Shoes for Rwanda:Thank you to all who made donations for the purchase of shoes for children in a Rwandan village. We raised $2,345.00 which is enough to purchase nearly 120 pairs of shoes for children to be able to attend school. This annual Advent fundraiser continues to have your great support. We are forwarding every penny of the raised amount to Father Leonard Kayondo so he can see that the funds go directly to the benefit of the Rwandan children.
Parish Wide Book Study: As part of our continuing parish Adult Education program we will be offering an 8 week video series based in the book “The Sacraments” written by Fr. Matthew Kauth and which all parishioners will receive as a Christmas Gift from the parish. The subtitle of this book is “Discovering the Treasures of Divine Life” which fits in nicely with our parish Year of Grace. Father Matthew illuminates not only the scriptural foundation and profound spiritual realities of each sacrament but also the necessity of each sacrament as a means to living a happy and fulfilled life leading to heaven. We are offering different days and times for you to view this video series with us in the parish center hospitality room. We will present on Tuesdays at Noon and Thursdays at 9:45 am and 7:00 pm for 8 weeks. The first showings will be on Jan 28th and 30th respectively. Various parish staff will facilitate the video and be available to answer questions after the video. There is no cost to participate.
Please join us on Saturday 16 November from 5 to 8 pm for a parish Family Fued event to raise funds to send Rwandan children to high school in their own country. We have a special association through Father Leonard Kayondo of Rwanda to ensure that 10 children are provided for their full high school years through this raising of $5000. Tickets for this event are $15 for adults and $5 for children, 12 and over. Please call 508 995-7600 for more information. (This event takes place at the parish school).
“Kindling Our Zeal” is the name of our new parish podcast series. These podcasts were recorded during our recent Adult Education Series, which is part of our Faith Formation Program here at St. Francis Xavier. Currently you will find recordings regarding the Gospel writers, as well as the Letters of St. Paul. Please check back as we will add more podcasts throughout the year.
We hope that through these talks and reflections, your faith may grow and your hearts burn with zeal for the faith like that of our patron saint.
Our parish group will meet again on Monday, 30 September at 7:00 pm in the parish center. Anyone who has lost a loved one and is struggling with grief is welcome to attend. During the evening of the 30th we will focus on the subject of Regret. While we have focused on sadness in our past meetings, this time we will focus on a very particular type of sadness which affects many people because of perceived missed opportunities: things we might have said or done while the person that we loved was with us. Come join us for a spiritual exercise in grieving and for friendly fellowship.
We are gearing up for another month dedicated to human life. In October we hold our traditional Baby Bottle Campaign in which you fill baby bottles with coin (or bills) to donate to a local pregnancy resource center which offers alternatives to abortion and faithful support through and beyond pregnancy. Next we will hold a parish Blood Drive on Sunday 20 October with the usual mobile clinic in our parking lot. Lastly, we will once again join in prayerful vigil in Attleboro across from the single remaining abortion clinic in our diocese. Our 40 Days for Life sponsorship day will be Saturday 26 October. October has a few other surprises, so stay tuned!