The Autumn 2018 session of the St. Francis Adult Education program gets underway soon. Brochures are available at the entrances of the church. Once again, we are offering a variety of courses and events in Scripture, theology, spirituality, literature, and the arts.

And don’t miss our special Francis Week presentation, Culture Meets Catholicism, on October 2 at 7 PM.

Click here for a PDF copy of the brochure.

Classes are now available for online registration.

Click HERE to sign up for your classes today.

Today’s Gospel says: “If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off…if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off… if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out.”You may respond: “Really? I thought the Gospel was good news.” We must remember that the Gospel writers used a variety of literary styles to emphasize various truths. The verse quoted above is a good example. It not only catches our attention, it startles us. This is Mark’s way of saying that you need to avoid anything that distracts you from following Jesus. It applies to an individual’s behavior and how this type of behavior can ruin a person and the Church as the Body of Christ. We have seen how the poor example of members of the church has recently had a negative effect on the whole church.

This is Francis Week and there are several events we have planned to celebrate our patron’s feast day. Check the schedule and please come and celebrate with us! This amazing man, Francis of Assisi, has much to say to us today.

Recently, there have been a number of incidents after Masses on Sunday. One Sunday a drunken man was stopped in the lobby of the Education Building. The security guard tried to prevent him from entering the building, but the man was able to enter and subsequently smashed a window with a fire extinguisher. The following Sunday a woman snuck down to the lower church and hid until the church was closed. She did not do any damage until she tried to get out and ended up smashing several windows. You can help: “if you see something, say something.”

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

We may be sure that none of our acts of love will be lost, nor any of our acts of sincere concern for others. No single act of love for God will be lost, no generous effort is meaningless, no painful endurance is wasted. All of these circle our world like a vital force.

Sometimes it seems that our work is fruitless, but mission is not like a business transaction or investment, or even a humanitarian activity. It is not a show where we count how many people come as a result of our publicity; it is something much deeper, which escapes all measurement. It may be that the Lord uses our sacrifices to shower blessings in another part of the world which we will never visit.

The Holy Spirit works as he wills, when he wills, and where he wills; we entrust ourselves without pretending to see striking results. We know only that our commitment is necessary. Let us learn to rest in the tenderness of the arms of the Father amid our creative and generous commitment… let us give him everything, allowing him to make our efforts bear fruit in his good time.

The Archdiocese Family Life Office will present a “Surviving Divorce” program, starting Thursday, September 6th, in the Parish Center of the Church of St. Paul the Apostle, 405 West 59th Street. The program, which is free of charge, will take place every week, at 6:30 PM on Thursdays, and run through Thursday, November 29th.

Christ’s resurrection is not an event of the past; it contains a vital power which has permeated this world. Where all seems to be dead, signs of resurrection suddenly spring up. It is an irresistible force. Often it seems that God does not exist: all around us we see persistent injustice, evil, indifference and cruelty. But it is also true that in the midst of darkness something new always springs to life and sooner or later produces fruit…

However dark things are, goodness always re-emerges and spreads. Each day in our world beauty is born anew, it rises transformed through the storms of history. Values always tend to reappear under new guises, and human beings have arisen time after time from situations that seemed doomed.

Such is the power of the resurrection, and all who evangelize are instruments of that power.