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InVocation Weekend
Please pray for Vocations

This weekend, at the request of our Diocese, every parish is sharing an update on priestly vocations. I encourage you to take a few moments to read the special vocation update below. It contains encouraging news about the growing momentum of vocations in our diocese and ways that each of us can support this important work through prayer.

Thank you for praying for vocations. Every priest first heard God's call because countless people prayed, encouraged, and supported him along the way. Please continue to ask the Lord to raise up many holy priests for our diocese.

Veneration of the Relic of Blessed Stanley Rother

This Tuesday, July 28, is the feast of Blessed Stanley Rother, the first U.S.-born martyr to be beatified. A missionary priest from Oklahoma who served the people of Guatemala, Blessed Stanley freely chose to return to his parish despite knowing that his life was in danger. Out of love for Christ and the people entrusted to his care, he remained faithful to his mission and was martyred in 1981.

St. Francis Xavier Parish is blessed to possess a relic of Blessed Stanley, obtained by Fr. Riley Williams. As part of our continuing church renovations, I am currently arranging for the relic to be permanently enshrined once again in our church, just as it was before the renovation.

In honor of his feast day, the relic will be available for veneration after all Masses this weekend. I invite you to take a few moments after Mass to ask Blessed Stanley's intercession for our families, our parish, and for an increase in vocations.

Check out this video from Fr. Mike Schmitz below:

Can You Help Restore Blessed Stanley's Shrine?

Before the relic of Blessed Stanley Rother can be permanently enshrined again in our church, the wooden shrine that houses it needs a little restoration. It needs to be stripped, lightly sanded if necessary, and re-stained to match the darker woodwork that was installed during our recent church renovation.

If you have experience with wood refinishing and would be willing to help with this project, I would be very grateful. I can show you the shrine and the wood finish we are trying to match. It would be a wonderful way to help preserve a beautiful part of our parish and make Blessed Stanley's relic available for permanent veneration once again.

If you are interested, please contact me after Mass or via email. Thank you!

Thank you for your generosity

Thank you to everyone who supported last weekend's special collection for the people of Venezuela. Thanks to your generosity, our parish raised almost $2,500. These funds will be sent to our Diocese and will support the national relief efforts of the Catholic Church in the United States to assist our brothers and sisters in Venezuela. Thank you for your continued prayers and generosity toward those in need.

Save the Date: Men's Meat & Greet - Sept. 13

Men of the parish, tickets are now available for the 4th Annual Meat & Greet on Sunday, September 13, at St. John Neumann Parish in East Freetown.

Sponsored by our parish's Men of St. Joseph and organized by our own Jay Hamel, the afternoon will feature great food, fellowship, fun competitions, and an inspiring talk by Fr. Chris Peschel.

Tickets are $25 and may be purchased online at www.mosjatSFX.com. Please register soon to help us with planning, and we hope to have a strong showing from St. Francis Xavier!

Buy Tickets

School Field Project Update

If you've driven by SFX School this week, you may have noticed that portions of the fencing have already been removed in preparation for the excavation, which is expected to begin in the coming days. We held our pre-construction meeting this past Monday with the contractors, and we are excited that work is finally about to begin after many months of planning.

Please continue to pray for the success of this project. We look forward to sharing more updates and photos as our new school field begins to take shape!

A New Mass Setting Beginning Next Weekend

Beginning next weekend, the first weekend of August, and continuing through the end of November, we will begin singing a new English Mass setting at St. Francis Xavier called the Mass of the Immaculate Conception.

A Mass setting is the collection of sung parts of the Mass that remain the same from week to week, including the Gloria, Holy, Holy, Holy, Memorial Acclamation, and Lamb of God. While the words remain the same, the melodies can vary. Learning different settings over time helps enrich our parish's musical prayer.

This particular setting is found in the missalette we use each week and was recommended by our music ministry, Jono Babbitt and Allison Messier. Next weekend, our musicians will briefly introduce the new setting before Mass and point everyone to the appropriate pages in the missalette if you would like to follow along with the musical notation.

If you'd like to become familiar with the music ahead of time, I've included a link below where you can listen to the Mass setting. I've also included an interview with its composer, Dr. Peter Latona, Director of Music at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., in which he shares the inspiration behind the composition. I encourage you to give it a listen!

Listen to the new Mass Setting

Interview with the composer

Sound System Update

Since completing our church renovation, we have continued to make small adjustments to improve the experience of worship for everyone. Over the coming weeks, we'll be making a few additional refinements to our sound system, including some adjustments to the ambo microphone and the positioning of several speakers in the church to help improve speech clarity.

We are also continuing to investigate occasional interruptions with our ListenWiFi assisted listening system. We believe the issue may be related to the church's network connection, and we are working to identify the cause so that the system can be as reliable as possible for those who depend on it.

Thank you for your patience as we continue to fine tune these details. Our goal is to help ensure that the Word of God and the prayers of the Mass can be heard clearly by everyone.

Explanation of this Weekend's Readings

A Homily for this Sunday from Fr. Mike Schmitz

Baptism Congratulations to the Dagnello's!

Mt. Carmel Feast this Weekend

Diocese Respect Life Conference - October 11

Register Here

Project Rachel Ministry Fall Retreats

More Info

Discover St. Charbel

Yesterday, July 24, was the feast of St. Charbel Makhlouf, a humble Lebanese monk and hermit who is, in my opinion, one of the most remarkable modern saints that surprisingly few Catholics know well. His life of prayer, holiness, and countless miracles has inspired people throughout the world and continues to draw many closer to Christ.

I've included a couple of videos below introducing St. Charbel and his extraordinary life. I encourage you to take a few minutes to watch them. You may just discover a new favorite saint!