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,

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Parish E-bulletin.

Reverend Michael J. Schneller
Pastor

Uptown Canticle by Father Michael
Sunday, June 7, 2020

When I was a teenager in high school I was a member of a Square Dance and Round Dance Club called the “Happy Teen Steppers.” I am a graduate square dancer. Unlike Square Dancing, Round Dancing is a form of social ballroom dancing. The steps are choreographed precisely to the music. All the couples are dancing in unison moving in circular fashion. The choreography can be relatively complex and interesting. And the man doesn’t have to think up or create the steps as the dance progresses. I felt a close connection with my partner, my girlfriend at the time, as we moved in unison with each other and the other couples.
 
The image of dance captures the complex, mysterious movement of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. The theologians in the early church, particularly the Cappadocian Fathers, described the dynamism of the divine relationship as a group dance. If any of you have ever been to a Greek wedding, you may have seen their distinctive way of dancing . . .  It’s called “perichoresis.” The term “peri” means around and “choresis” means dance. Thus to “dance around.”
 
Perichoresis includes not two dancers, but at least three. The dancers start to go in circles, weaving in and out in this very beautiful pattern of motion. The dancers push and pull against one another, not in resistance or by force but in support and unity. They start to go faster and faster and faster always focused on the other, not themselves, all the while staying in perfect rhythm and in sync with each other. Eventually, they are dancing so quickly (yet so effortlessly) that as you look at them, it just becomes a blur. Their individual identities are part of a larger dance. The early church fathers and mothers looked at that dance (perichoresis) and said, “That’s what the Trinity is like.” It’s a harmonious set of relationships in which there is mutual giving and receiving. This relationship is called love, and it’s what the Trinity is all about. The perichoresis is the dance of love.
 
David Bowie and Mick Jagger released the hit song Dancing in the Streets in 2002. “They'll be dancing, dancing in the street. It's an invitation across the nation, a chance for folks to meet They'll be laughing and singing and music swinging Dancing in the street.” What we are witnessing across our nation is far from dancing in the streets and perichoresis, the dance of love. They are protesting across the nation. Chanting lyrics of hatred, anger and violence resulting from the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Our nation is longing to sing and hear lyrics of racial equality and justice for all and an end to discrimination in all its forms. Let us pray for all the citizens of our nation, for the police, our military and all law enforcement officials. Let us choose to participate in the love dance of the three Persons of the Most Holy Trinity.  Let us protect and defend the weakest among us and together build the common good. We are all created in the image of the Lord of the Dance.
 
Come join us in the Dance of Love, three Divine Persons united as one, as we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Blessed Trinity. As we prepare to enter Phase 2 of this reopening, we ask you to continue to make a reservation on a weekly basis as long as we are in this phase of social distancing. We have increased the seating capacity per mass to 100 parishioners.  We consider couples and families as one unit. We are also in need of volunteers to serve greeters to assist seating parishioners with proper social distancing and to assist in sanitizing the pews after each mass.
 
Last month we began celebrating First Eucharist for our second graders at each of the weekend masses. We are hoping that as we move pass the pandemic, our parish will be able to celebrate a class communion in the future. 
 
In making a reservation for mass, Mass RSVP please observe the guidelines in this bulletin and on our
 parish website. If you are not a registered parishioner, use this occasion to be among the members of the flock of St. Francis of Assisi. You can register on our website https://www.stfrancisuptown.com/join
 
For those 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, this weekend after each mass I will be available for ten minutes 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 that 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. The 25 % capacity applies also to Baptisms, Weddings and funerals. This number will increase gradually.
 
We will continue to live stream the 9:30 am Mass on Sunday from church. We have returned to celebrating daily mass in church. Monday, Wednesday through Friday mass is at 8:30 am and Tuesday at 6:00 pm. No reservation is necessary for daily mass. We will no longer live stream daily mass.
 
This weekend I will begin to hear confessions in the Sisters of Christian Charity Chapel in the Parish Center.  Saturday’s at 3:00pm and Tuesday’s at 5:30pm
 At other times by appointment.
 
 As we enter the hurricane season and await Cristobal, let us implore the intercession of Our Lady of Prompt Succor to hasten to help us and our patron St. Francis of Assisi to make us instruments of the Lord’s peace.