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St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church www.xavierbrunswick.org, 912-265-3249 June 28, 2020
St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church
www.xavierbrunswick.org, 912-265-3249
June 28, 2020
“Whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me.”
We are continuing our study of St. Mathew's Gospel and in this section of Jesus is setting the conditions for discipleship. He is telling the Apostles what to expect before they head out into the fields. Before they go out he asks them to check their hearts. He reminds them that they must be absolutely dependent on Almighty God, that only God can be our rock-sure foundation.
He tells them God must be their highest love. "Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me…" My relationship with God is higher than any of my human relationships, even the sacred parent-child relationship. This is not to downplay any of these relationships. Our parents, children and spouses are gifts from God. But Jesus asks us today are there relationships in my life that are obstacles to my relationship with God? Look at the Blessed Virgin Mary. She was called to live this passage out. What if Mary had said, "No, my Son must not die"? What would be our status today?
It is easy to state our love for Jesus in pious platitudes. How many times have you sung, "Here I am, Lord, is it I, Lord? I have heard you calling in the night. I will go, Lord. If you lead me"? But living this out on a daily basis is another matter. Can I absolutely submit myself to the will of Jesus?" Confession on the lips is rather easy. How do I do in practice?
The reality is that it is not love for parents or children that conflict with our service to Jesus. It is our self-love. The deepest darkest sin that we all carry around is the desire to do what I want. It is an incredible challenge to be able to say each and every day, "Here I am Jesus. I am here to do your will."
What was the rallying cry of Lucifer? "I will not serve". What did Adam and Eve do? God placed them in paradise and told them His will and they went their own way. Our greatest enemy is self-love. Do we want the easy life or do we want Jesus' will?
The practice of this is another matter. How do I know God's will? As Catholics we believe that Jesus speaks to us through the Church. The Church is the Body of Christ. Do I live by the teachings of my Mother the Church?
I picture the Church as a large ocean liner leading us across dangerous seas. When someone says, "I'm a Catholic but I don't believe such and such" I think that person is heading into dangerous waters. When we move away from the Church we are launching out on a small lifeboat. It is easy to get lost and overcome by the waves.
Jesus is warning his disciples it will be hard to be a disciple. We cannot make our own conditions. We like to create nice comfortable cocoons to live in and then ask Jesus to bless our lifestyle. That is not how discipleship works. Discipleship means laying my life before Jesus and saying, "Here I am Lord."
If we are honest with ourselves we are looking for a new type of Christianity. It is called "crossless Christianity." We want the power of Jesus in our lives but we don't want the Cross. We want all the benefits and blessings but none of the pain. The reality of life is that no servant is greater than his master. Jesus came to earth and took up His Cross. We are called to carry our crosses.
St. Paul tells us the Good News in all of this, "If, then, we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him." St. Mathew reveals, "Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."
-Fr. Tim McKeown
St. Francis Xavier Catholic School has openings for the following part-time positions: School Counselor
Art Teacher Music Teacher
Please forward a letter of interest and resume to:
Congratulations to Fr. Robert Phillips and Fr. Carlos Rivero – who were ordained in the Cathedral by
Archbishop Hartmayer! We are thankful for their “yes” to the Lord and we pray for their priestly
ministry. Fr. Robert is assigned to St. Anne in Richmond Hill and Fr. Carlos is assigned to St. Teresa of
Avila in Grovetown.
St Vincent de Paul is open Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 10-4.
The Food Pantry is re-opening. This is being done slowly and carefully to ensure safety for both our clients and our volunteers. The needs of our community have never been greater, and we thank you for your continued support and generosity. If you can contribute, we will be most grateful. Prayers are always welcome.
The St. Vincent de Paul Food Pantry has the following specific needs:
Vienna sausage and luncheon meats like Spam are always popular as well as pop-top cans or pouches of tuna fish and chicken along with micro-waveable pasta & meat items. Powdered milk and cereals like Cheerios, Rice Krispies and Corn Flakes are always welcomed by our clients with children. Grape jelly, Strawberry jelly/jam/or preserves in unbreakable containers are much appreciated. Please think in terms of regular-size items rather than large or super-size. Pop-top cans and mi-crowaveable items meet the needs of those we serve who do not have kitchen facilities. BO-GO’s are a great way to buy one for your family and one for our pantry. Basic personal hygiene items for men and women are always needed.
Congratulations to all who received Sacraments during the month of June!!! By the grace of God we were
able to celebrate our RCIA Mass which featured Baptisms, Confirmations and First Communions. We also
celebrated a special mass of Confirmation for our young people and had various masses for First Com-
munion throughout the month of June! Everything was delayed due to the CV crisis but we were able to
celebrate all of these Sacraments! Thank you Jesus for your faithfulness and the grace won for us on the
Cross!
Friday July 3 is First Friday. We will offer Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament
from 1:00 pm until 7:00 pm. At 7:00 pm we will offer a bi-lingual Mass.
