Starting the weekend of June 28th & 29th, we will begin following the Norms of Posture during the Communion Rite as described in the following letter from Archbishop Shelton.

Congratulations to Sarah Bischoff for being awarded the Patricia French Honorary Scholarship.  

This scholarship was established and awarded for the first time in 2017 with an objective to honor Patricia K. French by recognizing and financially supporting a deserving member of the St. Francis Xavier Community with tuition assistance for college or vocational  school. To qualify, students must be SFX parishioners in their senior year of high school, demonstrate a solid work ethic, and be a service-oriented person of high Christian moral values.

This year’s field of applicants were all deemed by the judges to be highly qualified and their decision was a difficult one, but Sarah Kate’s involvement at St. Francis Xavier and her plans for the future, lifted her to the top. The daughter of Ronnie and Jaime Booker, Sarah impressed the judges with her can-do attitude and self awareness. With plans to attend Murray State University, majoring in Agricultural Education, Sarah hopes to find a church community that offers the same small town parish atmosphere that she enjoys at SFX. She intends to continue answering Christ’s call to love and serve through music ministry wherever her journey takes her.

Prayer for Vocations

God our Almighty Father, you call each of us to a particular vocation.

Bless your Church by giving men and women the courage, zeal, and humility to respond “Yes” to your call to serve the people of the Archdiocese as holy priests and consecrated religious.

Call forth from our families those who will serve faithfully and generously in the generations ahead.

We bring our prayer for vocations to You, Father, through the intercession of Mary our Mother, in the Holy Spirit, through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

In honor of Mother’s Day, Little Way Pregnancy Center will be offering a beautiful, grace-filled gift for mothers. Archbishop Shelton will offer a mass for your mother—living or deceased.

It is said that— “The graces acquired by having a Mass said for a special intention are beyond earthly comprehension. The Mass is the greatest prayer and therefore the most powerful means to help others and ourselves gain eternity with him.”

Mother’s Day cards detailing the gift of this special Mass offered by our Archbishop, will be available Mother’s Day weekend in the back of church. For on-line donations and Mass enrollment visit www.littleway.org/mothersday or click HERE.

For over 40 years, Little Way has served the women and families in our community—offering free medical services for expectant moms, parenting classes, baby closet items, and support groups for both mothers and fathers.

All proceeds will benefit the life-saving work of Little Way. Thank you for your support.

April 20, 2025

Gospel:  John 20:1-9

Today, in this Catholic Church and in all the other Christian churches of the world; our Eucharistic liturgy is the most gratifying celebrations in our whole liturgical calendar.  Our church is decorated with more flowers than usual (lilies and poinsettias are not here 24/7); the choir is singing upbeat songs; most people are wearing their best clothes; there is a chance for some fellowship with friends we have not seen for a long, long, long while… 

Yet, none of us came here today for the scenery, the concert, the fashion show or the socializing.  We are here today because we are reminded that death was conquered ONCE.  Today, with all the Christian faiths that have spun off the root of Catholicism, we share in the hope that it will happen again… FOR US… in due time… in God’s choosing… 

Have you even watched illusionists like Harry Houdini or David Copperfield in either the media or live at a theatre?  There is usually the one who puts a lady in a box.  Locks are secured.  The box is suspended.  The illusionist thrusts swords through the box.  When unlocked and opened, the lady was gone.  “HOW did he do it?”  Although we do not know HOW the trick was accomplished, we DO know that it was not magic.  There is a logical explanation for the disappearance for the lady. 

On Good Friday, many saw the wrapped lifeless body of Jesus laid in a tomb.  They watched a HUGE stone rolled into the groove before the cave-like vault sealing the only exit.  Sunday morning three people saw the same tomb.  The stone was rolled away.  The body was gone.  WHERE had the body gone?  There were three responses: Mary Magdalene thought the body was stolen.  Peter was puzzled, “Why would someone unwrap the body BEFORE stealing it?”  John saw and believed.  Our response to the empty tomb should make all the difference in the way we live life.  Does it for you?  What do you make of an empty tomb… if anything?

Christ is raised to new life by God.  The Resurrection is not a magic trick.  It was a feat foretold by prophets and accomplished by the power of God.  Peter and others ate and drank with him.  Mary conversed with Jesus.  We follow a risen Lord.  He is alive.  Bet on it.

Christ is raised.  We are raised with Christ.  Christ’s resurrection changes everything for all who lives before and after him.  When we die, we will not he held by death.  We believe through faith like John.  Eyes of faith help us see the invisible reality.  Believing is seeing.  

Christ is raised.  Our goal is eternal life with Him. 

Christ is raised.  Proclaim it.  We proclaim it with our words.  We are not responsible for the belief of the hearer.  Jesus was not always believed.  We will only be accountable for sharing the message.  Our message may not be popular or well received.  It is always difficult to go against the grain.  We may suffer, as disciples have, as Jesus did, for our faithfulness.  Doing comes out of believing.  Believing in eternal life makes all the difference.  When our words and actions match, we become credible.  People may not agree with us, but they can not ignore us.

A Dutch navigator sailing the high seas happened to come across an uncharted island in the Pacific.  He was just thrilled to land on it.  And this discovery happened on Easter Sunday in the year 1722… over 300 years ago.  Not surprisingly, the island was named “Easter Island”.  A well-known preacher used this bit of history to make a point.  He pointed out that we make a mistake if we regard Easter merely as an island – a nice place to visit once a year and then go back to the mainland.  Rather, he stressed Easter belongs on the mainland… your mainland is wherever you go… and with whomever you journey. 

Friends, the tomb is empty.

What do you have to say about that?

