoom with some new opportunities in the planning stages. Our RCIA, the process for becoming a member of the Catholic Church or completing initiation sacraments, is active and welcomes interested people. Our Bereavement Ministry Support group is scheduled and encourages anyone who has experienced loss to participate.  We are also starting a new support group for people who are recently unemployed. (See links for RCIA, Bereavement and Unemployed Together for more details.) We will also soon resume our devotional prayers at the end of the masses. We cannot pass out copies of the prayers at this time but will make a link available for you to print from home and your participation through live stream.

We are just weeks away from our national elections. Please be sure that you are registered and prepared to cast your vote based on the love of God, which we have come to know through the Spirit in Jesus. On October 3rd, 2020, Pope Francis signed an encyclical entitled Tutti Fratelli. In this document, the Holy Father invites us to a broad world view that embraces each person as sister or brother. This encyclical speaks of love. Rooted in the realization that God is love and all who love live in God and God in them, he calls us to be bridge builders recognizing the inalienable rights of human dignity inherent in all children, women, and men. He challenges us to move from a culture of walls built in fear to a life-giving transformation for all. Pope Francis speaks of a politics of charity, not as a handout but as one would nurture a sister or brother, respecting their dignity, engaging their gifts, and delighting in their success. As we prepare to vote, not on just a single issue, but the broad spectrum of life issues, homelessness, unemployment, children, migration, refugees, education, human sexuality, care of the sick and elderly, those suffering or grieving during this pandemic, and the death penalty, pray for guidance. I suggest consideration St. Francis’ Prayer before the Crucifix (1205/1206).

Most High,
glorious God,
enlighten the darkness of my heart and give me right faith,
certain hope and perfect charity,
sense and knowledge Lord,
that I may carry out Your holy and true will.

Peace and all good,

Fr. Tom

The Church of St. Francis of Assisi will observe a holiday schedule on Columbus Day:

Monday, October 12th with one Mass ay 12:00 PM.
There will be no confessions.

The church offices will be closed for the day, including the St. Francis Adult Education Center.

On Thursday, August 13th at 6:00 PM we will celebrate a special liturgy during which we will baptize our elect and confirm another 4 candidates for Confirmation.

Our RCIA ministry has not taken a break throughout this pandemic and the shut down.  The ministry has been preparing two adults for baptism and another 6 adults for Confirmation and full communion.  When the lockdown occurred in mid March we had to suspend our in person meetings and our elect and candidates had to miss all of the Lenten and Holy Week celebrations that they normally participate in.

This, however, did not deter their dedication to their formation and their eagerness to join fully in the Body of Christ through the sacraments.

We moved our classes, our prayers and our formation online and we have been meeting ever since.

Our candidates have shown great resilience, patience and dedication through all of this.  Not only are they prepared to receive the sacraments, but they have demonstrated a deep faith in God and a true Christian spirit of hope even in the face of the challenges, sadness and loss we have all been facing while this virus is raging.

Please pray for our two elect: Annie and Miguel as they approach the waters of Baptism this week, and please pray for our candidates for Confirmation:  Lane, Danielle, Brooke, Kristen, Andrew, and Nick that the Holy Spirit bring them all into the fullness of the Body of Christ.

This has been a long but inspiring journey for them and the RCIA ministry team who has shared it with them and we are overjoyed to be able to celebrate with them at this point.

You can join us in prayer and support by watching the Liturgy live here or on our Facebook page this Thursday at 6:00 PM.

In case you missed it, here is Fr. Tim’s homily from the Mass of July 5, 2020.

Under normal circumstances our two elect and six candidates for Confirmation and Full Communion would have received their sacraments of initiation into the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil as the culmination of their long process of preparation and after and intense week of prayer and reflection during Holy Week. But, this year that didn’t happen. The pandemic and the shutdown meant that even though they are fully prepared, our elect and candidates have had to be patient and wait. We continue to pray for them each week and with our RCIA Ministry team, we continue to meet with our candidates online every Tuesday for classes and every Sunday for Breaking Open of the Word. We must be patient too awaiting for the time when we can safely return around the table of the Lord together.

Today I thought it would be nice to hear from one of our Candidates for Full Communion on her journey of faith and what is means to her in light of this pandemic. Here is a short reflection from Brooke McGowen, who was baptized in another Christian community and is seeking full Communion in the Catholic Church and Confirmation.

Please continue to pray for her, and for all of our elect and candidates who have been so patient awaiting their sacraments.

-Joseph Nuzzi
Director of Evangelization
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From Brooke McGowen:

Every Tuesday since September and nearly every Sunday since November, I’ve been attending classes & mass with the RCIA program at the Church of St. Francis of Assisi. There’s a much longer story here as to the exploration, decision, and journey I’ve been on over the last few years. Our small group has met without end, now through the pandemic, through livestream mass, through uncertainty, through illness, through fear, through trust. I had been incredibly selective about sharing this information. However, I think while the pandemic has revealed some of the highest levels of fear in me, it’s also given me more courage in other ways – to be vocal about causes I support, people & leaders I support, or don’t support. And now faith. As an artist, this type of silence is deadly. As a human, the silence is stifling. I’ve learned there’s also a place to keep some things private.

But tonight, after our online class, I am moved to break my silence and share something that has become very close to me. In all of this turmoil and change, this has been a constant. I originally went to check our the RCIA, uncertain if I’d feel it was right. Soon, I eagerly awaited the class and the community each week, and that hasn’t changed. We weren’t able to celebrate the sacraments on the Easter Vigil together, but we continue to meet from now until we do. And in a way, our distance from each other and the church and processing faith in such terrifying times has actually made us closer. Tonight is a reminder to me of the importance of community, faith, trust and love. Be well, everyone. And through fear and anger, I hope our faith, love and trust can be stronger most days.

-Brooke

The Via Lucis invites us to contemplate the crowning event of salvation history as we walk the way of Light.

We invite you to make this devotion part of your prayer during the Easter Season.

Welcome to our daily musical medication during this time of the Coronavirus.  We invite you to take a few moments each day to slow down, listen, mediate and pray.