A Message from Father Peter

– October 22nd Eucharistic Revival

As you read this column yours truly and a joyful group of St. Francis parishioners are here in Auriesville, a small upstate town one hour west of Albany to make a pilgrimage to the famous shrine to the North American Martyrs who were put to death by Iroquois warriors for trying to bring Christianity and peace to those regions! Their heroic deaths bear witness to the depth and authenticity of their faith and love of God.

The plan is to have a weekend to celebrate the year of Eucharistic Revival. Pilgrimages are always amazing events in the lives of believers! While this one is local and limited in duration it fits the bill. I look forward to sharing with all of you some of the fruits of this important pilgrimage moment in the life of the church in New York!

– October 15th Thank You to Living Waters 

Counseling Center!

Very special thanks to the staff of Living Waters Counseling Center for their generous contribution of plantings and flowers in the front of the church. Their gift was timely not only in covering bald and bare spots but enhancing the appearance of our fine church building in a highly visible area.

Major construction will soon begin on the 2nd story dormer on the roof of the counseling center. The much-needed addition will provide a larger meeting room which will be available for use by some of the Parish groups (Pastoral council, RCIA. ETC). Also, there will be an additional counseling room and much needed storage space. The work should be completed in November. Our Living Waters Center already has an impact for Good in so many ways!

– October 8th Blessing of the Animals 

What a beautiful day we had last Sunday October 1! For the Blessing of the Animals we had many dogs and even some fish, and a giraffe (stuffed) join us. It is always a blessing when our community comes together here at Saint Francis. There are so many photos, so look for a two page layout of the day in next week’s bulletin!

I would also like to take this opportunity to extend a huge Thank You to our wonderful neighbor Living Waters Therapeutic Catholic Counseling for the flowers and landscaping gift in the front of the church. 

Please pause and take notice of the beautiful flowers and greenery when you come to church. 

God Bless You,

Fr. Peter

– October 1st The Lazy Days of Summer

St Francis has shaken off the mood of summer – the lazy crazy days of summer – and has launched out into the deep! Religious Ed, Coffee house and PB&J Gang have burst into life. Check out this bulletin for the list of official picnic volunteers; you may be surprised by who showed up! Special Thanks to Phil De Dora and Joe Masselli who were generous in heart and mind with planning and organizing. For our donated Dunk Tank we thank the Harrington family. We laughed and soaked Phil and Joe, all the while raising funds while having fun. Special thanks to Brueggemann Funeral Home for donating Face Painters and a Magician and a monetary donation, to Six Harbor Brewery for donating our Beer, Craig and Mariko Butler for games for the children, and we thank Malhalo Farms in Huntington for the Pony Rides. Our Raffle gift baskets were made possible by the generous donations from The Shed, Besito, and Farm Italy Restaurants, Broadway Pizza Greenlawn, and Miko Restaurant. Thank you for the generous support of Scratch Tickets from Living Waters, and Paul and Carol Ann Russo. Thank you for all the other anonymous donations that were also given. Our Knights of Columbus as always came through with a donation of food that fed close to 175 people, and thanks go to Terry and Paul Gitzen for their generous donation of chicken and cooking it all for us. Deacon Jean and Marie Cantave supplied the much loved Haitian Food that blessed our plates. And barbecue would not have been possible without the loan of the grills from the Greenlawn Fire Department!

A & R Tent Rental was very generous with us for our event. I’m a bit nervous to thank our volunteers individually so not to accidentally forget someone! If you were there, I’m sure you helped in some way or another. Our Picnic went perfectly because of our close community involvement. I will also add a Huge Thank You to Anita Modelewski and Sharon Collins for their work in the office with planning and with Raffle sales. At the end of the event, and our final confirmation of success was that $7,300 was raised for St. Francis. More priceless was the great time we enjoyed coming together, showing our kids what fun it can be to belong to a church community! A Last Thank You to everyone involved – it would not have happened if we did not work together!