Dear St. Francis Xavier family:
This past Saturday our parish celebrated First Holy Communion: this is always a great joy and blessing for our parish. As I was talking with the children about how this celebration was very different than those in the past, I shared with them something a child had told me; he said “The world is sick right now and we have to pray for it.” I was moved by the simple truth of this statement. Yes, our world is sick right now, not only from the Coronavirus but for all the violence, hatred, division and suspicion that is present. In the simple words of a child, “We have to pray for our world.” Pray for an end of the pandemic, but also for an end to all of the hatred, violence and suspicion. As Deacon John pointed in his homily, if we acknowledge Jesus as the Son of God and Savior of the world, if we are  truly Christians, then we must support those who are working to keep us safe, work to overcome hatred and
division and, yes pray for those with whom we disagree.
Pray, not that they will necessarily change, but rather God may give us the grace to see them as He does, one of His children, created in His Divine image and likeness and redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Pray and work so that all children may have lives of love, joy, safety and peace; and do so with faith, hope, love, patience and a sense of humor. Thank God for the blessing and innocence of little children.
God Bless,

Fr. Dan

Dear St. Francis family,

August is passing by quickly and although there is still some uncertainty as to what the Autumn will offer; there are some things that are certain. The leaves will change, the days will be less hot and humid and schools in some shape will reopen. This summer has been unusual, yet we have many blessings to be thankful for: we are to celebrate Mass on a daily basis and on our regular weekend schedule; the Sacraments of Initiation were celebrated, the young men and women of the parish have been Confirmed and we will celebrate First Holy Communion for the children of our parish. And we, as a faith family continue to move forward, we acknowledge God’s goodness and blessings.  Let us always remember to thank God and care for each other with love, patience and a sense of humor.

God Bless,

Fr. Dan

Dear St. Francis family,

As I was praying and thinking about the Church since that day in March when everything came to a sudden stop:  I was reminded that the Holy Spirit never stops. Since the opening up of our Church, our parish and Diocese has been truly blessed!  We have a young woman who celebrates the Sacraments of Initiation through the RCIA this weekend; we have 30+  candidates who will be Confirmed in August and are preparing for First Communion. We have remembered loved ones who have gone before us into Eternal Life. We have celebrated the Sacrament of Matrimony.  One of our parishioners has been accepted as a candidate for the Permanent Diaconate. The Diocese has four Transitional Deacons who, God willing, will be Ordained Priests next year and we have 14 new Permanent Deacons. Although the Church may look different and the experience may seem different, truly our God is Alive and active. May God be praised now and forever!

God Bless, Fr. Dan

Dear St. Francis Faith Family,

I would like to share with you all why we did not have Mass last weekend.  As some of you know I was notified last Saturday morning that I had a possible exposure to the covid-19 virus; I went immediately to get tested and we decided that it would be prudent to cancel Mass until I got the results back.  Good news… I got the results back and am negative for the virus; therefore, Masses will resume this weekend and next week.

I have more good news:  we have dates for Confirmation:  Tuesday, Aug 11 at 6 PM and Wednesday, August 12 at 6 PM.   We are still working out the details and as there will be limited seating due to the necessity of social distancing in Church, BOTH of the celebrations are being live streamed.

Hopefully, we will continue to move forward with faith, hope, love and patience.

God bless you,

Fr. Dan

Dear St. Francis Faith Family,

It seems unreal that this weekend will be our fourth after our church was reopened for public worship.  I would like to thank everyone who has worked to make our celebrations safe and all who have come to Mass; you have adjusted to this new circumstance well.  We will continue to go forward with faith, hope, love and patience.  As we look forward, we are waiting to hear about dates for the celebration of Confirmation; as soon as this information is available we will let you know.

