Wednesday 9:00am morning Mass will be held in the Chapel. Thursday Morning Mass will be held in the church at 10:00am. There will be no Daily Mass on Friday, November 28.
the catholic community of st. francis of assisi
Advent: “To Come To” the Christmas Celebration
Advent, as it states on the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) website, is a start in many ways. “The Advent season is a time of preparation that directs our hearts and minds to Christ’s second coming at the end of time and to the anniversary of Our Lord’s birth on Christmas. From the earliest days of the Church, people have been fascinated by Jesus’ promise to come back. But the scripture readings during Advent tell us not to waste our time with predictions. Advent is not about speculation. Our Advent readings call us to be alert and ready, not weighted down and distracted by the cares of this world (Lk 21:34-36).”
Our Pastor, Father Chris Koehn, wants to ask the parish to reconsider the Advent season, saying, “This year we would really like to emphasize the adventure of Advent. What that means is, Advent is the period of getting ready for something to happen. Life is an adventure, and as a pilgrim people, we are ‘on the move and encountering new life.’ Preparing for the birth of Jesus Christ can be like preparing for a new family member.” He says the focus should be on the promise of Christ’s return. “We shouldn’t focus on just decorating for Christmas,” he says, “but even undecorating in a way.” He asks, “What would be important to show Jesus if he returned and visited our home this Christmas? What are the real symbols of our family history?”
Volunteer Spotlight: Pam James
Pam James can weave, and not just a great story! Pam has been in Weaver’s Guilds, each with over 200 members, in three different states, Colorado, Texas, and North Carolina, and has been an avid weaver and mixed media artist for a long time. Every two years, there is a convention where she says, “Every well-known weaver attends and is probably teaching a class.” This past year, the convention was in Wichita, Kansas, where she entered a piece in the Mixed Media category and won 3rd Place!
How does this correlate to her work at St. Francis? She weaves her love of art with her leadership of the ‘Care for Creation’ ministry at St. Francis. “I’ve always been a bit of an ‘eco-freak,’” says Pam,” I grew up with the idea that you mustn’t waste. My sister-in-law is kind enough to call me resourceful, but I’m just cheap! I’ve always asked myself, ‘Why would I throw that away? I can use that.’” She exclusively uses ‘recycled yarn’ in weaving, embracing the ‘reuse’ principle of Care for Creation.
Ministry Spotlight: One Wake
What can the compassion of 46 communities, 50,000 households, and you do when we all work together for the Common Good? As described on their website, ONE Wake is a nonpartisan, multiracial, multi-issue group of religious congregations, associations, and other nonprofits in Wake County. They have over 50,000 local households as members, and they “bring people together to identify shared concerns, build relationships, and take collective action to improve communities through systemic change,” as Nancy Dilger, a St. Francis parish liaison with ONE Wake, said.
She adds, “ONE Wake is a great advocacy opportunity to complement the many works of charity our community supports. ONE Wake believes that ordinary people, when organized, have power. The power to make meaningful changes to create a world grounded in love, when they work together across lines of race, class, faith, and neighborhoods.”
Nancy emphasizes, “ONE Wake aligns with our Catholic Social Teaching’s emphasis on human dignity and the common good, and is organized around the seven key Catholic Social Teaching principles: the dignity of the human person, the call to family, community, and participation, rights and responsibilities, the option for the poor and vulnerable, the dignity of work and the rights of workers, solidarity, and care of God’s creation.” “These principles guide building a just and peaceful society and living out one’s faith in the world,” adds Nancy.
