In today’s Gospel of John we hear: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.” The peace that Jesus offers is different from the peace that we want in the world where divisions, prejudice and animosity cause hatred among nations and people. The world wants these to cease and for harmony to be established. Jesus offers us something deeper and lasting. Fear and anxiety no longer control us, and even though there may still be reasons to be afraid and troubled, Jesus offers us his life giving presence in our lives. He will come and “make his home in us.” He will help us move beyond and let go of what prevents us from having that peace that the world cannot give. We have to allow Jesus to have a key place in our lives.

Monday, May 27, is Memorial Day, a day to remember the many men and women who laid down their lives for our country and what we stand for: freedom, equality, the dignity of each person, and the fact that we are all brothers and sisters. When I was growing up, Memorial Day was called Decoration Day because the graves of our loved ones were planted with flowers and flags were put on veterans’ graves. There were Masses at the cemetery and parades, all to honor those who had given their lives. I like to also add a remembrance for their families who had their own struggle at these times, both in the past and now. Take some time over the weekend to say a prayer for these heroes.

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

After a few years of having problems with our previous phone service provider, the Church of St. Francis of Assisi has upgraded and modernized our phone system. The new phone system was launched just a few weeks ago and while we are getting a few of the kinks out, so far we believe that the new system is more reliable, easy to navigate, flexible and the new system is saving our community about $1,000 per month!

We are always looking for ways to save money in our budget to respect the donations that our members make to keep our church running.

We hope you will find the new system easy to navigate and we appreciate your patience in the transition.

Here are some of the new features:

When you dial our main number 212-736-8500 you will be greeted by a message with the voice of our very own Director of Music Ministries, Meredith Augustin.

She directs callers to the options that have available to get quickly to the person or office you are trying to reach.

For example, you can:

→ dial 1
and type in the first few letters of any staff members first or last name to get their extension.  If you know the extension you are trying to reach you can dial it at any time.  Our phone number and extension numbers have all remained the same.

→ dial 2
and listen to our regular Mass and Confession schedule or…

→ dial 9
to listen to the holiday schedule for the next upcoming holiday

Please listen to the message for the Migrant Center, the Counseling Center, Baptism, Confirmation, Weddings, etc., and of course you can always dial 0 during business hours to be connected to someone at the main desk.

Below is a table comparing April 2018 collections to our current April 2019 collections.

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.  This comes to a tithe of 2.5%

Thank you to all of you who are already doing your part.

“Lord… help me to know that I am following in your footsteps.”To act in this way presumes a heart set at peace by Christ, freed from the aggressiveness born of overweening egotism. That same peacefulness, the fruit of grace, makes it possible to preserve our inner trust and persevere in goodness, “though I walk  through the valley of the shadow of death”… Standing firm in the Lord, the Rock, we can sing: “In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.”

Christ, in a word, “is our peace”; he came “to guide our feet into the way of peace.” As he told St. Faustina Kowalska, “Man- kind will not have peace until it turns with trust to my mercy.” So let us not fall into the temptation of looking for security in success, vain pleasures, possessions, power over others or social status. Jesus says, “My peace I give to you; I do not give it to you as the world gives peace.”

Goal for St. Francis Church: $113,500

Amount pledged to date: $38,971 (last report: $29,221)

Number of Gifts: 58 (last report: 51)

Number of Potential Givers: 1,665

Since the last report, 7 people have contributed gifts totalling nearly $10,000 to make a significant movement toward our goal. If you were not able to give to Renew and Rebuild, this is an opportunity to help support the various services which come from the Archdiocese to help parishes run smoothly, as well as Catholic education, priestly formation and emergency aid for poor parishes for capital improvements such as roof and boiler repairs.

You can make your gift online today here.

Please designate your gift for “St. Francis of Assisi, New York” where it says “parish.”

Thank you.

We have been hearing sections of the Book of Revelation for several Sundays and today we hear this beautiful passage: “Behold, God’s dwelling is with the human race. He will dwell with them and they will be his people and God himself will always be with them as their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes…” Reading this over and over, allowing it to sink into our minds and hearts has a very calming and reassuring effect on us. This is where and what God chooses to be, and this is the relationship that God chooses to have with us. The reading also says, “Behold, I make all things new.”

Our celebration of this Easter season and what we are offered is what we need during these unsettling times. When we are more attentive to this, we are different and if the world were more attentive, many things would be different.

I hope to see you at the Korean Bazaar this Sunday afternoon. It is held on Broadway between 31st and 32nd Street just a short walk from the church. You will find many wonderful Korean food specialties, drinks, tents filled with items to buy, and a raffle.

The Korean drum group will lead a short parade to Broadway and perform for everyone. It is only one day, so don’t miss it. The Bazaar takes much planning and many people to set it up and take it down and work throughout the day. See you there!

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

We wish all mothers a very happy Mother’s Day!

From Sunday, May 12, through Monday, May 20, we will remember at daily Mass all mothers, living and deceased, in our Mother’s Day Novena.

We take this special occasion to say “thank you” and pray that God will always cherish those who gave us life.

Chapter 4: Signs of Holiness in Today’s World

Humility can only take root in the heart through humiliations. Without them, there is no humility or holiness. If you are unable to suffer and offer up a few humiliations, you are not humble and you are not on the path to holiness. The holiness that God bestows on his church comes through the humiliation of his Son. He is the way.

Humiliation makes you resemble Jesus; it is an unavoidable aspect of the imitation of Christ. For “Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.” In turn, he reveals the humility of the Father, who condescends to journey with his people, enduring their infidelities and com- plaints. For this reason, the apostles, after suffering humiliation, rejoiced “that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for [Jesus’] name.”

Here, I am… speaking…about the daily humiliations of those who keep silent to save their families, who prefer to praise others rather than boast about themselves or who choose the less welcome tasks, at times even choosing to bear injustice… ” If when you do right and suffer for it, you have God’s approval.”

“We should glory in the Cross
of our Lord Jesus Christ,
in whom is our salvation, life and resurrection,
through whom we are saved and delivered.”

HOLY THURSDAY

4

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

A Very Happy Mother’s Day! The Friars and Staff send prayers and blessings to all Mothers and the Motherly on this annual celebration. Our lives are enriched by your care and dedication.

Today’s short Gospel focuses on Jesus, the good shepherd. He says, “My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” This sentence tells us many things: Jesus knows us and we are meant to be his followers. Jesus knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows our thoughts, our words, our desires, our hidden thoughts, the various aspects of our personalities; what we do and what we don’t do. Yes, he knows us and yet, he calls us to follow him. Some days we are good at following Jesus, but on other days we prefer to do it “our way” and it may not end of all that good and yet Jesus continues to call us to follow him. This is amazing and it is also humbling that someone thinks so much of us to stick with us in good times and bad.

Because of the money that we have received from Renew and Rebuild, we have been able to do these projects; some were in the Renew and Rebuild Plan and others were emergencies:

• Preliminary work on the organ
• New telephone system
• Technology upgrade
• Roof repair and duct replacement near the elevator (not the church roof)
• Heating valve replacement
• Repair of broken pipes in the walls of the upper and lower sacristies and replacement of walls

I am grateful for the generosity of those who gave to Renew and Rebuild that covered the expense of these projects. We are currently looking at replacing some of the sidewalks on 31st Street because they are causing leaks in the basement.

We can still use your help for these and other capital projects.  If you would like to make a special donation  toward these and other maintenance projects please email me at areitz@stfrancisnyc.org or call me at 212-736-8500 x232.  Thank you.

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