Beginning on Sunday July 5 we will no longer offer the Sunday 7:00 a.m. Mass.
One day Elisha came to Shunem, where there was a woman of influence, who urged him to dine with her. Afterward, whenever he passed by, he used to stop there to dine. So she said to her hus-band, “I know that Elisha is a holy man of God. Since he visits us often, let us arrange a little room on the roof and furnish it for him with a bed, table, chair, and lamp, so that when he comes to us he can stay there.” Sometime later Elisha arrived and stayed in the room overnight.
Later Elisha asked, “Can something be done for her?” His servant Gehazi answered, “Yes! She has no son, and her husband is getting on in years.” Elisha said, “Call her.” When the woman had been called and stood at the door, Elisha promised, “This time next year you will be fondling a baby son.”
Brothers and sisters: Are you unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of life.
If, then, we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him. We know
that Christ, raised from the dead, dies no more; death no longer has power over him. As to
his death, he died to sin once and for all; as to his life, he lives for God. Consequently, you
too must think of yourselves as dead to sin and living for God in Christ Jesus.
Jesus said to his apostles: “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
"Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. Whoever receives
a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever receives a righteous man be-
cause he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man’s reward. And whoever gives only a cup of cold water
to one of these little ones to drink because the little one is a disciple—amen, I say to you, he will surely not lose
his reward.”
Matthew 10: 37-42
Romans 6:3-4, 8-11
2 Kings 4:8-11, 14-16A
Psalm: Forever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.
Mass Intentions - June 27 - July 5
June 27th - Knights of Columbus, t John & Jean Gluckler
June 28th - Nelia Lopez (87 B-day), t Dorothy Heinecke, Our Parish Family
June 29th - t Attilio Tozzi
June 30th - Special Intentions
July 1st- t Linda Forsyth, t Fazio Family
July 2nd - Dorcas-Ehlman Families
July 3rd - t Claudette Desrosiers
July 4th - t Roberto Tuya Ribot, Our Parish Family
July 5th - t Annette Dussault, t Jack Rea, Souls in Pugatory
We will make some changes to the weekend mass schedule in July as we continue to adapt to
the CV crisis. Please note the following:
The Sunday schedule will be: 8:30 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. and Spanish at 6:00 pm. Saturday vigil
will continue at 5:00 pm.
Beginning on Saturday July 11 we will resume with a Sat. 7:00 pm mass on Jekyll Island. We have been livestreaming Evening Prayers/Rosary each day during the pandemic. We will
remove the EP/Rosary on Fri/Sat/Sun. Daily Mass Schedule: Mondays at Noon. Tuesday thru Friday at 8:00 a.m. Wed.
nights (beginning June 3) at 7:00 pm.
We will continue to livestream daily mass and the Sat. 5:00 pm vigil. Sunday
livestream at 11:00 a.m.
CONFESSIONS
Confessions will take place Saturdays at 4:00 pm before the vigil mass. We will add
Wednesdays at 6:15 pm (beginning June 3) or by appointment during the week.
PRAYING IN THE CHURCH The church is open each day from 8:00 a.m. til 6:00 p.m. Please park in front of the church or on Newcastle Street. FINANCIAL SUPPORT Many people have been so generous to ask about supporting SFX during our time of exile. Thank you! People may mail their offertory envelopes in or drop them in the mail slot at our 405 Howe St. Office. Many people have begun using on-line giving through this link: https://www.osvonlinegiving.com/1871. Thanks for your support and be assured of our prayers for you and your families!
Ashley Alvarado Mendez Liam Barry
Carlos Berra Sophia Berra
Jack Boczar Jesus Bravo Mejorado
Tiberius Buffington Samuel Buice
Kate Cabrera Youly Cervantes
Mae Cox Alan Garcia-Ayala
Edwin Hernandez Rodriguez Dallana Hernandez-Rosada
Sapphire Males-Montroy Ava McMahon
Gustavo Mendez Ava Milak
Aaden Ochoa Edwin Paredes Sanchez
Melvin Paredes Sanchez Henry Pasqual-Pedro
Tomas Pasqual-Pedro Christian Patino
Jessica Patino Keily Patino
Ella Payne Stephanie Ramirez
Kiara Ruiz Sophia Sobala
Kailey Tadeo-Marquez Jose Villegas-Vallier
Kevin Villegas-Vallier Luis Villegas-Vallier
Teresa Yanik
Baby Bottles for Skylark Pregnancy Center are available
on the back tables. If you want, you can do an online
contribution instead of change. Paper bottles are also
on the table with directions on how to contribute.
Congratulations to Our First Communicants!
St. Francis Xavier Staff email addresses
Fr. Tim: [email protected]
Fr. Chris: [email protected]
Ann: [email protected]
Deacon Larry: [email protected]
Marisol: [email protected]
Juan: [email protected]
Maggie: [email protected]
Dr. Mermann: [email protected]