Gospel: John 18:1-19:42

April 18, 2025

Imagine walking into town from the country to go to market and passing through a line of naked, crucified men hanging on crosses along both sides of the road.  Some of the men may be already dead, some still gasping for air as they slowly suffocate.  Others are cursing the government and everyone else in outbursts of anger and pain.

That is what Jewish men and women had to endure whenever Rome executed someone.  Crucifixion was a brutal, inhumane torture reserved for non-Roman citizens.  Executions were public affairs meant to frighten people into submission.  And for the Jew, crucifixion was proof positive of God’s total rejection and condemnation.  Anyone “hung on a tree” was surely cursed by God.

So the crucifixion of Jesus was not a pretty affair.  We sometimes decorate our crosses and clean up our art work to make it less revolting, but then we miss the human tragedy and horror of the event.  But the death of Jesus was as brutal and gory as any execution could possibly be.  Is it me, or does anyone else view the repackaging of the film, “The Passion of the Christ” as such an attempt to sanitize what has already been produced as “over the edge?” 

May be… may be…

Those who had any hope that Jesus was a good man sent by God went home that day sorely disappointed and hurt.  A crucified criminal could not be a good man.  And Jesus was indeed a crucified criminal. 

That was the human vision of what happened on Good Friday.  That is how the event appeared to most of those who were there.  The event was nothing less than a horrible disaster, a degrading end to a young man’s career.  In the words of Isaiah, “there was in him no stately bearing…nor appearance that would attract us.”  He was a “man of suffering…spurned, and we held him in no esteem.”  Isaiah states further, however, that there is an entirely different way to view what happened.

To the eyes of faith, this horror was an act of love, an act of victory and, in John’s words, a moment of GLORY.  As Isaiah says, “it was our infirmities that he bore, our sufferings that He endured”.  After Resurrection and Pentecost, the Christian community could look back on that horrible event and say that Jesus, in an act of unconditional love, had suffered for our sins and won our salvation.  The early church interpreted the events of Good Friday in the light of God’s loving plan of salvation.  Good Friday was not just a human event, a Roman execution.  It was also an act of love as Jesus laid down his life for us, His friends.

John, more than any evangelist, emphasizes Jesus’ free offering of Himself in service to God and to us.  John talks about the crucifixion as Jesus’ “finest hour”.  Is John clueless?  NOT.  John has captured a deep fact of our faith.  God, and only God, can take the most horrible act of a person’s inhumanity to another person and turn it into good, an eternal good.  And that is what God is all about!  He loves us so much that He is willing to turn gross evil into love and give us the benefit.

Today we gather not so much to lament the suffering and death of Jesus, as to glory in the love He has for us.  As the song used to say, “We remember, we celebrate, we believe.”  We believe that his love for us is unconditional and that He calls us to faith and life.

We do not celebrate the Eucharist today.  We dramatically remember that what Jesus did at the Last Supper was to offer Himself totally to God and us, an offering that culminated at the cross.  Today we venerate that cross knowing that we cannot look beyond it until we are called.

Holy Thursday 2025

Gospel:  John 13:1-15

April 17, 2025

We enter tonight into the Sacred Triduum, three holy days that culminate in the celebration of Christ’s Resurrection, by placing ourselves in humble service to others.  The solemnity, the symbols, and the beauty of this liturgy need very little – if any – explanation.  We can focus on many symbols tonight, but let out attention be drawn to the Gospel we have just heard proclaimed and the sacred action which will follow this homily: the mandatum (washing of feet). 

Instead of hearing the familiar story told in the synoptic Gospels, we hear instead John’s account of what happened after the meal Jesus shared with his disciples.  By telling them HOW Jesus washed the feet of these disciples, John makes the necessary connection between servanthood and Eucharist.  This is called mandatum because it is Jesus’ mandate that his disciples to as he did.  “Do this, do this love, in memory of me.  Do this Eucharist in memory of me.  Pour yourself out in complete service to others as I have done”.  Early in Church history, the mandatum was considered a sacrament; a transforming encounter with Christ. 

Sharing in the Eucharist means washing the feet of others. 

Feet are an interesting part of our bodies.  They help support us and keep us standing upright.  They prevent us from falling by keeping us balanced. Above all, feet are essential to walking as we take one step at a time.  They may not be the most glorious part of our body, but they have a major role to play.  Ask anyone who has lost the use of a foot.

The Hebrews walked from slavery into freedom.  The prophets walked from place to place announcing the message of Jesus.  Even at the time of Jesus, walking was THE mode of travel.  So, celebrating the Last Supper, Jesus, who took the role of slave and that of the host, washed disciples’ feet.  By doing this, Jesus not only performed a practical act of offering comfort to weary feet, he also emphasized that if anyone wishes to be a follower, she or he must be a servant to all.

The Hebrews were instructed to eat the Passover meal with their loins girt (that is to say, flexed, ready to walk), sandals on their feet, and staffs in hand ready to “hit the road”.  Before the journey, the Hebrews were instructed by God to prepare a meal.  They would need nourishment for the journey.  This meal was not one for the sake of eating/killing hunger – it was a sacred meal.  So they were prepared to hear God say, “Ready, set… go!”… they were called by God to set out on a journey with no clear knowledge of WHERE they would be going… kind of like handing your phone to someone who would program your GPS, click start, and tell you to follow it … wherever it tells to you walk … forever how long. 

Jesus shows the disciples the meaning of perfect love.  Just as Jesus knew the twelve, He also knows us.  In fact, Jesus is aware of our past sins as well as those we will commit.  In all of this, Jesus still loves us.  Knowing fully who we are, Jesus is still willing to serve us and asks us to do the same.  Doing Eucharist means service to one another on the journey of life. 

“Where charity and love prevail, there is God.”  Let us commit ourselves to the poor, to humble service as a Eucharistic people who live by the mandate of Christ. 

Let us go forth and wash the feet of others.