St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church

Steeped in a rich and vibrant history of service and growth, St. Francis of Assisi has been serving the needs of Catholics for almost 125 years and welcomes young and old from all walks of life into our faith and social community. St. Francis prides itself on being a family-friendly church. We believe that all members of our church community are important to the celebration of the Eucharist.

We invite you to learn more about the parish by exploring this website. Please visit the “Our Parish” section to learn more about the church and its rich traditions. You can also learn how to exercise your stewardship of time and talent in one of the wonderful parish ministries by visiting the “Parish Ministries” section. Some of the many ways that you can become involved include: being an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion or Lector, singing in our choir, serving the needy through the Ministry to the Poor, or by joining our Senior Associates group. For the youngest members of our parish family, opportunities to get involved include serving Mass as altar servers and Children's Ministry, a group which coordinates a variety of activities including weekly Children’s Liturgy of the Word, Christmas Nativity Program, and May Crowning.

We invite you to join our parish community by filling out the online registration form. Someone from our Newcomers Group will contact you shortly thereafter. As one family we come together to know, love, and serve the Lord as instruments of his peace.

Also,

Thanks for visiting and please check out our Facebook page or subscribe to our weekly
Parish E-bulletin.

Reverend Michael J. Schneller
Pastor

Uptown Canticle by Father Michael
April 18, 2021
 

“Jesus was made known to them in the breaking of the bread.” We, too, join Jesus today alive and present with us at a meal – this Eucharist – during which He wants to opens our minds to understand the Scriptures.
 
This month in the Year of the Eucharist we focus on The Liturgy of the Word. The proclamation of God’s Word is central to the Eucharistic Meal and not a prelude to it.  The Church is nourished spiritually at the twofold table of God’s word and of the Eucharist. At the table of God’s Word, the treasures of the Scriptures are opened to us. We can encounter Jesus speaking to us through the readings, the living Word of God. Our attentive listening nourishes us and sets a fire within our own hearts, just as He did with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. God invites us into dialogue with Him offering us an opportunity to learn about God and to speak with God.
 
When we dialogue with God we come to understand ourselves better and we discover an answer to our heart’s deepest questions. God speaks to the Church, the community and to us individually. With all of life’s uncertainties, fears, and stresses, we are always in search of peace. We try to find it in other people, money, success, affirmations, etc. This true peace can be found in Christ alone.
 
God has loved us so much that he has inspired human authors to write in such a way as to reveal God and to offer an encounter with Christ himself. When we listen attentively to the Word of God – it has the power to move into the depths of our hearts to give us a peace and fill us with a joy which we perhaps never thought could exist within us.
 
The readings in the Lectionary have been specifically chosen and organized by the Church for each weekday and Sunday. At Sunday mass the First reading is usually from the Old Testament giving us a foretaste of the Gospel message. However, during this current season of Easter we read from the Acts of the Apostles as we enter liturgically into the New Covenant of the Resurrection and the beginning of the Church’s mission. In hearing the First Reading, we can experience it as the Lord reminding us of his patient love and how he has prepared us for so long to be ready for the coming of Christ – which we experience in the Gospel!  We offer our sung response in the Responsorial Psalm. We listen again in the Second Reading usually taken from one of the Letters of St. Paul.  We stand and respond with the Gospel acclamation to hear Jesus speak to each of us in the Gospel. The words of St. Paul or one of the other letters take us into the heart of the early Church with words that still ring true in our hearts today! O God, ever-ancient and ever-new!
 
The Gospel is the high point of the readings. We stand (symbolizing resurrection) and sing the Alleluia (except during Lent), greeting and welcoming Christ who will speak to us in the Gospel.
 
The Church encourages us to prepare for Mass by praying with the Sunday readings throughout the week, so that God’s Word might grow and live within us more deeply – thus enabling us to know his voice and hear Him more clearly at Mass. Every month we offer our parishioner a copy of the Word Among Us which follows the weekday and Sunday Lectionary and includes a daily reflection and spiritual reading. We can also pray with the readings on Monday through Saturday to “relive” Mass on Sunday.
 
Recall the Road to Emmaus. When did the disciples realize it was Jesus? As Jesus spoke to them on the way and opened the Scriptures to them, their hurts burned within them and their eyes were opened in the breaking of the bread. So too, Jesus wants to reveal himself to us today and every Sunday. How do we allow our hearts to burn for the Lord who is with us and for his Word living in us?
 
Our Eucharist has its roots in the Jewish Passover whose eighth day coincided with our Solemnity of the Resurrection on Easter Sunday. Click the link: https://liguori.uberflip.com/i/1361728-the-lords-supper-c1104a/0   to read this month’s Catholic Update, The Lord’s Supper, Ancient Story, New Beginning. A man, born and raised in the Jewish faith recalls his journey from the Seders of his youth to the Eucharist. A Joyous Fifty Days of Easter.
 




 

 


 

  - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

For parishioners we cannot accommodate in the church or who are fearful to gather with us, Archbishop Aymond has given permission to distribute Holy Communion after mass outdoors. He strongly suggested that we not give Holy Communion to people in vehicles. He recommends that we do so outside where people can form a communion line and observe social distancing. Therefore, after each mass, weather permitting, I will be available to distribute Holy Communion in the front lawn of the rectory. I suggest that as you approach me to receive the Body of Christ you pray the Lord’s Prayer, the Our Father.

Please remember Archbishop Aymond has dispensed the people of the Archdiocese from the obligation to attend Sunday Mass. If someone is vulnerable and not feeling well, we ask that you not celebrate Mass in church with other people.