Join us as we celebrate the Holy Spirit and the Feast of Pentecost at the Church of St. Francis of Assisi

Our celebration will include:

Mass on the Feast of the Ascension
Thursday, May 21 at 11:00 AM
available live on our website and our our FaceBook page.

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Our new NOVENA to the Holy Spirit
May 22 – May 30 starting at 8:00 AM
available on our website HERE and our our FaceBook page

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Catholicism 101: The Holy Spirit & Pentecost
A One Hour Lecture & Zoom Discussion
Presented by:  Joseph Nuzzi
Wednesday, May 27, 2020 at 12:00 Noon and 6:30 PM
limited to the first 100 people to register.
Click here for more details and to register.

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Mass for the Sunday of Pentecost
Sunday, May 31 at 11:00 AM
available live on our website and our our FaceBook page.

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Come Holy Spirit,
fill the hearts of your faithful
and kindle in them the fire of your love.
Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created.
And You shall renew the face of the earth.

O, God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit,
did instruct the hearts of the faithful,
grant that by the same Holy Spirit
we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations,
Through Christ Our Lord,
Amen.

The Church of St. Francis of Assisi is creating small groups to gather together online to pray and share the Sunday scripture readings.  

These groups will meet for one hour, once per week for six weeks.  The groups will be led by dedicated volunteers who are trained to lead groups.  Resources, prayers and reflections will be provided by the staff of the Church of St. Francis.

We encourage you to give it a try as we try to remain connected to the Lord, to the Word and to each other during this time that we are apart.

What are the requirements to join:

1. A willingness to pray together and share your faith around the Word of God with other members of our community.
2. Ability to commit to meeting once per week for a six week commitment
3. Comfortable using Zoom (Click here a tutorial on how to get started with zoom). It’s easy folks… don’t worry
4. Ability to locate the weekly readings for Mass which are available for free at the US Bishops website here.

How to sign up:

If you are interested, please reply to this email (or email Joseph Nuzzi at [email protected]) with the following information:

1. Your full name
2. Day of week you prefer to meet (we will try our best to match you with a group forming on that day, but there are no guarantees)
3. Time of day you prefer to meet:
   Morning, afternoon or evening

We will do our best to accommodate your preferences, but again we cannot guarantee that we will be able to meet everyone’s preferences.

We are forming these groups to begin right after Memorial Day, so please submit your information as soon as possible.  Thank you.

The traditional “Thirteen Tuesdays” before the Feast of St. Anthony begin on Tuesday, March 17.

Devotions to St. Anthony are prayed after every Mass starting at 7:45 AM.
Please join us!

The Feast of St. Anthony will be celebrated on Saturday, June 13.

WHY ARE WE ASKING EVERYONE TO SIGN UP FOR ONLINE GIVING?

The simple answer is that online giving is the best way to give to the church.  That is because it fits with how we pay for things today.  We use our credit card to pay for purchases online.  We pay for our metrocard with a credit card.  Many of us use our credit card for our gym membership, or if we support the museum, or public radio, or whatever we pay for daily and monthly.  It’s how we live today.

But we also have found that people who use the online giving tool are generally the most serious about their financial support of St. Francis. Our average donation online is $25.00 per week, whereas our average in pew weekly donation is only $4.00.

This is because people who give online take their support of the church seriously.  They think about what they can afford to give, and they commit to it.  This is what we all need to do as members of the church.

SIGN UP TODAY:

You can sign up for online giving and create a recurring weekly or monthly donation.  You can sign up right now by clicking HERE. 

QUESTIONS:

Click HERE for some FAQ’s about the Church’s finances that you might find helpful.

If you have any questions about our online giving tool, or about our stewardship campaign in general please email Joseph Nuzzi at j[email protected] 

If you missed WHY we are called to give, here it is again:

JESUS DID NOT CALL CONSUMERS… HE CALLED MISSIONARIES.

As followers of Jesus we are called to continue his Mission.  This means living the Gospel and bringing God’s love to our families, among our friends, and in our places of work.  But it also means making sure that our community is able to be fed by the Word of God and the Eucharist, and to make sure that the Gospel is preached in word and action in our local church.  When we financially support the church, we are not simply paying bills, we are also fulfilling the demands placed upon us as disciples of Jesus Christ.

MEMBERSHIP IN THE CHURCH HAS ITS PRIVILEGES AND IT COMES WITH RESPONSIBILITY

We are all called to be good stewards of the material blessings we receive from God through our hard work, talents and abilities.

Part of that stewardship, since biblical times, has been understood to include using a portion of our income to support our religious institutions and some to help the poor and disadvantaged.  In the Bible, we are asked to contribute 10% of our income as our tithe.  Today at St. Francis we ask our members and guests to contribute ONE HOUR of our work week to support the church.  This comes to a tithe of 2.5%.  This is the sacrificial giving we ask our people to commit to.

Many people do not understand how the finances of Church work.  Here are some FAQ’s of questions we commonly hear at St. Francis that might help clarify some questions.

But the bottom line is this:  each parish community in the US must raise the funds it needs to pay its bills from the people who attend the church.  That means here at St. Francis it is our responsibility to contribute to the budget to keep our parish church running.

Unfortunately today, many people who attend Mass regularly simply never think about their financial responsibility to the church.  We see often at Mass people who search in their pockets or purses for whatever they can find during the collection.  This should not be.

Each of us, as a full fledge member of the Church, should know and commit to what we can afford do give to support the Church.  And that support should be a sacrificial offering.  It should not be an afterthought.

If you simply cannot effort to give 2.5% then look at your budget, and decide what you can give, and commit to it.  That is what we are all called to do.  But without each of us doing our part, our church cannot survive.

Join us each Sunday in Lent as we take a deeper look at the Sunday gospels.

3:30pm in the Clare Room followed by 5pm mass.