My Dear Parish Family,
When I was a child I often attended Mass with my grandparents at their church. Franciscan Friars were the priests at that parish and I so enjoyed them that, eventually, I chose Francis for my confirmation name. I loved learning about the Poverello (poor one) of Assisi and how he left behind any privilege his family had provided for him and came to live a life of radical poverty, founding a religious order and starting a reconstruction of the Church through his example and teaching. All of this and more was a result of Francis, while praying before a crucifix in the dilapidated church of San Damiano, heard the voice of Jesus three times saying, “Francis, rebuild my church.”
To mark the 800th anniversary of the death of Saint Francis of Assisi (October 3, 1226), the Church has proclaimed a Special Jubilee Year of Saint Francis from January 10, 2026, to January 10, 2027. This Jubilee Year continues the grace of the recently concluded Ordinary Jubilee and invites all the faithful to live as pilgrims of hope, inspired by the life of Saint Francis —his humility, poverty, mercy, and love for Christ and peace. “Lord, make us instruments of your Peace. Amen”
I am leaving this week as a chaplain for the Pilgrimage, In the Footsteps of St. Paul that will take us through Greece and Turkey to many of the places Paul preached and wrote of the salvation won for us by our Lord Jesus. I will be gone from October 8th thru the 19th. Know that you will be in my prayers as I offer Mass each day with our group of pilgrims from around the United States. God bless you and Oremus pro invicem.
Fr. Scott Shaffer