Pastor’s Desk – Month of October 2021

Oct 31, 2021 | Pastors Desk

A Message from Father Peter

– October 31st 2021 – Our Coffee House Mission to Kensington North Philadelphia

The open drug abuse and its aftermath are shocking and disturbing to the first-time visitor. The first part of the mission is to provide some food and water, toiletries (wipes, toothbrushes etc.) The heart of our journey is the opportunity to pray with the addicts who are in awful conditions. I wish to give special thanks to all from St. Francis who generously contributed food and water and support of our mission. Of course, we hope to do some small good but by God’s Grace, we grow as we become more aware of the sufferings of our “neighbors.”

Thank you again for your participation in our Starfish Coffee House collection and presentations. These young adults are an example to our people of all ages!

A Message from Father Peter

– October 24th 2021 – Special Collection last weekend for Starfish Coffee House

This week the young adults of the St. Francis Starfish Coffee House will be speaking at all Masses about activities of their group, and we have invited parishioners to support them in a special collection. Young adult ministries are getting a lot of attention these days and here at St Francis we are proud of the fact that we were in the forefront of all the action! These young people want to live their Catholic Faith in very challenging times. They are by and large a joyful and fun-loving group that has a serious and faith filled side as well! This collection will be a big help to them in planning activities and events to enrich the faith of all young adults in the parish.

Starfish Coffee House has just returned from an evangelizing and supporting mission to the Philadelphia neighborhood of Kensington that has been affected by rampant drug abuse. You can be reading more about it by Clicking Here. Thank you in advance for your generous support!

– October 17th 2021 – Kensington, Philadelphia

“Whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers….”

What you can see in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia is a powerful statement about “how low can you go?” That is just how far an addiction can take a person down. Most people want to turn away; instead, you reached out to those who collapsed in the street, who had nothing but the clothes on their backs. On behalf of the young adults of the Starfish Coffee House, I thank you for your donations of food, water bottles, toiletries, religious gifts, etc. You helped the “lost ones,” those brought very low, and you did it for Christ himself – the body of Christ in all its woundedness cries out and you answered. Thank you again. I’ve asked the young adults to remember you in their prayers.

Starfish Coffee House

There will be a special Coffee House collection the weekend of October 23-24th. We will take up donations for our young adult group Starfish Coffee House, and the members themselves will speak at all the Masses. The funds will go to enhance the activities of the group through guest speakers, music, and special events. Thank you for supporting this wonderful organization.

– October 10th 2021 – The Saint Everyone Loves

No doubt October will be a busy month around the parish. Every group that “shuts down” for the summer is seeking to come to life again. Add to that, the Covid-19 pandemic is still messing things up! Yet we can’t let our Patronal feast – St. Francis of Assisi – go by without reflecting on its meaning.

St Francis more than embodies the goal of a “Personal relationship with Jesus,” he positively radiates it. He remains an enormously popular saint even though church tradition and piety do not count him among the healing saints! It is his joy and personal magnetism that draws us to him. Francis is just “full of God and His love.” He is just caught up in the excitement of living and proclaiming and enjoying the Gospel message. He is the epitome of what living the Gospel life really means.

There is a lot to share about him, and with Francis there always comes a surprise and a new joy for us.

Item of Interest

Our Booster Club keeps rolling along – Come be part of it! We just sold our 300th ticket; this puts us 7 tickets short of last year! Be a good sport and buy a ticket during the week. You may be the one who puts us over the top! You may even be the luckier one who takes home the prize! A few weeks ago, we called a lucky winner to tell them they had won a $60 prize. They were very surprised because they had not purchased a booster ticket. It turns out it was gifted to them by a secret friend! What a wonderful idea to gift a Booster to someone special!

– October 3rd 2021 – St Francis and Blessing of the Animals

Oct 3rd, 2021
1:30pm: Gathering
2:00pm: Blessing

We have many animal stories associated with St Francis, the patron of our parish. We all remember the wolf of Gubbio, who was tamed by Francis. What about the larks, the fishes, and the little lambs? The birds sang and soared for Francis, the fishes gathered in a school and listened to his sermon on God’s care for them. A little lamb followed him everywhere!

Come with your pet and we will bless everyone that shows up, individually if possible. Please take precautions if your pet has special needs; we will offer some coffee and munchkins to make the event even a little more festive. With Francis as our patron, our pets should be good and healthy! Stuffed animal pets are also welcomed to join!