Lord Jesus Christ,
you are the bread of life and the one true vine.
I believe that you are truly present
in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist.
I seek you.
I worship and adore you.

Since I cannot receive you
in the eucharistic bread and wine,
I pray that you will come into my heart and soul,
that I may be united to you,
by your all-powerful and ever-present Holy Spirit.

Let me receive you, and be nourished by you.
Become for me the manna in my wilderness,
the bread of angels
for my very human journey through time,
a foretaste of the heavenly banquet,
and solace in the hour of my death.

I pray all this, trusting that you yourself are
our Life, our Peace, and our everlasting Joy.

Amen.

~Teresa Berger, Pray Tell Blog

This prayer was originally published by USCatholic.org. St. Francis Xavier Church has been granted permission rights from U.S. Catholic to post this prayer on its website and Facebook page.

Letter from Bishop Lucia

A Prayer for Civility

Dear St. Francis Xavier family,

This past Saturday I had the great honor and joy of celebrating with my friend, Rabbi Dan Fellman and his family, the Bar Mitzvah of their son. Bar Mitzvah means ‘son of the commandment’; a celebration at which the young man is proclaimed to be an adult member of the Jewish community with all of the duties and responsibilities associated with being an adult in the faith. This is similar to our own Confirmation at which the young man or woman proclaims the faith to be their own, is sealed with the Holy Spirit, and begins to take an active, adult role in our Catholic Faith family. I couldn’t help but to pray at the Bar Mitzvah, how important a faith family is and how necessary to provide all of our young people with a firm foundation of faith, moral values and a sense of belonging to something much greater than themselves. A faith community connects us with our past, helps us to live responsibility in the present and gives hope and meaning to our future. I was also moved to pray for a true understanding between people of all faiths and a celebration of all of our common humanity. To Rabbi Dan’s son, our own young men and women, and all who will come after us and them in our journey of faith, ‘mazel tov’ (good fortune), and it is my prayer that you always stay connected to your faith, God and the community.
God bless,
Fr. Dan

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