Today, October 4th is the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi
Our Patron Saint.
Join us to celebrate our beloved St. Francis!
Festive Mass on Thursday, October 4, at 5:30 PM
Additional Masses at 7:00 • 7:45 • 8:30 • 11:30 AM 12:30 & 4:30 PM
The readings from Genesis and the Gospel reading today are very familiar to all of us: in Genesis, the creation of a partner for man, and Jesus’ teaching on divorce in the Gospel of Mark. Understanding the culture at the time they were written is important, especially the reading from Mark.
Remember that at the time when Jesus lived, woman were considered a man’s possession. Jewish law assumed that divorce was lawful, but the man was the only person in a marriage who could do the divorcing. Jesus’ teaching brings out the ideal of marriage: monogamy is the ideal. This passage has been debated and we know that sometimes a relationship doesn’t work. Staying together certainly does not reflect what marriage is meant to be. The church today wants to offer those who are divorced a chance to be reconciled. This is different from what people were told years ago.
In 2019, the Church of St. Francis of Assisi will celebrate a milestone: 175 years of serving the people of New York City – and the world. On May 9, 1844, the new Coadjutor Bishop, Most Rev. John McCloskey, blessed and laid the cornerstone of the new parish of St. Francis of Assisi located between 6th and 7th Avenues on West 31st Street. At this time, the west side of Manhattan between 23rd Street and Times Square had 400 residents. “Tree-lined streets, farms, and country estates dotted a pastoral landscape. Many of the inhabitants were German Catholics from Prussia, Bavaria, Austria and Hungary, even Bohemia.”These were our humble beginnings. 2019 will be a Year of Celebration with events throughout the year which will be announced at a later date.
-Fr. Andrew Reitz, O.F.M.
Keeping our missionary fervor alive calls for firm trust in the Holy Spirit, for it is he who “helps us in our weakness.” But this generous trust has to be nourished, and so we need to invoke the Holy Spirit constantly. He can heal whatever causes us to flag in the missionary endeavor. It is true that this trust in the unseen can cause us to feel disoriented: it is like being plunged into the deep and not knowing what we will find. I myself have frequently experienced this.
Yet there is no greater freedom than that of allowing oneself to be guided by the Holy Spirit, renouncing the attempt to plan and control everything to the last detail, and instead letting him enlighten, guide and direct us, leading us wherever he wills. The Holy Spirit knows well what is needed in every time and place. This is what it means to be mysteriously fruitful!
We’ve all heard the story. Francesco Bernadone was a restless young man, unable to find his calling. His dreams of being a heroic knight had turned into a bit of a nightmare after spending time as a prisoner of war. His father, Pietro, wanted his son to follow in the family business, but that didn’t interest Francesco, either. What to do?
He found himself wandering about the outskirts of his home town of Assisi in the hills of Umbria – breathtaking vistas at every turn, but he seemed to hardly notice. Until he came upon San Damiano, a little church in need of a good bit of repair. He entered and knelt down underneath a large wooden crucifix painted in the Byzantine style of an icon.
The open eyes of Jesus on the cross seemed to lock him in a stare that was both intimidating and beckoning at the same time. He couldn’t look away as feelings of doubt and fear, guilt and desire welled up within him. “Lord, what do you want me to do?” he asked. “Show me what you want me to do with my life.”
And the Lord answered! A voice as clear as the day responded: “Francis, go and rebuild my church which, as you see, is falling down.”
That was all he heard. That was all he needed to hear. It took a bit longer, however, to realize that Jesus wasn’t asking him to physically rebuild San Damiano as well as a few other rundown churches near Assisi. He did that, of course, but it gradually dawned on him that his vocation was to rebuild the church, the human institution that was perilously close to falling apart.
Today, some 800 years later, the Church is facing yet more crises and is need of a bit of repair. But amidst all the cries of anguish and anger we’ve been hearing of late, there are also firm statements of faith and resolve from folks who will not let the betrayals and disappointments distract them from their commitment to Jesus Christ.
Yes, the Church is divine, but also very human, and Jesus uses human beings in all their fragility and sinfulness to be the sacrament of his love and mercy in a world that seems to be increasingly unpredictable.
Like Francis kneeling before the cross of San Damiano, we need to keep our gaze focused on Jesus, who beckons us to follow him. Let us continue to do so, in moments of joy as well as sorrow, in the darkness as well as the light.
TJS
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.
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.
Below is a table comparing August 2017 collections to our current July 2018 collections.
As you can see our collections fell short of our budget.
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.
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.
In today’s Gospel, we hear Jesus say something that startled his early disciples and can startle us: “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.” For Jesus, being first or being great does not matter. He has a different perspective. He sees that people who think that they are great enjoy it because of the prestige and feeling of importance they receive from others. He sees this as being self-serving and misses the point of why we were created. The reading from St. James helps us understand Jesus’ mind on this topic of greatness when he says that “where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and foul practice.” Jesus recognizes this tendency and does not want his followers to fall into the same trap, one that still exists today.
This Sunday is our annual Ministry Fair. Stop over at San Damiano Hall and check out the displays of the various ministries here at St. Francis. If you are looking for a way to become more involved in the church, you might find something that interests you and gives you the opportunity to put your gifts to good use! The Fair will be held after the 11:00, 12:30 5:00 and 6:15 Masses.
-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.
The program is open to anyone who needs comfort, counsel and clarity with respect to issues related to separation and/or divorce. For additional information email: [email protected] or call 646-794-3194.