As we celebrate this 4th of July and recall our nation’s birth it seems important that we pause and look at what has been happening recently.  We remember that our greatness is that we are “One nation under God, with liberty and justice for all”.  When we fall short of that truth we need to acknowledge our shortcomings and work to correct them; but we also must never forget who we are as a nation and as a people of faith.  Jesus reminds us this weekend that we should come to Him with our needs and burdens and He will refresh us.  Our faith reminds us that violence is never the answer; the answer lies in acknowledging that we are all created in God’s Divine image and that we are redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus Christ.  Jesus Christ, and only Jesus Christ, can fulfill the deepest needs of our heart as the Prince of Peace;  He alone can give true and lasting peace.  The Great Commandment still is true: “You must love the Lord, your God, with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself.”

Happy Birthday America!

Please visit our website under announcements to view a statement from Bishop Lucia dated 5/31/20 and a letter from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops called “Open Wide Our Hearts-the Enduring Call to Love”.

God Bless you all,

Fr. Dan

Letter regarding opening Mass

To our St. Francis Xavier Parish family:

Thank you all for your patience and prayers as we work through how to safely open our parish for public Masses again.  To date we can still only have 10 people at any one Mass (we are hoping and praying that this will change soon).  We will try to resume public Masses June 13 & 14.  As we move forward, we will introduce our sign up system and review detailed safety measures.  This information will be shared on the website, Facebook, group email and a letter will be mailed.

This weekend, you will still be able to view weekend Mass on our Facebook page or through the link on our website under events.

Please continue to pray for an end to this pandemic and for this parish.

God bless,

Fr. Dan

Dear St. Francis Family,
I am sure that many of you have heard about the opening of our Churches for public worship.
In addition to all of the information already posted from us and on the Diocese of Syracuse website, I would like you to know the following 12 points:

1. Although we will not be ready this weekend, we are planning for next weekend, June 6-7.
2. We, for now, will keep the same weekend Mass schedule.
3. The weekday Mass schedule is still to be determined.
4. There will be a sign-up for Mass attendance as this is necessary to ensure:
a. the proper number will be attending.
b. contact information will be available in case someone in attendance is/or does come down with Covid19.
(Sign up details are being worked on)
5. Proper social distancing, hand sanitization and mask wearing will be necessary for ALL.
6. There will be people at each Mass for helping insure proper social distancing.
7. Specific information will be presented as to how to receive Communion.
8. There will be one entry to the Church and one exit.
9. There is to be no social gathering before or after Mass in the Church, Church parking lot on on any Church property
10. There will be signs posted to help people.
11. There will be no passing of the collection basket; I ask that you place your contribution in the basket provided (we are in the process of getting permanent fixtures for this); also you may still drop off your donation through the mail slot in the Rectory of send it by mail or use the electronic/bank means some of you already have. I really want to thank all of you for your continued generosity to our parish at this time, you have truly been generous and an inspiration to me. Thank you.
12. I ask that you all continue to be patient and pray for an end to the pandemic and for all who work so hard to keep us all safe, and all who are ill because of this pandemic.

Please be aware that as we move forward, this information may change.

Thank you all and God Bless you,
Fr. Dan

Dear St. Francis Family,

Probably you have heard by now that the Bishop has given permission for resuming public masses. We are working on how we can accomplish this given the guidelines/restrictions we need to follow;  basically right now we are limited to only 10 people per mass, if and when this increases to 25% capacity we will be better able to meet the requirement and accommodate our people  and maintain safety.  We have attached to our bulletin and on our social media a more extensive explanation of what we must do; including having people sign up online to attend a particular mass.  I am still trying to figure this out; our Liturgy committee is working to help put together a plan that we must submit to the diocese for approval. This will also enable us to figure out the logistics for weekday mass.  Please read the material and the letter from Bishop Lucia addressed to the people of the diocese; and please continue to pray for an end to this pandemic.

Dear St. Francis Family,

Thursday we celebrated the Feast of the Ascension of our Lord, next Sunday we will celebrate Pentecost:  the birth of the Church.  This week we look at how God calls us into a relationship with Him and each other.  We are His people, the ones who have been empowered by the Holy Spirit to make Him, His love and His truth know. Our lives are called to give glory to God; our faith is to make Jesus known and loved; our hope is the power of the Holy Spirit.  We join with the whole Church as we pray:  Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of the faithful and enkindle in us the fire of Your love.

God Bless you.

Fr. Dan