by SFXparish | Oct 26, 2021 | NEWS
Our parish Saint Vincent de Paul Society is collecting food for Thanksgiving through Friday, November 5th. Please participate in this Corporal Work of Mercy by purchasing food for the homebound and the local needy for Thanksgiving baskets. SVDP is presently putting together the food baskets/boxes for delivery for the holiday. If you would like to donate, please drop off items in the bin inside the church or at the parish office. Grocery gift card donations are most welcome.
Thanks for your generosity!
by SFXparish | Oct 25, 2021 | NEWS
Our 2021 Respect Life Baby Bottle Fundraiser bottles will be collected the weekend of October 30 & 31. Please place your “filled” baby bottles in the basket at the entrance of the church.
Proceeds from this baby bottle drive benefit a local pregnancy resource center. Your financial support helps the unborn and their parents. Please fill a bottle with change, cash or a check to save and change lives!
Thank you to all who contributed to this cause of LIFE!
by SFXparish | Aug 26, 2021 | NEWS
We welcome Fr. Ryan Healy as the new Administrator of St. Francis Xavier!
Following is his introduction…
I was born on December 25th, 1992. (Yes, by your calculations that does make me only 28! And yes, the irony of a future priest being born on Christmas Day is not lost on me. And no, I did not usually get double presents on my birthday.) I was born and raised in Attleboro, MA by my parents Richard and Christine, along with my older sister Jennifer and younger sister Meghan. As my former parishioners can tell you, stories of my family can often pop up in my homilies, so you’re sure to find out more about them in time.
Before ninth grade, I was educated in the Attleboro public schools, after which I attended Bishop Feehan High School. (It will take time getting used to the reality that I now live in Spartan territory…) The seeds of a priestly vocation were certainly planted by my family, particularly my grandparents who took me to daily mass as a child and had themselves seriously discerned a religious vocation. I was also deeply influenced by my experiences throughout high school at the annual Steubenville East youth conferences held for many years at Lasalette shrine in Attleboro.
Upon graduation from high school, I attended Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio. It was there that my discernment of the priesthood took a more serious turn, and I decided after my first two years to transfer to college seminary in order to pursue the diocesan priesthood for the Diocese of Fall River. In 2013, I entered Our Lady of Providence Seminary, graduating from Providence College in 2015 with a bachelors in philosophy. I then at-tended St. John’s Seminary in Brighton before getting ordained in 2019. I come to you after spending the last 2 years in beautiful Falmouth on Cape Cod, assigned as the assistant priest to the three churches of St. Anthony, St. Elizabeth Seton, and St. Pat-rick. (Looking forward to learning the names at just one parish rather than three!)
Over the coming months, I am very excited to personally get to know the parishioners and families here. And I look forward to sustaining and building upon the good work done by the priests who have come before me. I ask for your prayers and patience as I become acclimated to my new role and responsibilities.
Yours in Christ,
Fr. Ryan
by SFXparish | Jul 22, 2021 | NEWS
A Farewell Message from Fr. Williams
As I prepare to move to my new assignment as Pastor of Holy Name Church in Fall River on 18 August, it is with a mixture of pride and sorrow that I will have these last few weeks with all of you. Pride, because of all we have accomplished together during my four years here for the spread of the Gospel and the building up of the Kingdom of God, and sadness because, while the work continues for us all, we will now be in different parts of the Lord’s Vineyard.
I want to thank you for the witness of faith you have given me during my time as your pastor – for your devotion to the Holy Eucharist in Mass and Adoration, for your care for one another and for Christ’s poor, for your support of our parish during the unprecedented pandemic. So many memories – so many blessings that I can number from my time in Acushnet.
As I have shared with many of you, knowing that Fr. Ryan Healy will succeed me is the one thing that offers me peace in leaving. I know that he will be a faithful shepherd for all of you as I have sought to have been, and trust that you will offer him the same prayers and support that you offered me. Please know of the place that you and this parish will always have in my prayers – and, if you ever find yourself down the road in Fall River, know that I would always love to see you again!
God bless,
Fr. Williams
by SFXparish | Jun 10, 2021 | NEWS
We have put together a list of the local businesses that our parishioners own and/or operate.
Shop local and support our community!
St. Francis Xavier Parish Business Directory
